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CHAPTER I
u INTRODUCTION
o NEED AND SlGNIFlCANCE O F T H E S7'11LlY
J STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
n OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OFKEY TERMS
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
L] OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
u METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF
-1 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
u ORGANIZATION OF THE RE=SEARC:li REPORT
CHAPTEK I
INTRODlICTION
1. I INTROI)I!CTIDN
1,ducatioo. by its v e y nature. intluences and 9ets tnfluenced hy the
whole development process. The dynamics of educatiori artd its role in social
transthrmation i~nd national developn~ent rnakcs i t essential that the content and
processes o f education are continuously renewed in order to keep thetn in tunc with
the chanying needs. aspirations at~d demands of the society
- 1 he r~lajor purpose of teaching is to increase thc capacity r-)i' the
learners to lear.11 and teach them hou to learn Consequently. the instructional
strateyes becor~lt. discovery oriented and leal-ner centred The rc~lc uf the teacher
occupies a tl,ansltlun ti-llin the transmitter ro the facilitator of knowledge Instead of
dispensing knoiiledge and information directly. rtle respo~isihility of the teacher in
the chanyins sit~ration is to teach the students how ro obtain. prncess. encode. r-etaln
and rransfer kno\vledye and inforrnation more etT'ectively
Tl~t. extraordinary expansion of knowledge and hun~an capacity ro
ass~milate i r will become a major issue befbre educationists In the context o f t h ~ s
tremendous expansion and explosion of information and in the ~rlodes nt'acquiriny 11
with the widespread application and popularit!, of itlformarior~ technology and
telecomnulnicatio~~s. Piaget's vision on future education needs s p r c ~ a l considel-atlo11
Hc asserts that - if we want to form individuals capable of Lnventlve thought and
of helping societv tomorrow to achieve progress. the11 it is clear that an education
which is an actiw discovery of reality is superior to one that consists in merely
providing the yclung with readymade wills to will with and readymade truths to
know with" (Piaget, 1971). We move into the study of teaching as an inquiry by
individuals, faculties and school districts. Perhaps the most important finding is that
the purpose of teaching i s to increase the capacity uf the learners to learn and teach
them hou tu learn (Joyce, and Weit. 1 997).
7'he ideal teaching-learning situation demands to plact: the learner in
the role of an or~ginai investigator. The spirit of inquiry needs ro be stressed. r igh~
from the beginn~ng of their study. lnstead of making the learner a passive recipient
of second hand information, their active thinking and reasoning power. critical
thinking ability, l~roblem solving skills and discovery learning should be stimulated
Fundamentally. education means the drawing uul of the best i l l the
child and it lead> to the all-round development of the child-the body, rrlit~d and spirit
(Gandhi. 195 1 ) For the all-round developnlent of the child. the cosnitive, affective
and psychornotvr behaviours must be developed in a balanced and integrated fashion
(Bloom. 1964) Following a fixed way of teaching fails to achieve the all-I-our~d
development of the child in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains for which
teachiny i s desigrled and performed. Pupils have multi-dimensional personalities
having different learning styles. The common implication of both these facts is that
the teachers should use different strategies of teaching to match the objectives of
teaching and the different learning styles and personalities of students (Passi. Singh
and Sansanwal, 1986)
! 'ompetence in teaching steins from the capaci~v to reach out t o
multi-faceted chitdren and to create a rich and multi-dimensional environnlent fur
then1 Models of teaching emerge out of the search to find out a varietv nf
approaches of- itrategies of teaching to match the learning env~runrnenl and Iearniny
styles of pupils (Ellis and Harper 1975)
Phe core of teaching process is the arrangement 01' environments
ivithiil wl~icll rhe students can interact and study hoit. to learn (Dewey. I O l O ) There
are Inany po~iurful models of teaching desisned to briny about particular kitlds ot'
leartliny and ti1 help students become more efkctive learners Models ot' teaching
are really modrls of learning (Joyce and Weil, 1997).
