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A summary of the research in five different countries on how children respond to the prize winning program of Prix Jeunesse 1968, "The Scarecrow," is presented in the report. A first part briefly describes and then offers findings across all the studies: that the children in all countries liked the program, but perhaps not all would have selected it to win the prize; that the children identified with and liked the scarecrow; that unaided recall of the program's content was low and increased with age; and that there were age differences in comprehension of the moral lesson of the program and in understanding of the reality-fantasy difference. A set of comparisons between the results of these studies and those about a previous prize winner, "Patrik and Putrik", completes the introductory section. The remainder of the report provides presentations of the studies by country--United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, and Czechoslovakia. (SH)

PARTICIPANTS IN THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ETV HELD AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY IN 1963 WERE AGREED THAT ETV'S PROMISE IS MORE ANTICIPATED THAN ACHIEVED AND THAT ITS BUILT-IN ECONOMIC PROBLEMS MUST BE MET AND OVERCOME BEFORE REAL ACHIEVEMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE. PROBLEMS DISCUSSED DURING THE CONFERENCE INCLUDED COSTS, CAPITAL INVESTMENT, AND UNIONS. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS WERE THAT (1) TEACHERS SHOULD RECEIVE SPECIAL TRAINING IN INSTITUTIONAL TELEVISION USE, (2) EXTENSIVE RESEARCH SHOULD BE CONDUCTED INTO WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAM--IN TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND SUBJECT MATTER, AND (3) SCHOOL SYSTEMS SHOULD CARRY THE MAJOR ECONOMIC BURDEN OF INSTRUCTIONAL TELEVISION. (LP)

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO TEST THE EFFECTS OF SPECIFIED CONDITIONS OF TELEVISION PRESENTATION AND OF CLASSROOM ACTIVITY UPON THE ACQUISITION OF MEANINGFUL CONCEPTS AND GENERALIZATIONS OF CERTAIN NATURAL SCIENCE PHENOMENA. THE SUBJECTS CONSISTED OF 36 FIFTH-GRADE CLASSES (APPROXIMATELY 1,000 CHILDREN) SELECTED FROM 90 CLASSES WHICH HAD PARTICIPATED IN A PREVIOUS STUDY OF THE TEACHING OF NATURAL SCIENCES BY TELEVISION. TWO TYPES OF TELEVISION PROGRAMS WERE PRODUCED--INFORMATION-GIVING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING. TEACHERS FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS HAD BEEN TRAINED IN THE USES OF THESE APPROACHES. THE TEACHERS IN A CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED NO SPECIAL TRAINING. FOLLOWING A TELEVISION SERIES OF 20 PROGRAMS EMPLOYING THE INFORMATION-GIVING APPROACH AND A SERIES (IDENTICAL SUBJECT CONTENT) ORIENTED TOWARD PROBLEM-SOLVING. TESTS WERE ADMINISTERED TO GAUGE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ONE METHOD OVER THE OTHER. DIFFERENCES IN OUTCOMES OF THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP WERE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT. THE PROBLEM-SOLVING FORMAT RESULTED IN A HIGHER DEGREE OF INTERACTION BETWEEN THE TELEVISION INSTRUCTOR AND STUDENT. OTHER OBSERVATIONS IN FAVOR OF THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCEDURE ARE DISCUSSED. (JC)

THE EFFECTS OF SEVERAL INDEPENDENT TEACHER VARIABLES IN AN INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A TELEVISED, 2-YEAR FRENCH CURRICULUM WERE INVESTIGATED. THE VARIABLES WERE TWO VARIATIONS EACH OF TEACHER TRAINING, CLASSROOM PRACTICE, AND TEACHER FLUENCY IN FRENCH--(1) TEACHER TRAINING BY HALF-HOUR TELEVISION PROGRAMS VERSUS TRAINING BY HALF-HOUR TAPE-RECORDINGS, (2) PRACTICE PREPARED AND DIRECTED BY TEACHERS VERSUS PRACTICE VIA SPECIALLY PREPARED TAPE-RECORDINGS, AND (3) THE USE OF TEACHERS JUDGED FLUENT VERSUS THOSE JUDGED TO BE NONFLUENT ON THE BASIS OF SPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED ORAL TESTS. EFFECTS OF THESE VARIATIONS ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF 45 SECOND-YEAR FRENCH CLASSES OF FIFTH-GRADE CHILDREN WERE MEASURED AT THE END OF 1 YEAR OF INSTRUCTION. LISTENING COMPREHENSION PROVIDED THE MAJOR BASE FOR MEASUREMENTS. THE TWO FORMS OF TEACHER TRAINING PROVIDED LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN PUPIL GAIN. THIS STUDY FOLLOWED AN EARLIER ONE CONDUCTED DURING THE PREVIOUS YEAR WITH THE SAME STUDENTS WHEN THEY WERE ENROLLED IN 1ST-YEAR FRENCH. OVER THE 2-YEAR PERIOD, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED IN FAVOR OF FLUENT AND MODERATELY FLUENT TEACHERS WHEN CLASSROOM WORK WAS CONTINUED BOTH YEARS BY THESE TEACHERS. (JH)

