This study, designed to determine whether contextual organizers presented before prose passages can improve learning and retention among undergraduates with no prior knowledge of the subject, compared the effects of two types of organizers--images and their verbal equivalents--as well as organizers versus a control group. Twenty-five references…

A description is given of an experiment investigating the applicability of a cybernetic theory in teaching children psychomotor skills. Results showed a learning effect in copying for younger subjects, in tracing for older subjects, and in tracking for all subjects. (GK)

Describes an evaluator's experiences in three art workshops for fourth graders at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Workshop participants demonstrated significant intellectual growth and visual learning. (AM)

Nine televised news stories were presented to 60 college students under newscaster-only, newscaster-plus-film, or newscaster-plus-stills formats, and information gain was tested using a multiple-choice questionnaire administered immediately after viewing. Overall learning differences were nonsignificant. (Author)

Presents a rationale for studying the visual language of film. Reports on three studies that suggest some tentative answers concerning the manipulation of film and some promising approaches to the study of the medium. (RL)

Fifty hyperactive and learning disabled children (8 to 12 years old) were selected for study because of severe handwriting difficulties. The children received methylphenidate (Ritalin) or placebo under double blind conditions. Twenty-six students (52 percent) showed improvement in overall handwriting following the administration of methylphenidate…

The museum, unlike other educational systems, can rely on authentic objects, not words, as the chief educational tool. It is important to remember: to learn about objects can be educationally valid and interesting, but to learn from objects can stimulate even higher levels of learning. (Author/SJL)

Critiques an experiment by M. Arlin, M. Scott, and J. Webster (see EJ 206 153) in which their pictures as an aid to learning hypothesis contrasts with the focal attention hypothesis supported by research by H. Singer, S. J. Samuels, and J. Spiroff (see EJ 105 648). (MKM)

The first experiment determined that verbal interference (shadowing) was detrimental to the subjects' memory of words and high similarity pictures; the second, designed to minimize the possibility that students would sort through the pictures, indicated that verbal interference did not decrease memory of high similarity pictures. (Author/JEG)

Effective use of visual illustration entails consideration of specific instructional purposes, method of presentation, student characteristics, type of objectives, and cuing techniques. (LS)

Evaluates the development of a language of movement, known as Labanotation from the inventor's name, Rudolph van Laban. Its importance for the measurement of dance movement was combined with an examination of the Dance Notation Bureau, which started thirty-five years ago. (Author/RK)

Discusses the history of the AECT (Association for Educational Communications and Technology) based on personal recollections. Highlights include visual instruction and audiovisual instruction, journals of AECT, teacher preparation, conceptualizations, AECT's growth in the information age, and distance learning. (LRW)

This article describes how students (ages 8-16) with hearing impairments can use geoboards to develop perceptions about squares, including: pattern recognition, characteristics of squares, concepts of area and perimeter, and generalizations of those ideas. A step-by-step lesson plan and a student worksheet are provided. (CR)

This study uses a conceptual problem-solving test to investigate the effect of a series of pictorial analogies on the concepts of density, pressure, and atmospheric pressure in Year Eight classrooms. Findings indicate that students taught with the pictorial analogies scored significantly higher than their counterparts. Low achievers were the most…