The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of on-screen video instructor gender and expressivity upon the competency based performance of adults in the learning of basic computer skills from a series of locally produced instructional videotapes. These tapes were typical of the type of instructional videos used by corporations, government, and schools to train adults. A 2 x 3 factorial design was used to analyze the variables effects on learning. The independent variables were instructor gender and instructor expressivity. Mediating variables were student gender, ethnicity (as measured by first language), reading level, and attitude towards computers. The dependent variable was student learning as measured by a 20 question multiple choice exam. The subjects (n=120) used in the study were under employed or unemployed adults. Sixty-nine percent were considered to be limited speakers of English. Six videotapes were produced. These tapes were identical in every way except that in three tapes a male actor taught in respectively low, average, and high expressive manners. In each of the other three tapes a female acted in a low, average and high expressive manners. Each subject viewed one of the tapes, in groups of eight to ten students, and was immediately tested on the material presented in their tape. Students were also asked to rate the instructor they saw on a five item scale of expressivity. The findings showed no significant main effects for either on-screen instructor gender or expressivity. A significant interaction was found between on-screen instructor gender and expressivity, as measured by the students. Students viewing the low expressive male and the high expressive female scored higher on the exam than students viewing either the high expressive male or the low expressive female. Performance on the test was correlated with student reading level, computer experience, the time it took to take the exam, and student ethnicity (as measured by first language spoken). Additionally, a significant interaction was found between student gender and instructor gender. Students viewing instructors of the opposite gender scored higher than those viewing instructors of the same gender. The implications of this study suggest that subject matter and student population be considered in both the design of instructional television programs and in the casting and the directing of talent for these programs. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to test assumptions made about characteristics of nontheatrical film and video works that were thought to contribute to the frequency with which the works were purchased. This study proposed and tested three variables for which relationships to the sales success of nontheatrical film and video works were hypothesized, as well as four variables about which no hypotheses were forwarded. Nineteen film and video distribution organizations contributed unit sales data for the period 1982-1987 on 151 works copyrighted between 1982 and 1984. These data were analyzed for relationships between sales totals and 1) curricular significance of the works' subjects, 2) relevance to general reading interest in the works' subjects, 3) intensity of competition faced by the works, 4) the works' Dewey classifications as compared to the composition of typical K-12 school library book collections, 5) the series or non-series status of the works, 6) the media format(s) in which the works were available for purchase and 7) the sources of the works' production financing. Analyses of correlation and association were performed and no significant relationships were found between sales and curricular significance of the works' subjects, or their relevance to general reading interest. Some evidence was presented to suggest a significant association between the intensity of competition faced by a work and its eventual sales. None of the hypotheses about these variables was supported. However, the four remaining variables were found to be significant, or to approach significance, as correlates or associates of sales success. The best predictor of sales for works intended for the K-12 school market was the work's Dewey Decimal classification. Other important findings included associations between high sales and intense product competition, between high sales and non-series status, between high sales and availability for purchase in 16mm film and between high sales and works that had been financed by the distribution organization.

This dissertation reports on a multiple-case study documenting the experiences of 23 French as second language learners, most of whom were pre-service teachers, as they worked independently to improve their existing oral/aural competency through the use of the interactive videodisc program À la rencontre de Philippe. The program claims to invite learners into the fictive Parisian world of a young freelance journalist, providing them with the opportunity for immersion in the target language and culture as well as a degree of control over their learning. The study explores learners' experiences as they work with this program, investigates the impact this experience might have on their second language acquisition and reflects on the implications this information might have for second language pedagogy and research. Participants were asked to write a reflective personal language learning history and keep a journal documenting each work session. These work sessions were videotaped. The data collected served as a basis for interviews exploring the participants' interaction with the microworld presented by the program, the program's technological features, learner autonomy, and the learning process and outcomes as perceived by the learners. The experiences of the learners indicate that instead of using technology to bring the second language and culture to learners in the classroom, it is now both possible and desirable to use technology to "transport" learners from the classroom into the second language environment. In other words, participants reported having the experience of subjective personal presence in the microworld. Furthermore, their overall experience suggested that language learning is both an embodied and a situated endeavour, as well as a cognitive one. Therefore, computer technology can enhance second language acquisition by providing learners the opportunity to be immersed in sociolinguistically-rich, simulated communities in which they can engage in everyday activities and interact with target language speakers.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Frank L. Smith. Dissertation Committee: Jeanette E. Fleischer. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-130).

