Channel Surfing Knowledge: A Narrative Criticism of Edutainment Television Programming BY GORDON S. CARLSON B.S., Oregon State University, 2004 M.A., Oregon State University, 2006 THESIS Submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012 Chicago, Illinois Defense Committee: Steve Jones, Chair and Advisor Zizi Papacharissi James Sosnoski Patricia Harkin Jason Leigh, Computer Science This dissertation is dedicated to my mother Patti, my father Gordon, and my brother Phillip. I am what I am because of you. Thank you. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the members of my committee (Steve, Zizi, Jim, Patty, and Jason) for their work and support throughout the process. In particular, thanks to my chair and advisor Steve Jones for the many great classes, discussions, arguments, and successes. I would also like to thank the other graduate students in the program throughout my time at UIC. It’s good to have such enthusiastic and helpful friends. Thanks also to EVL for providing fantastic opportunities to explore. The Communication department is run by some of the best people. Dace, Mamie, Richard, and Christina make possible everything that happens in the program (and world). In addition, I would like to thank Mutual of Omaha, Cassie Rowell, Kelli Swanson Jaecks, Christine Schutte at the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, and several over- worked but very patient staff members at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Rose will never truly understand how much she helped me complete this project. Jim and Patty will never truly understand how much they helped me by providing other projects on which to focus (an incredibly important and valuable contribution). And, as usual, I blame Dr. Trischa Goodnow for my decision to attend graduate school and I thank her for all the memories. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………. 1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: EDUTAINMENT………………………… 3 2.1 Early Years………………………………………………………… 3 2.2 Television Programming…………………………………………... 3 2.3 Museums…………………………………………………………... 4 2.4 Computer Software………………………………………………... 5 2.5 Theoretical Underpinnings of Edutainment……………………….. 8 2.6 Criticism of Edutainment………………………………………….. 9 2.7 Working Conception of Edutainment……………………………... 11 2.8 Examples of Edutainment…………………………………………. 17 2.8.1 Sesame Street……………………………………………………… 17 2.8.2 Bangs, Flashes, & Fire…………………………………………….. 18 2.8.3 Nobel Prize Educational Games…………………………………… 18 2.9 A Working Conception and Context of Use………………………. 18 2.10 Significance of SAE……………………………………………….. 23 2.10.1 Ecological Perspective…………………………………………….. 23 2.10.2 The Serious Business of Entertainment…………………………… 23 2.10.3 Technopoly………………………………………………………… 24 2.11 The Significance of Edutainment and Television…………………. 25 2.12 Research Questions………………………………………………... 26 2.13 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 27 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE 3. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS AS METHOD………………………………... 28 3.1 History……………………………………………………………... 28 3.2 Television as Medium…...………………………………………… 31 3.3 Research Questions………………………………………………... 35 3.4 Method for Selecting Units of Analysis…………………………… 35 3.5 Selected Units of Analysis………………………………………… 36 3.5.1 Connections……………………………………………………….. 36 3.5.2 Wild Kingdom…………………………………………………….. 37 3.5.3 Modern Marvels…………………………………………………… 38 3.5.4 Mythbusters………………………………………………………... 39 3.6 Procedure…………………………………………………………... 40 3.6.1 The Scene Function Model………………………………………... 43 3.6.2 Constraints of the Approach……………………………………….. 44 3.6.3 Philosophy of Rhetorical Criticism………………………………... 44 3.7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 46 4. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS OF SAE……………………………………… 47 4.1 The Fundamental Claim: Narrative Fidelity………………………. 47 4.1.1 Hosts……………………………………………………………….. 54 4.1.2 Transparency………………………………………………………. 55 4.1.3 Sub-Narratives……………………………………………………... 56 4.2 Changes Over Time………………………………………………... 59 4.2.1 Narrators…………………………………………………………… 63 v TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE 4.3 Fictional Narratives Embedded in Realistic Narratives…………… 66 4.3.1 Fabricating Narrative………………………………………………. 79 4.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 80 5. EDUTAINMENT AND TELEVISION GENRE…………………………. 81 5.1 Television Genre…………………………………………………... 81 5.1.1 Genre………………………………………………………………. 81 5.1.2 Film and Television………………………………………………... 82 5.1.3 Television Genres………………………………………………….. 83 5.2 Edutainment Theory in Relation to Television Genre…………….. 86 5.2.1 Drama……………………………………………………………… 87 5.2.2 Documentary………………………………………………………. 89 5.2.3 Reality Television…………………………………………………. 90 5.2.4 Genre Bending……………………………………………………... 92 5.2.5 Significance………………………………………………………... 