The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

^1 Audio-Visual Research by WILLIAM ALLEN* Assistant Professor of Education San Diego State College, California A Survey Look at Past and Present This overview of audio-visual research in the United States inaugurates a new feature in EDUCATIONAL SCREEN. Periodically the Research Publications Committee of the Department of Audio-Visual Instruction will publish interpretations, discussions, and abstracts of research in the mass communication field. This first article briefly surveys the history of audio-visual research and includes a list of readings on research findings and methods. ^ LTHOUGH AUDIO-VISUAL RESEARCH began during the T^ first World War, the significance of most early studies was limited greatly by their failure to meet acceptable experimental standards of control and sampling. The first study of a specific educational film done by scientists using factual measures before and after the film showings, and relating the results to a content analysis of the film, was by Lashley and Watson and was published in 1922 (see bibliography). Visual Education, a series of thirteen original experimental studies by Frank Freeman, F. Dean McClusky, and others, published in 1924, demonstrated the effectiveness of using audio-visual materials of instruction and gave impetus to a number of significant studies which followed. For example, Knowlton and Tilton at Yale and Wood and Freeman, under a grant from the Eastman Kodak Company, found the film superior to more conventional teaching methods. These results were duplicated by many experimenters, and by the start of the second World War a mass of evidence had accumulated to support the claims of audiovisual educators. Although the research was characterized by a one-sided concern with the film versus other methods of subject-matter presentation, there was an increasing study of various aspects of audio-visual instruction. For example, beginnings were made in investigating (1) the effects upon children of theatrical motion pictures, (2) the effectiveness of audio-visual materials upon children of various intelligence in various subject areas, (3) the ways of correlating materials with the curriculum, and (4) the effect of films upon attitudes. During the war, wide use was made of audio-visual materials in the training programs of the armed services. But, because of the nature of the war training program, little time could be spent on the experimental evaluation of this use. Two studies do stand out, however, as major contributions by the armed services. The first of these was Motion Picture Testing and Research, edited by James J. Gibson, a report of a series of Army Air Forces experiments. The second was Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield's Experiments on Mass Communication, prepared under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council, and reporting the Army's Information and Education Division researches. 360 These studies added greatly to our understanding of both visual perception as it applies to audio-visual materials and to the theoretical foundations of mass communications research and experimental methodology. In addition, they made significant contributions to the research findings by investigating such important problems as the effect of films upon attitudes and opinions, the effects of audience participation, and the comparison of various kinds of presentation of materials. This tradition of armed services research is being continued by two extensive audio-visual research programs. The Pennsylvania State College's Instructional Film Research Program, under the direction of C. R. Carpenter and supported by the U. S. Navy, and the Air Force's Audio-Visual Research Program, supported by Arthur A. Lumsdaine, are already making significant contributions to the mass communication field. Although the major current research effort is by these two government-financed projects, audio-visual research is by no means limited to the armed services. Yale University's Institute of Human Relations is cooperating with Teaching Film Custodians and the Motion Picture Association in a series of studies in the areas of evaluational, utilization, alternate versions, and basic research. Work is also being conducted, under contract with defense agencies, at Boston University, Cornell University, New York University, University of Southern California, and Queen's College. Many significant studies are being completed by individual researchers and by candidates for doctoral degrees. Status surveys of audio-visual programs have helped us understand audio-visual administrative practices and techniques of use of materials in various subject matter areas. Notable among these is the NEA Research Division's survey of audio-visual programs in city school •With the assistance of the DAVI Research Publicatidns Committee (See box). DAVI RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE William Allen, San Diego State College, Chairman C. R. Carpenter, The Pennsylvania State College Edgar Dale, Ohio State University James D. Finn, University of Southern California Ray S. Hadsell, Yale University Herbert Hite, State College of Washington L. C. Larson, Indiana University Kenneth Norberc, University of Chicago Seerley Reid, U. S. Office of Education Paul Wendt, San Francisco State College John V. Zuckerman, Audio-Visual Research Division, H.R.R.L., U.S.A.F. Frank W. Hubbard, Director, Research Division, N.E.A., Advisor Educational Screen