Individual differences and instructional film effects.

Abstract

In an investigation of instructional treatment by learner-variable interaction, 437 college Ss were divided between filmed and live physics lecture demonstrations. Immediate- and delayed-recall criteria were applied. Using prior knowledge of physics and 14 other learner characteristics as independent moderator variables, a series of 2 x 3 x 3 unweighted means analyses indicated that attitude toward instructional films, ascendancy, responsibility, numerical aptitude, verbal aptitude, past experience with entertainment films, and past use of college library instructional films interacted significantly with instructional treatments, primarily on the immediate-recall criterion. Prior knowledge of physics modified most of these effects. Attitudes toward entertainment films and toward physics, emotional stability, sociability, total personality self-evaluation, academic achievement, and unspecified past experience with instructional films did not interact with instructional treatments.

Student personality characteristics and optimal college learning conditions: An extensive search for trait-by-treatment interaction effects

“…Koenig and McKeachie, 1959;McKeachie, 1958McKeachie, , 1961McKeachie, , 1968McKeachie et al, 1968;McKeachie et al, 1966) are based on this hypothesis, as are a number of single studies by other investigators (e.g. Beach, 1960;Denny et al, 1964;Heath, 1964;Lublin, 1965;Smith et al, 1956;Snow et al, 1965). A few investigators have explored this hypothesis among high school or junior high school students (e.g.…”

“…While a number of significant interactions have occurred in isolated investigations (e.g. Beach, 1960;Domino, 1968Domino, , 1971Heath, 1964;Paul and Ericksen, 1964;Snow et al, 1965;Shearer, 1969, 1971), most have yet to be replicated. The few attempts at replication of previous interactions have been-by and large-somewhat discouraging (e.g.…”

The use of visual media in the service of enriching mental thought processes

“…Spatially able students extract more knowledge from elements that distort known conceptions of space, while students with better mastery of temporal abilities extract more knowledge when time is being distorted. As Snow et al (1965) have shown long ago, there are more general aptitudes which are called upon when all kinds of film are shown, and these aptitudes are less relevant when face-to-face instruction takes place. Meringoff (1978) has shown that, aside from the above, televiewing leads small children to extract different kinds of knowledge than listening to the same story when read aloud.…”

Computer-Managed Instruction

“…Snow, Tiffin, and Seibert (22), in comparing the effectiveness of a training film and a live lecture for students with little prior knowledge of a subject, found that active, self-assured students with an unfavorable attitude toward films learned better from the live instruction; but passive, dependent students learned slightly more from the film.…”