for the record: the misinterpretation of edgar dale’s cone of experience tony betrus al...

For the Record: The Misinterpretation of

Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience

Tony Betrus

Al Januszewski

SUNY Potsdam

The Authentic Cone

• 1946, 1st Edition of Audiovisual Methods in Teaching

• 1954, 2nd Edition of Audiovisual Methods in Teaching

• 1969, 3rd Edition of Audiovisual Methods in Teaching

Possible Misconceptions about the Cone1

Perhaps the Cone of Experience has already helped to remind you of some important ideas about communication, learning, and concept development. But like all reminders, the Cone carries the dangers of oversimplification... [do] not mistake the Cone device for an exact rank-order of learning processes. You will understand that the Cone classifies instructional messages only in terms of greater or lesser concreteness and abstractness.

1From Dale, 1969, p. 128


QDoes the Cone device mean that all teaching and learning must move systematically from base to pinnacle?

AEmphatically no. As we have noted, young children use many simple abstractions-verbal symbols. Before entering school they have mastered the meanings of at least 2500 words, or verbal symbols, each one of which is an abstraction. The fact that something is an abstraction does not necessarily make it difficult to understand. Actually, there are wide variations in degree of difficulty.

2From Dale, 1969, p. 128


QCan we overemphasize the amount of direct experience that is required to learn a new concept?

A Yes, this is a danger. Perhaps the new abstraction can be mastered with less firsthand experience than you might think necessary. Indeed, too much reliance on concrete experience may actually obstruct the process of meaningful generalization. Certainly a mathematician could not develop a system of higher mathematics by counting on his fingers.

3From Dale, 1969, p. 130


QAre the upper levels of the Cone for the older student and the lower ones for the child?

A It is true that the older a person is, the more abstract his concepts are likely to be. We can explain this developmental change by a greater physical maturation, greater opportunity for vivid experiences, and (in certain circumstances) greater motivation for learning. But an older student does not live exclusively in the world of his abstract concepts, just as a child does not live only through the impressions his senses give him. The shuttling process, in fact, continues not only through the learning of a particular concept, but throughout all life. And this interaction is an indication of the nature and complexity of concepts themselves. (continued on next slide)

4From Dale, 1969, p. 130


5From Dale, 1969, p. 132

QAre the upper levels of the Cone for the older student and the lower ones for the child?

A (Continued from previous slide) Instructional materials at all levels of the Cone can help us to extend the web of relationships that our concepts involve. Even the most advanced student, therefore, can deepen his understanding of concepts and his enjoyment of life by participating in experiences all along our Cone. … the Cone of Experience stands for activities that are available, in varying degrees, to learners in all age groups.


6From Dale, 1969, p. 132

Q Does the Cone of Experience overemphasize instructional devices (the media of communication) at the expense of subject matter (the message to be communicated)?

A Actually, use of the Cone may lead to an enhancement of our subject matter presentations. Indeed, the Cone may help us to choose the instructional materials that are most appropriate for the particular topic we wish to teach. The Cone can help us to understand these relationships between media and the messages they convey. It suggests, in fact, that various instructional materials differ in the degree of sensory experience they are able to provide. Our selection of instructional materials, therefore, will depend on the amount of sensory experience we wish to provide for a particular topic of our lesson. And the Cone can help us "place" a teaching method; it can help us select the way of communicating most suited to the experience we wish to convey.


Conclusions

7From Dale, 1969, p. 133

Our understanding of the Cone of Experience, moreover, will remind us of a fundamental principle for our teaching: We do not use any one medium of communication in isolation. Rather, we use many instructional materials to help the student conceptualize his experience so that he can deal with it effectively. The Cone suggests that concept development can proceed from experiences with any specific instructional material. It often follows, then, that the more numerous and varied the media we employ, the richer and more secure will be the concepts we develop. Well-chosen instructional materials of various kinds can provide a variety of experiences that enhance the learning of a given subject for any student at any given point in his continuing development.


