Visual Education (Jan-Dec 1921)

MISCELLANY the aid of the correlated motion picture film, improved to 45.5 points — a gain of 13.7. The same pupils, with the aid of the film shown after the oral lesson, improved to 49.9 points — a gain of 18.1. The same pupils, with the aid of the motion picture film shown before the lesson, improved to 52.7 points — a gain of 20.9. Professor Weber says: 'Statistically, these points are reliable to the point of practical certainty.' "Mr. Roy L. Davis, graduate student of New York University, conducted an experiment in another of the New York schools. A partial list of his conclusions is as follows: . "On the production side there is (a) a decided lack of suitable films on school subjects. This, however, is being improved every day. (b) There is a decided need of closer co-operation between the producer of educational motion pictures and the school men who are to make use of these films in the classroom, (c) There is a need for a 're-editing' of existing educational motion pictures, in order to make them adaptable to the curriculum. "On the pedagogical side there is a need of better correlation of motion pictures with the present school curriculum. Mr. Davis states that the experimental study of children's perceptual judgments is particularly beneficial from a production point of view. Motion pictures should be differentiated for pupils of different ages. With few exceptions, pupils know more about their lessons, particularly visual lessons, a week afterward than they do at the time the lesson is given. "In the spring of 1920, Professor J. W. Shepherd of the University of Oklahoma conducted a test with about a dozen pupils of average intelligence in one of the high schools of Madison, Wisconsin. "Abstract and concrete subjects were taught to one group by means of films only, to another group by a superior instructor, and to another group by an average instructor. The film scored an average of 74.5 per cent, the superior teacher an average of 66.9 per cent, and the average teacher 61.36 per cent. In other words, the film beat the best teacher by 6.6 per cent and the average teacher by 12.14 per cent. "Tests and experiments of this sort, to evaluate motion pictures for instruction purposes, are being conducted in several places. Before long there will be on hand accurate scientific information and proof based upon tests, which will determine conclusively how, when, and where motion pictures for instruction can be used to advantage." The Drama in the Church Of course we can all recall how, in our first study of English literature and its history, it amazed us to learn that the drama owes its birth to the church, although in time it grew out of hand and was disowned. Nowadays, when theatre and church are almost invariably apart in their aims and ideals, an effort to bring back dramatic art into the divine service is worthy of note. Concerning such a project is an article in the November issue of THEATRE MAGAZINE entitled, "The Church and the Drama," by Elizabeth B. Grimball. She is an active member of a two-year-old movement called "The National Commission of Church Drama and Pageantry of the Episcopal Church of America," which was organized by the Department of Religious Education of that church. A school of church drama was conducted by this commission at a conference of church workers at Wellesley College last summer and met with signal success. The conference allowed the use of part of Wellesley Chapel for a workshop, and here were created costumes of great beauty and dignity. "The Sinner Beloved," a dramatization of the Book of Hosea, by the Rev. Phillips E. Osgood of Philadelphia, was presented first, serving as an example of concrete means of instructing the class in the art of church plays. Several important and interesting facts were impressed upon the class by this experiment. First, that although plays and -■j