 |
 |
 |
|
|||
|
|||
|
11. Research
on Learning from Television
|
11.8 Critical-viewing skillsTo some extent, the critical-viewing skills movement was motivated by the gradual deregulation of the broadcasting industry. During the n-fid-1980s, as research turned more to the study of the interaction of variables, it became apparent that parents and teachers could have an important mediating role to play (Palmer, 1987; Sprafkin, Gadow & Abelman, 1992). '17his discussion of the critical-viewing skills movement will address (a) its relationship to the media literacy movement, (b) the assumptions underlying critical-viewing skills, (c) the goals adopted by the movement (see 16.6.2.2), (d) the curriculum projects developed to attain these goals, (e) the research findings on these projects, and (f) the impact of these projects. In an article on developmentally appropriate television, Levin and Carlsson-Paige (1994) suggested, "Now, the children who first fell prey to deregulated children's TV in 1984 are entering middle and high school; among them we see an alarming increase in violence" (p. 42). This inference is not easily supported in the literature, however, because there are other factors interacting with the effects of television. Nevertheless, violence has increased in society and on television. The authors point out that a content analysis of television programming reveals a:
11.8.1 Media Literacy The media literacy debate encompasses issues around the role of content in relation to forinat and media literacy. It can be argued that today the medium dominates "symbol production and myth/reality dissemination in contemporary society" (Brown, 1991, p. 18). Others argue that to divorce content from examination of variables is illogical and selfdefeating (K. W. Mielke, personal communication, Nov. 15, 1994). Another point of view is that television is decoded by a viewer drawing on a unique social and cognitive background, and thus the effects of television depend more on the receiver than on content or media literacy. The argument as to whether content should be controlled or taken into account in research is set in opposition to the development of media literacy, when probably both perspectives are important (Brown, 199 1). Worth raises another concern that reinforces the argument for attention to both content and media literacy.
A concern for receivership skills* developed from the perception that television was being used as a consumer product. Receivership skills "involve comprehending overt and hidden meanings of messages by analyzing language and visual and aural images, to understand the intended audiences and the intent of the message" (Brown, 1991, p. 70). Thus, an attempt is made to extend the tradition of teaching critical reading and critical thinking to include critical viewing. Concern for media literacy is not new. When films were a prevalent audiovisual medium, there were many publications about the need for film literacy (Peters, 1961). A 1970 article by Joan and Louis Foresdale proposed film education to help students develop levels of comprehension and learn filmic code. As mentioned earlier under the topic filmic code, Salomon (1982) redirected attention to television literacy.* He theorized that comprehension occurred in two stages, both employing cognitive strategies for decoding and recoding. The first stage was specific television literacy dependent on knowing the symbol system associated with .television viewing (see 16.4.2. 1). The second stage required using general literacy skills to move to higher levels of learning. He also theorized that, except for small children, the general literacy skills were more important. He based his theory of a television symbol system on research conducted by himself and others (Salomon, 1982). By the 1990s, books were available on television literacy (Neuman, 1991). Some of these came from the visual literacy movement, such as Messaris's Visual "Literacy": Image, Mind, and Reality (1994). In this book, he synthesizes research and practice in order to identify four aspects:
11.8.2 Critical-Viewing EducationDuring the 1980s, critical-viewing curricula were developed based on a number of underlying assumptions. These assumptions will be discussed next.11.8.2.1. Assumptions about Critical Viewing. A significant assumption used in developing curricula on critical viewing was drawn from the analogy between positive television-viewing patterns and a balanced menu or diet. In fact, the terms "good TV diets" (O'Bryant & Corder-Bolz, 1978), "media diets" (Williams, 1986), "television diets" (Murray, 1980), and "balanced diee' (Searching for Alternatives, 1980) appeared frequently in the literature on television viewing. The assumption was that if television was watched in moderation and a variety of age-appropniate program genres were selected, the television experience would be positive. The only evidence we have found to support this assumption is the finding that moderate amounts of watching can increase school achievement. Other than indications that young children can become fearful or confused from watching adult prograrnming, little evidence exists to support the need to view diverse and appropriate types of programs. Such research has not been done. It may be that individual or family differences justify an "unbalanced TV diet." A second unstated assumption was that a critical viewer,* like a critical reader, would have the critical-thinking skills of an adult. But "the efficacy of children imitating adult reasoning remains untested" (Anderson, 1983, p. 320). Children, especially young children, process information concretely and creatively. Therefore, they may not benefit from more logical analyses. The critical viewer may be less like a critical reader and more like an art critic. Another assumption was that the critical-viewing process had to have as its primary purpose education rather than entertainment. Consequently, viewers had to become more knowledgeable, and the best way to do this was through classroom curricula (Anderson, 1983). Criticalviewing curriculum projects had to meet the criteria of systematic instruction and the provision of a variety of audiovisual materials. For years, some anthropologists have argued that much visual literacy is learned naturally from the environment. Presumably, critical viewing could be learned in the home environment without instructional materials, Primarily, the tests of these three assumptions were formative evaluations of the success of the educational interventions conducted in the name of critical-viewing skills curricula. While these efforts were found to improve learning, there was little other evidence to use. Neve'idieless, positive reports from parents, teachers, experts, and students were given credence. On the other hand, the positive effects could be the result of maturation (Watkins, Sprafkin, Gadow & Sadetsky, 1988). Anderson (1980) has traced the theoretical lineage of critical-viewing curricula. 11.8.2.2. Goals for Critical-Viewing Curricula. Amy Doff Leifer (1976) conducted a comparative study to identify critical evaluative skills associated with television viewing. Five skills were tentatively proposed:
