4.7 AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO LEARNING

While much of the previous research has studied learning from the media in formal and informal settings independently, some research has begun to examine learning as a phenomenon that cuts across both types of communication contexts. Educational programming for children has been purposefully designed to obscure this boundary, so that while they are being entertained, children will also be exposed to curriculum-based content. This area of research is a first step in the direction of a more integrated approach to learning from the media.

4.7.1 Edutainment Research

Research on edutainment or planned programming integrates studies of incidental and formal learning contexts. Examinations of such programming, involving the study of programming designed to combine entertainment and a planned curriculum, date back to early concerns over the positive effects of programs such as Sesame Street. Studies by Bogatz and Ball (1971) and Schramm, Lyle, and Parker (1961) showed that a great deal of incidental learning occurred in entertainment programming. More recently, Morris (1988) demonstrated positive learning gains related to the use of dramatic or entertaining elements within instructional programming.

Edutainment programs, designed to exploit the opportunity of incidental learning, package planned curricula within traditional entertainment formats (for example, the magazine show format of 3-2-1 Contact, or the game show format of Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego). This hybrid, edutainment, thrives on the notion that a curriculum can ride, somewhat surreptitiously, on the crest of viewer engagement. Curriculum goals may be narrowly defined, but they are integrated into a much broader context; entertainment programming. Research on such programs has demonstrated that learning is occurring on many levels at one time.

The Children's Television Workshop (CTW), creators of Sesame Street, the original edutaininent program for preschool kids, has been exploring this nexus of education and entertainment for the last 25 years. The educational goals of its programming often reflect a broad understanding of learning. The goal of Sesame Street was "to promote the intellectual and cultural growth of preschool children" (Cooney, 1968, as quoted in Cook et al., 1975, p. 7). This definition of learning encompasses lower-level knowledge acquisition, as well as higher-level cognitive processes.

A number of edutainment shows have emerged from CTW: Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, Square One TV, and Ghostwriter. Goals for these programs concern not only basic literacy and numeracy skills but also more broadly defined cultural goals. For example, for the program 3-2-1 Contact, the workshop expressed three primary goals: "(1) to help children experience the joy of scientific exploration;(2) to help children become familiar with various styles of scientific thinking; and (3) to help children, with a special appeal to girls and minorities, to recognize science and technology as open to their participation" (Children's Television Workshop, 1980). These stated goals address learning at levels of cognitive processes, affect and behavior, moreover, they express an ineluctable link between the three.

The exploratory studies for 3-2-1 Contact discussed the importance of a broad conceptualization of learning, citing "a closer dynamic than is sometimes assumed between the motivational and educational effects . . . motivation and mastery should be seen as close companions in a common educational enterprise" (Chen, 1984, p. 7).

Another recent example is Square One TV. This show, aimed at an at-home audience of 8- to 12-year-old children, is designed to "promote positive attitudes toward, and enthusiasm for, mathematics ... to encourage the use and application of problem-solving processes ... and to present sound mathematical content in an interesting, accessible and meaningful way" (Hall, Esty & Fisch, 1990, p. 162). The definition of learning in effect at Children's Television Workshop is integrated in the sense that the stated goals of its programming recognize that cognitive and affective learning cannot be separated.

But our conceptualization of learning can be broader still. If cognitive and affective learning are contiguous gradations of color in the spectrum of learning outcomes, there is still the process of filtration to be understood. One child watching Sesame Street may come away with an understanding of near and far (courtesy of Grover). Another may come away with an understanding of cooperation.