The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 154 The Educational Screen lacking. It has been found that most educated adults, unless their training has required the con- stant reading of charts, are as unmoved by the formal chart as are children. Certain economists have claimed that if the average layman had been able to read and interpret charted data, the stress of this period of economic change might not have caught so many unaware. A consistent, carefully- planned and graded chart-reading program in edu- cation might assist in making our future citizens recognize the interdependence of present events, their direct bearing upon the future and their asso- ciation with the past. This can only be accom- plished after much experimentation with charts of various types and a long-span research program to determine chart needs and standards of produc- tion. The present educational system provides for the study of chart types in the Junior High School algebra course. Little or nothing is done prior to Lach unIT ^ r«pr«t«n1> lOO hvikl traveled per daij 1775 -^^^ 1900 t93} Postal Deliveries in the United States A simplification of comparative data for communication project, on higher elementary level this to lay a foundation for the better understand- ing for, or application of, this material and little practical use is made of charts in subsequent school years. Charts, need to be made for educa- tional projects on all levels so that a well-ordered and sequential training in chart reading may eventuate. It is equally important however to understand dififerent types of charts which can be used on different levels. Human knowledge is becoming more complex and the abstract learning of isolated details is no longer a part of good teaching. The Graphic Standards Project recognized this and cre- ated summary or developmental charts which shall serve to tie together isolated details, present the high-lights of a broad field of information and serve to integrate scattered learning experiences. In the progressive school where undue emphasis often is placed on a certain project and on definite aspects and activities thereof, an orientation and placement of this project material by means of a summary chart may be important. Perspective and a com- plete unification of disjointed experiences may be gained by the timely use of such a chart. Further- more the linking of the unknown to the known by a developmental chart, as well as the picturization of this material should assist the memory. Charts on elementary level must not only be attractive but contain factors within the comprehension of young children. Few definite quantitative, or exact, time concepts can be introduced. Charts can stimulate analysis of facts and ac- curate thinking and can motivate intelligent group discussion. Difficult statistics, when simplified and vitalized, serve to enlarge the horizons of 9 and 10 year old children. Commonplace events and in- ventions become important in the development of a broader human understanding. Education on all levels, we are told, must keep in closer touch with life. The present upheaval in social and industrial con- ditions calls for some objective medium of interpre- tation which shall give a clear overview and stress the highlights and principal trends of world hap- penings. Carefully planned charts can do this. When students in Junior High School merely talk of current events as presented in the daily or weekly papers little opportunity is otYered to un- derstand these day by day happenings in terms of what has gone before. The social significance of human trends and their consequences require in- creased emphasis. As already stated, a chart can motivate group discussions and, with supple- mentary research, lead to an objective and con- structive analysis of modern society. With emphasis placed on the reading, under- standing and construction of charts on all school levels, chart intelligence will ultimately lead to the ferreting out of comparative data from formally constructed charts. It is conceivable that the average high school senior and adult will be able to do this in time — and hke it. With increased ma- turity, abstract data not only may be presented in compli- cated chart form but difficult and in- tricate details may be transformed into a chart by the stu- dent himself for his o w n clarification. A project in Amer- ican industrialism in high s ch o o 1 might well result in an abstract discussion ^.ond E.Europe lnclu«n AutlriclunaarySuIfdm^KiMMHiifnlMr ^^ >^.,^ C.p...~.....l...,.,»„»„„,., Com G»iB' lmi«.g.ol,onVi.l S.|i,40B .The American Stalisticul AbM.atl of th« U.SI932pW The Origin of our Immigrants A summary chart for a project in American industrialism, on senior high school level on the effect of our (Concluded on page 157)