The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

Page 314 The Educational Screen Experimental Research in Audio-Visual Education By DAVID GOODMAN Title: WHAT ARE THE EDUCATIONAL VALUES OF THE SOUND-SLIDE FILM? Reporters: Dr. F. Dean McClusky and Esther L. Berg Purpose of Study To determine the value of the sound-slide film as an aid to teaching, the National Research Council's Committee on Scientific Aids to Learning conducted an extensive in- vestigation of five sound-slide films. These films were pro- duced under the direction of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan New York Branch of the Department of Visual Instruction of the National Education Association. Objectives The Department of Visual Instruction group, in accept- ing the project, decided that it would be desirable to pro- duce films which could be used in teaching children from the primary school through the high school and further- more selected as subject matter units those which would fall in areas not commonly taught at the various grade levels. As a second objective the Visual Instruction group determined to test out different types of presentation with the sound-slide film. In this way it was believed that not only would the investigation throw some light on the areas in which the sound-slide film could be used to best ad- vantage, but furthermore that it might determine which type of presentation was peculiarly adapted to the sound- slide film type of presentation. Finally, if the potentialities of the sound-slide film as a teaching aid could be deter- mined, the low cost of producing such films and the lower ultimate cost to the consumer was considered to be a major factor inasmuch as the standard sound-slide film is comparable in length of presentation to the 400 ft. sound- on-film motion picture. It was answers to such questions as these that the Committee on Scientific Aids to Learning wanted to know and this recently completed investigation helps to throw light on these problems. Procedure The Executive Committee of the Metropolitan New York Branch of the Department of Visual Instruction of the National Education Association appointed from its member- ship sub-committees to be in charge of each sound-slide film production. The areas in the curriculum into which each unit was to fall were determined and these in turn were assigned to the sub-committees. Sub-Committees were given the privilege of calling in others to assist them in their work. Five units were determined upon: one in the field of Story Telling, applicable to children of the first and second grades; second, Safety, applicable to children of the third and fourth grades; third, the Teaching of Graphs applicable to children of the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades; fourth, Teaching of Vocational Guidance, applicable to junior and senior high school students; fifth, the Teaching of Human Relations, applicable to children of the senior high school. After these areas had been determined upon, the search for suitable units of subject matter next was undertaken. It was determined that at the primary level the Story Telling film would present that well-known story "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse." The children in a Long Island public school were used as background subjects and an artist was employed to make miniature sets and figures to illustrate the story. The pictures were photographed in Kodachrome. In the second aera, the teaching of Safety, the script was based on rhymes covering various types of hazards confronting children on streets. These rhymes were writ- ten by third grade children in one of the New York public schools. The photography was in Kodachrome color, miniature sets and dolls being used to illustrate the various safety situations. In the third area. Graphic Representation, a straight lecture type of approach was used. The script was pre- pared by a teacher of mathematics in one of the schools in Staten Island. Inasmuch as most of the "pictures" used in this film were charts and graphs, they were drawn up by expert draftsmen and photographed. This film was produced in black and white. In the fourth area. Vocational GuidancCj a unit entitled "Your World of Tomorrow" was produced in cooperation with one of the large New York City junior high schools. Here a new technique was introduced; namely, that the guidance counselor and the individuals appearing in the pictures carried on a conversation. The person speaking had his back to the camera so that there would be little confusion created by conversation between people appear- ing in still pictures. This film was produced in black and white. The fifth area, Human Relations, grew out of a class in sociology in a Westchester private school. The class prepared the script and served as the subjects for the photographs. This film was produced in black and white. In producing these units the Department of Visual In- struction group took every possible precaution to create units which would be educationally sound and it was clearly understood that the measure of success would rest largely on the reaction of the students with whom they were to be used as instructional material. The Committee on Scientific Aids to Learning pro- ceeded to secure evidence as to the educational eflfective- ness of these several units. The first step consisted in sending three of them to a number of summer schools of education where the films were exhibited to teachers, prin- cipals, and students who were asked to answer rather elab- orate questionnaires giving their opinions as to the educa- tional effectiveness of the units. Following this collection of opinion, tests were prepared on each of the five units. The films were shown and preliminary forms of the test administered for the purpose of perfecting the measuring instruments which would be used later in the evaluation. These tests were carried out in a number of schools and no attempt was made to collect data concerning the chil- dren's reactions to the films. After the tests had been perfected the films were then shown under experimental conditions in three centers: first, in the public schools in New York City; second, in public schools in the Boston area; and, third, to children in the laboratory schools at the George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee. Results of the Studies The summary of the opinions collected from teachers who used the films and those who reviewed them con- cerning the educational effectiveness of the five sound-slide films is as follows: Consider No. of film Doubtful teachers effective about Consider Name of Film who used and value film the film valuable of film Ineffective N % N % N % City Mouse and Country Mouse 248 155 62 69 28 24 10 Sajety 199 135 67 50 26 14 7 Graphic Representation 15 13 87 2 13 0 0 Your World of Tomorrow 12 8 66 2 17 2 17 Teamwork 13 54 46 0 0 Number Consider Consider of re- treatment treatment viewers satisfactory unsatisfactory Graphic Representation Your World of Tomorrow Teamwork The significant general findings of this phase of the inves- tigation are: 1. In the opinion of an overwhelming majority of the classroom teachers who used these sound film slides, {Concluded on page 324)