Moreover a model of teaching is a plan oi- pattern that cat) be used to
desssn face tu face teacliing In the classroo~ns to shape instructional n)atel.~als, l r )
shapt: curricul;i and tu guide instruction in the classroom and other settings (Weil
and Joyce. 1st; 3 )
Again. rnodels are prescriptiix teaching strategies designed to
accomplish pal-ticular instructional goals (Eggen. I'aul. et al 1 070)
More details of the models of teaching is provided in chapter 1w0 of'
this report
One of the i ~ ~ o s t imput-tant dimensions of educational research is the
attempt to learn hou much difference it makes to personal. social and academic
growlh if one uses one strategy rather than another for a part~cular purpose The
present stud! is concerned with the Models of Teaching The study prlmarilv
focuses upon the i~nnlediate and delayed Impact o ~ l the achievement in Geograph!
of rhe IX'" standard students of the secondan. scliools of Kerala. The issue i 4 a s
selected keeping in mind the following
I The pr-csent status of Geography as a suhLiect of learning rn the schoul
curriculum
2. Nature of Geography as a social science
.; Kelevarice of modern methods in the teaching uf Geography
1.1.1 The Present Status uf Geography ia the School Curriculum
In the post independence period in India. the subjects u!' social
sciences such ;is History. Geography. Civics a ~ ~ d Ecorlornics h a w been tauyht irl
ditferent form\ at school level. In some states they are being taught as disciplirlt.
oriented and i r i some other states they are being labdled as soc~al studies in the for111
uf integrat~u~i In Kerala the curriculum and syllabus of the primar\. and secn~ldal?
le\;els of educiirion were modified i n accordance with the gu~delines laid do14n in the
nc\\ Educatio~i Policy (NPE- 1986). The syllabus followed in the Stale of Kerala to a
great extent I, dityerutlt t iom that of the svllabus of' Central Board of Secondaiv
Education ( C - l3SE) According to thc syllabus uf Kerala State Llepal-trneilt of'
Education. up to standard VllI the syllabus of social studies is organised in the form
of inteyratiotl and in standard 1X and X social studies svllabus is organised as
discipline orlelited. There is not much research support or erlipirical e\,idence in the
sclecrior~ of integration approach and discipline-oriented approach They are
governed by !he conser~sual lore of experts (NC'ERT. Fitih Survey of Ed~~cational
Kesearch. IO(17)
.-\ccurding to the Trend Repoit u f the Fifth Survey of Ed i~ca t ion~~l
Research, the number of researches conducted in the field o f Social Scieilce at the
school level tclnained at a very low level priority fo r the educational rcsearch
community in th is count?. The picture becomes clearer by a comparison of the
numbel- uf studies ir~cluded in the Fifth Survey uf Educational Research jll~loilgst
the ~ ,ar ious cu~ricular areas such as in Mathelllatics Education 47 studies werc
conducted. in asience education 61 studies were reported and in language education
alone 90 studlt..; were come for review. But in the case of social sciences orlly nine
studies were r-cpor-ted. The real crisis facing research in social scierice education
seenls to be t h C cr is~s uf research leadership (Fifth S u n e y of Educational Kesearch.
1 Furthc-I-. out of' the nine studies reported in the field of Soula1 Science
Education. s e w n of them have been contributed by scholars from uverseas who halt.
studied problenls In their own settings.
