Instructional designs: planning and designing the lesson, writing lesson plan: meaning, its need and

importance, formats.
INTRODUCTION:
Planning is essential not only in teaching, but in spheres of human activities. Lesson planning is an important activity
of daily teaching. These are the brief outlines of the main point of the lesson. It is a clear and precise statement of the
aims, purposes of the lesson, the various devices, selecting and arranging the subject matter and techniques to be
employed by the teacher.
Careful planning of lesson is essential for experienced as well as beginner teachers. Experienced teachers use loosely
structured lesson plans, whereas beginners use highly structured lesson plans.
MEANING:
Lesson plan is a plan prepared by a teacher to teach a lesson in an organized manner.
DEFINITION:
Daily lesson planning involves defining the objectives, selecting and arranging the subject matter and determining the
method of procedure.
– Bining and Bining
A lesson plan is a teaching outline of the important points of lesson arranged in which they are to be presented. It may
include objectives, points to be made, questions to be asked, references to materials, assignments, etc.
– Carter V. Good

PREREQUISITES OF A LESSON PLAN:

1. Knowledge and mastery of subject matter: Teacher must be a master of his subject. He should have
thorough knowledge of the subject matter, materials and activities to be used.
2. Knowledge of student psychology: The teacher must have knowledge of child psychology i.e., the teacher
should know the standard and individuality of the students and present the subject matter accordingly.
3. Knowledge of methods and techniques: The teacher should be conversant with the methods and techniques
of teaching.
4. Knowledge of aims: The teacher should have a basic understanding of the aims and objectives of education.
He should have the ability and skills to write objectives in behavioral terms and a knowledge of various
teaching skills.
5. Knowledge about students’ interest, in traits and abilities: The teacher must have adequate knowledge
about the interest, traits and abilities of an individual student. This helps the teacher have an individual
customized lesson plan for a specific group of the students.
6. Teachers’ competence: Teacher must have an ability to construct better lesson plans within a short time. And
in addition, he or she must have the ability to make constructive preparation for cooperative planning of
activities with students.
7. Selection and organization of subject matter: Teaching learning activities, illustrative material, assignment
and evaluation for students, references and bibliography must be planned by the teacher well in advance so
that the lesson can be planned and executed in an effective manner.
 Learning activities: The teacher chooses the learning activities. They should be varied sufficiently to allow for
individual differences in the group.
 Teaching activities: The teaching technique that are objective oriented and cost effective directly help the
teacher to obtain the educational objectives.
 Type of illustrative materials: AV aids and instructional media.
 Assignments: The plan should use assignments to project the immediate work to the next situation.
 Evaluation: Some type of evaluation should be planned for each lesson.
 References and bibliography: The teacher will have ready references and bibliography to be used indirectly in
student assignments.

IMPORTANCE OF A LESSON PLAN:

 In a teaching education program, the lesson plan provides guidelines to students and teachers during their
teaching learning practices.
 It helps in achieving the definite objectives.
 It makes teaching systematic, orderly and economical.
 It helps teachers overcome feelings of nervousness and insecurity and give them confidence to face the class.
 It links new knowledge with previous knowledge acquired by a student.
 It prepares pivotal questions and illustrations.
 It enables the teacher evaluate his work as the lesson proceeds.
  It helps the teacher use a wider variety of teaching materials and learning activities in the classroom through a
wider acquaintance with resources.
 It also helps the teacher plan the teaching learning process per the availability and accessibility of resource
materials.
 It improves the habit and attitude of your students or pupils.
 It definitely improves your teaching skills.

ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD LESSON PLAN:

 Clearly written: lesson plan must preferably be in written form. It must be appropriately written and
depict who will be taught, who will teach, when will be taught, where the class will be taken, what will
be taught, why it will be taught, how it will be taught and what should be expected from students after
the lesson.
 Definite aim and objectives: a good lesson plan must have clearly defined aim and objectives that
very clearly specify the purpose of the lesson and the purpose of each activity included in the lesson
plan.
 Extension of existing knowledge: the topic of a lesson plan should be planned in a consecutive
sequence of the previously taught topics or existing knowledge for better understanding for better
understanding of the topic. It should not be a repetition nor an isolated topic plan.
 Simple and comprehensive: each lesson plan must be simple, lucid, concise and precise and must
include all activities that are expected to be carried out by a teacher in classroom during the teaching-
learning process comprehensively.
 Flexible plan: a planned lesson must not be rigid; it must be flexible to adopt the changes expected to
arise in specific classroom situations. A flexible lesson plan facilitates the teacher adapt to specific
incidental situations in the classroom.
 Ensure active teaching-learning process: a good lesson plan ensures active participation of both the
teacher and the student for effective achievement of educational objectives. A passive lesson plan fails
to motivate the teacher and/or the student for an effective teaching-learning activity outcome.
 Division with essence of wholesomeness: a lesson plan must be divided into subsections for better
presentation; however, its wholesomeness must not be distorted. A logical sequence and efficient
cohesion of the subsections of the lesson may help in the preservation of the lesson plan’s
wholesomeness.
 Individualized and customized: the content of the lesson plan should be designed according to the
needs, interests, abilities and level of the students. This individualized and customized approach helps
the teacher achieve the expected aim of a lesson plan.
 Feasibility and significance: a lesson plan must be planned in a manner that it is feasible in terms of
time and available resources. It must be a practical as possible without overestimations in a
hypothetical manner. In addition, a lesson plan must have significance to a particular group of students
because nonsignificant topics fail to create interest in learners as well as the teachers. Therefore, the
teaching-learning activity may not be fruitful without the significance of a lesson/topic.
 Proceed from general to specific: a lesson plan must be planned such that it proceeds from general or
basic knowledge to specific knowledge so students can easily understand the lesson.
 Completeness: a good lesson plan must be complete in itself without leaving any essential component
like topic of the lesson, general and specific objectives, content, teacher-student activity and methods
of presentation, av aids, question to be asked for students, summary, recapitalized and assignment for
the students.
 Inclusion of summary, recapitalization, bibliography and student assignment: in addition to a basic
introductory plan and body of the lesson, the lesson plan must include the summary, recapitalization,
bibliography and student assignment.

