In the teaching and learning of science and technology the teacher must use instructional

media, when these materials are not available or inadequate, the teacher is expected to improvise.

Improvisation is important in the learning and teaching of science and technology it give

rooms for effective and efficient teaching and learning. The process of improvisation gives

teachers ‘and learners the knowledge of creativity, manipulative skills, and critical thinking.

Improvisation is the best way to discover new shortcuts on the road of science life. The essay

shall look on discuss four advantages of improvisation and any two limitations of improvisation

in teaching science and technology.

Abraham (2012) defines improvisation as the power to create. CDU (2015) says improvisation

is shaped by flexibility and transformation creation to suite the requirements of the situation.

Carlington (2015) explains improvisation as making the most of what you have and getting the

most of what you make. Therefore, improvisation refers to the efforts by teachers to create

objects to replace those that cannot be.

Improvisation creates a learner centered environment where students can sometimes hide behind

the efforts of others, in collaborative improvisation they co-create as equals. They learn they are

responsible and accountable to each other at all times. Students learn how to take turns stepping

up to speak and stepping back to let others have their say. Communication, atonements, empathy,

trust, respect and more are all practiced. Improvisation rapidly transforms the classroom into a

supportive community of learner says Definations net (2020) .The learners can also have the

opportunity interact with different types of tree giving him or her the opportunity to differentiate

deciduous trees from the local available. Through improvisation in science classroom, child

centered teaching methods are imparted in learning hence it will be easy for teacher to do
evaluation, Dziwa (2013) says that the effectiveness of teaching is determined through

evaluation hence it should not be taken lightly.

The teaching through improvised materials proposed as a means to increase learners’ academic

achievements and understanding of scientific concepts by manipulating objects which may make

abstract knowledge more concrete and clearer says Farrant (2001). This is so because, it is

through improvised materials, that learners are able to engage in real life illustrations and

observe the effects of changes in different variables. It offers concrete illustrations of concepts.

Improvisation on learning approach encompass the learner in a total learning experience which

enhances the learner’s ability to think critically says Zhao (2015). This makes it obvious

therefore, that any teaching approach that is skilled towards this direction can be seen as an

activity-oriented teaching method.

Improvisation is of importance as it promotes interaction as learners, teacher have a platform to

communicate and discuss while improvising. Learners and teachers are able to share vision,

knowledge and learning process for continuous improvement through interacting with the

improvised media denotes Haralambos (2010).The writer sees interaction increase the learners

pass rate because learners are given a room to express their ideas and to ask questions using

improvised media in a science classroom In this respect, improvisation is being active in

interacting with others, sharing ideas and collaborating on learning tasks for the purpose of co-

constructing knowledge. Interaction through improvised media enables students to increase

their individual efforts so as to enhance the group grades since the process enables students to be

involved. Therefore, in this sense improvisation is basic because it enables both the teachers and

learners to work together towards attainment of set objectives at the same time-sharing various
experiences which stimulate cognitive, moral and social development which are crucial

components in learner development.

Improvisation is a practical way which makes Science and technology more practical since

most teachers from surrounding areas teach this topic theoretical only due to lack of media.

Teacher and learners collaborate in media construction. Improvised materials helped learners to

practice hands on approach in which learners manipulate improvised materials says Sherman

(2015) such as for example when teaching about simple machines the teacher can improvise

different simple machines in science classroom Through improvised media hands on learning

is enabled based on interrelationships, children are collaborators and work best when included in

a group as opposed to working independently through improvisation .

However, when improvisation have some drawbacks and challenges. The main challenge that a

teacher may face when improvising for science media may wise from a large number of

learners. A large number of learners requires that the teacher produces more objects so

that all learners may be able to manipulate during the lesson denotes Dulhania (2020) .So

due to larger classes teachers are limited in improvisation due to the fact that the improvised

materials cannot cover all learners ,therefore most teachers end up abandoning improvisation .

Improvisation has negative effects it is time consuming; many educators simply cannot spend

time creating and implementing active, engaging lessons because they have a crowded

curriculum that they need to get through before the end of the course. William (2014) says that

the current education system ,which is very full of outcomes to achieve doesn’t provide enough
time to go deep and do active tasks for everything that needs to be learned and improvisation

needs time and also attention which is a big disadvantage in the learning science technology

because teacher will end up ignoring other subjects.

In conclusion, improvisation plays important role in the teaching and learning process since

learners will develop hand and eye coordination through improvisation and they end up

developing attitude of using local available materials to make their own models and this develop

in learners’ creativities to learners which make learning easier.

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Curriculum Development Unit (2015). Science and technology ( Grade 3-7 ) Syllabus.

Harare: CDU.

Danmole, B. (2012). “The Resource Person in Action.” In The Teaching Science Professor, Vol

23, No 9. pp 4.

Definitions.net (2020). “What does improvise mean?” Available at

www.definitions.net/definition/improvise (Accessed 21 September 2020).

Dziwa, D. D. (2013). “ Science and Technology Literature for Primary Schools in Zimbabwe.”

In International Society of Thesis Publication. Volume 1, Issue 3. pp 51-105

Farrant , J. 2001. Outdoor play: Teaching strategies with young children

Haralambos , K. P. (2010). Teaching methods. Gweru: College Press Publishers

Sherman , W. (2015). “DBAE and Science Education Reform.” In Visual Arts Research. Vol 23,

N 3, pp.25-33.

William, J. et al (eds) (2014), The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Zhao, F. (2015). Enhancing the quality of online higher education through measurement. Quality

Assurance in Education.