General Principles When Designing Exercise Systems

low final exam scores , phenomenon of teachers not implementing seriously and correctly

Time in marking and returning tests often occurs.

6. To contribute to improving the quality of teaching in general, and the subject of teaching in particular, we have built a theoretical basis on the requirements, principles, and processes for designing an exercise, an exercise system for a lesson, and an exercise system for a textbook. To verify the scientific value of this theoretical basis, we conducted a survey of teachers at the following universities: Hanoi National University of Education, Hong Duc University, Hue National University of Education, Saigon University, and Ho Chi Minh City University of Education. The results showed that most teachers highly appreciated the importance of designing and using exercises in teaching, and the requirements, principles, and processes for designing and using exercises are all suitable for practice and feasible.

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Chapter 3

DESIGN AND USE OF EDUCATIONAL EXERCISES SYSTEM IN UNIVERSITY

3.1. Design of exercise system

3.1.1. General principles when designing exercise systems

- The BT system reflects the basic content of the lesson and subject, contributing to

implement lesson and subject objectives.

Before implementing a lesson, teachers study the objectives, basic content, teaching methods and visualize how the lesson will progress , the difficulties and problems that students will encounter , on that basis teachers predict which content needs to use exercises. Each exercise is aimed at solving a specific learning task, the results of the previous exercise are the premise for solving the next exercises. In addition, in teaching , using exercise systems must ensure coordination between the teaching activities of teachers and the learning activities of students. Implementing this principle well is the basis for having a quality exercise system, contributing to achieving the objectives of the subject .

- The BT system must be problem-based, stimulating students to solve learning tasks.

practice with clearly presented facts.

According to author I. Ia Lecne: " A problem is a question that arises or is posed to a subject whose answer the subject does not know in advance and must seek and create a solution, but the subject already has some initial means available to use appropriately for that search." [40, p. 27]

A problem is a contradiction that needs to be considered and resolved. Problems often exist.

in the mind of the cognitive subject in the form of questions: What? Why? How? Therefore, problem solving is a form of expression of creative thinking and problem solving itself is the driving force to promote the development of creative thinking.

The problem nature of the exercise only appears when the exercise contains a certain difficulty, under the guidance of the teacher, students actively study and apply thinking operations to solve the tasks. If the individual overcomes that difficulty, the problem will lose its problem nature. Therefore, the exercise system constantly increases the level of difficulty in learning, creating a moderate level of mental and physical stress, suitable for the characteristics of the age group and individual characteristics. This is also the way to discover and nurture students who are talented in the subject.

BT is used in the introduction or when solving a learning task to stimulate the curiosity and interest of the learner. The complexity or simplicity of BT is always a factor that needs to be considered. These are the techniques that experienced teachers often use to stimulate students' attention to the lesson . However , problematic situations need to be created naturally, in accordance with the progress of the lesson, reflecting the logical connection between old and new knowledge , creating curiosity and interest in students to seek new knowledge and forming the need to solve the task. In reality, not all lessons use this technique.

The design of the exercise system needs to pay attention to the creativity in problem solving of learners, avoiding giving exercises in which the problem solving is too simple and only relies on the knowledge or existing skills of students.

- The BT system must be typical, highly general and promote

cognitive activity of the learner

Based on the research of each chapter's content, the design of the exercises needs to focus on two main types : theoretical exercises and practical exercises. Each type of exercise needs to include both re- enactment exercises and creative exercises.

It is necessary to design typical exercises with different difficulties and complexities, containing different problem-solving methods. Especially for situational exercises - a type of practical exercise that teachers often use in the teaching process, it is necessary to ensure the following requirements:

+ Situations that students often encounter in their future careers.

+ Situations must give students practical and impactful experiences.

strong to students' feelings

+ The situation must really raise students' awareness of both subject knowledge and subject knowledge.

and social knowledge , requiring the mobilization of a lot of theoretical knowledge to solve.

+ The more opposing opinions a situation causes, the more profound its effect will be.

Color stimulates students' thinking activities.

The design of this type of exercise is diverse, it can require students to build or collect situations themselves and come up with solutions, or exercises that supplement data, or provide specific situations, typical of the profession and require students to use personal experience to solve those situations, write a summary through penetration.

reality in high schools... Thereby, contributing to the formation and development in them.

style of exploration, self-discovery, self-practice and training of professional skills.

For example : Through the internship at high schools, please give an example.