A common approach to attaining these goals was to include content on the various programming genre. Participants would be taught to distinguish types of programming and to use different analysis approaches with each. Brown (1991) reviews the various approaches to defining genre, such as types, classifications, and typology. Bryant and Zillmann (1991) dedicate Part 11 of their book of readings on Responding to the Screen to an in-depth analysis of research and theory on each genre and associated literacy issues including news and public affairs, comedy, suspense and mystery, horror, erotica, sports, and music television. 11.8.2.3. Critical-Viewing Skills Curricula. Over the years, there have been many curricula to develop television literacy, in addition to the USOE project curricula described above. In the United States, these curricula were developed by local television stations, national networks underwriting social research, school districts, research centers, and national coalitions. Most of these have been summarized by Brown in his book on major media literacy projects (1991). Some have been developed by companies (i.e., J. C. Penny's), some by researchers [i.e., the Critical Viewing Curriculum (KIDVID) and the Curriculum for Enhancing Social Skills Through Media Awareness (CESSMA)], some by practitioners (i.e., O'Reilly & Splaine, 1987), and some by nonprofit associations (i.e., Carnegie Corporation) or coalitions, such as Action for Children's Television. A few will be described here, especally those that have been summatively researched or that address unique populations or content. The recommendations of Action for Children's Television (ACT) are summarized in Changing Channels: Living (Sensibly) with Television (Charren & Sandler, 1983). This is an example of an educational plan intended for general use rather than specifically for the classroom. A more current example of general recommendations is Chen's (1994a) The Smart Parent ~ Guide to KIDS'7V The Curriculum for Enhancing Social Skills Through Media Awareness (CESSMA) was designed to be used with educationally disabled and learning-disabled children to improve their prosocial learning from television. CESSMA was field tested in an elementary school for educationally disabled children on Long Island. The curriculum group significantly outperformed the control group on television knowledge. Children in the intervention group identified less with aggressive television characters than those in the control group. Nevertheless, there was no evidence that CESSMA significantly altered attitudes or behavior. KIDVID has been used with gifted and learningdisabled children. It was designed to facilitate children's ability to recognize the prosocial content from a television program. The 3-week curriculum, originally developed for intellectually average and gifted children, was tested in intact fourth-grade classrooms using indices to measure the children's ability to identify and label the types of prosocial behaviors portrayed in commercial television programs. The curriculum was effective because all who participated were better able to recognize and label prosocial behaviors (Sprafkin, Gadow & Abelman, 1992). Previously, in 1983, Abelman and Courtright had conducted a study on television literacy in the area of prosocial. learning. In that study they found evidence that curriculum can be effective in amplifying the cognitive effects of commercial television's prosocial fare. They concluded:
A practitioner's approach to a curricula on television literacy for gifted learners was reported by Hunter (1992). This approach used video production to teach fifth- through eighth-graders. Students were divided into three treatment groups. One of the two critical-viewing treatment groups showed significant gains, while the control/no treatment group did not. Another practitioner approach was reported by Luker and Johnston (1989). Teachers were advised to help adolescent social development by using television shows in the classroom with a four-step process:
They found that teachers were effective in completing the first two steps, but had greater difficulty with steps 3 and 4. The effect of learning about television commercials was studied in an experiment by Donohue, Henke, and Meyer (1983). Two instructional units, one role-playing unit and one traditional, were designed to examine if young children can be taught general and specific intent of television commercials. Both treatment groups of 6- to 7-year-olds experienced significant increases in comprehension of commercials. The researchers concluded that:
Rapaczynski, Singer, and Singer (1980) looked at children in kindergarten through second grade. They introduced a curriculum designed to teach how television works, which was produced by simplifying the content of a curriculum intended for older children. Although a control group was not used, this curriculum intervention did appear to produce substantial knowledge gains. Another curriculum developed for kindergarteners and second-graders also was found to produce significant knowledge gains (Watkins, Sprafkin & Gadow, 1988). In this case, the study used another class at each grade level as nontreatment controls. Currently, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is mounting a critical-viewing skills campaign. Its members offer free workshops using a videotape and exercises developed by Dorothy and Jerome Singer under the auspices of the Pacific Mountain Network in Denver. 11.8.2.4. Evaluation of the Curricula. The major thrust in critical-viewing skills came with the four curriculum development projects sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education at the end of the 1970s. Each project addressed a different age group. A final report on the development of the curriculum for teenagers was prepared by Lieberman (1980). The formative evaluation of the curriculum, which is reported in a series of Educational Resource and Information Clearinghouse (ERIC) documents, was done by the Educational Testing Service. To evaluate the curriculum for teenagers, Educational Testing Service identified 35 reviewers representing various constituencies (Wheeler, 1979). Generally, the review revealed effective use of an instructional systems design and development process. Based on his review of the literature, Brown (1991) presents 20 descriptive criteria for assessing criticalviewing skills curricula or projects. The criteria fall into these categories:
11.8.2.6 Summary and Recommendations From formative and summative evaluation and a few experimental studies, there is evidence that intervening with instruction on critical viewing increases knowledge of and sophistication about television. Ableman and Courtright (1983) summarize the situation well: ". . . television literacy curricula can be as much a social force as the medium itself' (p. 56). The need for field research on the effects of interventions is documented by the paucity of literature on applying the findings of research through interventions. We know that children learn more from any form of television if adults intervene. The various ways of intervening need to be researched using methods other than formative evaluation. Systematic programs of intervention need to be developed and their impact measured.
|
 |
|
|
AECT 877.677.AECT
(toll-free) |