A Method of Designing Instructional Processes Using Symbols, and the Training of Inservice Teachers

Abstract

A symbol system for the designing of classroom teaching is proposed and some results of its application in preparing lesson plans are shown in this paper. The traditional lesson plan does not have a rational description concerning the actual instructional events and the corresponding behavior of the learners in the classroom. So new symbols have been developed with the intention of relating the predicted descriptions to the events observed in the classroom, and of facilitating the generating of lesson plans and the production of teaching materials. In the case of the instructing of large classes, the lesson plan was generated by teachers working in groups, with role-playing in simulated situations. After the actual classroom teaching, this lesson plan was revised according to the responses of the learners. In the case of the instructing of small groups, it was difficult to generate a plan in a game situation ; but group learning provided with experimental equipment was easily designed using the symbols. Utilization of these symbols was beneficial as the following shows : (1) to describe the mutual relationship of events in classroom teaching, (2) to facilitate the revision of lesson plans, (3) to enrich the contents written into the lesson plans. On the other hand, the systematic training of teachers is required to specify the relation between the symbol and its referent.