Specifically, a teaching hour that you attended, clarifying:

1. Applying DH principles in teaching hours?

2. Evaluate the effectiveness of using teaching methods in that lesson?

3. Please try to propose a new way of organizing teaching that you think is appropriate.

is most effective? Analysis?

The above exercise design requires students to apply theories about teaching in high schools into practice, using theories to reflect on practice. On that basis, students must think and propose new ways and new teaching methods to bring the highest efficiency.

- The BT system must be based on practice and have educational significance.

To design a valuable training system, the content of the exercises needs to reflect what is happening in practice , be suitable for the subject, and be suitable for the student 's major . In addition, exercises are also a way to foster students' interest, creativity, will, self-confidence, and initiative in learning and research.

- The BT system must be suitable to the characteristics of each lesson.

Currently, universities implement training according to the credit system, so teaching and learning are often organized through the following basic hours: theory hours; discussion/seminar hours; group work; self-study, self-research.

To carry out a lesson, teachers can carry out it through one or many hours. Because the nature of teaching at university is to enhance students' self-study ability, teachers need to base on the goals that students need to achieve in each hour (Theory, discussion, self-study), to plan which stages of each hour to use BT and for what purpose. For theory hours, the number of BT used will be less than for discussion/seminars, self-study hours. In addition, the choice of BT usage must ensure that when

learners complete exercises , which means bringing learners to a realization .

new knowledge or mastery of a skill

- BT system ensures comfort

In teaching, the requirements and tasks set for learners must correspond to the highest limit of the nearest intellectual development zone . Therefore, the design of the exercise needs to take into account the learner's ability, the exercise must be at the upper limit of the intellectual development zone.

The teacher should not give exercises that are too difficult or too easy compared to the cognitive characteristics of the learner, this makes the learner feel bored, discouraged, not interested, not needing to solve the learning task or subjective, complacent with the results achieved.

- The training system must ensure that students have enough knowledge or research materials to find answers.

Studying at university is mainly self-study and self-research, so in order for students to be proactive in their studies, teachers need to introduce reference sources so that students can be proactive in their research. In particular, students should be encouraged to use information technology (IT) to organize their studies and report on the products that individuals and groups have made. Using IT in teaching to diagram and model learning content helps students develop logical thinking, remember for a long time, and clarify the relationship between the content of lessons and subjects.

3.1.2. Requirements for designing exercise systems

3.1.2.1. Requirements for designing an exercise

When designing a BT, the following basic requirements must be ensured:

- Exercises reflect a specific content of the lesson : Normally, when designing an exercise, teachers need to understand the objectives and content of that lesson. A lesson can be carried out in one or many hours, and the content of each hour can be designed with one or more exercises. However, not all content needs to use exercises. Therefore, it is necessary to study the key content of each hour and orient what content needs to use exercises to achieve the objectives of the hour and lesson.

- Exercises must ensure accuracy and scientific content : Exercises constructed in any form must ensure accuracy of knowledge and scientific content. The writing style must be clear and concise, and avoid using words that confuse students.

- BT contains a contradiction : BT must reflect the logical relationship between knowledge and practice.

old knowledge and new knowledge , at the same time it creates excitement for students in learning, under the guidance of teachers, students think to find new paths , new ways to solve problems .

- Exercises need to be suitable to the characteristics of the subject : Each subject has its own characteristics, which will influence the choice of exercise form. Usually, exercise

In natural sciences, the exercises are mainly quantitative, while in social sciences , the exercises are mainly qualitative. Therefore, when designing exercises, it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics of each subject to design appropriate exercises.

3.1.2.2. Requirements for designing a system of exercises for a lesson

The training system for a lesson is a collection of exercises arranged in a logical order, suitable to the content and teaching methods of the teacher to achieve the objectives of each lesson.

To design a BT system for a lesson, in addition to ensuring the requirements for designing a BT, the BT system needs to ensure the following basic requirements:

- SystemExercises reflect the relationship between the content of the lesson .

Knowledge in each lesson often does not exist independently but is related to each other. Therefore, based on the study of the core content of each lesson, the design of the training system needs to reflect the relationship between the contents, in which attention is paid to building practice exercises, this is the type of exercise often used by teachers to consolidate the knowledge of the lesson , test and evaluate the level of understanding of the lesson and the ability to apply knowledge of learners in practice.

- SystemBT needs to enhance people's ability to think positively and creatively.

learn and suit the teacher's teaching methods.

