The audio-visual handbook (1942)

Types of Visual Aids and Their Uses 53 How to Use Stereographs: "The stereograph gives a conception of reality that is not given by any other picture. The third dimension gives actuality of form and a strong feeling of intimacy. Its impression Photo Courtesy Keystone Viczv Co. A Solid Geometry Stereograph on the pupil is tremendous. He feels that he is a part of the pictured situation. It lends itself particularly to individualized work. Only one pupil can see it at a time. To the keen teacher and supervisor, this is not a handicap but an asset. It makes necessary an emphasis on the individual aspects of education that have been so much neglected. Each pupil sees his own relationship to the pictured situation and brings to the class discussion his own thoughts on the subject. Through vivid presentations we are here cultivating original thought, favorable attitudes, and habits of active participation. No commonly practiced visual activity of the school can compare with that of a pupil closed off from the rest of the world by the hood of the stereoscope, lost in the contemplation of the realities of the stereograph. "These realities, of course, deal only with the subject matter of the lesson at hand. The stereograph is most effectively used as a part of the study period in which definite problems are assigned. If the geography class, for example, is engaged in the study of anthracite coal mining, a number of views can easily be obtained that help give a concrete basis for classwork. This is the one important purpose of the stereograph — to build backgrounds of definite conceptions and interest that will make study effective. "The stereograph furnishes intensive ideas. Its great values are its vividness and impressions of reality. The child gets strong impressions of acquaintanceship with the situation he sees in the stereograph.