Conclusions

8From Dale, 1969, p. 134

We conclude, then, that the Cone of Experience is visual model, a pictorial device that may help you to think critically about the ways in which concepts are developed. Indeed, you may now be able to apply your ideas about the relationships of interesting, meaningful experiences and abstract, highly symbolic representations.

So What’s The Problem?

• Students brought to our classes handouts of “alternative” Cones of Learning with different names for levels in the Cone.

• Internet Searches revealed “Interesting” percentages applied to the Cone.

• They all looked “kind of the same.”• Did they know something we (and Dale)

didn’t???• The following slides show examples of various

Cones we have encountered:

#1. Computer Strategies, LLChttp://www.compstrategies.com/staffdevelopment/4cueadlearn/sld002.htm

10/25/1999 San Leandro, California

Reference: Wiman and Meirhenry, 1960.

http://www.compstrategies.com/staffdevelopment/4cueadlearn/sld002.htm

#2. http://www.hishelpinschool.com/learning/Bloom.html

• At the next level, we find that we are reaching the place where activity and application make our use of information "real" to us. Bruce Nyland in the 1950’s studied what kinds of information people remember the most and for the longest period of time. He concluded that when students "do the real thing," "simulate" the real thing, or teach others what they have learned, the retention rate is about 90% of what was taught.

• Note: Bruce Nyland died in 1998 at the age of 62. He was 14 years old in 1950 and 23 in 1959.

• #3. Crystal Kuykendall, Ed.D, J.D.

• The Mid-Atlantic Equity Center, School of Education, The American University

• Improving Black Student Achievement By Enhancing Student's Self Image

• http://www.nwrel.org/cnorse/booklets/achieve/table6.html

#4. Office for Distributed & Distance Learning, FSU http://www.fsu.edu/~ids/fac2002/Edgar%20Dale.htm

• Lower levels of the cone involve the student as a participant and encourage active learning.• Lower levels include more stimuli and are richer with regard to natural feedback - the consequences of an action.• Higher levels compress information and provide more data faster for those able to process it.• Pictures are remembered (recalled) better than verbal propositions.• Pictures aid in recalling information that has been associated with them• Upper levels of the cone need more instructional support than lower levels.

#5 Wallace Library Online / Distance Learning Services, RIT Marianne Bhueler 2000

http://wally.rit.edu/information/CUNY2000/sld008.htm

No Reference Given

#6. Oakland Unified School District Technology Learning Center

http://tlc.ousd.k12.ca.us/tlc/sitetech/agendas/documents_81202/Dale's%20Cone.pdf

http://tlc.ousd.k12.ca.us/tlc/sitetech/agendas/documents_81202/Dale's%20Cone.pdf

#7. Pal V. Rao, Ph.D., CDPDean of Library Services

Central Missouri State UniversityPresented at AECT99

Presentation Title: “How Can Media Managers Influence Faculty to Use More IT? “

http://library.cmsu.edu/dean/aect99/sld006.htm

#8. Dr. Mary C. Rainey, University of AkronCourse: 603 Family: Middle and Later Years

http://gozips.uakron.edu/~mrainey/603les~1.htm

DALE'S CONE OF EXPERIENCE

People Generally Remember ?**

10% of what they read. Read Verbal Receiving

20% of what they hear. Hear Words

30% of what they see. Watch still picture Watch moving picture Visual Watch exhibit Receiving 50% of what they hear and see. Watch demonstration

70% of what Do a site visit. they say or Do a dramatic presentation. Hearing, write. Saying, Seeing & 90% of what Simulate a real experience. Doing they say Do the real thing. as they do a thing. ?** ?** Wiman and Meirhenry. (1969) contains reference to Edgar Dales's "Cone of Experience." **Question marks refer to the unknown.



• http://ohioline.osu.edu/4h-fact/0018.html• The Edgar Dale Cone of Experience summarizes how

learners retain information. A person remembers 10% of what they read, 20% of what they heard, 30% of what they seen and 50% of what is seen and heard.

• This is the first only “cone” reference when searching the OSU site for “Edgar Dale.”

• Ohio State is the Home of the Edgar Dale Media Center.

#9.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/4h-fact/0018.html





Studies have shown that how information is presented determines the retention level of the information. The Cone of Learning Theory, explains the likelihood of retaining information, based on the method of delivery.