In addit~on ro the crisis of research and research leadership there has
been a widespread dissatisfaction in the teact7in~-learuitly process carried out in the
classroo~n sett~rlgs, especially in the teachiny of Geographv Firstly. most of the
CUI-ricular rei,i>ion attempted so far has been of an ad-hoc char-acter 11ot se!lerally
based un adcquate expertise and not follo~ved by such necessat-y supporting
111easu1-es
In Kerala at the school level. Geography is studied as a n an subject
iind taught b! teachers having graduation in any social science subject But at the
level uf university, Geography is treated as a science subject with separate
1aborator-y facllit~es. practicals and experiments As a corvllan of' this dual
approach in ttlr teachiny and learning of Geography, facilities for higher education
are very scatlty Very few ccliieges in Kerala 0 t h Geography as an optional sub-iecr
ar the graduate and post-graduate levels The limited fhcilities for sti~dying
Geography at ~ l l e level of college compel the teachers having yraduation in other
social science subjects to manage the teaching of Cieoyraphv at hiyh school classes
.As such i t i s believed that teachers are not confident enough to handle the subject
efficiently and cfkctively
burther, the riyid nature of curl-iculum and method of evaluation put
hazards in the ivav of invention and innovation in the teaching-learr~in~ process It1
schools and colleges teaching and learning to a great extent i s geared to the sole
purpose of securing high marks or acquiring a degree %lemur\, is at a premiirrtl and
itltelligence at 'I discount. The system is designed to iron out ~ndepende~ice of
tnind.. original~ty and native curiosity There is no provision for futurological
uutloclk in the classrooni teachings. The ir~structional procedure followed in the
classruu~n i s ulai~ily teacher centred, text book based and content or~ented hlajority
of the village \chools in Kerala lack worthwhile support system and instructional
facilities especiillly in the teachiny of Geography These arc a few off the criticisms
levelled against the teaching of Geography in high sct~ool classes
I . 1.2 Nature o f Geography as a Social Science
I'hc term 'Geoyraphy' i s derived f rom the cotnbinatinn of two Greek
words -Gee' and *Graphos'. 'Geo' means earth and -Graphos' means writing. study
and descriptiorl Geography of today is not itierely a description or interpretation of
the reyior~s of the earth. I t is an inquiry of causes. an attempt to find c ~ t the 'hou '
and 'why' of all the Geographical facts and factors which go to intluence the life uf
man on eatth.
Lt is in the works of Greek philosophers that we come across the use
of the term 'Geography' tbr the tirst time The growth of Geography as an acadelnic
discipline has tu depend on scientific and technological advancemerlts and
development of r.anographic techniques and scientific appraisal ot' data.
beography is a broad discipline characterised hv four concerlls of
nearly equal importance. The first one is the distribution over the surface of the
earth. of pllenulne~~a and processes which contribute to the iin~clue charactel- of
places (Tarbuck and Frederick. 1 993). The second is rhe exarn~r~ation ot' phenurnena
and processes i n the exact coiltext in whicli they occur (Strahler. I 9gC1) The third is
the way that p l ~ e r ~ o n ~ e n a and processes are the causes and cunsequence of hurnari
decision makin3 ( Artshorne. 1 994). 'The hurt h one is I he transn~issivn of
information and Ideas through the lanyuaye of inaps (CotTey 108 1 )
(~eoyraphy is that discipline which seeks to describe and interpret the
variable character from place to place of the earth as the world of' tnan
(Hartshorne 1904)
Cieoyraphy is not only an academic disciplirie but also a point of
vien, a line ot' thought, and an interpretation which helps une to understand the
world
I-he basic function of Geography is the analysis and svnthesis of' tlie
actual integration of phenomena in sections of space. Geography is the organized
knowledge of the eanh as the world of man It deals with organic and inorganic
phenomena not lilr their own sake but as the factors that help us to understand the
earth as the place where people live, work, meet and mingle, transforming its surface
into their habitat (Broek and Web. 1978).
1.1.3 Sub-fields o f Geography
Cieayraphy consists of a large number of sub-fields and tields of
specialization. The content of geoyraphv i s organised in the form physical
geography and human geography Physical Geography is concerned with i'ariuus
aspects of our ~~arural or bio-physicat environment Huit~an Geographv is concer-ned
with the studv ot'rnan, how he lives and hob- he makes a living
The sub-fields of physical Geography are Geomorphoiogy (rocks and
relief' features). Climatology (Weather and climate). Oceanography (waves, currents.
and tides), Hydrology (sources of water and ~ t s role in susta~ning differer~t life
forms) and Bio-Geography-the study of plants and animals
I-he main branches of human geography are ( a ) econo1111c
geography. (b , social geography and ( c ) cultural seographl; The field of
specializatiun 1 1 ) economic yeography of tnanufacturinp and geography of transport
and communications. The sub-fields of social geography are rural and urban
settlements. medical yeography, and political geography.
t'artography is also considered as a branch of' Geosraphy The othet-
fields of spec~;~lisation are historical geography. urban geography and land use
Geo-physics is devoted to the study of physical processes relating ro the strucrure of
the earth. Geography deals with the composition. structure and history of the earth
So habitat economy and societv together make up the contenr of Geography
I:or making description accurate and errplanat~c>rl..; exact the
eeopaphers 1ial.e to draw relevant material fro111 the correspntlding natural sciences -
tike geology. pedoloyy. ~neteorology. botany and zooloyy 7'he borrowins is not Just
repeatiny or plivsicaily lifting the material froin these sciences hut transforming it to
suit the nature r ) f Cieogaphy.
