Educational screen & audio-visual guide (c1956-1971])

to one terminal of the buzzer— it makes no difference wliicfi terminals are selected. Then a three-foot length of wire was connected to each of the remaining terminals (one on the battery and one on the buzzer), and the wiring was checked by removing the insulation from the two loose ends of the wire and touching the ends together. If the wiring has been done correctly, a loud buzz should be produced when the ends meet. Two additional holes were next drilled near the bottom of the poster board, and the two loose wires pushed through these holes to the front of the board. These wires should be long enough so that one can reach all brads beside the problems and the other can reach all possible answer contacts. If you prefer a small lamp instead of a buzzer, substitute a six-volt lamp with socket and two lead wires in place of the buzzer and make the same wiring connections. You will also have to make a hole in the board the size of the lamp socket and push the lamp assembly into this hole from the front of the board. If you desire both lamp and buzzer, simply connect all three in series. Your science teacher or local radio re])airman will probably be happy to help you if you have any difficulties with the wiring. Now face your electric board with one loose wire in each hand and try out your creation. If you touch one wire to the brad beside a problem and a second wire to the brad beside the correct answer, the electrical circuit should be completed and you will have visual or audio acclaim. The picture on i^age 295 shows two fourthgrade yoinigsters testing their skill at multiplication. The cost of this device may be only the cost of a battery, buzzer, and/or lamp if salvage materials are skillfully used. If all materials are purcha.sed, an electric board similar to the one described will probably cost between $2 and $3. Many adult education workers have built electric boards in the shape of their states, counties, or cities. They construct them in such a way that different colored lights locate points of interest when contacts opposite the names of these places are touched. After a short acquaintance with an electric board, one soon realizes that its potentialities are limited only by the imagination of the builder. A few hoars of work, fewer dollars, and lots of imagination will result in rich dividends in pupil interest and subject matter proficiency. Try it and see! How to Teach Reading Methods Via the Opaque Projector by STANLEY STAHL, JR. MANY EDUCATORS have stated many times that the only limit to the number of uses for the opaque projector is the limit imposed by the teacher's ability. For a number of years the author — first as an elementary principal supervisor and more recently as a college methods instructor — has extolled the virtues of the opaque projector. It must be admitted, however, that the equipment was not actively being well used. The advantages of the opaque projector were re-discovered in the following manner. No area or phase of instruction is of more importance than reading. Because of this importance, any methods course in reading given the teacher in training must naturally be of a refined and efficient nature. Not only must the concepts of the reading process be mastered but techniques of instructing the less mature must be presented. In setting up and organizing a methods course in reading, therefore, the author has incorporated a great number of visual materials including films, filmstrips, slides, and charts. After a thorough listing of such materials was made in manual form, quite a few gaps were found to exist where aids were needed to clarify concepts but none were available commercially. To complete and supplement the program, sets of opaque projections were constructed and inserted into the course. The instructional tasks and die opaque projections constructed included: Set I: Opaque projection of examples of the various stimuli used by teachers to create within children the desire to learn to read. (6 items) Set II: Opaque projection of the Mr. Stahl was recently appointed an assistant professor of education at the University of Wisconsin. He completed his doctor's thesis at the University of Maryland this past summer: subject: visual aids in teaching reading methods. He was formerly an instructor in education at the State Teachers College, Frostburg, Maryland. exercises from a typical commercial reading readiness test. (8 items) Set III: Opaque projection of pages from a typical commercial readiness workbook (7 items) Set IV: Opaque projection of typical reading readiness pictures. (6 items) Set V: Opaque projection of pages from typical pre-primer material. (8 items) Set VI; Opaque projection of vocabulary content from a typical reading series. (7 items) Set VII: Opaque projection of study guides and exercises from typical teacher's manuals to basal readers. (6 items) Set VIII: Opaque projection of the various types of reading comprehension with examples of material. (8 items) Set IX: Opaque projection of study guide exercises for training in the reading study skills. (10 items) Set X: Opaque projection of criteria to be used in selecting children's literature. (6 items) The following outcomes and advantages have been noted as a result of the use of the sets. (1) Many instructional tasks of reading, which need visual clarification before mastery by the beginning teacher is possible, have not been covered by the presently available commercial aids. These gaps were filled by the above aids. (2) Class members have been stimulated, through participation in discussion of the aids, to much follow-up study and self-improvement. (3) Results of examinations given at the end of each course in which the constructed aids have been used reveal that the areas covered by the homemade aids have been mastered to at least the same extent and usually to a higher degree than the areas covered by commercial aids. Out of 150 examinations, less than 10% of the students failed to give satisfactory statements for essay questions covering the concepts covered by the ten constructed aids. These constructed aids were inexpensively made, are easily stored and are available exactly when needed, with no scheduling or budgetary problems. Due to their successful use, additional sets are planned to be substituted for several inadequate aids presently being used. September, 1955 297