Research Project |
Knowledge and documentary programmes for children in 2002-2003
In children's television scheduling,
entertainment and fiction are the most ubiquitous genres.
Conversely, parents/educators try to encourage the consumption
of non-fiction genres such as documentaries but report that
these types of programmes are less attractive to children.
This research project carried out by the IZI investigates
educational programmes in order to learn more about what features
of these programmes are attractive for children, as well as
how this content might impact upon learning. This research
is theoretically grounded in present educational learning
theories, which see children as active participants in knowledge
construction.
As a topic, children's television
consumption and content have been the focus of much academic
research, but since concrete facts are relatively rare, a
broad-based investigation will be conducted.
Pilot study
The pilot study was carried out about the children's programmes Willi
wills wissen and Felix und die wilden Tiere. The
children watched one episode, discussed the content with an
educator, drew what they liked most, and in the end talked
to the programmes' hosts, Willi and Felix, about the programmes.
A few weeks later telephone interviews were conducted to find
out what the children still remembered from the programme.
In total 16 children aged between
7 and 11 participated in three groups. The aim, in addition
to consulting the producers about the development of these
formats, was to work out a suitable methodological repertoire
for the main phase of the research.
Main phase
The main aim of this study was to research the structure of
educational and documentary programmes that are attractive
for children (7-11 years old) and that contain moments encouraging
education.
Method
300 children from day-care centres in Munich were shown one
episode of a current educational programme for schoolchildren.
The six chosen programmes were:
During their viewing the children were recorded on video. Subsequently, they drew what they liked best. In individual interviews they were questioned about the drawing, the programme and about their individual acquisition of information.
3-4 weeks after the investigation there was a second wave. The children drew what they remembered best about the programme and described what they thought they had learnt.
The first results regarding humour were introduced at the IZI conference on December 12th 2002; the complete results were published in TelevIZIon 2004/1 (only available in German).