I'he founders of modern Geugraphv, .Alexander \:on Hulnboldt and
Karl Ritter. advocated two approaches in the study of Geugritpht l'hc.y at-c
systetnatic stud\. and I-egional study of Geoyraph!. AnaIysis of' spatial distributiutl IS
a n essential k i ~ t ~ r e of Geographical study Distribution of phenomena o w l the
entir-e world is the therne of systematic Geography and t h e study of ii lirrlited area or
phenomena within some limited part of the earth's surface i s called the I-cyional
study of Geogrilphy
Ttle three basic techniques adopted in the s t ~ i d y of Geoyrapliy arc
literacy. nutneracy and graphicacy (Minshull. 0 7 ) Thus Cieu~rapll! has ii wide
scope unparalleled by any other subject (Varnm. IOCl 1 )
Fig. 1 .1
Fields and Su b-fields of Specialisatiori
(Geography)
METHODS TECHNIQUES VIEW POINI-S
;I Canogntphy i l l ~ ~ I S ~ O ~ I L ~ I I
Special or h ) Acrii~l Gcogr;~pl~y Regional Ptlolography h l L1rba11 Geogrupliy Guogr;~pl\ y
C ) i , ;~ t id -U~c ' + (N3111rcj ( M:ul) PII! S I C ; I ~ Cicogri~ptl! HIHWJII ticugrilpll!
Aa1111:lls) L ~ , . , ~ ~ ~ FOI- I + I \ I I I ~ )
Guo111or- CllrlI,llo- Occano- Grilph! & pllology 'ON' Bio- ~ . ~ u l t ~ ~ r : ~ l
geography
C 3) 1.~11lg~l~lg~~5 b ) Rcligiorl C I Tools K: 5h1ll3 d) Sociill or ~ I I I I ~ ; I I ~ ~ I I
UIU
t. 1.4 Relevarlce of Modern Methods in the Teaching of I;eoprapl~y
l.oday the trend in teaching is fast nluving fr-urn the 'product' 10
-process' approach. The shift in emphasis t i o ~ t ~ the content areas of' yeographical
knowledge to the processes involved in acquiring itlformation. has w ~ d e itnplication
for all aspects of educational practice. O l e of' the most interesting and important
debates in the tield of instruction today revol\.es around the relat~vt. efficiency of
varving method\ of reaching.
I-lie cvr~ventional method of tcachirig tias paved the tvay for passi\,t.
knowledge recipients and not active particillarlts in the process of actlu~ring
information I-:ducation thinkers and planners iire tryit13 t o implement better
methods and st1 ateyes in the tield of learning and instruction
I'he central idea behind the process approach i s t o l i e l l ~ the students
think about thc nature of learning and to increase the capacity I'or learnills
Knowledge of the learning process combined with analysis of the tasks for learning
in accordance \+,ith i~>stmctionaI theory tinds a direct applicat~on to the design of
instruction The ~nfc~rmation processing theories of learnins can be used to guide
learning activities and ways of enhancing the innate d r k e uf h u m a n beings to rnake
sense of the world. by acquiring and oryanising data, senslng problelns and
generating solutions to them
IKllc child's ability to deal i v i t t ~ the broad concepts 11f spact.. fililt ' .
inattes and caucniitv depends upon the type of leal-ning and method i)f insir~~ctioil
The Infot-mation Processiny Model of learning and memow 1s of gi-cat signiticarlce
for the planrlillg arid design of instruction in the teaching of Cieography
The external events called instructional strategy may suppon internal
processes by evaluating the nlental set-up that afects artention and selective
perception. Naturally learners can influence the internal process by means of the~r-
own coynitive strategies.
