DEMONSTRATIONS IN TEACHING

LB#10

                  What is then is a demonstration in teaching? It is showing how the thing is done and emphasizing of the salient merits, utility and efficiency of a concept, a method or a process or an attitude.

There are at leat three guiding principles the teacher must to observe in using demonstration as a teaching-learning experience.

1. Establish rapport.Greet your audience.Make them feel at ease by your warmth and sincerity.Stimulate their interest by making your demonstration and yourself interesting.Sustain their attention.
2. Avoid the COIK fallacy (Clear Only If Known)  this means that it is the assumption that what is clear to the expert demonsrtator is also clearly known to the person whom the message is intended.To avoid this, it is best for the expert demonstrator to assume that his audience knows nothing or a little about what he is intending to demonstrate for him to be very thorough,clear and detailed in his demonstration even to a point of facing the risk of being repetitive.
3. Watch for key ponts. these are the ones at which an errors likely to be made, the places at which many people stumble and where the knacks and tricks of the trade are especially important. The good demonstrtor rocognizes possible stumbling blocks to learners and highlights them in some way.

To ensure that the demonstration works, the teacher ought to plan and prepare very well before they conduct the demonstration. 

Here are some suggested methodical procedures by the following question:

• What are the teacher's objectives?
• How does the teacher's class stand with respect to these objectives?
• Is there a better way to achieve the teacher's ends?
• Does the teacher has acess to all the necessary materials and equipment to make the demonstration?
• Are the time limits realistic?

A good demonstration is an audio-visual presentation.It is not enough that the teacher talks.To be effective, his/her demonstration must be accompanied by some visuals. To plan and prepare adequately for a demonstration, the teachers must first determine their goals,the material they need, their steps, and rehearse.

In the actual demonstration itself, the teachers see to  it that they:

• get and sustain the interest of their students
• keep their demonstration simple, focused and clear
• do not hurry nor drag out the demonstration
• check for understanding in the processof demonstration
• conclude with a summary and
• hand out written materials at the end the demonsration.