16 T H E JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH

EFFECTIVE GUIDES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING* ANN E. NOLTE, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Health Education, The Ohio State University

An essential step in curriculum development is that of presenting the proposed curriculum in a form which can be effectively utilized by the classroom teacher. It is obvious that a t this step in curriculum develop- what is proposed may well remain simply that-a proposal. The task is this: to translate the theory of the conceptual framework as proposed by the School Health Education Study, into a format which will accurately reflect the theory, can be understood by the teacher, and used for the effective teaching of health.

The Teaching-Learning Guides developed for the School Health Edu- cation Study contain some unique features and are presented as a pro- posed way (as opposed to the way) of interpreting the conceptual approach. The name, Teaching-Learning Guide, grew out of the idea of continuous interaction between the processes of teaching and learning. Although well-known to teachers, this interaction is very specifically woven into the various sections of the Guide and a careful analysis of the Guide will reveal this feature. Thus, this is not simply the traditional, stereotyped teaching guide. It is a guide which focuses upon teaching which leads to learning and learning which gives direction to teaching.

Teaching-Learning Guides were developed for two of the ten concepts. These were Guides for the concepts “The family is the basic unit of society through which certain health needs can be fulfilled,” and “Use of health information, products, and services is governed by the application of an individual’s criteria.” The Guides for each concept were developed in a progression of four levels. This is opposed to developing a guide for each grade level in a school system, or for elementary, junior and senior high schools. The Guides as developed by the Study in this progression of Levels I through I V reflect a progression from the simple to the more complex and are easily adapted to differing communities. Thus an un- graded school system might establish the desired outcomes as tasks to be accomplished at individual pace; while a graded system could specify that Level I would be for lower elementary school, Level 11, upper elementary, Level 111, junior high and Level IV, senior high. Adaptability was one criteria which the Study tried to use effectively. Two other criteria included the need to reflect the conceptual approach and the need to embody what is currently known about the teaching-learning process.

Each Guide consists of six sections which can be viewed and talked about individually, but do not exist independently. For efficient use one needs to understand why each of the six is dependent upon the others and how each was developed as it was. The sections of the Guide are:

Overview Conceptual structure Goals Behavioral outcomes and content Teacher-student references Evaluation

*This is the third paper of the School Health Education Study series presented at the Chicago meeting on October 18, 1965.

THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH 17

A brief description will show the why and how of each section.

Overview The overview of each Guide is designed to set the stage for considera-

tion of the educational experiences which will follow. The significance of the key concept and the concept is highlighted for each of the four progression levels. The teacher using the Guide is assisted in seeing the total picture through a general description of the individual, his specific need for an understanding and acting upon the concept, and the environment sur- rounding the individual. This overview attempts to synthesize the specifics of the rest of the Teaching-Learning Guide.

Conceptual Structure The next element of the Teaching-Learning Guide consists of the con-

ceptual structure for the particular key concept. This structure includes a statement of the concept and the substantive elements in the forms of the physical, mental and social dimensions. Thus, in each Guide the teacher will have a ready reference to the theoretical structure from which develop the goals, behavioral outcomes and content, and learning experiences.

The inclusion of the theoretical structure is a unique feature and is an attempt to keep before the teacher the ultimate goals of health education and also to show in part the structure of the discipline.

Goals Each concept has its own stated goals toward which the teaching-

learning process is directed. The goals, as initially formulated for each concept, are stated in terms of knowledges, attitudes and practices. These knowledges, attitudes and practices are long-range, that is not necessarily achievable at any one point in the curriculum, but representing a con- tinuous on-going procedure or process in the direction of the goal at all progression levels.

A careful evaluation of how these goals were stated, an attempt to know what meaning is attached to the terms knowledges, attitudes and practices, and a review of current thinking about educational goals and objectives have resulted in a refinement of the stating of the goals.

The attempt over a number of years t o define knowledges, attitudes and practices satisfactorily has resulted in the development of keener insight into this terminology. This study and analysis of terminology has brought about a stating of goals in specific terms which give speci-fic direction to the teacher. Education has long been denounced as flounder- ing in vague generalities. The work of psychologists and educationists in the realm of learning which has led to the development of these specifics is an attempt to communicate more effectively what it is that education is about.