STEPS IN LESSON PLANNING:

1. Planning: This step is concerned with the formulation of objectives, selection of the content,
organization of the content, selection of teaching-learning methods, selection AV aids, etc.
2. Preparation or introduction: Exploration of the students knowledge which helps to lead them on to
the lesson. The teacher needs to prepare the students to receive new knowledge. Testing previous
knowledge. It arouses interest and curiosity to learn new matter. Introduction should be brief and to
the point.
 3. Presentation: The aim of the lesson should be clearly stated before the presentation of the subject
matter. In teaching –learning process, both teacher and students actively participate. The Teacher has
to present the topic in enthusiastic manner. Learner will be motivated and get interest to learn.
4. Comparison or association: Quote examples & associate facts with two examples so that learners can
understand very easily and arrive at generalizations on their own.
5. Generalizations: It involves reflective thinking. The knowledge presented by the teacher should be
thought provoking, innovating and stimulating to assist the students to generalize the situation.
6. Application: The students make use of the knowledge acquired and test the validity of the
generalization arrived at in theory. It has to apply in clinical field to make learning more permanent
and worthwhile.
7. Recapitulation: The teacher has to ask suitable, stimulating pivotal questions on the topic. The answer
will give feedback to the teacher regarding the efficacy of the method of teaching and he can decide
whether or not clarification is needed.

TYPES OF APPROACHES TO LESSON PLANNING:

Several educational philosophers have suggested a few lesson planning approaches. Some of them are :
A. Herbertian approach
B. Bloom’s evaluation approach on lesson planning
C. RCEM approach

A. HERBERTIAN APPROACH:
J.F. Herbart, a German philosopher advocated lesson planning using following five steps:
1. Preparation: Preparing means the preparation of the learner’s mind to receive new knowledge. Preparation
of the learner involves two steps:
 Previous knowledge testing: Through testing previous knowledge, the teachers become familiar with
what the pupils already know relevant to the topic.
 Announcement of the aim: An aim will automatically emerge if the lesson has been effectively
introduced. The aim should be clear, concise and free from unknown words.
2. Presentation: It involves a good deal of intellectual activity on the part of the students. A teacher is to put
himself into the students’ shoes to present things to them. Selected subject matter should be presented according to
the needs, interests, abilities and developmental level of the students.
3. comparison and abstraction: Association is linking new ideas with the old ones and with one another into a system.
The selected examples or facts are presented before the students and they are asked to carefully observe and compare
them with another set of facts are presented before the students and they are asked to carefully observe and compare
them with another set of facts to arrive at some conclusions.
4. generalization: Comparison and association helps students find a certain conclusion that enables them to frame
general laws, principles or formulas. The teacher’s function is to enable the students to draw out the
generalization from relevant data.
5. Application: Knowledge that is not used will soon fade away from consciousness. Knowledge is power but it is
only when the mind can apply it to practical situation.

FORMAT OF A LESSON PLAN:

An effective lesson must have the following format
I. Cover page: This page must include topic of lesson, date of submission, name of supervisor, and name
and details of the presenting teacher.
II. First page: This page must include the following basic information.
 Basic lesson plan information:
 Subject : Communication and Educational Technology
 Name of topic : Assessment of learning needs
 Name of student’s teacher : Ms. Jasveen Kaur
 Name of supervisor : Dr Suresh K. Sharma
 Date of teaching :
 Time of teaching :
 Venue of teaching : Lecturer Theater No. 3
 Group : B.Sc. (N) 2nd Year students
 Size of group : 25
 Method of teaching : Lecture cum Discussion
 Duration : _____ minutes
 AV Aids : PowerPoint Presentation
Previous knowledge: The group has some knowledge about the topic: Assessment of
learning needs.
General objective: At the end of the class, students will be able to acquire knowledge
about assessment of learning needs.
Specific objectives: At the end of teaching, students will be able to
 Define various terms related to assessment of learning needs.
 Explain about historical perspective.
 Enlist types of assessment.
 Enumerate principles of assessment for learning.
 Describe purposes of conducting assessment of learning needs.

III. Main body of lesson plan:

S. No. Time Contributory Content Teaching-Learning

Objectives Matter Activities
AV Aids Evaluation

IV. Appendix of lesson plan: This includes summary, conclusion, giving the assignment to students and
recommending further reading, writing the bibliography and references.