Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

nriopjAEL The National Authority Covering Educational. Scientific, Agricultural. Literary'. Historical. Juvenile. Governmental. Religious, Travel Scenic. Social Welfare. Industrial, and News Motion Pictures Published Monthly hy the City News Publishing Co., 5 j IVest 42nd Street (Aeolian Hill), New York City DOLPH EAST.\LA.N, Editor IVol. III. APRIL, 1920 No. 4 MAKE VISUAL TEACHING AN EXACT SCIENCE ISLAL aids to learning cannot hope to win guidance, conscientious educators would seem justi- Vtlie unqualified approval of educationa experts until they have been placed peda gogically on a par with the printed text and the oral lecture. No guess-work, no hit-or-miss method, can be tolerated in the classroom. The motion picture and the lantern slide are merely deceptio thus in the view of the sceptical school man until they are demonstrated, beyond a reasonable doubt, by tests, comparisons, measurements and other scientific data, to be an indispensable teaching tool, a part of the school equipment as important as black- board and chalk. Such data is practically non-existent today, as re- lated to both still and motion pictures. There have iied in their apparent indifference to motion pictures in the school. The use of films for other than instructional pur- poses in assembly hall or classroom is an altogether different matter. A schoolhouse may serve as a com- munity center in which case the recreational employ- ment of movies is entirely warranted. But the super- intendent, principal or teacher must keep this distinc- tion in mind when using the screen for one purpose or the other. Dr. McMurry has expressed a fear that the entertainment use of films in the school may damage their educational use, but we believe this danger is more apparent than real. With carefully selected pic- lure programs and in the hands of a competent super- been isolated instances of attempts to undertake some visor, the two uses will not clash but will tend rather more or less accurate investigations in the field of to blend and one aid the other. The reactions of chil- visual instruction, and one of these, made at the 'Peabody High School in Pittsburgh, was described in tliis magazine about a year ago. Before the war, in France, some research of this kind had been dis- cussed and it had been proposed in Germany as well. So far as we have been able to discover, however, no dren to recreational and cultural films and slides have not been accurately observed and recorded, so far as we are aware. Dr. A. H. Sutherland, psychologist of the Los Ange- les School District, last year suggested in these pages comprehensive and dependable data are available at ilie following psychological analyses of motion pic- tl i< time upon which to base soimid judgments as to the ture films: relative teaching values of oral, written, and visual methods in the various grades, from kindergarten to postgraduate. Opinions and beliefs, enthusiastic acceptance and caustic rejection we have had in full measure. Facts • and prima facie evidence for or against the principle 'of visualization in educational method we have not had and it is time that we began to do something about . it. \^'e know in a general sort of way that the motion ' picture and the still picture are helpful pedagogically, but it is knowledge based upon faith and optimism and not upon such sound doctrine as "t^vo plus two equal four" and '"action and reaction are equal and op- First, to show what mental processes are stimulated. Second, to show how the imagination is appealed to. Third, to show how the pictures and processes are retained in the memory. Fourth, to show how the values of the material are impressed upon the pupil so that he may use them in the daily contacts of life. Fifth, to show how this material becomes organized as scientific material. Sixth, to show how the pupil would be led to am- bitions by the discovery of additional information through their use. In this issue Mr. Roach suggests a careful investi- gation of the best methods of visual presentation that thev may be placed on a parity with other teaching methods. WTien we know how actually efficient the film and the slide are in any given subject or course, posite." Until we have such a scientific foimdation up on which to formulate definite precepts and classroom much scepticism now prevalent will be removed 7