INTRODUCTION
& ORIGIN
Simulation is one
activity that can contribute to a successful and highly enjoyable experience.
It engages students by placing them directly into the conflict of the real
situation. It comes alive as students interact with one another.
Since a long time ago,
simulation has been used by human and even animal to train their young ones for
adaptation with their environment. At first, chess was assumed as the original
form of the war game later on it developed into more serious and sophisticated
military game to train new soldiers. The simulation technique has been applied
successfully in the last decade in education .The advantages of the technique
has been known all over the world by educationist. The National Games Council
was established in 1961 in USA and in 1970, the International Simulation and Games
Association was found in Germany. It is the evidence of the importance of
simulation technique.
DEFINITION
S.S. Chauhan defined
gaming and simulation as “a gestalt communication mode, a future’s
language which combine a game-specific language and appropriate communication
technologies with the multilogue interaction pattern.” (Chauhan, 1979:
120)
Gestalt psychology is
related in some ways to the philosophy now known as constructivism. Constructivism
holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are actively making
things in the real world. Constructivism is connected with experiential
learning and builds on some of the ideas of Jean Piaget.
MECHANISM
AND STEPS OF SIMULATED TEACHING
Saxena and Oberoi
(1994) explained procedure of simulated teaching in their book “Technology of
Teaching”. According to them, prior to sending the pupil-teachers to the real
classrooms, they are trained in the artificial environment by simulated
teaching technique. The procedure or steps of this technique are as follows:
1.
Assignment of Roles:
The first step of this
technique is the assignment of roles to the pupil-teachers. All the
pupil-teachers have to play all the roles. All the pupils play the roles of
teacher, pupil and the supervisor.
2.
Selection and Discussion of Social Skills for Practice:
After assigning the
roles in the first step, some specific social skills are selected and
discussed. The topics related to these skills are practiced. For practice,
those topics are selected in selected social skills “fit”.
3.
Preparation of Work Schedule:
After this, it is
decided that who should initiate the simulated teaching. When it should be
summed up? Who will sum it up? Who will interrupt? etc. hence, such work
schedule is decided before-hand.
4.
Determination of Observation Technique:
In this step, decision
regarding the observation technique is taken. It also includes the types of
data to be recorded and their way of interpretation. Hence, this step is
related to the procedure of evaluation.
5.
Organization of First Practice Session:
After all the preparations,
the first practice session is organized and the feedback is provided to all the
participant pupil-teachers regarding their teaching work. If the need is felt,
some changes can be made for second session. The data regarding the first
practice session is recorded so that the evaluation of the teaching behavior
can be conducted on the basis of that recorded data. Hence, the sessions go on
and everyone gets his turn.
6.
Altering the Procedure:
After the first
session, necessary changes are made in the procedure. In this, topics are
changed. Also, the pupil-teacher, observer and the teaching skills are altered.
Hence, in this altered procedure too everyone plays the role of a teacher and
all the pupil teachers get a chance to practise. Hence, this cycle goes on till
the pupil-teacher is trained.
EDUCATIONAL
GAMES
Educational games are
games that have been specifically designed to teach people about a certain
subject, expand concepts, reinforce development, understand an historical event
or culture, or assist them in learning a skill as they play. Games can provide
a context for learning, opportunities for inquiry and framework for
collaboration and games help students to develop key learning skills such as
cognitive processing, logical thinking and independent decision making. Role
play games enable student to take an imaginative leap out of the limited
classroom. It provides a useful real – life skill use. Situation that students are
probably to meet when using skills in the real world can be simulated. Role-playing/simulation
is an extremely valuable method for learning. It encourages thinking and
creativity, lets students to develop and practice new behavioral skills in a
relatively nonthreatening setting, and can create the motivation and involvement
necessary for learning to occur.