DURING 1959, BOSTON UNIVERSITY CARRIED OUT A RESEARCH PROJECT TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF TELEVISED INSTRUCTION WITH 90 FIFTH-GRADE CLASSES PARTICIPATING IN A SERIES OF TELEVISED NATURAL SCIENCE PROGRAMS. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH CHILDREN LEARNED FROM THE PROGRAMS, THE EFFECTS OF THE SERIES ON CHILDREN'S INTERESTS, ATTITUDES, AND REASONING ABILITY, AND WHICH OF CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF AUXILIARY CLASSROOM PROCEDURES WERE THE MORE EFFECTIVE. IN ADDITION, THE STUDY WAS CONCERNED WITH THE QUESTIONS REGARDING THE RELATIONSHIP OF CHANGE TO DIFFERENCES IN SEX, INTELLIGENCE, AND PARENTAL OCCUPATION. OF THE 90 CLASSES IN THE STUDY, 18 WERE DESIGNATED AS CONTROL CLASSES AND 72 AS EXPERIMENTAL. THE 72 TEACHERS OF THESE CLASSES WERE DIVIDED INTO 3 TEACHER GROUPS--(1) THE FIRST GROUP OF 24 TEACHERS RECEIVED SCIENCE WORKSHOP TRAINING, (2) A SECOND GROUP OF 24 PARTICIPATED IN A WORKSHOP CONCERNING TELEVISION INSTRUCTION, AND (3) THE THIRD GROUP OF 24 TEACHERS RECEIVED NO SPECIAL TRAINING. TWO MAJOR SETS OF COMPARISONS WERE MADE, THE FIRST BETWEEN THE CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS, THE SECOND BETWEEN AND WITHIN EXPERIMENTAL ASSIGNMENTS. MAJOR CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN GAINS IN FACTUAL INFORMATION. OBSERVED EFFECTS ON INTERESTS, ATTITUDES, AND REASONING WERE NEGLIGIBLE. THE VALIDITY OF THE MEASURING INSTRUMENTS WAS QUESTIONED. (JC)

THIS RESEARCH ATTEMPTED TO ESTABLISH A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEMS OF CONGENITALLY TOTALLY BLIND CHILDREN AND TO TEST THE POSSIBILITY OF MEETING THESE PROBLEMS WITH A SPECIAL TRAINING PROGRAM IN GENERAL ORIENTATION AND SPACE PERCEPTION. A SAMPLE OF 60 CHILDREN WAS SELECTED FOR THE EXPERIMENT. THESE SUBJECTS WERE WITHOUT ADDITIONAL PHYSICAL HANDICAPS AND WERE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 5 AND 14. THOSE CHILDREN WHO WERE UNABLE TO EXPLORE AND INVESTIGATE ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI IN A SPATIAL RELATIONS TEST AND THROUGH SUPERVISORY OBSERVATION WERE SELECTED FOR SPECIAL TRAINING IN AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. THOSE WHO WERE MORE OR LESS ADEQUATE IN THE TESTING AND PROVED TO BE DEVELOPING NORMALLY, WERE SELECTED FOR THE CONTROL GROUP WHERE NO SPECIAL TRAINING WAS TO BE GIVEN. THE EFFECTS OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM WERE MEASURED BY TESTS, OBSERVATIONS AND RATINGS. THE TOTAL SAMPLE WAS DIVIDED ALMOST IN HALF BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. THE FOLLOWING ASPECTS OF SPACE ORGANIZATION WERE SELECTED FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP--(1) AWARENESS OF POSTURAL CHANGES, (2) CONCEPT AND MANIPULATION OF EXTENDED SURFACES, AND (3) OBJECT PERCEPTION AND LANGUAGE. STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT GAINS OVER THE CONTROL GROUP WERE SHOWN BY THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AFTER THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS COMPLETED. HOWEVER, THE LEVEL ATTAINED WAS NOT YET EQUAL TO THE MEAN ORIGINAL LEVEL OF THE CONTROL GROUP. FURTHER STUDY WAS RECOMMENDED TO DEVELOP A MORE EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO SPATIAL PERCEPTUAL PATTERNS. (JH)