The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

March, 1937 Page 87 The Open-House Exhibit as a Stimulus to Interest in Visual Instruction TEACHING a new course is one of the most challenging experiences a teacher can meet. Surely this is abun- dantly true in a field such as visual education where the materials themselves command unusually high interest. Coupled with the dynamic possibilities of such materials, take a group of wide-awake and interested teachers, princi- pals, and superintendents who bring to the classroom vital teaching problems, good common sense, and abundant en- thusiasm. Such a combination can develop considerable out- side interest in that new course. "Just vvhpt does that new course in Visual Instruction include ?" That was a very common question on our campus last summer when the first course in Visual Education was being offered. How to convey this information clearly be- came a problem. Tlien too, occasionally an interested stud- ent would approach the instructor and ask permission to visit the class as an auditor on the day on which some special Visual .Aid was scheduled for discussion. In the first place the large enrollment for the course precluded the possibility of accommodating transient auditors. In the second place, had there been room, the discussion for one or two days without the preceding general and psychological background would not have been entirely satisfactory. Considerable thought on the part of several people finally resulted in onr attempting to meet the situation by using, what for wint of a better name, we called the open-house exhibit. This occurred toward the end of the quarter and was organized and run by the members of our first visual in- struction class. This open-house exhibit, as the name im- plies, first of all, represents an exhibit of the various types of visual aids. This exhibit is as complete as availability of materials will permit. In the room set aside for the purpose there is a table for each visual aid. For instance, in the motion picture section a 16 mm. silent projector is threaded and ready to run, the screen being set up outside an adjacent door so that the picture is projected into a dark hall thus insuring adequate visibility. Films representing various subjects are there for inspection, as are also film bibliographies, reference materials, and ad- vertising material from all film companies which have responded to the request for information. For each of the other visual aids there is a similar set-up, with everything carefully arranged and well labeled. That is the exhibit phase. Now, to make that exhibit a living, vital, informational source it must be endowed with a living personality. In order to supply this necessary quality, each member of the visual education class chose the visual aid in which he was especially interested. Then instead of writing a term paper for the course, he proceeded to prepare himself thoroughly in the field of his choice. Instead of preparing and memor- izing a set talk, he saturated himself in information concern- ing the Visual Aid for which he was responsible so that he became a highly satisfactory source of information. Thus was provided the second characteristic of our endeavor, that of the open house feature in which the human element vitalized the visual materials. When the exhibit room was made in readiness, the follow- ing visual aids were on display attended by the individuals An ingenious and effective use of visual meth- ods to rouse interest in visual instruction. By ELLA CALLISTA CLARK State Teachers College, Winona, Minn. who had prepared themselves accordingly: Motion pictures. Lantern slides, Film slides, Opaque pro- jector. Puppets, Flat pictures. Diagrams and charts. Maps and globes. Free materials. Stereographs and orthographs, Bulletin boards. The electric map. Exhibits, models, and collections. With these two steps completed, the class, in order to test the efficiency of the plan, held a preliminary open- house in which each member had an opportunity to demon- strate his visual aid to a trial audience consisting of the rest of the class. During this preliminary experience, mem- bers of the class asked any questions they wished. Thus the plan served as an excellent review and summary of the entire course; and since the class objectively evaluated each unit on a checklist which they had developed for the pur- pose, it often gave the demonstrator some valuable sug- gestions for improving his presentation In this checklist were specific items referring to the exhibit such as : Is the exhibit complete? Is it well arranged? Concerning the demonstrator himself such question as: Is he well informed? Is he convincing? helped to analyze individual difficulties in the presentation. This done, the open-house exhibit was made available to the college in general and the public at certain periods for two days. During that time any visitor was welcome to come and spend his time as he chose. When the visitors arrived, they were met by a courteous host or hostess who after inviting them to register, directed them to any portion of the exhibit in which they evinced interest. As a specific illustration of the type of activity carried on, these slides will serve as an example of the material avail- able at the lantern slide table. (Slides shown). Mounted on a large chart were the various type of pupil- made lantern slides with directions for making each. Among these were cellophane, etched glass, plain glass with inks, plain glass with ceramic pencil, and lumarith. Besides, several commercial slides were available including two com- plete geography units. If a visitor happened to be particul- arly interested in suggestions concerning the use of slides in any particular subject, the demonstrator had materials with which to show specific ways in which slides may be used to vitalize teaching in that subject. For instance, if an inquiry were made concerning the use of slides in geography, some of the following was given accompanied by slides. Let us say that a child or teacher faces the task of ex- plaining how the cocoa which we use as a food is grown. A picture will aid materially in creating in the child minds a clear impression of the cocoa tree. With this before the class the subject of discussion is brought right to the child. He can show how the pods grow. He points to the pods as he explains that a pod contains from 40 to 60 beans and that inside the hull of each bean there is a light colored kernel which we use for food. At the same time another child may wish to show where cocoa grows and what climate it needs. He may project a world map on the board, step up to it with a piece of colored chalk and mark such places as Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, West Indies, and tropical .Africa. With these marked he may ask the class to state