The development and evaluation of instructional materials entitled "Categories of photographs: a guide to interpreting photographs"

Martin, Denise A. (1987) The development and evaluation of instructional materials entitled "Categories of photographs: a guide to interpreting photographs". Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop instructional material on interpretation of photographic art. It was the developer's contention that the curriculum did not adequately allow for the achievement of art critical goals in photography, even though these were stressed as an important part of the high-school art curriculum. -- Through an instructional systems development approach, an instructional package entitled Categories of Photographs: A Guide to Interpreting Photographs was produced. A needs assessment revealed that no suitable materials existed for instruction in interpreting photographs. In defining the instructional goal, a learner analysis and concept analysis were conducted. A learning hierarchy and a set of behavioural objectives were then developed. These items served as the basis for the design and evaluation of the instructional package. -- Qualitative evaluation was carried out by expert appraisers, including teachers, content specialists, media specialists and student users. -- Quantitative evaluation consisted of two pilot tests of the materials, hereinafter referred to as the formative and summative evaluations of the product. -- The formative evaluation results indicated that the mean on the pre-test was 0%, while the post-test mean was 63.3%. An analysis of the formative evaluation results led to a number of revisions in the instructional package. -- Results on the summative evaluation showed a pre-test mean of 19.1% and a post-test mean of 69.1%. The summative evaluation led to revisions in the printed materials accompanying the package. -- In summary, the instructional package was effective in attaining the terminal objectives specified, including: increasing the time spent viewing photographs and increasing the number and types of responses to photographs. The effectiveness of the package in attaining the enabling objectives of the package appeared to be related to the abstraction levels of the categories tested, the cognitive levels of the objectives, and the academic abilities of the target population. Written test results for verbal and visual discrimination tasks conflicted with observed discriminative skills during group discussions of photographs, indicating a need for more refined experimental conditions. -- Additional refinement of the programme was recommended and carried out. The instructional programme was disseminated to Brother Rice High School, St. John's, and Mount Carmel High School, St. Mary's Bay, for final validation testing. Final packaging and diffusion of the materials will proceed upon assessment of the results of the final validation testing procedures.

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