ERIC Number: ED031078
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1961-Jan
Pages: 94
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Teaching by Television.
Ford Foundation, New York, NY.; Fund for the Advancement of Education, New York, NY.
Because good teachers are in short supply, it is necessary to find ways of increasing their effectiveness. Students learn as much from television as from conventional instruction when the programs are viewed for academic credit. Experiments at Pennsylvania State University (1954; 1956-57) showed that it is difficult to assess the value of such telecasts. Faculty and students felt that large classes (over 200), and a desire for the best teaching available, encourage television, while a lack of student-teacher feedback discourages it. In 1955, programs were introduced in the public schools which led to the National Program. This was intended to determine the feasibility of television instruction as a major resource, to teach larger classes with fewer teachers and classrooms, at the same time raising the quality of instruction. Maximum class sizes were 175 in elementary schools, and 500 at the junior and senior high levels. The television students performed better than conventional students over the two-year test period. Television, though subject to imperfections, provided, by and large, many advantages over conventional teaching. Its imperfections emphasized that the technique is not a panacea, but a tool whose effectiveness resides mainly in the resourcefulness of the user--in this case, the teacher. (TI/GO)
Descriptors: Class Size, College Programs, Educational Media, Educational Television, Experimental Teaching, Feasibility Studies, Inservice Teacher Education, Large Group Instruction, Student Attitudes, Student Teacher Relationship, Teacher Attitudes, Team Teaching, Telecourses, Television Curriculum, Television Teachers, Videotape Recordings
Ford Foundation, Office of Reports, 477 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y. (free)
Publication Type: N/A
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Ford Foundation, New York, NY.; Fund for the Advancement of Education, New York, NY.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A