2. INTRODUCTION
A great deal of attention is now being focused on the professional
duties of teachers, especially, those duties associated with careful and
detailed planning of teaching and learning. Teachers in Fiji have been
preparing and using workbooks as detailed plan of teaching and learning
for a long time. A literature survey, however suggests that there is very
little information on the effectiveness of workbooks. This paper attempts
to fulfill this need by discussing the finding of a research study that
looked at the effectiveness of workbooks in teaching and learning in a
primary school in Fiji.
3. DATA COLLECTION
Work books prepared by learners are of vital importance in the
development of various skills. By working on the assignments in the
workbook, the pupils learn by doing. The tasks should be of such a
nature that they would lead to the concretization of the concepts
presented in the text book for example, the pictures of the different
scripts of different countries may be given, and pupils asked to name
them. Similarly, the pictures of some of the tools and weapons of the
past and the present may be given and the pupils may be asked to name
them. Again pupils may be asked to locate places and events in given
maps and time lines. Problems which require application of the
knowledge gained in new situations also can be given. Objective type
questions may be asked which could be answered with the help of text
books. Our present text books which are largely activity oriented serve
this need as well.
4. ADVANTAGES
Workbooks are often used in a school for younger students, either in
middle school or elementary school. They are faroxd because students
can work directly in their books, eliminating the need for loose leaf and
coping questions from a text book. In industry they may be customized
interactive manuals which are used to help provide structure to an
otherwise complex problem.
Work book also hold an advantages because they are usually smaller
and lighter than text which equals to less trouble when the student brings
the book home to complete their home work
The term ‘work book’ is also used to describe other compilations of
questions that require the reader to complete scratch work when dealing
with higher level mathematics. It can also be used as a training tool for
certain job positions.
More recently, electronic work books have permitted interactive and
customized learning. Such work books may be used on computers, lap
tops, PDA’s and may be web based.
5. CONCLUSION
The preparation of workbooks and other aspect of teaching and
learning have not improved very much. As the study shows, the
preparation of the work book is administration requirements and not
necessarily a meaningful exercise for effective teaching and learning.
Teachers largely teach from the teacher and pupils hand books and other
texts provided by CDU.
REFERENCE
1. Wikipedia