Explain the concept of ‘Grading’ & its types with suitable examples. Solution: Concept of Grading:

Grading is a powerful tool faculty use to communicate with their students, colleagues, and institutions, as well as external entities.   The authors, through their personal experiences in the classroom and from listening to faculty from myriad institutions at workshops around the country, have found that teachers have “spent nearly every day of *their+ teaching lives wrestling with the problems, the power, and the paradoxes of the grading system” (xv).  “Effective Grading . . . presents suggestions for making classroom grading more fair, more time-efficient, and more conducive to learning” (xvi).

Letter Grades

With the letter grade system, students can receive A, B, C, D or F grades. Letter grades are usually calculated with a nine or 10-point range assigned to each letter. A is the highest grade, associated with 90 percent accuracy or higher and  F grade is given for a performance with 59 percent accuracy or less.
4.0 Grading Scale

The 4.0 grading scale is another common type of grading, often used in conjunction with letter grades. This scale typically is used in high schools and colleges, as a means to calculate a Grade Point Average (GPA)

 Mastery Grading

A new trend in grading systems is mastery, Rick Wormeli writes in his book, "Fair Isn't Always Equal." Many school systems, in kindergarten through 12th grade, are moving away from the sometimes-subjective traditional grading systems toward the more concrete mastery grade systems.

For example:  Schools ad collages. They use Letter grade system. They give grades according to what student has got marks.

Explain the concept of divergent thinking. Design and develop a plan for promoting divergent thinking among your learners.

Divergent thinking is an approach to a situation or concept which focuses on exploring as many aspects of the concept as possible. Starting with a single idea, the divergent thinker allows his or her mind to wander off in many different directions, gathering numerous thoughts and ideas which relate to the concept. Divergent thinking can be used as a method of creative brainstorming in a wide variety of settings, ranging from the research and development department of a major company to the classroom.

With divergent thinking, people start out thinking about a single concept, and develop many solutions and approaches to the concept. This contrasts with convergent thinking, in which many ideas are brought together to a single focus, often by following a series of logical steps to arrive at this focus. Divergent thinking is often associated with creative pursuits and the humanities, which tend to encourage a more free-form method of thinking, but in fact, it can be beneficial in the sciences as well, with the ability to think in a far-reaching and erratic way being a useful skill when it comes to solving some scientific puzzles.

It is difficult to test for divergent thinking on examinations which are designed to test intelligence and mental ability. This type of thinking cannot be pinned down or categorized, because it relies heavily on the ability to generate random, disorganized thoughts in a free-flowing way, and there is no way to test for this with a conventional examination. As a result, people who are skilled at divergent thinking may not perform terribly well on intelligence tests, when they are in fact quite intelligent.

Divergent thinking exercises can help develop the mind and foster creativity. For example, students might be given a list of items and asked to think of as many possible uses as they can for each. Or, students may be presented with a problem and asked to brainstorm a number of different solutions. Divergent thinking can also be used as the basis for the development of products in addition to intellectual ideas.

For people who are used to convergent thinking, it can be difficult to explore divergentthinking. Aids such as free association exercises, free writing diaries, and so forth can help people grow accustomed to thinking in this way while allowing them to develop their thoughts. There are also numerous divergent thinking exercises available on the Internet, including exercises designed for classrooms and groups.

Strategies of Divergent Thinking

The goal of divergent thinking is to generate many different ideas about a topic in a short period of time. It involves breaking a topic down into its various component parts in order to gain insight about the various aspects of the topic. Divergent th inking typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner, such that the ideas are generated in a random, unorganized fashion. Following divergent thinking, the ideas and information will be organized using convergent thinking; i.e., putting the var ious ideas back together in some organized, structured way.

To begin brainstorming potential topics, it is often helpful to engage in self analysis and topic analysis.

Self Analysis

Ask the following questions to help brainstorm a list of potential topics.

How do I spend my time? What are my activities during a normal day?

What do I know about? What are my areas of expertise? What am I studying in school?

What do I like? What are my hobbies? What are my interests?

What bothers me? What would I like to change in my world or life?

What are my strongest beliefs, values and philosophies?

Topic Analysis

Ask the following questions to help narrow and refine a broad topic into a specific, focused one. Substitute your topic for the word "something."

How would you describe something?

What are the causes of something?

What are the effects of something?

What is important about something?

What are the smaller parts that comprise something?

How has something changed? Why are those changes important?

What is known and unknown about something?

What category of ideas or objects does something belong to?

Is something good or bad? Why?

What suggestions or recommendations would you make about something?

What are the different aspects of something you can think of?

Techniques to Stimulate Divergent Thinking

1. Brainstorming. Brainstorming is a technique which involves generating a list of ideas in a creative, unstructured manner. The goal of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible in a short period of time. The key tool in brainstorm ing is "piggybacking," or using one idea to stimulate other ideas. During the brainstorming process, ALL ideas are recorded, and no idea is disregarded or criticized. After a long list of ideas is generated, one can go back and review the ideas to criti que their value or merit.

2. Keeping a Journal. Journals are an effective way to record ideas that one thinks of spontaneously. By carrying a journal, one can create a collection of thoughts on various subjects that later become a source book of ideas. People often have insights at unusual times and places. By keeping a journal, one can capture these ideas and use them later when developing and organizing materials in the prewriting stage.

3. Freewriting. When free-writing, a person will focus on one particular topic and write non-stop about it for a short period of time. The idea is to write down whatever comes to mind about the topic, without stopping to proofread or revise the writing. This can help generate a variety of thoughts about a topic in a short period of time, which can later be restructured or organized following some pattern of arrangement.