THE
ROLES OF TEACHER IN SIMULATED TEACHING
Chauchan (1979: 125)
stated that in a gaming situation the teacher should behave like a consultant,
a referee, or both. At first, the teachers introduce the game to the students,
during the games the teacher acts as a consultant to those who need assistance
in interpreting the rules or in making moves in the game. Finally, after the
game ends the teacher can discuss all about the game process with the
students. Teacher’s role in simulated game can also be concluded as quote
from Jones (1982), "...the teacher becomes the Controller, and controls
the event in the same way as a traffic controller, helping the flow of traffic
and avoiding bottlenecks, but not telling individuals which way to go."
Again, this is consistent with Scarcella and Oxford's (1992) principles. Rather
than a traditional, teacher-centered classroom structure, the teacher keeps a
relatively low profile and students are free to interact with each other spontaneously.
This reduces student anxiety and facilitates learning. The teacher must take on
some additional responsibilities in role playing/simulation. In particular, the
teacher must keep learners motivated by stimulating their curiosity and keeping
the material relevant, creating a "tension to learn" (Burns and Gentry,
1998).
THE
ADVANTAGES OF INSTRUCTIONAL SIMULATION
1.
Motivational Advantages: Games are engaging and motivating
approach to students. It gets them involved and holds their attention longer.
Children usually learn and retain more knowledge using role play.
2.
Removal of Student – teacher Polarization: Students
actually engage in the learning process rather than passive receiver of
knowledge
3.
Simulation as a Universal Behavioral Mode: Children learn
the most from play when they have skilled teachers who are well-trained in
understanding how play contributes to learning.
4.
Gains Related to Relevance and Learning: Games provide a safe
artificial environment within which learners with low self-esteem may feel more
inclined to explore, investigate and express themselves.
5.
Decision – Making: It is similar to the real life
experience; the problems that students will be found in the real life can be
stimulated. So, the students try to solve the problem and make a decision from
among alternatives to achieve a particular object.
6.
Role Awareness: Many games enable players to embody
different characters thus helping to breed attitudes of tolerance and understanding.
7.
An Interdisciplinary View: Simulation provides a valuable
link between activities within the classroom and life outside school. Such a
connection will help to make students to have better understanding to see the
world in different perspective.
8.
Dynamic Framework: Games can be used to teach content that
it is very difficult to teach in the classroom. Simulation offers different technique
from the others it can deliver all kind of issues which cannot be limited by
time perspectives.
9.
Bridging the Gap to Reality: Simulation help
teacher to connect the teaching material to the student’s real world and
encourage the students to make a relation between the knowledge that they have
already had with the application in their life as a member of society.
10.
Gestalt Communication: The power of simulations is
to transpose the normal classroom into an authentic setting where skills can be
evaluated under more realistic conditions. It prepares students to be able to
face the complexity in the real world.
CONCLUSION
Simulated teaching is
an innovative approach because students engage in genuine communication in
playing their roles. Active involvement stems from participation in worthwhile,
absorbing interaction which tends to make students forget they are learning a
new skill. Students have the opportunity to try out new behaviors in a safe
environment, which helps them develop long-term motivation to master additional
skills. In addition to encouraging genuine communication, active involvement,
and a positive attitude, the simulated "real life" problems help
students develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills.
If the role
playing/simulation technique is employed, it should be integrated with other
learning activities, given the preparation and care which is required in any
learning method, and adapted to student needs and level. If these guidelines
are followed, it can be a rewarding experience for both the students and
teacher.
REFERENCES
·
Chauchan, S.S. (1979). Innovations in
Teaching-Learning Process. Vikas Publishing House PVT LTD, New
Delhi. Tomkins, K.Patricia.1998.
·
Saxena, S.N.R.
& Oberoi, S.C. (1994). Technology of teaching. Meerut, R. Lall Book Depot,
pp 343-344
·
Role Playing/SimulationTESL
Journal,Vol.IV No.8 Available at http://iteslj.org/techniques/Tompkins-roleplaying.html
·
Learning Theory: Constructivism.
Wikipedia. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/constructivism
No comments:
Post a Comment