Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

October, 1 945 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE 19 WHO'S WHO IN AUDIO-VISUAL EDUCATION No. 31: Melvin Brodshaug If there is one thing in connection with his work which, by his own confession, Mel Brodshaug regards with a feeling akin to worship, it is “system.” This high regard for being systematic is reflected in Brodshaug’s work as Director of Research for E.B. Films. It is possible that Mel learned the value of system when as a farm youth he ran a string of winter traps up and down the valley of the Red River of the North. Possibly he learned that system was a vital part of life on a North Dakota wheat farm. It had become a well ordered habit by the time he arrived in New York in 1928 to work towards his doctor’s degree, tutoring to defray expenses. As Director of Research with • Erpi and later with its successor, E.B. Films, Brodshaug’s department has been a model of system; and this is as it should 1 be, for to Mel is given, under the overall direction of Dr. V. C. Arnspiger, the task of developing the Britannica program of j classroom films according to I a well-ordered system. He must ji maintain a systematic survey of ;! all educational offerings and i trends as a basis for determining ji what subjects should be deI veloped for film study by Britannica Films. He must direct the i.j activities of a staff of Research 1 Associates i n selecting the I proper material for film develI opment from the various subject-matter fields, and, finally, I he must see these efforts evenI tuate into authentic, well-poised i scenario form ready for produc Melvin Brodshaug tion. Along with this, he directs the construction of the teacher’s guide or handbook for use with each film produced. Brodshaug’s work does not end here by any means. There are the fields of utilization and evaluation research which have scarcely been tapped and in which a start must be made either through Britannica or other organizations or individuals competent to do the work; for the classroom sound film is still in its infancy, and laborious as well as systematic researches are vital to the progress of instruction through the sound-film medium. Furthermore, there are other instructional fields besides those of the formal educational offering: such as the home, preschool training, adult education, physiotherapy, and the whole field of rehabilitation and reeducation. Brodshaug, along with his associates, is systemat ically attacking problems of these newer fields. Like many others of Britannica Films’ research and production staff, Mel came from the West. He was born in Davenport, North Dakota, in 1900 and matriculated in a one-room rural schoolhouse as soon as the local authorities would allow him to start his formal education. Before leaving North Dakota, he graduated from Fargo High School, received his Bachelor of Science degree at North Dakota Agricultural College in 1923, and thereafter served as Principal and as Superintendent of Schools in various parts of the state until 1928. Meanwhile, courses at the University of Chicago had netted him his Master’s degree in 1927. The following year he entered Columbia University in New York City, from which institution he received his Ph.D. degree in 1931. As evidence of a part of Mel’s system, that of overlapping his activities, he joined forces with Erpi in the middle of 1930, taking over the assignment of Research Associate in charge of Erpi’s science subjects. After employing his pen in designing films at the elementary level, Brodshaug was sent by Arnspiger to the University of Chicago to initiate collaboration between the two institutions in the way of science productions at the college level. These had a great deal to do with Chicago’s later decision to acquire the Erpi interests in classroom films. In the course of producing certain of these subjects, Brodshaug became interested in the