Motion pictures in education : a practical handbook for users of visual aids (c1923)

164 Motion Pictures in Education ments already referred to that the use of the film first followed by the lesson is two per cent more efficient than the lesson followed by the film, the weight of authority and experience seems to point the other way. As far as we have been able to ascertain, the majority of users of visual aids have found that the lesson first followed by film is the common practice and certainly it is upheld by sounder pedagogical principles. While in no way conclusive, it is significant that in the face of the findings, the 476 Seventh A grade pupils participating in the test, when asked which method they preferred, voted 259 for the lesson first and film afterwards to 217 for the film first. This is particu- larly interesting to the authors, who are convinced that according to all laws of approved pedagogy there should be proper preparation before the film showing and that the showing should be followed by discussion. Even when the film is used to give a background or furnish "atmosphere," or to put pupils in a receptive frame of mind for the lesson to follow, there should be preparation for the film on the part of both pupil and teacher. We can not emphasize this too strongly or too frequently. (3) The teacher should, if possible, see the film in advance, in order to determine how it can best be cor- related with the lesson he is teaching. If this is not possible he should study the outline, title-sheet, or, better still, the continuity-sheet, which gives both titles and brief descriptions of scenes following the titles. An increasing number of non-theatrical film producers and distributors are supplying outlines with their edu- cational films. (4) The principle is enunciated by no less an author- ity than Ernest L. Crandall that the film in school work