The cognitive domain, the affective domain and the action domain. These three domains by definition involve the following:

Knowledges (of specifics, terminology, facts, trends and sequences, classification and catagories, criteria, methodology, and others)

The goals are now classified into three domains.

Cognitive D o m a i n

18 THE JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH

Intellectural abilities and skills (comprehension, translation, inter- pretation, extrapolation, application, analysis, synthesis, evalua- tion)

A ffective Domain Receiving, responding, valuing, organization, characterization by

a value or value complex Action Domain

Long range goals where the individual actually applies to a real life situation the cognitive and affective abilities gained through educational experiences

The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives served as a guide in formulating these Goals and the Behavioral Outcomes.

Behavioral Outcomes and Content The Behavioral Outcomes and Content section of the Guides was

developed in order to bridge the gap between content and desired behavior. That is, the content along with what is desired as behavior are linked together. The bringing together of these elements tends to give more direction to the teacher. The behaviors were those of the cognitive, affective and action domain and thus were more specific in terms of immediate or short range behaviors. These behavioral outcomes and content build upon each other from one progression level to another and when viewed can be observed to move from simple to more complex actions. As an example, in the Teaching-Learning Guides for the con- cept “The family is the basic unit of society . . .” the desired behaviors with clues to the content are:

Describes the role and responsibilities of individuals within the family. Illustrates relationships within a family that influence the degree of health and happiness of all members. Identifies social, economic, cultural, and ethnic influences upon family life. Interprets the significance of the family cycle in shaping values, standards, and attitudes of its family members.

The desired behaviors of describing, illustrating, identifying and inter- preting, are each followed by a clue to the content to be used in this particular behavior. The teacher builds upon previous content and developing behaviors and continually moves toward the behavior desired at that level.

The specificity of stating behaviors helps communicate more accurately just exactly what it is hoped will be accomplished.

I.

11.

111.

IV.

Learning Opportunities The learning opportunities consist of many activities utilizing various

methods and techniques. Within this portion of the Guide the classroom teacher has a wonderful opportunity to develop activities which will lead students toward the desired behavioral outcomes. Just as there are many different ways of achieving an objective, so there may be many different learning opportunities which would bring about desired behaviors.

The learning opportunities suggested in the Guides are those which will help students move toward the accomplishment of the desired be-

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haviors. They are directly associated with the behavioral outcomes and content. An opportunity may be very direct and specific to a behavior or it may be very general and while focused upon a specific may encourage or lead toward other behaviors.

Teacher-Student References The writers, teachers in the try-out centers, and director of the study

gathered t,he latest materials for use by teachers and students. These materials were from many reliable sources and were chosen for their reliability, accuracy and their relatedness to the concepts. These ma- terials are only representative of many possibilities. Large packets of these materials organized into catagories for each Guide were sent to the teachers for their use. Needless to say this service was greatly appreciated; however, again let it be stated that these were only suggested materials and a teacher could have many opportunities to choose appropriate materials.

Ezlaluation The Evaluation section of the Teaching-Learning Guide contains sug-

gested ways in which a teacher could determine whether a student is achieving the desired behavioral outcomes and is moving toward the long-range goals and the realization of the concepts. The specifying of behavioral outcomes provides direction in the choice of evaluative tech- niques. For example, if a desired behavior is that of being able to de- scribe, the evaluation of this could be done orally or in writing, in a formal or informal situation. The content of the behavioral outcome gives the substance for the evaluation. Activities of a describing nature could be many and varied.

Summary In summary these are the general ideas or principles around which

these Teaching-Learning Guides have been developed : 1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

They were developed with flexibility and adaptability in mind. There is a sequential and logical arrangement to the guides which move from the abstract key concepts to the more concrete. There is specificity in the stating of desired outcomes. The teaching-learning process and what is known about it are used to determine, in part, the substance of the Teaching-Learning Guide. There is sequence and progression in the Behavioral Outcomes and Content from Level I through Level IV. The theoretical structure is accurately reflected through the Guides.

* * * * * The Council on Rural Health of the American Medical Association announces

the 19th National Conference on Rural Health to be held at the Brosdmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado on March 18 and 19, 1966. This Conference will explore new developments in distribution of health manpower, communication in health edu- cation! accident prevention in rural areas, the control of water pollution, health of the migrant worker, and recreation and health. The professional public in health education and allied fields is invited. * * * * *