When simply spoken to in a presentation we retain 30% of what is said. If this information is also presented in a visual format, our retention level of this information increases to 50%. When we also actively receive and participate in the presentation, retention increases to 70%. Finally, retention is maximized to 90% when we practice what we've learned. Source: Dale and Nyland, 1985.

#10. Why Choose Talk Tools? It Workshttp://www.talktools.com/whychoose/works.html

#11. Online, Inc., a Division of Information Today Inc. Wilton, Connecticut

• http://www.econtentmag.net/r19/2002/delancie8_02.html

A similar endorsement is voiced by Matthew Gale, who handles strategic product marketing for Web and interactive solutions at Discreet, the San Francisco maker of content creation solutions for video, animation, and 3D. He describes streaming media as "another way to communicate experiences, knowledge, ideas, messages, and stories. This medium allows companies to deliver compelling multimedia information across vast distances—in real time or near real time—to implementers, influencers, and decision-makers. Companies can richly communicate custom messages to all the key stakeholders while improving workforce knowledge and productivity."

As evidence of streamed multimedia's efficiency, Gale cites "classic research" published by Wiman and Mierhenry in 1969. "The study found that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 50% of what they hear and see."

http://www.econtentmag.net/r19/2002/delancie8_02.html



#12. Dr. James M. Marshall• http://www.ciconline.org/uploads/CIC_REPORT.pdf

From pp. 15-16

Researchers posit that explanations in words and pictures, as opposed to words or pictures, make for increased comprehension (Mayer, 2001) for the learner. Dale’s “Cone of Experience” (1946, 1996) provides evidence of these phenomena. Dale’s research suggested that increasing the modalities by which content was presented could increase retention rates. Wiman and Mierhenry (1969) extended Dale’s concept to conclude that people will generally remember

•10 percent of what they read

•20 percent of what they hear

•30 percent of what they see

•50 percent of what they hear and see

http://www.ciconline.org/uploads/CIC_REPORT.pdf



#13. Why Use Active Learning?http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm

• Brought to you by the Active Learning Online team at

• the ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence

• ACU Box 29201 Abilene, TX 79699-9201

#14. The Initiative: Experiential Learning Resources, Workshops, Ideas, Articles

• Spring/Summer 2002• 10% of what we hear.• 15% of what we see.• 20% of what we both see and hear.• 40% of what we discuss• 80% of what we experience directly or practice doing.• 90% of what we attempt to teach others• Source: Brady (1989)

Let’s Sum it

Up

• We Remember:• 5% Lecture

• 10% What we read

• 15% What we see

• 20% Audio-Visual

• 20% What we see and hear

• 20% What we hear

• 26% What we hear

• 30% What we see

• 30% Passive Verbal

• 30% Demonstration

• 40% What we discuss

• 50% Visual Receiving

• 50% See and hear

• 50% Discussion Group

• 70% Discuss with others

• 70% Active Receiving and Participating

• 70% Say

• 70% Say and Write

• 70% Say or Write

• 70% Say as they talk

• 75% Practice by Doing

• 80% Experience Personally

• 80% What we experience directly or practice doing

• 90% Say as they do a thing

• 90% Say and perform a task

• 90% Teach to others/Immediate Use

• 90% What we attempt to teach others

• 95% of what we teach someone else

14 Sources:(and counting)

Wiman and Mierhenry, 1969

Wiman and Mierhenry, 1960

Glasser, 1990

Standard Oil of NY

Socony-Vacuum Oil Company

Dale and Nyland, 1985

Bruce Nyland, 2000

Bruce Nyland, 1950’s

Nyland/Dole, 1972

Dale Edgar

NTL Institute

James Stice, 1984 Seminar

Gustafson, 1985

Brady, 1989

Contact Information:

Tony Betrus - [email protected]

Al Januszewski - [email protected]

State University of New York at Potsdam

Department of Information and Communication Technology

Download the presentation, after November 18th, at:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/educ/betrusak/aect2002/dalescone.html

mailto:[email protected]




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