The skill of stimulus variation

                           SKILL OF STIMULUS VARIATION

A teacher uses hand gestures, head and body movements, verbal statements etc in order to draw the attention of her students and to sustain it.  The behaviour of the teacher is a stimulus to the pupils.  However continued use of stimulus may induce disinterest and inattention on account of so many psychological and physiological factors. The teacher must be skilled in securing and sustaining the attention of her pupils.  Stimulus variation deals with a change or variation in the stimuli available in the learner’s environment.   The teacher should know, when, how and what to change so that her students are attentive.  Thus the skill of stimulus variation may be defined as a set of behaviour for bringing about a desirable change in variation in the stimuli which can be used to secure and sustain the student’s attention towards classroom activities.

Components

1.      Teacher’s movement

2.      Gestures

3.      Changes in speech pattern

4.      Focusing

5.      Change in interaction style

6.      Pausing

7.      Aural-visual Switching

8.      Physical involvement of the student

Micro –Teaching Lesson Plan

Name of the teacher             :                                                                       Topic: The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe                       

Subject                                   : English                                                         Time: 7 minutes                   

Standard                                : VIII                                                               Date    :

           

Teacher Talk /Activity	Pupil Talk / Activity	Components of the Skill
The teacher enters the class and creates rapport.	The students greet the teacher.	Teacher movement Gestures
Have you had any adventurous journey in your life?	No	Change in speech pattern
Have you read adventure stories? (Shows some books dealing with adventure stories.)		Aural-Visual Switching
Now I am going to describe an interesting voyage made by a person.  Are you eager to know the incident that happened during his journey?	They listen carefully.	Verbal focusing
The title of the story is ‘The Adventure of Robinson Crusoe’. From this title itself, we can understand that the main character of the story is Robinson and that he is an adventurous person who loves sea voyages.		Change in speech pattern
The teacher writes the title on the blackboard.	They observe the name of the lesson.	Aural-visual switching
Even though his parents were not in favour of his wish, with the help of his friends he used to go for voyages. Have you acted against your parent’s wishes?	Yes / No	Change in speech pattern
. (Shows the picture of a man who is on a voyage in the sea.) During the trip, his ship got wrecked but he managed to reach London.		Aural-visual switching
(Shows the picture of the wrecked ‘Titanic’.) What happened to the ‘Titanic’?	It sank/ was hit by an ice-berg.	Aural-visual switching Pausing
The teacher asks two of the students to act out the events that happened on the ‘Titanic’ before it sank.	The students act out the scene.	Aural-visual switching Physical involvement of the students
Even though he had enough plantations to work in, he still wished to go on voyages.	Silence	Teacher Movement
With the help of his friend, he sailed to Guinea in Africa.  But this was a disastrous trip.	The students get interested to know what happens next.	Pausing
Do you think that he escaped from it?	Students give different responses.	Change in speech pattern
Well, our hero managed to escape from disaster. Robinson    reached an island.  It seemed that no one lived on that island.  He collected as much food and materials as he could for his survival and found a suitable place beside a hill to build a home.  When he began to feel lonely, he kept himself active by engaging in hunting.		Teacher movement
(Asks the students to do the role play of a hunter.)		Physical involvement of the students
One day he found the footprint of a cannibal and was terrified.  He armed himself with his gun and weapon.	Become attentive	Gestures
Do you know who a cannibal is ?	No
They are man eaters, that is, people who eat human flesh. (Shows a picture)	Observes the picture	Aural-visual switching
The cannibals kept bringing many prisoners to their place and it was Robinson who took up the initiative to save them. How did Robinson help the prisoners?	By rescuing them from the cannibals	Focusing
One day he saw an English ship which had anchored on the shore with many prisoners.  While rescuing them, he understood that one of the prisoners was the captain of the English ship.  He made an agreement with the captain that if he took him to his country, he would rescue the captain and his crew.		Gestures
Do you think that they will succeed in their mission?	The students respond actively	Focusing
Of course, our hero overcame all the hardships. Finally he bid a hearty farewell to his island.		Change in speech pattern
What did you understand from the story?	Life should be adventurous.  It will help to face many challenges and pave a new path for a better life.	Pause Focusing

OBSERVATION SCHEDULE

Sl.No.	Components	Tallies	Remarks
			Poor 0-2	Satisfactory 3-4	Good 5-6	Very good 7-8	Excellent 9 and above
1.	Teacher movements
2.	Gestures
3.	Change in interaction style
4.	Focusing
5.	Changes in interaction style
6.	Pausing
7.	Aural-visual switching
8.	Physical involvement of students

 Suggestions

1.       Has to keep the students actively involved.

2.      Should use meaningfully the skill of pausing.