The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 228 The Educational Screen SLUGGERS. THE (5 min., sound) Importance oi tanks in modem warfare. (Brandon. Gutlohn, Ideal) THAT TATTERED LACKEY (5 min., sound) Mussolini's career; Italy's part in World War II and what she has gotten out oi it. (Brandon, Gutlohn. Ideal) U.S. NAVY BLASTS MARSHALL ISLANDS (I reel, sound and silent) Preparations for the assault; American guns in action; aerial fights. (B&H. Castle, Ideal, P&S, Visual) WAR IN THE DESERT (1 reel, sound) British Army in action against Axis iorces in North Airica; battle scenes at Tobruk. (Hubbard) WAR WITHOUT WARNING (Assembly programs, 40 min. each, sound) 1. War in the Atlantic; II. War in the Pacific; in. British Home Front. (BiH) NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF FILM DISTRIBUTORS Bell BELL AIRCRAFT CO., Film Unit, Buffalo BSH BELL & HOWELL CO., 1817 Larchmont Ave., Chicago Brandon BRANDON FILMS, 1600 Broadway, New York Bray BRAY PICTURES CORP., 729 7th Ave., New York City BL BRITISH LIBRARY OF INFORMATION, Rockefeller Plaza, New York Castle CASTLE FILMS, RCA Bldg., New York CFC COLLEGE FILM CENTER, 59 E. Van Buren St., Chicago Curtiss CURTISS-WRIGHT CORP., Rockefeller Plaza, New York Consolidated CONSOLIDATED AIRCRAFT, Lindbergh Field, San Diego Delehanty DELEHANTY INSTITUTE, 115 E. 15th St., New York Eastman EASTMAN KODAK, Teaching Films Division, Rochester, N. Y. Erpi ERPI CLASSROOM FILMS, 1841 Broadway, New York Film Prod. FILM PRODUCTIONS CO., 3650 Fremont, Minneapolis GE GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., Visual Instruction Dept., Schenectady GM GENERAL MOTORS CORP., 1775 Broadway, New York Gutlohn WALTER O. GUTLOHN, INC., 25 W. 45th St., New York Handy JAM HANDY ORGANIZATION, 2821 E. Grand, Detroit Harvard HARVARD FILM SERVICE, Biological Laboratories, Cambridge Holmes BURTON HOLMES FILMS, INC., 7510 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago Hubbard FATHER HUBBARD EDUCATIONAL FILMS, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, Cal. Ideal IDEAL PICTURES CORP., 28 E. Eighth St., Chicago NAM NATIONAL ASS'N OF MANUFACTURERS, 14 W. 49th St., N. Y. C. NFB NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA, Ottawa, Canada OEM OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, Film Unit, Wash., D.C. Official OFFICIAL FILMS, INC., 425 Fourth Ave., New York P«S PHOTO & SOUND, INC., 153 Kearney St., San Francisco Princeton PRINCETON FILM CENTER, 410 Nassau, Princeton, N. I. YES VISUAL EDUCATION SERVICE, 131 Clarendon St., Boston Vocational VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE FILMS, Old Colony Bldg., Des Moines Visual VISUAL ART FILMS, 204 Empire Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. Wilding WILDING PICTURES, INC., 7635 Grand River, Detroit YMCA YMCA MOTION PICTURE BUREAU, 347 Madison Ave., New York Movies versus Field Trips (Concluded from page 220) observation. Visitation to the industrial plants is a necessary part of this type of defense training but the number and length of field trips can be materially reduced by the use of visual aids. And there still remains the important advantage in the use of visual aids in defense training, that very large groups may be given the experiences at one time. Real experiences involving worth-while knowledge in our part of the world is available for the pupils right in the classroom. Experiences need not be confined to those available locally. The motion picture makes it possible to bring all of nature, human progress, history, in fact, the whole world in all its phases, sociological, biologi- cal, and physical, as it really is, to every pupil. A living replica of all the universe, as far as we know it, can be brought into the schoolroom for inten- sive study. Certainly the motion picture should be used to its maximum as an eflfective complement to the costly, prolonged, and often less efficient pro- cedures of field trips and excursions. Experimental Research in Audio-Visual Education By DAVID GOODMAN ' Title: RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL FILM Investigator: Adolf F. Sturmthal The study was conducted at the Institute for Economic Education, Bard College, Columbia University, Annandale- on-Hudson, New York. (Completed July, 1941). Purpose of Study To present the research aspects of the film problem on the basis of published records. It will discuss the material from two major points of view: 1. A Survey of techniques used in film research, together with illustrative examples 2. A Survey of the kinds of problems that have been studied in the past or may usefully be investigated in the future. I Research Techniques The research techniques listed are not exhaustive, but they cover all the techniques which have been used to date, ' either in the field of educational motion pictures or in closely allied fields. These techniques involve securing of data either directly or by inferential methods. A. Direct measures 1. free answer; 2. questionnaire; 3. rating scale. 4. program analyzer; 5. observation; 6. physiological. B. Inferential measures 1. item analysis ; 2 attendance and distribution records. A. Direct Measures 1. Free Answer The simplest (and crudest) method of obtaining informa- tion as to what is contained in a given film, how it may best be utilized, who are the ones that see it, and what is its eflfect on the audience, is to ask either the "expert" or test audience as to what they believe the answer is in each of these instances; or they may be asked to write an essay on their attitudes. In either case they follow their own fancies con- cerning the aspects to be stressed. This is the identifying characteristic of the method. Within a rather general topic, no limitations are placed upon the person who gives the answers as to what or how he is to criticize or analyze. This technique is very widely applicable. It can be used for investigating problems in every field. The main purpose of this technique is to obtain general ideas concerning the field studied or to investigate problems which are so complex that they cannot be otherwise approached. That the free answer type of analysis has shortcomings is, of course, obvious. Strictly quantitative evaluations of the replies are difficult, since the replies are, of necessity, diversi- fied. On the other hand, this technique has its advantages in exploring complicated concepts and it avoids the frequent fault of other techniques which all too often predetermine the answers to a problem by the types of questions which are asked. 2. Questionnaire The questionnaire method is a standardized version of the free answer approach. It is applicable in the same types of situations. However^ it carefully delimits the aspects of each problem which are important in a particular investigation. Instead of giving free rein to the respondent in stressing what- ever aspect of a test situation appeals most to him, the ques- tionnaire pins him down to the task of giving a specific answer to a specific question. Questions may be asked for the purpose of finding out 1) what information audiences derive from films; 2) how their attitudes are afifected as a result of seeing the film; 3) what appeals the film has for audiences; and 4) what is judged to be the most effective use of film. The most direct riethod of finding out what facts a group of students have gleaned from a film is to give them a test after seeing that film. A comparison of what an audience knows before it sees a given film and what it knows after