Undoubtedly,
there are special things that social studies teacher has to give careful
thought to in deciding hat instructional materials to use during the lesson.
Brooke (1992) observed that when any teacher is considering instructional
material for possible use or purchase, there are several criteria that might be
kept in mind. These considerations he put in question from to which the teacher
is providing answer will give careful thought to these salient points:
1. Does
the content coincide reasonably well with objective the subject?
2. How
does the readability of the material compare with the reading skills of the
prospective student?
3. What
is the interest level of the students with that equipment?
4. Does
the illustration enhance the text?
5. Is
this the best medium for message?
i.
Might an audio-visual presentation carry
more meaning or impact?
ii.
Is a motion picture needed to illustrate
a process
iii.
If so, does sound need to be
synchronized with light?
iv.
Do you want the materials to challenge
the students towards greater speed of response?
6. How
hard does the material teach that is to a say how much explanation, drilling
practising and testing are included?
7. Is a
special machine needed to present the material? If so what other materials are
provided by the same company to fit the machine.
8. Are
the materials repairable?
9. How
durable is the material?
10. Is the price of the equipment within the
budgetary limit of the schools?
Accordingly, all the above criteria
will probably never be met by any single item or set of materials. In fact,
they are not compatible but their elative important on a given occasion vary
with the circumstances. The first and the second main question to ask is, will
this material help the students to learn what he needs to learn? In addition to
the above, the teacher will be doing himself a word of good if he considers the
simplicity or complexity of the equipment in view of modern technological
advancement and his own knowledge about the equipment, there is no point buying
or using it.
Problems Associated with Teaching Resources
in Social Studies
Instructional materials general are
useful for curriculum delivery. Specifically social studies being an
interesting subject cannot be thought or learnt without those necessary
teaching resource as enumerated earlier in this study. However, it is
unfortunate that a lot of problems hinder the procurement, storage and use of
this teaching resource in secondary schools. In the first place, like all other
imported goods, teaching resources are very costly and it must case above the
school budget. Hence many secondary schools in Abeokuta south could not afford.
Necessary instructional materials are not produced locally and not much effort
is being made by government to address this issue.
Moreover, some of these foreign
teaching resources are so complex that even the teachers themselves do not
understand their operated procedure, let alone explain it efficiently to the
students for whom they are meant to help. This defeats both the huge investment
in the equipment cannot be used. Another problem that beset the use of teaching
resources in secondary schools in Abeokuta is that of storage facilities. Some
teaching resource, especially the imported once requires being kept under
specific temperature level in the storeroom. Regrettably, most secondary
schools have no storeroom built for the storage of their teaching resources.In
addition, some social studies teachers lack the requisite skills for efficient
and effective utilization of these teaching resources; this makes it possible
for students to derive maximum output from the equipment.