Anthropological film and videomakers use their media for both research and education. In both cases, a formal technique of observational camerawork is required. In this thesis, appropriate continuity methods and a model of decision-making in camerawork are proposed, which are designed to deal with the certainties and uncertainties encountered in the observational type of ethnographic film. The ethnographic context of the research is the community in the Shixini area of the Transkei, where the author made video-recordings of a number of ritual and everyday events between 1981 and 1984. The model is tested on the case study of a "small event". There is an extensive amount of video material of a four-day mortuary ritual. The model is examined through a first-person account of the influences on decisions during shooting, and through formal analysis. Both of these examinations refer in detail to the unedited video material which accompanies the thesis, and assess how the decisions deal with time and space: with regard to the ritual markers and the continuity method. The thesis concludes that the model of camera work can be used to provide a coherent observation of the small event. The suitability of the model for editing is then tested. The unedited material of the case study is compared with an edited version. The ritual is represented in a narrative segment within a longer documentary, "Shixini December: Responses to Poverty in the Transkei". The complexity of editing operations is examined in detail by a variety of methods, and refers closely to the longer documentary. The fit between continuity in the unedited camera work and the edited version is established. A video copy of this documentary also accompanies the thesis. The unedited observational material is then tested for its use in research. An anthropologist screened the unedited material to ritual participants to elicit their responses, and with the results wrote a dissertation combining interpretation and ethnography. The detail of the ethnography and the consistency of the interpretation demonstrates the value of an observational video record. It does not conclusively demonstrate its validity for research, because the effect of video on memory needs further exploration. Instead of stimulating memory of off-camera action as may be expected, the video seems to anaesthetise it. Continuity methods can provide a clear but partial and fragmented observational record. This record has formal characteristics which are a necessary but not sufficient condition for editing into narrative. Continuity methods may provide a video record that is useful for research. If the video is used for reflexive validation, then a possible effect on the memory of off-camera events must be taken into account. The continuity characteristics of unedited video which result from in-camera editing can, but need not be, evident in subsequent texts based on them.

Acompanha: Uso de filmes de entretenimento no ensino de ecologia / Este trabalho apresenta a utilização de trechos de filmes de entretenimento, como recurso para discussão dos conteúdos de maneira que estimulasse os alunos na aprendizagem de Biomas Brasileiros e Mundiais. Buscou se a compreensão acerca do processo de aprendizagem dos conceitos científicos pelos alunos, a partir da aplicação de duas Sequências Didáticas, elaboradas como produto educacional, sustentadas pela Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa de Ausubel e nas reflexões de Moreira (2010). Como metodologia, a abordagem foi qualitativa, utilizando o método fenomenológico. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da aplicação de um questionário para obtenção dos conhecimentos prévios e da confecção de Mapas Conceituais pelos alunos, a partir da aplicação da atividade. Após a elaboração dos Mapas, os alunos explicaram oralmente sua produção a fim de se compreender as relações e hierarquizações que eles fizeram acerca do conteúdo. Por meio dessa pesquisa, foi possível demonstrar que a utilização de vídeos de entretenimento no ensino colabora para a aprendizagem de conceitos, quando utilizadas de maneira estruturada e planejada, tendo o professor como mediador de debates, promovendo as relações entre o objeto apresentado e o conhecimento científico. Sendo assim, pode- se afirmar que, ao incorporar trechos de filmes de entretenimento no ensino, é possível promover a aprendizagem significativa de conceitos e não somente a motivação dos alunos. / This paper presents the use of entertainment film clips as a resource for discussion of the contents so as to stimulate students in learning Brazilian Biomes and World. Sought to understanding the learning process of scientific concepts by students from the application of two Teaching Units, designed as an educational product, supported by the Meaningful Learning Theory of Ausubel and the reflections Moreira (2010). As methodology, the qualitative approach using the phenomenological method. Data were obtained through the application of a questionnaire to obtain the prior knowledge and making concept maps by students from the application of the activity. After the preparation of maps, students orally explained their production in order to understand the relationships and hierarchies they did about the content. Through this research, it was possible to demonstrate that the use of entertainment videos in education contributes to learning concepts when used in a structured and planned way, with the teacher as facilitator of debates, promoting relations between the presented object and knowledge scientific. Thus, it can be said that by incorporating entertainment film clips in teaching can promote meaningful learning of concepts and not only the motivation of students.

