AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

This historical content analysis study examined portable responsive instructional materials used by United States teachers and students in primary, secondary, and higher education instructional settings for the period of 1957 through 1982—the beginning of the space race with the stimulus of educational funding from the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) to the introduction of classroom computers into the mainstream education population. During this period, a plethora of instructional materials was implemented in classrooms, which supported the audiovisual movement to improve performance and knowledge. This study focused on the pedagogical and functional uses of instructional materials from the specified period of history. Instructional materials included in this qualitative study provided a response from or feedback to the participant through some form of communication—a screen, display, or other mode of communication. The physical nature of the studied instructional materials was small, lightweight, and portable, and each was used collaboratively or individually for instructional purposes in an educational environment. With this definition in mind, certain materials that were important to the audiovisual movement, such as movie projectors and cameras, were not included in this study. Instructional materials from corporate training were not included in this study with the exception of materials that crossed over from the corporate arena to the educational environment. Pedagogical and functional frameworks of identified instructional materials from 1957 to 1982 provided a foundation from which to compare contemporary instructional materials and devices to those of the past, to predict pedagogical purposes, and to support current integration of instructional materials such as handheld devices into the classroom based on historical information gathered in this study. Analysis of the instructional materials was based on audiovisual codes found in the literature of the time. To further analyze the data gathered, a failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method was adapted and applied to determine the success or failure of specified functionality of the identified instructional materials.