| Abstract: | Summary A specially designed motivational version of the filmKidnapped, using only a few interesting episodes, was more effective in motivating the withdrawal from school libraries of the book
by the same title than a longer version which presented the whole story in condensed form. There was no reliable difference
between the two film groups in the amount of reading done, but there was some indication that the motivational version stimulated
boys to read more carefully, and a greater proportion of them therefore made higher scores on an objective test.
The results of this experiment suggest that producers of classroom films in this particular field need to consider the possibility
of making fewer general purpose films and developing more films around very specific objectives of teaching. One of these
which needs attention is the problem of motivation covered by this study.
In its program of excerpting feature films for school use, Teaching Film Custodians, the organization which developed the
film materials used in this experiment, is moving in the direction of selecting shorter excerpts for meeting more specific
teaching objectives.
This study tests the bypothesis that a high-school teacher can do a more effective job in motivating students to read a book
by using a film made up of only a few interesting episodes than a film which gives the complete story of the book. Mark A.
May is professor of Educational Psychology, director of the Motion Picture Research Project of the Department of Education,
and director of the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of Teaching
Film Custodians. Nelle Lee Jenkinson is assistant director of the Division of Audio-Visual Education of the St. Louis Public
Schools. |
