Lesson 8

Teaching with Contrived Experiences

“We teach through a re-arrangement of the raw reality: a specimen, a manageable sample of a whole… when the direct experience cannot be used properly in its natural setting.”- Edgar Dale

What is Contrived Experiences?

·         These are “edited” copies of reality and are used as substitutes for real things when it is not practical or do the real thing in the classroom. These are designed to stimulate to real-life situation.

These are included in Contrived Experiences:

1.    Model- is a reproduction of a real thing in a small scale, large scale or exact size. It is a substitute for a real thing which may or may not be operational.

2.   Mock-up – is an arrangement of real device or associated devices, displayed in such a way that representation of reality is created. The mock-up may be simplified in order to emphasize certain features. It is a special model where the parts of a model are single out, heightened and magnified in order to focus on that part or process under study.

3.    Specimen- is any individual or item considered typical of a group, class or whole.

4.  Objects- may also include artifacts displayed in a museum or objects displayed in exhibits or preserved insect’s specimen in science.

5.   Simulation- is representation of manageable real event in which the learner is active participants engage in learning a behavior in or in applying previously acquired skills or knowledge. It seems to be more easily applied to study of issues rather than to process.

6.    Games- played to win. It is use of any of these purposes:

·         To practice and to refine knowledge or skills that already acquire.

·         To identify gaps or weaknesses in knowledge or skills.

·         To serve as a summation or review.

·         To develop new relationships among concepts and principles.

Why do we make use of Contrived Experiences?

1.    To overcome limitation of space and time.

2.    To edit “reality” for us to be able to focus on parts or a process of a system that we intended to study.

3.    To overcome difficulties of size.

4.    To understand the inaccessible.

5.    Help the learners understand abstractions.