To Be or Not to Be: The Success of Film in the Secondary School English Curriculum

To Be Or Not To Be: The Success of Film in the Secondary School English Curriculum, addresses film use, or video, in the school. As schools are turning increasingly to video as a means of imparting knowledge, practitioners need to know whether video use promotes gains in student learning or merely takes time away from direct student\teacher contact. The 207 samples from Wisconsin Lutheran High School, in Milwaukee, were divided into three research groups. Pius XI High School, a demographically similar school, served as a comparison to determine if the results would occur in the general population. Romeo and Juliet was the vehicle by which classroom use of video was tested. Theories of learning regarding the nature of the adolescent were reviewed to determine the appropriateness of material and teaching strategies for use with ninth grade students. The organizational framework of Aristotle became a way of systemizing instruction throughout the experimental groups. The null hypothesis was applied to determine if the use of video, or the way video is used for instruction, was a means by which the students were able to better grasp the play\u27s content. There were two research questions. The first pertained to the comparison of the three research groups: group 1 incorporated an integrated use of text and film in which text and film clips of the play were studied in a juxtaposed fashion throughout the research period; group 2 incorporated text and didn\u27t use film; group 3 applied a linear use of text and video in which the students studied only text initially and then viewed the film with no integration of text and film. The second question denoted no significant difference in achievement based on the sex of the student. A .05 level of the significance of F was used to determine achievement. A simple ANOVA indicated significance between groups. The Tukey test showed significance between group one, in which video, text, and discussion were juxtaposed, and group two, where film was not used. Consequently, video does assist in student acquisition of intellectual skills. A 2-way ANOVA for sex and group determined significance of achievement based on sex of the sample. Females consistently received higher scores than male counterparts within each group