The Department of Agricultural Education  
                                                    The University of Arizona

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Analysis of Subject Matter

Unit:  _______________________________

Lesson:______________________________

Objective:____________________________           
 Type of Lesson:_________________ 

Step I  Differentiate between “Must Know” and “Nice to Know”  information

 MUST KNOW                           NICE TO KNOW

Step II  Using “Must Know” subject matter, identify key questions for study and discussion

 Questions for study

1.

2.

3.

4.

Step III  Determine sources of information
 
Which questions found in  “H.O” or “discussion” materials?   
 1.
2.
3.
4.                                                
Which questions require Reference material?   
1.
2.
3.
4.

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1. Questions or Problems are written grammatically correct. ~

2. Questions or Problems should be brief,clear and concise and written in simple terms.

3. Each question or problem must stand alone.

4. Questions should generate information and avoid "yes-no", fill-in, and simple responses.

5. Problems to solve must provide adequate information necessary for analysis, and clearly identify the conflict, decision, or alternatives.

6. Questions or problems should build toward the objective, and progress in difficulty.

7. Questions should be matched with the level of difficulty of the educational objectives, and be sequenced in a hierarchy similar to the levels of cognition, namely; Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation.

8. Answers to questions and data to solve problems must be available to students in references, etc.

9. Questions should deal with pertinent information required to achieve the educational objectives of the unit.

10. Questions do not have to end with a question mark. Consider using ~ tables, charts, diagrams, columns, etc. Think of material which will be appropriate in student notebooks. 

Examples:

Area:  Agricultural Mechanics

Unit:  Electricity
LESSON:  Electrical Terminology
COMPETENCY:  Safely operate, maintain and repair electrical circuits and devices.
OBJECTIVES
          I. To define six of ten common electrical terms.
          2. To list one advantage and disadvantage of both alternating arid direct current.

INTRODUCTION:

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY:

I. Define the following terms:

a. Electricity
b. Circuit
c. A.C.
d. Wattage
e. Voltage
f. Current
g. Amperage
h. Resistance
i. D.C. 
j. Kilowatt

2. What is the relationship between amperage, voltage, wattage and resistance?
3. What is the difference between a resistor and a conductor?
4. Why is alternating current used in today's homes?
5. Where can sources of direct current be found?
6. What are two advantages of alternating current? of direct current? 

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Lesson: Grinder Safety

Rules: 1. wear goggles. 2. don't stand in front of wheel. 3. don't use side of wheel. 4. use wheel dresser to straighten. 5. tool rest should be close to wheel as possible. 6. don't get fingers in grinder. 7. don't let wheel get too small. 

Objectives:

1. To operate a grinder in a safe manner. 
2. To maintain the grinder in a safe condition. 

Questions for Study:

1. When should a grinder wheel be changed? 
2. How are wheels classified and purchased? 
3. What is the speed of the wheel? 
4. Why is the speed of the grinder wheel important? 
5. When should the tool rest be adjusted? 
6. Where should the tool rest be positioned in relationship to the grinder wheel? 
7. What direction to the pack nuts on the wheel arbor turn? 
8. When should a grinder wheel be dressed? 
9. How? 
10. Why should the use of the side of the wheel be avoided for grinding? 
11. List 3 safety practices which should be observed in operation a grinder. 

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Area:   Plant Science

Unit:   Insects

LESSON: How insects affect agriculture
COMPETENCY:

To recommend an insect control program for an area infested with insects.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To list the beneficial and harmful effects of insects. 
   2. To identify how insects cause losses in plants.

INTRODUCTION:

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY:

1. How do insects affect people? 
2. In what ways are insects beneficial to humans? 
3. How do insects cause economic losses in plants? 
4. How do insects cause direct injury to plants? 
5. How do insects reduce the yield of plants? 
6. How is plant quality reduced by insects? 
7. How do insects increase the transmission of plant diseases? 
8. How do insects cause spoilage of crops while in storage or being transported? 
9. What is the annual dollar loss in plants due to insects in the United States? 

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Area:    Plant Science
Unit:    Insects 
LESSON #2: Characteristics of insects 
COMPETENCY:

To recommend an insect control program for an area infested with insects.

OBJECTIVES:

To determine the physical characteristics of common insects.