There is a life after schooling and that learning to think or learning to
Iearn is what school is all about. Process of learning and content are comple~nentary
rather than mutually exclusive in model approach (Joyce and Weil, 1992).
The proponents of the process approach, however, hold that it
enhances the thinking process and helps students to internalise information.
assimilate and accommodate the key facts, central ideas and provide training to
become more eficient in developing facts, concepts, principles. seneralisations and
inferences.
The processes used by students to generate different content forms
are mainly observation and inference. The primary process skills involved in the
information processing family are observation and inference. Facts are the end
products of observation, while concepts and generaiisations are arrived at by
. inferential process. Models of teaching are basically, approaches to meta-cognition,
that is, learning to learn. Each model of the lnforrnation Processing Family can be
characterised by the emphasis placed on the kind and sequenciny of the process
skills along with mastery of the content.
Problem solving skill is basic to the process approach. In inquiry
train~ng model the basic steps of problem solving method suggested by John Dewey
positively leads to highlighting of the immense potentiality of the process approach
in school curricula. Suchman (1960) provides an analysis of the characteristic steps
of problem solv~ng through process oriented inquiry model
I3asically, the information processing models are designed to in~proi ' t .
the student's itbitity to handle information. This increased ability is acquired
through the pro~essing of information. The Information Processing Modeis refer to
the information processing capability of the students and the way they can improve
their ability to Illaster information (Weil, and Joyce. 1985)
l h e Inquiry Training hlodels belonging tc, the In fo r r~~a t~on
Processing fanllly are mainly concerned with the abilitv of the learner to solve
probtenls Tht. chief learning outcomes uf inquiry training are the processes
involved - obscrv~ng, collecring and oryanising data, identifi,ing and conrrotliny
variables, makiny and testing hypotheses, formulating explanations and drawing
inferences. The ~nquiry traininy model splendidly integrates these several process
skills into a sing1 e meaningful unit of experience.
1- ven though the emphasis of Inquiry training Model is tnaioly in
process, it results in the learning of the content in any curricuium areas from \vhich
problems are selected Suchman developed entire curricula in Economics and
g o l o y y . Lt is also adaptable to all elementary and secondary school curriculum
areas (Joyce and Weil. 1 997).
Tcaching is a process of building communities of learners who use
their shlls to educate themselves (Joyce and Weil, 1992). I n leaching the raw
materials gathered from the environment are processed or organised into Inore
understandable tbrtn The intellectual skills or capabilities required to analvse
information are process and the processing ability makes the learner yu beyond the
process which leads to the development of n-lore abstract ;~nd useful fortns cf
knowledge Thc knowledge that results from the processing of' information depends
u p o n the type ot'process~ng which was used to form it (Eggen, Kauchak and Hardcl,.
1970) Informutian processing focuses attention on the accluisitlon uf knowledge
through analysis of data from classrooms. When usiny these mtldels students are
taugh~ process skills as well as the content. They wilt also becc~rne tnore proficient
in verbal expression as well as listening to others and rerne~nber in~ what has been
said The info]-[nation processing model promotes active and autonomuus learning
which helps students learn to construct knowledge -- learning t l o ~ ru learn
1.2 NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF T H E STUDY
Secondary Education has a strategic position in the whole schema of
education for several reasons First, secondary education lays the foundation of all
higher education Secondly, it is the terminal stage for many students In secoildal:
education. pupils normally reach the threshold of formal operational stage as in
Piaget's classitication regarding cognitive development. The pupits at this stage can
logically solve all types of problems, think systematically, solve complex verbal and
hypothetical problems as their cognitive structure is mentioned (Wardswon, 1988).
Further. there i s much tatk and discussion abaur academic exceilence
in teaching and learning process going on in Kerala At the prirnaq. level a tlome
grown innovat~vu educational programme was formulated with the name District
Primary Educat~c~n Programme (DPEP) with three major goals nan~el?. universal
access. retention and achievement. Considering the educat~onal background In
Kerala setting, the DPEP calts for a substaritial improvemerit in quality educatiotl.
