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Abstract
What proportion of main ideas and subordinate ideas do older adults learn from a documentary program, as indicated by their performance on a domain‐referenced test based upon the program narration?
The researcher used a propositional analysis scheme to decompose the narration of a 29‐minute documentary into 11 levels of ideas. Tests were then devised to measure on a ratio scale recall and recognition performance after viewing the documentary.
Participants, adults between 53 and 86 years of age, were not informed that they would be given a posttest, nor were they provided with learning directions. Learning was assumed, therefore, to be incidental.
Cued‐recall test results revealed that participants recalled 56% of the ideas presented. Recognition performance was 53%. A higher proportion of main ideas (60%) was recalled than subordinate ideas (51%). In contrast, recognition of subordinate ideas was 56% and main ideas 51%.
The finding that older adults recalled 56% of program content was higher than expected when compared with previous informal observations. The method of content analysis employed in this study, and the domain‐referenced testing approach based upon it, are considered to be contributions of value to future research.
Dr. Owens has been a producer of television programs since 1969. He was producer/director with Educational Television Service, Zambia from 1969 to 1973 and was Head of Media Production at the Communications Institute of Ireland from 1975‐1978. He continues to produce instructional video and audio programs for clients in education, industry, and commerce. During 1980 he worked as a researcher on a project, funded by National Science Foundation (U.S.A.) that was concerned with improving the educational effectiveness of science documentary programs for older adults.