4. Mind or Subject Mapping. Mind or subject mapping involves putting brainstormed ideas in the form of a visual map or picture that that shows the relationships among these ideas. One starts with a central idea or topic, then draws branches off the main topic which represent different parts or aspects of the main topic. This creates a visual image or "map" of the topic which the writer can use to develop the topic further. For example, a topic may have four different branches (sub-topics), and each of those four branches may have two branches of its own (sub-topics of the sub-topic) *Note* this includes both divergent and convergent thinking.

Describe the various steps and measures you take to create inclusive/conducive learning environment in the school for your students (SC/ST, girls and special needs children).

Create classroom norms: At the beginning of a course, create a list of rules for classroom behaviour. You can do this along with your students. A good way to begin is by first stating a few rules that you believe are important and that lay the foundation for an inclusive learning environment. For instance, basic rules such as "treat others with respect" and "listen to others and avoid pointing blame" will set a tone for how you and the students are expected to behave.

Address issues of diversity directly: As an instructor, you are in the position to model inclusion in the classroom. You can do this in a few ways. You can address issues of diversity when they come up in class discussion. For instance, if a student makes a comment that is ignorant or hurtful, use this as a time to discuss with the entire class how this comment might hurt others. You can also use course content to help students look at issues of diversity.

Use a variety of teaching methods and model inclusiveness in your teaching style: Utilizing diverse teaching methods will make the course inclusive for a variety of abilities and learning styles. Rather than just teaching through lectures, use methods such as collaborative and group activities; hands-on activities; Internet and technology based learning; fieldwork or field trips and guest speakers. Provide written materials to supplement lectures as well.

Hence the above steps can be considered important for inclusive/ conductive learning environment in the class rooms.

Describe the activity based instruction with suitable examples from your subject.

Activity based instruction is ' learning by doing '.Instead of merely listening to lectures pupil will actively participate in the learning process. The teacher will only guide and encourage them to find out or learn things themselves.
For example to teach Pythagoras theorem the teacher asks the child to draw a few right angled triangles having different measures of base and altitude. then ask them to find out the measures of the diagonals in each case and find out the relationship between base ,altitude and diagonal from the figs.
They could easily find the relationship and understand the theorem.
The advantage of such method is that the learning will be more effective and it will be a child entered learning .He can learn things on his own pace too.
The disadvantages are that, this method is not applicable in all learning situations. Even in practical life also we can not have the first hand information in all our learning. Many things we have to cognize through reading and listening. And another disadvantage is that it is time consuming.
So in practical situation we should make a combination of both for making learning more effective. Activity Based Instruction has been described as a “combination of selected strategies found in early childhood and behaviour analytic approaches and shares many theoretical and philosophical underpinnings with DAP”

The purpose of this lesson is to (a) describe the elements of ABI and its potential benefit for young children who are at risk or who have disabilities, (b) review the existing literature regarding the use of ABI with young children with autism, and (c) provide resources for practitioners and family members who want to learn more about using an Activity Based Instruction approach to early intervention.

Activity Based Instruction

Inquiry Oriented Lessons

· Meets the learning style of the student

· More hands-on

· More active participation

· Emphasizes cognitive thinking skills

Cooperative Learning

· Jigsaw Model where each member of the group learns a portion of the material and then teaches it to

the rest of the group.

· Full Option Science System (FOSS) model for mixed ability groups

· Cooperative learning activity involves 4 students working together and taking turns with the following

roles.

1. Reader: this student reads all print directions.

2. Recorder: this student records data, observations, predictions and estimations.

3. Getter: this student assembles all of the necessary materials.

4. Starter: this student oversees manipulations or the materials and ensures that all members have

equal opportunity at using the hands-on materials.

Integrated Units

· Students prefer working on a project for longer periods of time rather than stopping and starting

several short lessons.

· Connects student to real world situations.

· Student able to generalize knowledge.

· Increases time on task.

· Increases creativity on the part of the teacher and the students.

· Increases teacher enthusiasm.

· Use video presentations to meet objectives of the unit.

· Assessments can reflect student work rather than the textbook's paper and pencil tests.

Class wide Peer Tutoring (CWPT)

· Practical and easy to use.

· Students learn more by doing/teaching.

· Students prefer working with other students.

· Increases time on task.

· Allows teacher to observe and help all students, not just focusing on 1 or 2 students in need.

· Promotes social and academic skills.

· Improves performance on standardized tests.

· Allows students to respond and receive immediate feedback regarding their performance.

· Increases student learning opportunities.

· The use of "Tutor and Tutee" checklists makes the students more accountable and helps the teacher monitor student performance.

Advantages of Activity Based Instruction:

1) the most important feature of activity based instruction is learning by doing. So this method of instruction can fulfil the natural urge of a growing child on one hand also can help them learn their lesson.

2) The method also promotes better understanding of a lesson among students as they learn the lesson by practicing the task themselves.

3) It inspires the students to apply their creative ideas, knowledge and minds in solving problems as well as promoting competitive spirit among them.

4) It also helps learner psychologically as they can express their emotions through active participation in something useful.

5) The method also helps in developing their personalities, social traits and inter-personal management skills.

Disadvantages of Activity Based Instruction:

1) The activity based instruction method requires long-term planning with minute details of the whole process because before engaging the learners, the teacher has to make sure that all students have sufficient knowledge and skills regarding the task they are going to perform. So this method cannot be used on a regular and daily basis as it involves a lengthy procedure.

2) The objectives of the method can only be fulfilled if the planning of the lesson is flawless. If there is slightest flaw in the planning, this method would do more harm than good.

3) Learners have varied levels of merit and understanding. So less meritorious students might not prepare for a task as other which might lead to failure of objectives of the whole process.

4) Many renowned educationists also are of the opinion that the activity based method is more suitable for branches of experimental sciences and less useful for subjects of social sciences.