The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

104 The Educational Screen camera in order that more might be done along this line. While the foregoing gives the favorable reaction of one Junior High School to a series of rented films, I can see still greater possibilities for this form of teaching from a library of films owned by a school or school system. By this method, films would be more ac cessible and could be kept long enough in any school so that each teacher might show them to her own pupils in her own class-room. This arrangement would upset no class schedules, since there would be no combination of classes needed and would permit of greater teacher freedom in presenting the subject matter as well as in the selection of films to be used. Such an arrangement, though too expensive for small school systems, might prove more economical than renting in a city of 50,000 or more people. In conclusion, let me state my firm conviction that our experience proved beyond question the value of educational films as a teaching device in a Junior High School. The Use of Motion Pictures in Business Courses J. G. Glover Department of Management, New York University IN ABOUT 1919 the motion picture was first introduced to American schools for the purpose of instruction. Since that time many advantages have been brought to light by this method of visual instruction. The writer is interested in setting forth a method of presenting commercial work by use of motion pictures, a method which gives the student a better and more vivid conception of business processes. The Department of Management of the School of Commerce of New York University offers a course known as "Manufacturing Industries", in which moving pictures are used. This is an orientation course for the freshman who intends to make business his life's work. The purpose of the course is to acquaint the student with the important manufactories of the United States and to bring out the characteristics of the various industries. The course is designed to give the student a desirable cultural background ; it clearly pictures the sociological surroundings of the industrial worker and greatly broadens the student's viewpoint, thus making it possible for him to appreciate more fully the significance of many important articles appearing in the daily newspapers and elsewhere. The class meets for two one-hour periods during the week. Three one-thousandfoot reels are projected ; the running time is approximately forty minutes. While the operator is changing the reel, a discussion concerning the previous picture or the text material is carried on. In some instances a representative from the industrial plant shown in the film personally explains the raw material used, the processes, methods, machinery, and the problems in management and marketing peculiar to that particular industry. A remarkable amount of information on a scientific subject can be acquired by a student in a relatively short period of time. Over a period of about five years the Department of Management, under the guidance of Professor W. B. Cornell, has carried on extensive experimental work in the use of motion pictures as a means of presenting subject matter in business administration. It seems essential that a student graduating from a school of commerce should have a knowledge of what goes on inside a large manufacturing plant. This knowledge cannot be gained by means of reading books, and there is not sufficient time for extensive plant visitation. The motion picture is the only means of bringing the factory and factory operation into the classroom. The writer was given the task of developing a course that would give the student of business during his first year of college work a bird's-eye-view of industry as a whole. It is believed that such a course would help the student to make up his mind concerning the field of business which he is interested in, and perhaps best fitted for, and thus put him in a better position to specialize in a particular phase of business activities during the remaining years of his college work. As a result of experimentation with visual instruction methods, a full-point course appeared in the curriculum of the School of Commerce of New York University last September. About seventy students registered the first term and over one hundred the second term. The course consists of a well I rounded schedule of motion pictures, starting with the agricultural development of the United States and closing with the latest discoveries in the field of aviation. Dr. F. W. Wile's book, "A Century of Industrial Progress", is used as a textbook. A chapter is assigned each week. The motion pictures are carefully chosen to supplement the book material. This combination affords the students an unexcelled opportunity to appreciate the development of industry and the methods of manufacturing on our