Conceptualizing U.S. educational television as preparation for future learning

ABSTRACT

Children sometimes fail to transfer lessons gleaned from educational television. However, exposure to this content might impart foundational knowledge that facilitates children’s learning from subsequent formal instruction. This possibility is consistent with the predictions of a theoretical framework known as “preparation for future learning” (PFL). In the current experiment, 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 109) watched one of three educational science programs about buoyancy or a control program about magnification. Afterward, all children observed a live demonstration about buoyancy and participated in two assessments of learning (i.e. once after television exposure and again after the live demonstration). Children who watched the buoyancy programs performed better across more assessments than children who watched the control program. Unexpectedly, more consistent benefits emerged among children who watched animated (vs. live action) programs. These findings provided mixed support for the PFL framework, and recommendations for future research are provided.

IMPACT SUMMARY

Prior State of Knowledge: Children sometimes fail to transfer lessons gleaned from educational television. However, this content might impart foundational knowledge that facilitates children’s learning from subsequent formal instruction. This possibility is consistent with a theoretical framework called “preparation for future learning” (PFL).

Novel Contributions: Children learned more from formal instruction about buoyancy after exposure to similar lessons in narrative-based science television programs about buoyancy. However, the pattern of results across outcomes provided mixed support for the PFL framework.

Practical Implications: Scholars might consider applying certain aspects of the PFL framework to their research designs and theorizing. Parents and teachers might consider supplementing formal instruction with educational television.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational media
• preparation for future learning
• realism
• television
• transfer

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2022.2134899

Data Availability Statement

Dataset and syntax are available at https://osf.io/8mx4r/?view_only=00137fb44b3a4abea0539e0a35db6571

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James Alex Bonus

James Alex Bonus (PhD) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. His research examines children’s transfer of learning from educational science television and parents’ role in facilitating transfer.