Educational film magazine; (19-)

"MOTION PICTURES MUST COORDINATE WITH THE CURRICULUM' ' This is the Conclusion of the Curriculum Committee in Its Latest Report to the New York Visual Instruction Association—Con- vincing Efficiency Tests by Weber, Davis, and Shepherd THE Curriculum Committee of the New York Visual In- struction Association, Rowland Rogers, chairman, made the following report to Ernest L. Crandall, president of the association, in which attention is called to "the fact that the success or failure of motion pictures for instruction de- pends upon the painstaking care with which the pictures are selected to coordinate with the regular curriculum." The report also speaks of "the development of the demand for instruction pictures" and "a favorable change in the attitude of some pro- ducers toward the use of pictures in the non-theatrical field." Ij!1^cr£ased Demand for Instructional Films We are inspired by evidence of an increasing interest in the produc- tion and use of motion pictures for instruction. Last year's report re- ferred to the distressing fact that most of the motion pictures the schools were using are malieshifts. That is, they were pictures which had been designed primarily for showing in motion picture theaters as en- tertainment and had been re-edited for instruction. With the develop- ment of the demand for instruction picures, we note a favorable change in the attitude of some producers toward the use of pictures in the non-theatrical field. The following statement is significant: Several industries have ex- pressed a willingness to permit our committee to suggest subject matter for their films and approve the scenario before the picture is produced. The committee is constantly mindful of the fact that the success or failure of motion pictures for instruction depends upon the painstaking care with which the pictures are selected to coordinate with tlie regular curriculum. The various sub-committees have found the following groups of pic- tures. They are signs of the times. That is, they indicate the gradual trend of public thought toward the use of motion pictures for instruc- tion. (a) A series of non-sectarian religious pictures based upon the Bible which are reverently done. The screen technique including the acting, direction and the settings are adequate. The subjects include: Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, The Deluge. (b) Several pictures which portray the lives of American authors. They include: John Greenleaf Whittier, Washington Irving, James Rus- sell Lowell, Henry W. Longfellow, Fenimore Cooper. (c) One producer of Longfellow's poem, Evangeline, has agreed to re-edit the theatrical edition, cutting it down to a three-reel picture in a form suitable for sclwol showing. Last year Professor Joseph J. Weber made a series of tests in Public School 62. The following results of one of his experiments was not re- ferred to in the last committee report: 20.9 Points Gained by Pupils With Geography Film Four hundred and eighty-five pupils in Public School 62 were exam- ined as to their knowledge of geography. When the experiment began, all pupils had an average knowledge of about 81.8 units. This standing they had gained from the knowledge of their geography prior to the ex- periment. From this starting point (31.8 units) the four hundred and eighty-five pupils who were taught orally without the aid of the cor- related motion picture film, improved to 45.5 points, a gain of 13.7. The same pupils with the aid of the film shown after the oral lesson, im- proved to 49.9 points, a gain of 18.1. The same pupils with the aid of the motion picture film before the lesson, improved to 52.7 points, a gain of 20.9. Professor Weber says, "statistically these points are re- liable to the point of practical certainty." Roy L. Davis, graduate student of New York University, conducted an experiment in another of the New York Schools. A partial list of his conclusions are as follows: Close Cooperation of Pboducer and School People Needed On the production side there is (a) a decided lack of suitable film on school subjects. This, however, is being improved every day. (b) There is a decided need of a closer cooperation between the pro- ducer of educational motion pictures and the school men who are to make use of these films in the class-room, (c) There is a need for a "re-edlting" of the existing educational motion pictures, in order to taakt them adaptable to the curriculum. On the pedagogical side there is a need of better correlation of mo- tion pictures with the present school curriculum. Mr. Davis states the experimental study of children's perceptual judgments is particularly beneficial from a production point of view. 1. Motion pictures should be differentiated for pupils of different *gec. 2. The pupils know more about their lessons, particularly visual les- sons, with few exceptions, a week afterwards than they do at the time. In the spring of 1920 Professor J. W. Shepherd of tiie University of Oklahoma conducted a test on about a dozen pupils of average intelli- gence in one of the high schools of Madison, Wisconsin. Film Beat Average Teacher 12.14 Per Cent. ,; Abstract and concrete subjects were taught to one group by means. of films only, to another group by a superior instructor and to'another group by an average instructor. The film scored an average of 74.5 per cent, the superior teacher an average of 66.9 per cent, and the average teacher 61.36 per cent. In other words, the film beat the best teacher by 6.6 per cent and the average teacher by 12.14 per cent. Tests and experiments of this sort, to evaluate motion pictures for instruction purposes, are being conducted in several places. Before long there will be on hand accurate scientific information and proof based upon tests, which will determine conclusively how, and when, and where motion pictures for instruction can be used to advantage. Nine Sub-Committees Working on Visual Methods The following sub-committees of the Curriculum Committee have been i appointed by the president of the association and are now at work: Biology, Geography, English, Civics, Domestic Science, Continuation | Schools, Physical Education, Films for Younger Children. A new committee for the Americanization of Illiterate Adults will be! selected shortly. The duties and responsibilities of these committees will be enlarged j during the present year. The work will continue to be better organized, | that the committees may function to greater advantage. EDUCATIONAL EFFICIENCY THROUGH THE CINEMA By H. G. Wells THE possibilities of certain branches of teaching have been altogether revolutionized by the cinematograph. There should be a half a dozen projectors or so in every school and a well stocked storehouse of films. In nearly every school nowadays you will find a lot of more or less worn and damaged scientific apparatus supposed to be used for demonstrating the elementary facts of chemistry, physics, and the like. But it ought to be entirely out of date. All that scientific bric-a-brac in the cupboard had better be thrown away. All the demonstration experiments that science teachers will require in the future can be performed once for all—before a cinematograph. You can get the best and most dexterous teacher in the world—^he can do what has to be done with the best apparatus, in the best light; anything that is very minute or subtle you can magnify or repeat from an- other point of view; anything that is intricate you can record with extreme slowness; you can show the facts a mile off or six inches off, and all that your actual class teacher need do now is to spend five minutes on getting out the films he wants, ten minutes in reading over the corresponding lecture notes, and then he can run the film, give the lesson, question his class upon it, note what they miss and how they take it, run the film again for a second scrutiny, and get out for the subsequent study of the class the ample supply of diagrams and pictures needed to fix the lesson. Can there be any comparison between the educational efficiency of the two methods? NEW VISUAL EDUCATION BULLETINS OF N. Y. STATE THE State Education Department of the University of the State of New York has issued four additional bulletins of visual education helps, namely: Outline of Vitual Method A) Applied to the Teaching of South America (reprint of Bulletin 684 with modifications); Oeorfg, Washington, 2 parts, List 8, (Second edition enlarged and revised); Bif Walter Scott and Hit Work*, List 16, (Second edition enlarged and re-j vised); Painting*, List 41. These bulletins include lists of available' slides apd photographs.