Motion pictures for instruction (1926)

THREE STUDIES IN EDUCATIONAL FILMS 173 X. The Effectiveness of the Film and Demonstration in Teaching Cooking, by A. P. Hollis. XI. Stereographs and Slides in Teaching Oral English to Foreigners, by Nina Joy Begiinger. XII. Oral and Film Instruction in Health Education, by Carolyn Hoefer and Edna Keith. XIII. Study of the Content of Educational Films, by H. Y. McClusky. The investigation was undertaken by men and women trained in the statistical methods of the university graduate schools, and represents a balanced set of experiments in which the errors of one would tend to be compensated by the work of the other twelve. Professor Freeman's report (essentially a summary of his book, Visual Education) was made before the Department of Superintendence of the National Educational Association at its Chicago meeting in 1924. The press of the city was almost unanimous in proclaiming it a condemnation of the use of motion pictures in the schools. It was a typical press reaction to anything educational savoring of controversy. In answer to a letter addressed to Professor Freeman at the close of the meeting, he wrote as follows : "My dear Mr. Hollis: The report of my talk was, as you probably have guessed, misleading. The quotations themselves were accurate, except the first, but if you will read the report carefully you will see that the descriptive material which was added by the reporter went considerably beyond anything which I said. Take, for example, the quotation concerning the interest which the pupils have in motion pictures and the headline of this topic. My statement was that the value of motion pictures lies more in