93 5.3 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 99 6. NARRATIVE THEORIES OF EDUTAINMENT………………………... 100 6.1 Edutainment and Suspension of Belief……………………………. 100 6.2 Theory of Suspension of Belief……………………………………. 104 6.3 Dramatic Theory of Edutainment………………………………….. 106 6.4 Two Theories in Tandem………………………………………….. 108 6.5 Constraints…………………………………………………………. 109 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE 6.6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 109 7. APPLICATION TO EDUCATION THEORY……………………………. 110 7.1 Modes of Learning………………………………………………… 112 7.2 Applying Narrative Theory to Learning Communication…………. 114 7.2.1 Theory 1…………………………………………………………… 115 7.2.2 Theory 2…………………………………………………………… 123 7.3 A Two Dimensional Scale…………………………………………. 128 7.4 Other Media………………………………………………………... 131 7.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 133 8. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………..... 135 8.1 Changing Views…………………………………………………… 135 8.1.1 Significance………………………………………………………... 135 8.1.2 Summary…………………………………………………………... 137 8.2 Application to Education and Further Research…………………... 139 8.2.1 Study 1……………………………………………………………... 139 8.2.2 Study 2……………………………………………………………... 139 8.2.3 Study 3……………………………………………………………... 140 8.3 Good or Bad……………………………………………………….. 141 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) CHAPTER PAGE REFERENCES…………………………………………………………….. 142 VITA………………………………………………………………………. 158 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE I. SELECTED EPISODES FOR STUDY…………………………………… 42 II. CHARACTERS IN EARLY EPISODES OF WILD KINGDOM………... 49 III. NUMBER OF NARRATIVES AND CHARACTERS IN SELECT EPISODES OF SAE……………………………………………………….. 60 IV. EDUTAINMENT ELEMENTS OF THREE TELEVISIONPROGRAMS ON THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL……………………………………… 96 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Select approaches to the concept of edutainment that inform the working definition of this study……………………………………………………... 19 2. Science based Adult-oriented Edutainment programs…………………….. 22 3. James Burke hosting an episode of Connections………………………….. 37 4. Wild Kingdom’s Marlin Perkins…………………………………………... 38 5. A frame from the opening sequence of Modern Marvels…………………. 39 6. A frame from the opening sequence of Mythbusters……………………… 40 7. Two sub-narratives are used to construct the larger primary narrative……. 58 8. Change in the use of narrative and characters over time…………………... 61 9. Drama, documentary, and reality television inform edutainment television 87 10. Suspension of disbelief illustrated…………………………………………. 103 11. Suspension of disbelief compared to suspension of belief………………… 104 x LIST OF FIGURES (continued) FIGURE PAGE 12. Change in use of narratives and characters over time……………………... 107 13. A diagram of the narratives and sub-narratives in the first segment of spirits………………………………………………………………………. 126 14. The traditional one dimension edutainment continuum…………………… 128 15. Two dimensional edutainment visualization………………………………. 130 xi SUMMARY In the last ten years there has been an increase in the amount and popularity of edutainment programming. While the body of literature surrounding edutainment is wider than deep, the concept is traditionally conceived of as a pedagogical strategy employing the tactics of entertainment. In this study, a specific subset of edutainment is examined: adult-oriented, science-based, edutainment television. In academia edutainment has been studied through various methodological and theoretical lenses, in particular that of behaviorism and Albert Bandura’s theory of social learning. This study takes a new approach. Focusing on television, it looks at narrative components, paying special attention to the genres that inform modern edutainment: drama, documentaries, and reality television. A rhetorical approach, this study is a narrative analysis of four popular edutainment programs spanning nearly 40 years. Wild Kingdom, Connections, Modern Marvels, and MythBusters are examined to identify and organize the narrative approaches each show has employed in their various runs. The analysis identifies aspects of each show’s narrative tactics as they support the strategy of edutainment. With narrative elements identified relationships between them bring to light the strengths and weaknesses of edutainment television as a pedagogical approach. The study proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing and interpreting edutainment television programs. This contribution to rhetorical and educational theory is applied to two categories of learning: casual and formal. The rhetorical tactics of edutainment television are applied to these types of learning opportunities to identify and address potential advantages and xii disadvantages for learners in myriad situations who may be learning on their own or in tandem with an instructor. The study offers a new two-dimensional model