The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

September, 19i9 Page 261 Intangible Effects of Motion Pictures (CoiiiluJiJ Jrom payc Zi~) Iroiii considcriiiff money values as most important to the consideration of human vahies as important. Much more work of this type needs to be done Ixjfore we can say conclusively that motion pictures of this type help the pu|)il to think through social situa- tions more clearly or that they help him to change his sense of values. There is an indication from these data that such is the ca.se. Certainly it touches an import;:nt pha.se of education, one which merits much more intensive study. Movies and Clarity of Thinking .\n attempt was made to get at consistency of thought by a ditTcient method. The assumption was made that if students agreed with attitude test statements which have a wide range of scale values, they .show incon- sistency in their thinking. This conclusion was drawn after a careful examination of the statements in the attitude test on government help in soil erosion control. If the range in statements agreed with should decrease alter seeuig the picture, this would then \k an indica- tion of more consistent thinking. \\ orking on this assumption, the standard deviation of the scale values of the attitude test statements with which each of 112 college students agreed was deter- mined. They were then shown The Ploiv that Broke the Plains, retcsted, and the same measure of con- sistency applied again. The mean standard deviation was 1.77 before seeing the picture and 1.62 after seeing it. This difference was 3.1 times the probable error of the difference in means. Although this ratio is not quite high enough to assure us of statistical significance, it gives us very great probability that the difference is i!ot a chance one. .\ distribution of scores in this parti- cular case reveals that three very atypical individuals out of the 112 prevented a greater difference. If the.sc three had Ix^en omitted the difference would have been .21 instead of .15 and would have given us statistical significance. Here again more work needs to be done before we can hazard the assertion that a motion picture such as The Ploxv will help pupils to think more consistently about the problem of government help in the control of soil erosion. The evidence we have presented, how- ever, points rather convincingly in that direction. We have here, then, evidence concerning important phases of education. The evidence concerning changes of attitudes resulting from the u.se of documentary films is quite conclusive. We may feel sure that such films shown to pupils in school will have an influence on what they think about .social problems. There is very great reason to believe that they may also influence the ability of pupils to see the implications of social prob- lems and to think consistently. They probably in- fluence the .sense of values which pupils hold. There is little doubt that they can increa.se the social aware- ness of pupils, even for social problems which have been written about repeatedly in our newspapers and magazines. This type of results of our visual education program may prove even more important to modern education than the increased ability to acquire facts which it provides. THE NEW DeVRY 16 MM. inT€RPR€T€R The ONLY Sound Projector WithTheseMt/Sr FEATURES 1. Al TOMATK; loop ADJISTER prevents loss of "film loop," pliminales rethreading. The "show" goes right on. Also prevents damage to film. 2. SYNCflROM.\TIC THREADING—makes possible auto- matically, the synchronism of both sound and picture. 3. r)UAL EXCITER LAMPS —Your ahsoliile protection against delayed programs due to lamp failure. 4. DUAL SOUND STABILIZERS- keeps film properly aligned over sound drum, resulting in unsurpassed sound. ''" ■•" Built In Provisions For: I'HONOCRAPH RADIO MICROPHONE EXTRA SPEAKER 'tee Ccntraii»i| Room Spukcr System Silent Aa Well As Sound Films Mat] coupon Im-Iow today for frt-e illustrated lit- erature. NKW LOW PRICES and deUils of DeVry "Sflf-LiguidatinK Plan." of special interest tc schools which may not have ready funds available. Famous for 26 Yeart Chicago New York Hollywood Makers of the mo.st comnlete line of I6mm. and SSmm. silent and sound projectors and cameras for professional and institutional use. "Our Best Heferenre Ix 4 />e)>v Owner" I ^SEND COUPON NOW DeVRY PROJECTORS ARE DEPENDABLE Many DeVry Pro- jectors made 20 years aso are still functioning superbly. It pays to buy a DeVry. I n.VHV CORPORATION I llO.'i Annltsn Ave., ClUesfo I .«<enit lllualtaled lllrrslim'. XE\V LOW I 'Di-Xo .SrU-Llquldallna PIsn." I Name I Addnsa |C»y 8;«tt.. I Hchool I □ (llerll herr ""Sl-psie be and cnclttss flOe If you dealre new ok, "Km Pllmi for .SWiooU " ^»^_