Teaching and Learning Strategy 4Mat System

Use of suitable teaching strategy plays a very important role in class room transaction. A teacher who adopts excellent teaching strategies, successfully fosters in students a desire for learning. Students will show more interest and creativity in subject and will feel confident.

Bernice McCarthy, author of 4MAT in Action: Creative Lesson Plans for Teaching to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques developed the 4Mat system to cater all types of learners. This system provides the opportunity for learners to use all their senses – sight, sound, and kinesthetic. While organising the lesson to be taught in the class, the teacher should design questions in the order of why, what, how, and what if for any topic to be presented to the class. Let us take the topic – ‘Matter around us’, the teacher may ask the following questions in sequence:

1. ‘Why should we study Matter around us?’ This question creates a reason for learning and satisfies the need of those students who ask why?

2. ‘What is there to know about Matter around us?’ This question will engage the learners who are interested in acquiring knowledge about Matter. So this will encourage the learners to acquire key information and ideas.

3. ‘How are we going to use the knowledge gained? Can we apply the knowledge gained to our day to day life/project in hand?’ This question will draw the attention of learners who like activities.

4. ‘What if…? What are the possibilities there…?’ This question will motivate learners who like to consider various options.

Depending on which question is most meaningful to them learners are categorised into four categories as below-

References:

4MAT in Action: Creative Lesson Plans for Teaching to Learning Styles with Right/Left Mode Techniques.

Ashok Kumar Gupta has been serving the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan as a Post Graduate Teacher in Chemistry since 1987. At present, he is working as a faculty member at Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan Zonal Institute of Education and Training (ZIET) at Bhubaneswar. He has attended Orientation Programmes for Teachers for the Development of Computer Based Learning Materials conducted by the Department of Computer Education and Technological Aids (NCERT) and has completed Intel Teach Program–Intel Teach Essentials Online Course. He has attended the Orientation of Master Trainers of KVS, NVS & CBSE affiliated Schools on NCF-2005 and new Text Books of NCERT programme at RIE, Bhubaneswar, in 2006. He has achieved distinction in Partners in Learning Teacher Training Program conducted by Microsoft under Project Shiksha.

He has been trained in setting up of Micro scale Chemistry Lab, at ZIET, Mumbai, 2007.

He has received several awards and has acted as Master Trainer & Resource Person for – i) National Children Science Congress (1995) ii) Post Graduate Teachers in Chemistry.