Acompanha: Uso de filmes de entretenimento no ensino de ecologia / Este trabalho apresenta a utilização de trechos de filmes de entretenimento, como recurso para discussão dos conteúdos de maneira que estimulasse os alunos na aprendizagem de Biomas Brasileiros e Mundiais. Buscou se a compreensão acerca do processo de aprendizagem dos conceitos científicos pelos alunos, a partir da aplicação de duas Sequências Didáticas, elaboradas como produto educacional, sustentadas pela Teoria da Aprendizagem Significativa de Ausubel e nas reflexões de Moreira (2010). Como metodologia, a abordagem foi qualitativa, utilizando o método fenomenológico. Os dados foram obtidos por meio da aplicação de um questionário para obtenção dos conhecimentos prévios e da confecção de Mapas Conceituais pelos alunos, a partir da aplicação da atividade. Após a elaboração dos Mapas, os alunos explicaram oralmente sua produção a fim de se compreender as relações e hierarquizações que eles fizeram acerca do conteúdo. Por meio dessa pesquisa, foi possível demonstrar que a utilização de vídeos de entretenimento no ensino colabora para a aprendizagem de conceitos, quando utilizadas de maneira estruturada e planejada, tendo o professor como mediador de debates, promovendo as relações entre o objeto apresentado e o conhecimento científico. Sendo assim, pode- se afirmar que, ao incorporar trechos de filmes de entretenimento no ensino, é possível promover a aprendizagem significativa de conceitos e não somente a motivação dos alunos. / This paper presents the use of entertainment film clips as a resource for discussion of the contents so as to stimulate students in learning Brazilian Biomes and World. Sought to understanding the learning process of scientific concepts by students from the application of two Teaching Units, designed as an educational product, supported by the Meaningful Learning Theory of Ausubel and the reflections Moreira (2010). As methodology, the qualitative approach using the phenomenological method. Data were obtained through the application of a questionnaire to obtain the prior knowledge and making concept maps by students from the application of the activity. After the preparation of maps, students orally explained their production in order to understand the relationships and hierarchies they did about the content. Through this research, it was possible to demonstrate that the use of entertainment videos in education contributes to learning concepts when used in a structured and planned way, with the teacher as facilitator of debates, promoting relations between the presented object and knowledge scientific. Thus, it can be said that by incorporating entertainment film clips in teaching can promote meaningful learning of concepts and not only the motivation of students.

M.Ed. (Media Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This dissertation reports on a multiple-case study documenting the experiences of 23 French as second language learners, most of whom were pre-service teachers, as they worked independently to improve their existing oral/aural competency through the use of the interactive videodisc program À la rencontre de Philippe. The program claims to invite learners into the fictive Parisian world of a young freelance journalist, providing them with the opportunity for immersion in the target language and culture as well as a degree of control over their learning. The study explores learners' experiences as they work with this program, investigates the impact this experience might have on their second language acquisition and reflects on the implications this information might have for second language pedagogy and research. Participants were asked to write a reflective personal language learning history and keep a journal documenting each work session. These work sessions were videotaped. The data collected served as a basis for interviews exploring the participants' interaction with the microworld presented by the program, the program's technological features, learner autonomy, and the learning process and outcomes as perceived by the learners. The experiences of the learners indicate that instead of using technology to bring the second language and culture to learners in the classroom, it is now both possible and desirable to use technology to "transport" learners from the classroom into the second language environment. In other words, participants reported having the experience of subjective personal presence in the microworld. Furthermore, their overall experience suggested that language learning is both an embodied and a situated endeavour, as well as a cognitive one. Therefore, computer technology can enhance second language acquisition by providing learners the opportunity to be immersed in sociolinguistically-rich, simulated communities in which they can engage in everyday activities and interact with target language speakers. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / A la rencontre de Philippe (Videodisc) / Graduate