Lesson 10 Demonstration in Teaching

"To demonstrate is not only to preach what you want your learners to know, but also to show them how to put it into action and realization"

                                                                                                                       -Vince

           Like the Dramatized experience, Demonstration is also something very handy. It needs not much of elaborate preparation and yet as effective as the other instructional materials when done properly.

          There are kinds of demonstration namely: (a) Demo of a new product, (b) Activist demo, and (c) Teaching demo. In our case, we are much concerned of the third type of demonstration, the Teaching demo.

          In a demonstration, there exist the speaker or the teacher, the audience or the students, and the product being introduced or in teaching, it means the new idea or lesson.

          To make the demonstration effective, the demonstrator should remember and observe three principles:

1. Establish rapport. The demonstrator should greet his audience and make them feel at ease.

2. Avoid the COIK fallacy (Clear Only If Known). The demonstrator should assume that his audience knows nothing or just a little of his topic so that his demo will be clear to the audience.

3. Watch for key points. Key points are the ones at which an error is likely to be made, the places at which many people stumble and where the knacks and tricks of the trade are especially important.

          A good demonstration is well planned and well prepared audio-visual presentation. It is not enough that the teacher talks. To be effective, his demo must be accompanied by some visuals. We should determine our goals, the materials we need, our steps, and then rehearse.

          During the actual demo, we should see to it that we:

a) Get and sustain the interest of our audience.

b) Keep the demo simple, clear and focused.

c) Take our time and not hurry or drag out the demo.

d) Check for our audience's understanding in the process of the demo.

e) Summarize the demonstration.

f) Hand out written materials at the end of the demonstration.

          Indeed, I say that most of what I learned came from the demonstrations that I have witnessed. Hence, it is very important to include this in our teaching strategy for our better effectiveness and for our students' better understanding.