The Educational Advantages of Instructional Television: As Compared with Conventional Teaching Methods
SINCE the end of the Second World War, enrollment in the nation's colleges and universities has risen steadily, while financial support LJ has not increased proportionately. This imbalance has had especially serious effects on the publicly supported institutions, which have experienced the most rapid growth. Consequently, many administrators face a dilemma. Continuing the conventional method of instruction in sections of thirty-five to forty-five students without adding staff would increase course loads that are already too heavy to permit effective teaching and research. Adding staff without corresponding increases in appropriations might stabilize salaries at unsatisfactory levels. The simple fact is that continuation of the conventional method of instruction in courses with large enrollments is impossible. The adoption of an effective method of large-scale instruction is imperative. Under these circumstances, some administrators have recommended the use of instructional television. They point out that it is a satisfactory method of handling courses with large enrollments, for it combines efficient use of personnel and space with comparatively low initial and maintenance costs. At some universities, such as Pennsylvania State and Miami, televised instruction has proved to be more economical than conventional instruction when as few as two hundred students are enrolled in the televised course.' Furthermore, while costs rise proportionately to student enrollment under the traditional system, the average cost for each student credit unit can be reduced as the number of students receiving televised instruction increases. The Chicago City Junior College estimates that within ten years it can handle double its present enrollment in televised courses with an additional capital outlay of only