The Functional Context Method of Instruction

This is a discussion of a method of instruction designed to replace conventional methods for training radio repairmen. In traditional radio repair instruction, basic electronics has been taught as a block of instruction preceding instruction on intact equipment and maintenance operations. This approach is criticized for its failure to provide the student with meaningful and relevant contexts for the learning of basic electronics and for the obstacles it presents to the assimilation of basic electronics knowledge into maintenance skills. A new approach, entitled the functional context method, is offered as a means for avoiding these shortcomings. This is accomplished through a topic sequence wherein basic electronics is taught in the broader contexts of over-all equipment functions and maintenance operations.