INTRODUCTION:

QUESTIONS FOR STUDY:

I. What is an insect?
2. What are the distinguishing physical characteristics of insects?
3. How are insects classified according to the way they feed on plants? 
4. What are ten economically important insects in Arizona?
5. Using the ten insects identified in question 4, complete the following table:

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SOME PROCEDURES AND TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING UNDERSTANDING 

I. Direct students in developing clear objectives relative to every problem, unit or learning experience. 
2. Use the specific problems and cases as a basis for instructions. 
3. Put the mind of the student in readiness. 
4. Raise questions and develop thinking before assigning study or finding new facts. 
5. Learn the students and their environment as completely as possible. 
6. Find what the learner knows about the situation to connect the new facts with the old. 
7. Drill the student on the techniques of reading with a purpose. 
8. Use as many of the learning senses as possible (seeing, hearing, doing, etc.) in the natural setting of the problem. 
9. State and explain principles or underlying truth which make a new fact true. 
10. Show the important applications or new uses of truths and principles. 11. Have the student state and explain a new truth or principle. 
12. Ask question progressing difficulty to stimulate thinking and understanding. 
13. Use demonstrations, observation, and doing. 
14. Demonstration or telling should follow a period of analysis and thinking by the learner. 
15. Do not explain a problem the learner can think out for himself. 
16. Make use of systematic notes in classifying, understanding and facilitating the use of new facts. 
17. Review, reorganize, summarize and generalize concerning the content learned at the end of each unit. This should include both discussion and written work. 
18. Make written and oral plans for doing a job or making a decision which involves application of the new facts or principles. 
19. Discuss, explain and use new terms appropriate to the problem or unit. 
20. Evaluate at all stages the thinking and reasoning processes of the learner. 

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FUNCTION OF RESOURCE MATERIALS

A. They enable the teacher to provide a variety of learning experiences, thereby adding interest to the instruction and increasing effectiveness. 
B. Also, they help speed up the learning process and make it more pleasant to the students. Study time is cut to the minimum . 
C. Also prevents the "pooling of ignorance:
 (1) Arouse interest 
(2) Gives concept of physical characteristics 
(3) Shows details of construction (models) 
(4) Develops appreciation and understanding 
(5) Span time and distance (movies) 
(6) Adds variety to teaching 
(7) Saves time -1 picture: 1000 words 
(8) Presents related information (books, bulletins, etc.) 
(9) Summarizes discussion- chalkboard

RESULTS IN: 

1. Greater student interest 
2. More thorough understanding 
3. Increased retention 
4. More effective use of time (both teacher and student) 

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USING RESOURCE MATERIALS TO MAKE TEACHING M0RE EFFECTIVE

Teaching aids are the tools in the teacher's tool kit. Through the correct use of these "tools", the teacher is able to teach more effectively. Each "tool" has a use for  which it is best adapted.

In teaching a complete job, a combination of teaching aids is most effective. This enables the teacher to provide a variety of learning experiences, thereby adding interest to the instruction and increasing its effectiveness.

The effective use of audiovisual aids speeds up the learning process and makes it more pleasant to the student. Study is likewise cut to a minimum. Following is a list of some of the more commonly used resource materials with the recommended use for each: 

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References, Resource Materials and 
Other Aids For Teaching a Unit On:

Number of Days:
 

Subject Books: (Title, Author, Chapter or Pages)

Bulletins: (Title, Source, Pages)  

Films, videos, Slides: (Title & Source -Time & Cost)
Charts. Tack Boards

Tools & Equipment:

Overhead Transparencies & Hands On materials: 

Real Materials & Specimens: 

Field Trips: (Location & Contact Person) 

Resource People: (Topic & Address or Phone Number ) 

Suggestions for Next Year:

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UTILIZING TEACHER RESOURCE AND STUDENT REFERENCE UNITS FOR THE CORE CURRICULUM 

ORGANIZATION OF CORE CURRICULUM

The two-year core curriculum for agricultural education was developed by the agriculture teachers of the state of Arizona. There are eight major areas covered employing eighteen units of instruction. The following format is used in the curriculum guide:

Area of Instruction Unit of Instruction
Concepts to be Taught 
Suggested subject matter 
Taking one unit of instruction as an example, the following organization is found:

Area: Plant Growth

Unit: Plant Diseases

Concepts to be taught:

I. Plant diseases cause losses due to reduced yield, spoilage, reduction of quality, and cost of control. 
2. Plant diseases and their pathogens are classified for recogni- tion purposes which aid in controlling disease. 
3. etc.