Quality of education is ensured by giving due emphasis on three points. entn,
behaviour. inst~uctional process and exit control the efficiency of the assessment
and evaluation svstem. Among the three point scale to ensure quality improvement.
primay importance should be given to the instructional process Mere upgrading or
updating the cotltent of a course will not help the Indian students to improve their
quality. A cu~r~cu lu tn with all transactions including teaching-learning strategies
and evaluation technique is inevitable in lieu of a syllabus with a skeletal content elf'
the subject Th~s will not only help the teachers to decide what to teach and how to
teach. but also he administrators and the inspectors to keep a vigil over the progress.
There is an all round dissatisfacrion with the type ot* teachills and
learning yoing cjn in the classroom settings There i s a w ~ d e gap between theory arid
practice ?'he teacher seerns to be an omniscierlt giver of tn~th and knowledpe The
students become passive listeners in the teactling learning process. To develop
critical thinking power. reasoning ability. problem solving skill and inductive
learning, many c ) t ' the traditional educational practices must be seriously cluestioned
and new approaches based on sound theories and principles rnust be implemented.
E i ~ r a Ions time teachers have been using tixed ways of teachins
certain subjects mainly arts subjects There is not much research support or
empirical evidence or research base in social science subjects, t r i science subjects.
Mathematics, F.ducation and Language studies, research Into the use of process
skills, inquiry approach, discovery and other discipline cer~tred approaches have
been widelv explc>red and studied in detail. But little work has been conducted on
the relevance ot' model-n instructional strategies, process of probteni sol\ illg aild
discovery appruaches in Social Sciences Esplosioii of knotvledgu has ~ t ~ a d t . it
practically ditticult for the teacher to impart the ever-expanding study lr~aterial
within the conslraints of time and syllabus In order to ovel-come these impasses
students m u s ~ be trained to become original investigators and discoverers
Consequently the irlstructional strategies become discoveq orlented and learnel-
centred Here the rule of the teacher changes from the transmitter t o the facilita~u~
of knowledge
S u the investiyator felt that it i s a vital need of the tirrie t o i-nake
hurnble attempt to think pos~tively and act creatively In this direct1011 'l'here is ;I
rarige of srrar egies for instruction which deviate rhemselves from I he i ~ a l a l
couventiunal I-lassroom teaching dominated by leachcl- Jovce and Weil ( 1'172)
published a book 'Models of Teaching' which consists of tnhrtnatian Prucessing
famill;. Persor~al Farniiy, Social Famill; and Behaviour Svstems Familv The
investigator selected three models belonging to rhe Information Processing Family
for the pr-esenr studv as an instructional strategy w h ~ c h deviated from the
conventional teaching-learning approach and tested its etkctiveness using
appropriate statistical techniques. Application of' these models may help to change
the teaching tearning process of Geography I t is with t h ~ s hope that prese~ir
inijestiyation i> attempted.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
['he study is entitled T H E EFFECT OF IhTFORAJATIO.h:
PRIIC'ES.Si.~~r' M0I)ELS 11%' THE TEA C H I N {IF (iI'EO(;RA PH Y Ifi THE
*VEC'ONIIAR)I .YL'HOOLS O F KERALA.
1.4 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF KEY 'I'ERMS
I he operatic>nal definitions ot' kc?, tcrlns cons~tiercd In the stud\' are
presented belou
Effect: . . The r e s ~ l t or product of some etticit.111 cause OI- ageliu!. a consequence. an
oulcome (Good 107.3) I n the present stud?, t h e etiect is the uhangc that a parricular
nod el of teachillg makes in the pertbrmance of the pupils
Morld: Model I \ a symbolic system with srn~ctural relationships which leads to the
prediction of exact consequences, explicit correspondences and rnanv ~nterpretations
(Torsten and Yrville. l(104)
Inf iwr~tcl t iot t Procc.wing: I'he term refers to tlw ivays people l~andlt. st~rnuli f io~n the
environment. urganise data, senses problems. generate concepts and ~ o l u ~ i o n s tu
problems. and ernploy verbal and non-verbal synbols .
Infijrttjation Processing hfo~lels: Members of the first Iarse family n f n~odels of
teachiuy share a n orientation toward the infi~rmation pi-ocessing capability of
students and the ways they can improve theil- ability to master infor.n~at~on (Joyce K.
