HOUSEWIVES INVITED
TO PARTICIPATE IN A
HOME LEARNING
EXPERIMENT

An educational experiment
designed to test the value of
a SELF-LEARNING
KIT
requires the voluntary assistance of 12 housewives. The
project will last approximately 3-4 weeks or 20-30
hours and will be done by
each housewife in her own
home using tapes, slides,
instruments and written
materials, all of which will be
provided at no expense to
the participant.
This is an educational
experiment, not a commercial venture. It is a project
designed to test the feasibility of offering college level
courses in the home rather
than at a campus.
Housewives wishing to
participate in this study
must meet the following
requirements:
RESIDENCE: Live in North or
West Vancouver
AGE:
20 years or over
EDUCATION:
Completion of Grade 8
TRAINING:
NO formal
training in
College
level
physics,
electricity
or electronics.
No work experience
in physics or electronics.
If you meet the above
requirements and wish
further information about
your possible participation in
this learning experiment at
no cost to you please phone
Harold Kirchner, Director,
Self Learning Project any
night after 7:00 p.m. at 987
3727.

Please reply on or
before June l l t h , 1971

Educator Needs Help
From Local Housewives

A North Shore educator is
seeking the help of a dozen
housewives to prove that a selfi e a r n i n g k i t t h a t he h a s
devised can teach college-level
courses at home.
Harold K i r c h n e r says he
hopes to show that housewives
with no previous knowledge of
p h y s i c s or e l e c t r o n i c s c a n
learn complete electrical
measuring skills with the aid
of a kit that he has devised.
This kit. about the size of a
small suitcase, contains a tape
recorder, projector, measuring device and textbook.
By following the textbook,
the t a p e - r e c o r d e d i n s t r u c tions, and using the visual ai.ds.
the housewife can soon start
t a k i n g m e a s u r e m e n t s in
complex e l e c t r i c a l c i r c u i t s
and c o n s t r u c t s i m p l e electrical circuits.
"I believe that changes in
teaching and learning methods
must be developed to reduce
the high cost of education and
permit more productive and
inexpensive ways of learn-

ing." sayd Kirchner. who is
assistant Dean of Career Programs at Capilano College.
Tt is with these thoughts in
mind that I have developed a
self-learning program which
can be used by the student at
home, independent of teaching
assistance.

Kirchner says that while selflearning is not a new concept,
the majority of courses involve
only a series of written lessons
and a textbook.
"The system that I have devised involves laboratory work
formerly only available at the
c o l l e g e or t h e u n i v e r s i t y .
While in this instance it is specifically devised for a physics
program, there is no reason
why it would not be adapted to
teach any subject whatsoever.
I would imagine that it would
be particularly valuable in the
study of languages."
Kirchner said he is .seeking
housewives for a number of
reasons.

"In most cases, housewives
have had no formal training or
practical experience in electricity or related fields. This
m e a n s that p r e v i o u s experience and knowledge will not
unduly effect the results of the
study.
"Most housewives have normally been away from a formal
l e a r n i n g e n v i r o n m e n t for a
n u m b e r of y e a r s a n d , since
they a r e at home for a good
part of the day. a self-learning
kit appears to be the most feasible w a y of a s s i s t i n g in
continuous learning."
He said that while the subject
of electricity might be a topic
quite foreign to the average
housewife, it is not difficult to
master. "The course centres
around basic principles which
I believe those who participate
will find interesting and
useful."
Kirchner came up with his
home-learning kit as a result
of his work on his Master of
Education thesis at Simon
Eraser University. The
project has been developed in
consultation with SEU profes
sors Dr. John Ellis. Dr. Milton
McLaren and Dr. Ian Allen.
C o - a u t h o r of a t e x t b o o k .
" E l e c t r i c i t y a n d E1 e c tronics." used by grade 9 and 10
students in B.C. and other provinces. Kirchner has taught in
the public school system at the
U n i v e r s i t y of B . C . b e f o r e
joining the staff of Capilano
College.