LAST REFLECTION ON CBE AND DIDACTIC SEQUENCE

In the previous entry, we were discussing something related to Didactic Sequence. But in this last session we continued discussing about some important aspect that we have to included or develop as a teacher in a real life.

We were also discussing about inquiry reflection which is a diagram in which teachers can facilitate their preparation in the lesson plan:

•    Knowledge: which refers to what he or she is going to teach or do in the class.
•   Articulation: the way he will develop his/her class.
• Resources: what he/she is going to use in order to get his/her students attention in the class.
•   Organization: in which way he/she will do it as a lesson plan.
•   Evaluation: what contents he will consider in the assessment of his/her students. Also, they will determine the time and the type of the test.
•  Justification: why he or she is going to do so.  Basically is the purpose.

To sum up, the DS was applied to the teaching of an expository text, and different pedagogic strategies vocabulary redundancy, familiarity with the ideas involved, and a checklist to encourage student autonomy were implemented to allow students to experiment this practice as a coherent, cohesive process adapted to their needs. The final DS design stroke a balance between a grammatical and a purely ideational focus and, as a result, students were able to improve their acquaintance with, and use of, the main features of expository writing without becoming estranged in the learning process.

DIDACTIC SEQUENCE

I'll be explaining what ''didactic sequence'' is about. Firstly, I'm going to give a brief definition: A didactic sequence is a group of activities created in order to reach an objective. Those activities must follow an order and an organization. That means that each activity has its own purpose and all of them work together in order to reach a bigger objective.

Another characteristic of didactic sequences is that they must have a rhythm too.

didactic sequences must have the following characteristics:

 “They must test the previous knowledge of the pupils and adapt the class to the level of knowledge of students.” (Rodriguez, n.d)

 “The contents of the class must be meaningful and must represent a challenge for students.” (Rodriguez, n.d)

“They promote mental activity and construction of new concepts.” (Rodriguez, n.d)

“They promote autonomy and met cognition.” (Rodriguez, n.d)

The didactic sequence must develop in students knowledge, abilities and attitudes. And must help the student to take his abilities outside the school. (Obaya, n.d)

A didactic sequence for English must have four main elements:

Activities: “What students will be doing in the classroom.” (Harmer, 2006)

Skills: “Which language skills  se wish our students to develop”

Language: “What language students will practice, research or use”

Content: “Select content which has a good chance of provoking interest and involvement.

 Cognitivism is based on the mental processes that students use in order to reach understanding. Some of those processes are perception, memorization, thinking and resolution of problems.

Some activities may be proposed to be carried out in a space-time context other than the classroom.

Didactic Sequence implies short-term planning (activities), which during its implementation converges with long-term planning (approaches and competency development).

A Didactic Sequence always refers to a method, a technique or an approach.

Here is one example of didactic sequence it can be similar to the PPP.

• ·         Teaching presentation (introduction)
• ·         Content study by students
• ·         Student practice (individual or group)
• ·         Applying on similar tasks or exercises

TASK ANALYSIS II

Task analysis analyses what a user is required to do in terms of actions and/or cognitive processes to achieve a task. A detailed task analysis can be conducted to understand the current system and the information flows within it. These information flows are important to the maintenance of the existing system and must be incorporated or substituted in any new system. Task analysis makes it possible to design and allocate tasks appropriately within the new system. The functions to be included within the system and the user interface can then be accurately specified.

In the class we make some activities where this can help us to improve and create and provides knowledge of the tasks that the user wishes to perform. Thus it is a reference against which the value of the system functions and features can be tested.

Method

Task decomposition

The process of task decomposition is best represented as a structure chart (similar to that used in Hierarchical Task Analysis). This shows the sequencing of activities by ordering them from left to right. In order to break down a task, the question should be asked ‘how is this task done?’. If a sub-task is identified at a lower level, it is possible to build up the structure by asking ‘why is this done?’. The task decomposition can be carried out using the following stages:

1. Identify the task to be analysed.

2. Break this down into between 4 and 8 subtasks. These subtasks should be specified in terms of objectives and, between them, should cover the whole area of interest.

3. Draw the subtasks as a layered diagram ensuring that it is complete.

4. Decide upon the level of detail into which to decompose. Making a conscious decision at this stage will ensure that all the subtask decompositions are treated consistently. It may be decided that the decomposition should continue until flows are more easily represented as a task flow diagram.

5.Continue the decomposition process, ensuring that the decompositions and numbering are consistent. It is usually helpful to produce a written account as well as the decomposition diagram.

6. Present the analysis to someone else who has not been involved in the decomposition but who knows the tasks well enough to check for consistency.