Weil. 198.5).
Aclriel~emenr in C;eogrtrplty: Achievement in Geographv is operat~nt~ally detirled as
the scares obrairled in the immediate and delaved posttests o w r the content material
taught ill the unit 'Water i r ~ the Atmosphere' ftjr studerits ut' standard IN
.Se'ecr)ntlrrty Scht1o1.v: All the hiyh schools having classes for \!I l I . 1X and X standards
and prepare students for Secondary School Leaviny Certiticate examirlatiori
conducted bv Kcrala State Board of Secondan; Education
Retentiun rinrl li.rm.!fer: .4chievement in Geography can he measured us1112 two
types of tests-mention tests and transfer tests
Retention fest.r Retention Tests are those tests that measure the degree to which a
student remembers and comprehends the material where the content of' the rriaterial
of the test is illore or less exactly the same as taught in the unlt ,Water I I I the
Atmosphere' Ketention thus becomes etlui~.alent to lir~uwledge and utiderstanding
Trrrnsfkr Test3 Transfer tests are those that nleasure the degree to wh~cli a student
can apply what tvas presented to a new situatioil where the items of the test arc Inure
advanced than ~ l ~ o s e with which students are familiar 'Transfer' can thus In this
context be cons~dered as equivalent to application
Intelligenc~.: It is operationally defined as the scores obtained on thc Kerala Non-
I'erbal group '1-c~t of I~~telligence.
Attitude tolvttrtls Geogrt~plzy Letirning Sctrle. The scores obtained on the altitude
test prepared tly the investigator to cluantif, the tendency ru I-cacr tonards a
designated stinliilus. In the present study the stimulus is learniny Geography
Ixrrming Envirmnment it refers to the total eniironment a\,ailable to the student in
schuul. classrui)m. Iiunie. neighbourhood a ~ ~ r l co~li~nunity rtlat help rhc stud en^ to
learn ~eograph! more eft'ectively
scio-E~.rmonric .status: It i s a blended complex of three statuses are
measured in terms of occupation of the father. education of the parents a ~ l d the
income of the parents.
Rurnl/Wrhrm ,Scttlerr~ent.v
Urbrrn Settlem~.nf: Urban settlement comprises all those places which have either a
municipality. corporation or a cantonment board.
Rurrrl Settlement, Rural settlement cotnprises all those places that do not conle
under the urban settlement.
1.5 HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
The present study is aimed at finding out t h e efiectiveness of
Information Processing Models over the Conventional Method in the teach~ng of'
Geography in Standard IX. It i s assumed that students' achievement in learning
Geography depends upon the method of teaching adopted On the basis of this
assumption. the following hypotheses were formulated,
Hypothesis I
The effectiveness of Information Processing Models of teach~ng
strategy is sigi~~ficantly higher than that of Conventional Method of teaching
ycoyraphy in Secondary Schoois.
Hypothesis I1
The effectiveness of the three separate models belonging to the
Informatiot~ Processing Models of Teaching is significantly higher than that of
Conventional Method of teaching in geography.
Hypothesis I I 1
1 tiere is significant difference between irnmediat e and delaved
achievement scores of the experimental and control groups
Hypothesis IV
"1 he main and interaction effects of each independent varlable un the
dependent variatjle are significantly hisher in the experiment a1 groups thari In the
corltrul g o u p
1.6 OBJECTIVESOFTHESTUDY
1 To find out the eKectiveness of Information Processing Models ofteaching
2 To compare the effectiveness of Information Pracessirly Models of' teachins
and that clf.the conventional teachins learning method on the achievement at'
p i~p i ls in ( ieography
3 To tind o ~ ~ t ~f there is any significant difference in the ~mmediate and delayed
ach~everncnt of the pupils in Geography when they a]-e taught 111 the
Information Processing Models
4 l'o compare the eifectiveness of three separate model categories helonying to
the lntbr~r~ation Processing Family and that of the conventional teaching
learning 111ethod On the achievement in Geography
5 To cstimate the main arid interaction efkct of each ir~dependerlt variable on
the dependent variable.