The system of BT construction needs to ensure the level of difficulty increases gradually, in accordance with the way teachers organize teaching to stimulate students to participate in problem solving. In particular, in teaching, it is necessary to increase the use of creative BT to foster students' ability to detect and solve problems. BT needs to make students feel proud and satisfied when answering, avoiding cases where the answers are already available in textbooks.

- SystemBT needs diversity

The BT system needs to be diverse to ensure general requirements, taking into account the individual requirements of each student, and at the same time creating interest for learners in learning. To carry out this requirement, in addition to mastering the objectives and content of each lesson and class , teachers need to have good professional capacity and always update with changes.

in the curriculum .

The number of exercises depends on the knowledge in each lesson and the characteristics of each class. For the general type of exercises, teachers often prepare them in the form of expected situations, but the specific problems cannot be determined because this type of exercise only

really appears depending on the specific situation. The type of comprehensive BT plays a very important role in discussions, it makes the thoughts continuous, the situations lively and attractive, creating a lively learning atmosphere in the group.

- The exercise system in each lesson should not be too much, it needs to be focused and appropriate.consistent with the logic of the lesson.

In fact, the training system used for each lesson depends on the objectives, content, and duration of each lesson. Therefore, depending on the characteristics of each lesson and the cognitive characteristics of students, the training system must be designed and used to ensure that students have the conditions to study in a focused but gentle and relaxed manner, and that their thinking does not fall into a passive state due to the teacher's trivial questions.

For example: For theoretical lessons, the number of exercises should not be too many, exercises mainly reinforce or guide students to discover new knowledge, the focus of the lesson. But for practical lessons, the number of exercises must be large and diverse.

3.1.2. 3. Requirements for designing a system of exercises for a textbook

The HTBT for a course is a collection of exercises arranged in a logical order that is suitable for the content and time of each chapter to achieve the objectives of the subject.

To design a curriculum, in addition to ensuring design requirements,

of a BT, the design of the BT system for a course needs to ensure the following basic requirements:

- SystemBT reflects the objectives of the course

Each course is structured by many chapters. The objectives of the course can only be achieved on the basis of achieving the objectives of each chapter and lesson in three aspects: Knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Therefore, the exercise system in each chapter must ensure both testing the level of theoretical knowledge acquisition, consolidating and practicing subject skills, fostering students' awareness and feelings for the subject, and classifying students' learning levels.

- SystemBT ensures systematicity

This requirement emphasizes the content relationship between lessons and chapters . The results of previous exercises are the basis for solving the following exercises, the following exercises are the concretization, development and solid consolidation of the previous exercises. Therefore, exercises need to ensure systematicity, going from simple to complex. Designing a training system for a course helps students to be proactive in learning and practicing subject skills.

- SystemBT ensures increasing difficulty level, in addition to the basic BT required.Comprehensive exercises are integrated from multiple lesson contents or from multiple lessons.study, study program.

The objectives of each subject can only be achieved on the basis of good implementation of the objectives.

objectives of each chapter, each lesson. Therefore, in each lesson, there needs to be a corresponding system of exercises (Theory, practice), however, if many single-value exercises are designed , it will not be suitable for the implementation time and in reality, this is not necessary . Therefore, designing single- value exercises needs to focus on the core knowledge of the lesson, besides, it is necessary to design some exercises that integrate content between lessons and chapters. If an exercise integrates many contents, the number of exercises will be reduced. However , teachers need to study the relationship between the contents to see which contents can be combined when designing exercises.

The BT system ensures increasing difficulty levels, the difficulty of BT is determined based on the difficulty level of students in finding new solutions to solve the problem. Specifically, the difficulty of BT depends on the following factors:

- The level of knowledge reproduction or creativity in problem solving.

- The level of application of simple or complex thinking operations

- Apply knowledge to similar or new situations.

In addition, the design of the training system needs to be based on the content and time allocated for each chapter to ensure the balance between theoretical training - practical training, re-enactment training - creative training.

3.1.3. Exercise system design process

3.1.3.1. Process of designing an exercise

Step 1 : Analyze the structure of the learning materials, determine the objectives and content.

focus of the lesson

To build a lesson, first of all, it is necessary to study the objectives and key contents of each lesson, in which it is necessary to specifically determine which content needs to use exercises. In fact, not all lesson contents need to use exercises . Some contents need a lot of exercises, some contents need little exercises, and some contents do not even need exercises because the knowledge is very specific and not basic. In addition, the use of exercises is not only done in class, but also assigned to students to practice at home. Therefore, teachers need to study the content of each lesson to design exercises that are appropriate for the time.

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