The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

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Relation of Experience to Learning 285 rell be considered under manipula- on. Much more important in the learn- ig process is the function of kines- tetic experience, principally in the orm of manipulation. From it we cquire not only most of our ideas and ieals of play and work, but also that reat mass of motor skills which con- tinues such a big part of our be- lavior. Laboratory work, manual raining, and vocational apprentice- ship are all illustrations of its wide- pread efficacy. Little need be said concerning audi- tion, or hearing, except that this func- tion is often considered more impor- tant than it really is. Too much of our teaching is auditory appeal. Of course the function plays a significant role in musical education, in the ac- quisition of linguistic skills, and in the arousal and stimulation of thought by verbally stated problems. But to de- pend upon auditory appeal for the elucidation of relationships which can only be generalized from manipula- tion and visual exploration is pure professional inefficiency. Many a teacher grows impatient and calls her pupils morons simply because they seem unable to learn from merely being told. Visual exploration is undoubtedly the most prolific sensory source of learning. Most of our place relation- ship concepts, many of our skills and their thorough understanding, and a fair share of our social ideals and aspirations are grounded in visual ex- perience. Yet visual experience is not utilized to the full extent of its po- tential value. One obvious reason for this is that the actual experience is not always feasible and often quite im- possible. We can not afford to take the geography class to Africa. But human invention has overcome this difficulty in part. The perfection of photography has placed in the hands of the educator a means of manifestly great possibilities. The photograph is a miniature cross-section of a visual experience that can be transported from one part of the earth to another, from one linguistic group to another, from one historic period to another, with very little loss in accuracy and form. The sensitive film has made vicarious experience practicable. The American schoolboy can now see the hippopotamus wade in the muddy waters of the Nile; and he acquires thus a fund of realistic imagery which can be made the basis of more effec- tive instruction. However, it is not to be inferred from all the foregoing that the sense experiences alone effect complete learning. The primary stimuli do not guarantee a complex of finished neural connections. These experiences are but a fraction of the educative process. Learning grows partially out of think- ing and achieving. Therefore, in making the study of which I am going to say more in the second part of this article, I have added another category, namely mental behavior, cerebration, or thinking.