Support to D.Ed. College
One of the main reasons of poor quality of education is weak pre-service training. During the interaction with D.Ed. college staff and students we realized that an input on pedagogic issues is also necessary in the pre-service training and this would be a useful investment in future teacher.
To address this issue, QUEST planned a pilot project and the D.Ed. College at Lonkheda, Nandurbar, was chosen for this intervention. Under this, a 10-day input spread over an academic year was provided in a workshop mode. Student teachers were exposed to various topics such as National curriculum framework, constructive learning theories, pedagogy of teaching reading and writing, constructive approach to math education etc. which are not yet a part of D.Ed. syllabus.
The first round of this 10-day input, workshops for Language (4 days), Mathematics (4 days) and Geography (2 days) was conducted over a period of one year.
Language Inputs were related to Nature of Deonagari script, acquisition of early literacy, issue of home and school language and the evaluation strategies, using the text book effectively, efforts needed for language enrichment, creating reading material for children, developing self learning material.
Mathematics inputs included pre number and number concepts, basic operations, concepts related to fractions and metric system.
Geography inputs were mainly about various concepts related to maps as well as Astronomy.
Pre test and post test were administered before and after each subject workshop. The results of the pre and post test of Language and Geography showed a significant improvement in the performance in the post test. For Mathematics, there was a marginal improvement in the percentage of students achieving score between 25 - 50% and 50 - 75%. Further probing and data analysis indicated that more time and inputs were needed to strengthen the content knowledge of the teacher students.
The first ever Online Programme in Marathi for teachers (Click here to access the Online Course)
During this pilot project it was realized that a well-planned input spread over a period of time supported with assignments and projects will prove to be more useful intervention and could help the student teachers in improving their Subject Matter knowledge and understanding the pedagogic processes more efficiently. To address this issue, QUEST along with a team of subject experts, developed an Add on Module on Mathematics in the regional language (Marathi) so as to benefit a large number of teachers, pre-service as well as in-service. The course was designed to be conducted partly through contact sessions and partly online through Moodle. This is a first ever programme to be initiated in a regional language!
Before starting with the actual Math course, the students were given special training to type Marathi on the computer, which would ease their operations online.
The actual implementation of the programme started on March 28, 2011. A 5-day workshop conducted during which the students were given basic inputs on math concepts. The topics covered during this workshop were: Number concepts and basic operations on numbers. Students were also oriented on ways to use Moodle. Mr. Nilesh Nimkar, Mr. Mavalankar, Mr. Kishore Darak, Mr. Nitin Nimkar and Mr. Rammohan Khanapurkar provided the necessary guidance.
A parallel programme was also conducted for the faculty of the D.Ed College, Lonkheda. The response from the faculty was also quite encouraging.
The next phase of the programme will be implemented in October 2011.
After seeing the response of this pilot project, QUEST has decided to develop similar courses for Grade 6 - 8 Mathematics and for Early Literacy and Language enrichment.