LESSON 4 - SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO TEACHING

"A plan that emphasizes the parts may pay the cost of failing to consider the whole, and plan that emphasizes the whole must pay the cost of failing to get down to the real depth with respect to the parts." 

 

-- C.West Churchman

The systems approach views the entire educational program as a system of closely interrelated parts. It is an orchestrated learning pattern with all parts harmoniously integrated into the whole: the school, the teacher, the students, the objectives, the media, the materials and assessment tools and procedures. Such an approach integrates the older, more familiar methods and tools of instruction with the new ones such as the computer. 

The systems' approach to instruction is simple in theory but far from being simplistic in practice. It is not just a matter of teacher formulating his/her lesson objective and then directly teaching the student. There are a lot of elements or factors that the teacher has to take into consideration - students' needs, interests, home background, prior experiences, developmental stage, nature and the like. The teacher, in the choice of the most appropriate teaching method, learning activities and learning resources, considers capability, the developmental stage of his students and of course his/her lesson objective. His/her choice of assessment method for learning is likewise dependent on the lesson objective. The action the teacher takes after getting assessment results is based on the assessment results, acceptability of remedial measure to parents and students, like a tutorial class after class hours. Will an extra hour after class devoted to tutorial be acceptable to the students and parents concerned?

The phrases or elements are connected to one another. If one element or one phase of the instructional process fails, the outcome which is learning is adversely affected. The attainment of the learning objective is dependent on the synergy of all elements and of all actors involved in the process.

The purpose of a system instructional design is "to ensure orderly relationships and interaction of human, technical and environmental resources to fulfill the goals which have been established for instruction." ( Brown, 1969 ).