Suggested subject matter content to bring out the concepts to be taught:

I. Economic Importance of Plant Diseases 
A. Dollar loss in United States 
B. Dollar loss in Arizona

1. Losses through food unfit for use.

II. Classification of Diseases Based on Symptoms
A. Superficial diseases

TEACHER RESOURCE UNITS

The second part of the available educational materials for agriculture teachers is the Teacher Resource Units (TRU) of the core curriculum. Comprehensive Teacher Resource Units for use in planning and construction lesson plans are an integral part of the core curriculum.

As is well known, the major portion of an agriculture teacher's time is involved in lesson planning and such things as identifying educational objectives, formulating questions and problems for study and locating reference material for reliable up-to-date technical information. With these 

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Teacher resource units are designed to minimize the amount of time utilized by the teacher in lesson planning.

Specific teacher resource units include a series of observable and measurable objectives. In formulating the objectives, attention was paid to subject matter content and the desirable concepts to be taught in the core curriculum. Beyond the unit objectives are a list of key questions and/or problems which must be answered or solved if objectives for the unit are to be achieved.

The next portion of specific Teacher Resource Units include up-to-date and complete analysis or solutions to the questions. Current textbooks, reference materials and subject matter specialists in the College of Agriculture were utilized in the development of answers to each question or problem.

Included in each Teacher Resource Unit is a list of all the references used in developing answers to the questions or problems.

UTILIZATION OF THE TEACHER RESOURCE UNITS IN PUNNING INSTRUCTION

The following is suggested for utilizing Teacher Resource Units in developing lesson plans:

In developing individualized lesson plans, the teacher might select from the objectives in the Teacher Resource Unit, those which are to be achieved in a given class period.

Next, the Teacher Resource Unit may be utilized to identify those \ questions for study and discussion which must be answered in order for  the objectives to be achieved. The answers provided in the Teacher Resource Unit have been synthesized from the references cited in the front of the publication. As the student locates the answers to questions during supervised study, additional reference material should be used to supplement the answers found in the Teacher Resource Unit (TRU).

Following the discussion of the answers (analysis) to the questions, overall conclusions should be drawn as a part of the lesson summary. These conclusions should closely resemble the concepts to be taught found in the Teacher Resource Unit. The value of the Teacher Resource Units in lesson planning lies in the list of unit objectives which can be used to determine the desired terminal behavior students are to achieve in a given period of time. In addition, a series of questions for discussion, along with accompanying answers, are provided to assist in achieving the desired educational objectives.

Finally, a list of concepts to be taught is provided which the teacher can draw upon to summarize and conclude the lesson. In essence, the teacher identifies the unit objectives which are then achieved through the completion of the questions and problems for discussion, and finally, the concept to be taught is used as a concluding statement. 

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STUDENT REFERENCE UNITS

Student Reference Units (SRU) are soft cover textbooks designed to serve as a reference during supervised study for students enrolled in agricultural education. They are written at known reading levels appropriate for secondary school students. The Student Reference Units contain the same basic concepts and principles, in text form, as contained in the Teacher Resource Units (TRU). The relationships between the Teacher Resource Units and Student Reference Units are outlined below.

AVAILABLE UNITS

The titles of the Teacher Resource Units (TRU) and corresponding Student Reference Units (SRU), where appropriate, are:

TRU SRU Number Title Number

1 Livestock Selection 
2 Livestock Health 
3 Livestock Feeding 
4 Livestock Production Management 
5 Plant Growth and Development  
6 Plant Diseases 
7 Insects 
8 Weeds 
9 Plant Production Management 
10 Soils 
11 Construction & Maintenance Skills 
12 Power and Machinery 
13 Electric Power 
14 Farm-Firm Records 
15 FFA Organization 
16 Personal Development Through the FFA 
17 Supervised Occupational Experience Program 
18 Career Opportunities 
19 Aquaculture
20 Landscaping

TRUs are added to annually and updated as often as possible.

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Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to billye@ag.arizona.edu. Copyright © 2000 Department of Agricultural Education. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, 23 August 2005