INDUSTRIAL MOTION PICTURES IN THE CLASSROOM ORVULl3 WALTBRS.ENIDHIGH SCAOOL. ENID,OKLAHOMA
With the increasing number of industrial films available on different processes, and with their growing use as auxiliary aids to the science courses, the value of these films in the chemistry classroom itself is of interest. With the view of estimating any benefit derived from the use of motion pictures of this type in classes, the following experiment was conducted. The results were estimated only by the word of the students themselves, but the replies received are sufficiently clear-cut to afford some definite conclusions. The titles used are typical industrial films, made by the larger companies to illustrate their processes. Such films are usually available for mere payment of transportation charges through such agencies as the U. S. Bureau of Mines, Y. M. C. A. Film Bureau, University Extension Divisions, etc. A comprehensive list of such sources appeared within the past year in THIS JOURNAL.' The average total cost for transportation charges on the films used was $1.50 for each title. The pictures were projected by a portable machine placed in the back of the classroom, all the films except one being on slow-burning stock. Requiring approximately fifteen minutes to the reel, there was ample time to change and show three reels in the sixty-minute class period, films being rewound by hand for the next class during the projection. However, tworeel pictures proved more successful, allo+g time for questions immediately after the showing. The films were scheduled in advance for the entire semester. They were chosen without having been seen and were therefore probably an average selection in their adaptabiiity to chemistry classroom use. When possible, each film was shown as an introduction to the particular subject it was to illustrate. This tended to give definite form to the process in the student's mind, and enabled him to take part more intelligently in subsequent discussion. Upon completion of the series, the questionnaire which follows was given to the students in an attempt to measure results. The pictures were shown to four classes in chemistry, and seventy-five students gave replies. It is believed that the answers were not influenced by a desire for additional pictures, as the students were assured that the series was closed for the year. Questionnaire The following motion pictures have been shown to chemistry classes this year. Recall each one carefully before you answer the questions below:
' "Motion Pictures for Science Classes," 5, 12944 (Oct., 1928).
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Reels
"Beyond the Microscope" "A Trip through Filmland" "Story of Steel" "Oxygen, the Wonder Worker" "Jewels of Industry" "Story of Dynamite" "Story of Gasoline"
I.
Shown in connection with:
1 2 2 3
Electrolysis of water; atoms and molecules Photography Reduction of iron ores; manufacture of steel Claude process of liquefying gases; oxy-acetylene welding 2 Carborundum and corundum 2 Explosives and chemical energy 3 Petroleum refining
Which picture did you enjoy most?
T h e choices were:
Story of Dynamite 36% Story of Gasoline A Trip through Filmland 21'7' Jewels of Industry 16% Oxygen, the Wonder Worker Story of Steel Beyond the Microscope 3% .
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13% 7% 4%
From which p'cture did you learn most?
32% Story of Dynamite Story of Gasoline 21% Jewels of Industry Story of Steel A Trip through Filmland 12% Beyond the Microscope 5% Oxygen, the Wonder Worker
12% 11% 7%
3. Which pictures enabled you to understand points which you did not otherwise understand clearly from the text and any class discussion? Story of Gasoline Beyond the Microscope A Trip through Filmland
40% Story of Dynamite 38% Story of Steel 21% lewels of Industry Oxygen, the Wonder Work9 7%
21% 20% 13%
4. Which pictures, if any, did not add to your understanding of the subject as taken u p by the text and any class discussion? Fifty-seven per cent replied that no pictures had failed to contribute to their understanding of the subject. Six titles were named by the following proportions of students: 16% Beyond the Microscope 8% Oxygen, the Wonder Worker A Trip through Filmland 11% Story of Steel 7% Jewels of Industry 8% Story of Dynamite 4% One title, "Story of Gasoline" was not cited by any one as failing to contribute t o his knowledge.
5. What processes do you feel would have been more clearly understood if pictures of them had been shown? Of the seventy-five students replying, sixteen mentioned Glass, while ten named Silicates, referring to the same subject matter. Eleven named Methods of Obtaining Salts, five, Purification of Water, and five, Manufacture of Portland Cement. Six suggested Metallurgy (other than Iron). Fixation of Nitrogen, Coal, Cottrell Process, and Manufacture of Sulfuric Acid were also mentioned.
6. Would you rather spend an hour seeing a picture and discussing it, or working an hour i n laboratory? Why?
Seventy-one per cent stated a preference for the picture, giving as reasons that it was more interesting, easier to understand, or stating a dislike of laboratory. Twenty-four per cent preferred laboratory, either on the basis of its being more interesting than a picture, or because of more lasting impressions from laboratory work and the write-ups following it. Five per cent liked pictures and laboratory work equally well.
7 . If you could do only one, would you rather take a trip through the rejinery or see the picture "Story of Gasoline? Why? This question was asked of twenty-four students who had just completed a tour through a large refinery, conducted by thechief chemist. They hadalso seen the picture. The students were asked to answer the question, not on the basis of general interest, hut on a clear understanding of the refining process. Nine students, or 37.5% stated a preference for the motion picture, because the animated diagrams showed them interior operations that could not be seen in a trip through the refinery. Fifteen students, or U.5% chose a visit to the refinery, giving as their reason the fact that questions could he asked and explained a t any point during the visit.
8. What criticisms would you make of the @'ctures which have been shm? The most common criticisms were: Real chemistry not em~hasized . of mocess . Too many pictures of buildings and grounds. Too much complicated machinery shown.
9. Neglecting their entertainment value, do you believe motion pictures have been of actual benefit to you i n understanding chemistry? Why? Seventy-four of the seventy-five students answering replied "Yes." Some of the .)' reasons which occurred frequently were: They show practical applications of chemistry in industry. Pictures take mechanical side while text takes up chemical side. They show things which are difficult to imagine because unfamiliar. Successive steps in a process are easily recalled from a picture. Pictures leave stronger impression than the book. They make the course more interesting. Pictures break monotony of the course. They make class discussion more real. Greater detail given than in text. Many points are explained which are not clear in the hook. One strangely typical student answered "No" to the above question, preferring, he said, t o spend an equal time with a "good book."
Conclusions I . As might be expected, the most interesting pictures were not the ones from which students learned most. In fact, the least popular on this basis stands next highest in clearing up points otherwise not clearly understood. 2. Apparently, high instruction value is generally sacrificed for high entertainment value in an industrial film and vice versa. No title is outstanding in both.
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3. Some pictures appealed to only a small minority on any basis. 4. A majority of the students profited by all pictures. Some of the pictures benefited all, or practically all students. 5. Fuller understanding of some processes would have resulted through the showing of one or more additional films. 6. A majority of students prefer motion pictures to laboratory, but only because of less effort involved. 7. Some pictures may give a more thorough understanding of a process than an actual visit to the plant by the use of animated diagrams and cross-sections. Logical presentatyon and the omission of inconsequential details is also easier by this method. 8. Because they are designed for the widest possible use, industrial motion pictures cannot include involved technical points.. However, these are readily filled in by subsequent discussion. The other objections are not serious ones. 9. The favorable student-comments which are quoted under question nine are probably all valid. The author's net estimate of classroom motion pictures is decidedly favorable. Their best use is in connection with the "applied" portions of the course. They should be used in moderation and be chosen carefully, but are well worth, in any chemistry course, the moderate expenditure of effort and money which they cost.
