McLuhan, Mass Media, and Education

Abstract

A lesson in Gestalt theory was presented to college students via lecture, videotape, audiotape, and printed notes. Comparing the effectiveness of various mass media, it was found that the group with the printed notes performed best on an examination of the material, followed by the lecture and videotape groups who fared equally well, and by the audio tape group who did the poorest. A test of prolonged retention two months later revealed that each group showed a significant drop in level of retention, but the relationship between the various medias remained the same. The general findings gave no support to McLuhan’s theory that the medium is the message. The content of the material and the attitude of the students greatly influenced the effectiveness of the media.

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