Teaching general science through film production

Conclusion Differences in achievement under the two methods in the acquisition of information and in the ability to apply information to novel situations were in favor of the film-presentation method, and were large enough to be significant at the 2 and 5 percent levels of confidence respectively. Therefore, under the conditions of this experiment, joint pupil-teacher film production was not as effective in producing achievement in the learning outcomes measured as the film-presentation method. As regards retention of learning, the experimenter concluded that neither method was superior. It was also found that the film-production method was more costly, and that most pupils preferred it even though they did not always feel that they learned the most science by that method. How effective is the use of student film production for the teaching of content in a subject matter area? This study shows the superiority of conventional film presentation techniques over such joint pupil-teacher film production. Carlton W. H. Erickson is director of the audio-visual center and associate professor of education at the University of Connecticut. The article is based on a doctoral dissertation at the Boston University School of Education, entitled, “The Effectiveness of Joint Pupil-Teacher Motion Picture Production as a Method of Teaching General Science.”     

Reasoning about beliefs: a human specialization?

A recent meta-analysis performed by Wellman, Cross, and Watson clears the air surrounding young children's performance on tests of false belief by showing that it is highly likely that there is some type of conceptual development between 3 and 5 years of age that supports improved task performance. The data concerning the evolutionary origin of these abilities, however, is considerably less clear. Nonetheless, there is some reason to suspect that theory of mind is unique to our species, and that its original function was to provide a more abstract level of describing ancient behavioral patterns (such as deception, reconciliation, and gaze following)-behaviors that humans share in common with many other species. Thus, the initial selective advantage of theory of mind may have been because it increased the flexibility of already-existing behaviors, not because it generated scores of radically new ones.