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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Efficacy of Feature Films in Undergraduate Psychology Teaching: An Exploratory Study by Monica Baehr A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DIVISION OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY 2009 © Monica Baehr 2009 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49596-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-49596-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract Seventy-two students from an undergraduate psychology course gave their perceptions of various media used in the classroom, including feature films. Comments and ratings were collected from two written assignments per student and a questionnaire. Students were given the choice of using feature films, instructional videos, or biographically based text material for application of concepts from Personality Theory, and asked to provide reasons for their preference as part of the papers. These statements of rationale, comments about advantages and disadvantages of each medium on the questionnaire, and relative rankings of the media were subjected to qualitative coding and descriptive quantitative analysis, with a focus on outcomes for feature films. Results showed a preference for movies over the other media, although videos were also liked more than the biographical text. The pedagogical qualities most emphasised by students, especially in relation to films, were the opportunity to link theories to real-life examples, and the challenge to engage in higher-level thinking and analysis. It is suggested that the exploratory nature of the methodological approach, the emerging categories and themes, and the indicators of how students engage with movies in the classroom can lead to further research in a variety of settings. Ultimately, it is hoped that the findings from this study will open many more doors to the creative and effective use of such an innovative strategy. in Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude for the tremendous support I received from my supervisor, and members of my committee. John Mueller has been amazingly patient, and was there when I needed advice on the thesis, reminders for deadlines, help in navigating administrative mazes, and personal encouragement to persist in a lengthy process often impeded by other demands. Nancy Dudley was the inspiration for this dissertation, and has helped to sustain my enthusiasm for the project. Her sensitive feedback and continuing involvement have been greatly appreciated in this journey. Walter Zwirner, over many years and spanning two degrees, has taught me most of what I know about research methodology. His timely feedback on the formulation of my proposal helped to keep me on track. My husband of 24 years, Stefan Demjen, helped to sustain me in this challenge with his personal devotion and patience. He has had to put up with my late nights, erratic schedules, and absent-mindedness. I hope to make up for all the times we could not share the joys of long walks, concerts, trips to the mountains, and just plain conversation. Our son Lucas Demjen, now grown up, has had to become even more independent, but understands that we are all there for each other when it really counts. Finally, I want to express my appreciation for the many individuals at Mount Royal College who supported me and encouraged me in my project, including colleagues, staff, administrators, and, of course, the students. My work is intimately tied to the college, and I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given. iv Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v List of Tables vii List of Figures and Illustrations viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 The Project in a Pedagogical Context 1 Background of the Study 4 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 10 Films and Education 10 Use of Films: Overview and Issues 11 Methodological and Ethical Considerations 27 Statement of the Problem 46 CHAPTER 3: METHOD 47 Arriving At Methodology 47 A Journey of Induction 47 The Person in the Process 51 Placing the Research Methods 58 A Question of Philosophy 66 Method of Data Collection 70 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 78 Participant Information 78 Data Extraction 79 Quantitative Analysis of Ratings 81 Qualitative Analysis of Written Comments 99 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 139 Discussion 139 Conclusion 156 REFERENCES 158 APPENDIX A: The Media Preference Questionnaire 171 APPENDIX B: Frequency Distribution of Age of Respondents 175 APPENDIX C: Frequency Distribution of Ranked Scores on The 5-Point Scales Measuring Use of and Attitude Toward Films in General 176 v APPENDIX D: Frequency Distribution of Ranked Scores on The 5-Point Scales Measuring Use of and Attitude Toward Textbook and Films in the Course 179 APPENDIX E: Comparative Rankings of Media and Resources For Usefulness and Enjoyability 181 APPENDIX F: Frequency Counts For Films ,Videos, and Biographical Text within Themes and Categories 188 APPENDIX G: Ethics Approval: University of Calgary 189 APPENDIX H: Ethics Approval: Mount Royal College 190 APPENDIX I: Participant Consent Form: University of Calgary 191 APPENDIX J: Participant Consent Form: Mount Royal College 195 VI List of Tables Table la: Comparison of Relative Rankings of Usefulness and Enjoyability of Seven Media and Resources 94 Table lb: Hierarchy for Usefulness and Enjoyability of Seven Media and Resources for All Rankings 95 Table 2a: Number of Times That Film, Video, or Biographical Text Material Were Chosen for Assignments 101 Table 2b: Comparison of Pairs of Media Choices 101 Table 3: Categories of Reasons for Working with Specific Media 103 Table 4: Categories of Reasons Grouped Within Themes 120 Table 5: Frequency of Theme Events, Category Events, and Associated Ranks Based on Student Comments in Assignments 124 Table 6: Number of Theme Events, Category Events, and Associated Ranks For Films 125 Table 7: Number of Theme Events, Category Events, and Associated Ranks For Videos 126 Table 8: Number of Theme Events, Category Events, and Associated Ranks For Biographical Text Material 127 Table 9: Percentage Share of Themes and Categories Among Film, Video, and Biographical Text Material 130 Table 10a: Rankings of All Media for Theme Events and Category Events from the Questions: "What Did You Like?" (Q.7, 9, and 11) 134 Table 10b: Rankings Films, Videos, and Biographical Chapters for Theme Events and Category Events from the Question: "What Did You Like?" 135 Table 11: Frequency of Theme Events, Category Events, and Associated Ranks for Films in Response to the Item: "Add Any Other Comments." (Q. 19) 136 Vll List of Figures and Illustrations Figure 1: Frequency distribution of age of respondents (n = 70) 78 Figure 2: Frequency distribution of ranked scores on the 5-point scales for Questions 1 to 6 (n = 72) 82 Figure 3: Frequency distribution of ranked scores on the 5-point scales for Questions 13 to 16 (n = 72) 87 Figure 4: Frequency distribution of relative ranks for degree of usefulness assigned to each of seven media and resources in the course 90 Figure 5: Frequency distribution of relative ranks assigned for degree of enjoyability to each of seven media and resources in the course 92 Figure 6: Order of median ranks for seven resources used in the course, compared for the relative degree to which respondents found the resource to be useful (top), and to which they experienced it as enjoyable (bottom) (n = 63) 96 Figure 7: Learning with films: Themes and categories represented as branches of a tree 121 vin 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION The Project in Pedagogical Context Teachers at all academic levels seek ways to stimulate interest and enhance student learning. One approach that has increased dramatically in the last few decades is the use of commercial movies. The purpose of this research project is to examine more closely the use of cinematic film, and explore its special features in the context of teaching and learning academic material. As part of this exploration, I have used a qualitative approach to record, summarize, and encode students' own perceptions. From this process, themes were developed to help describe the salient qualities of feature films as an educational tool.