O To estirna~e the main and interaction effect of the independent variable with
special reitrence to the extraneous variables and basal variables such as
intelligence. attitude, learning environmenr, socio-econutnic status, gender.
locality and type of management of schools 011 the dependent variable
1.7 METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF
1'lx tnethud selected for the srudy i s an experimental one which makes
use of the non-equivalent pretest-posttest design. The investigator prepare
lesson transcripts in three separate model categories belonging to the lnforrnation
Prucessing Models (IPM) family and the corlventional method To determine the
eiyectiveness of he model. paired 'I' test and .4NCOVA will be used Model wide
analysis of achkement will also be made. M&n and interact~on effect (one-way.
two-way and three-way) of the independent variable on r l ~ e dependent \,ariable by
lakitlg the extraneous variables as covariates \dl also he con~pared i t ) order to tind
out if there exists any significant relation between the achieven~er~t of' the
experimental and control groups. The important findings will be reported and based
on the findings the tenability of the hypothesis will be tested. On the basis of the
~~npurtant findings, necessav suygestior~s for the irnproverrlent of teaching
Geography will be given.
1.8 LIMITA'PIONSOFTHESTUDY
'fhure are at least four types of restrictions. They are linlitatior~s with
respect to the selection of sample, content material chosen t'or experimental
teaching, time allotted for teaching the prescribed topic. and the medium of
instruction used
FII-st, the study was limited to one educational district of' Kerala and
14as confined. only to tile 1 ~ ' " standard Malavalam medium students It could have
been conducterl by selecting more students belonyiny to different standards.
different schools from different districts, l ' h u study could be extended to the
English mediurrl schools as well. Certain personality variables which i ntluenct: the
achievutnent of the students like motivation. interest. anxiety. fatigue etc would have
been taken inro consideration. The components of the dependent variables s ~ c h as
ilnrnediate re ter i~ iu r~ and immediate transfer are taken as immediate achzevernent and
delayed retentjot) and delayed transfer as delayed achievement lrlstead of taking the
total scores of rhe various components of the dependent variables. i t would h a w
been taken separiitely for studying their ei'fects
U ith respect to the content material. the study was further restricted
to one selected unit from the IX'" standard Geography textbook Much more time
could have been spent for teaching and evaluating the mudels of teaching along with
the itlstructional and rlurturant effects. In the Infclrrtlation Processing Mlodels ( l1'h.l)
farnil? there are actually seven separate models. But the investigatnr selected only
three models frclnl the IPM family for testing the effectiveness of Information
Processing Models of Teaching compared to that of conventional method of
teacli in~
Iri spite of the above limitations with respect t u the selection of
sample populat~on. content materiat. allotment of time for teaching the prescribed
content nlateriai. the irlvestiyator hopes that the findings and the lesson transcripts
prepared bv follnwlng the strict norms of IPM wilt be of use for the teachers.
students artd the educational~sts interested in the application of modern methods and
instructional strateyes
1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH REPOR?'
The report i s presented in six chapters. the details being as fbllows
C'llapter I includes a brief introduction. the present status of
Geographv as a bub~ect of learning in the school curriculun~. nature of (~eugraphy as
a social scier~ce relevance of modern methods in the teaching of Geography.
discussion of the need and significance of the study. statement of the prohlern.
definit~o~i of' key terms, hypotheses, objectives and limitations of the study
C'hapter 11 is devoted to the presentation of the theor.etica1
background of rL4odels of Teaching with special reference to the lnforrnatiorl
Processing Modt.1~
C'hapter 111 presents the revie14 of related literature and studies
pertaining to thr area under investigation. .An earnest attempt is made tu revien all
the available srud~es in the concerned area.
C't-lapter IV yives a descriptiorl of the tnethod of the study. the
sampling procedure attempted. the tools with which the data were collected. the
procedure emploved to collect data and the statistical technique used in the ilnalysis
of data collected
C't~apter V is concerned wit11 the analysis of data followed by its
interpretations
Chapter \.'I sun~~narises the s~udly. in retl-ospect The major
conclusions and tindinys emerged from the results of the analysis are included, l'he
implications of the study are discussed and suggestions for further research art. also
given