Edgar Dale (April 27, 1900, in

Benson, Minnesota Benson is a city in Swift County, Minnesota, United States, along the Chippewa River. The population was 3,480 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat. History Benson was platted in 1870 when the railroad was extended to that point. As the ...

, – March 8, 1985, in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

) was an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

who developed the Cone of Experience, also known as the Learning Pyramid. He made several contributions to audio and visual instruction, including a

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...

for analyzing the content of

motion pictures A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Early career

Edgar Dale was born on April 27, 1900, in Benson, Minnesota. He received a B.A. and M.A. from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

and a Ph.D from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. His doctoral thesis was titled "Factual Basis for Curriculum Revision in Arithmetic with Special Reference to Children's Understanding of Business Terms." and is precursor for his later work with

vocabulary A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...

and

readability Readability is the ease with which a reader can understand a written text. The concept exists in both natural language and programming languages though in different forms. In natural language, the readability of text depends on its content ( ...

. From 1921 to 1924, Dale was a teacher and the superintendent of schools in

Webster, North Dakota Webster is an unincorporated community in central Ramsey County, North Dakota, United States. It lies along North Dakota Highway 20 north of the city of Devils Lake, the county seat of Ramsey County. Its elevation is 1,467 feet (447 ...

. In 1924, he became a teacher at

junior high school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,475 as of the 2020 census. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the United States in terms of household income. It was ...

, where he stayed until 1926. In 1928, Dale's interest in film led to a position with

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

as a member of the editorial staff of Eastman Teaching Films in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, for one year. In 1929, Dale left Kodak to become a professor at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Dale remained a professor at OSU until his retirement in 1970. In 1933, Dale wrote a paper on how to effectively create a high school film appreciation class. This paper has been noted for having a very different view of adolescent interaction with films than that taken by the Film Control Boards of the time. Dale died March 8, 1985, in Columbus, Ohio.

Cone of Experience

In 1946, Dale introduced the Cone of Experience concept in a textbook on audiovisual methods in teaching. He revised it for a second printing in 1954 and again in 1969. Dale's "Cone of Experience," which he intended to provide an

intuitive Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning or needing an explanation. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledg ...

model of the concreteness of various kinds of

audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service provide ...

media, has been widely misrepresented. Often referred to as the "Cone of Learning," it purports to inform viewers of how much people remember based on how they encounter information. However, Dale included no numbers and did not base his cone on scientific research, and he also warned readers not to take the cone too seriously. The numbers originated from 1967, when a

Mobil Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as just Mobil, is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, formerly known as Exxon, which took its current name after history of ExxonMobil#merger, it and Mobil merge ...

employee, D.G. Treichler, published a non-scholarly article in Film and Audio-Visual Communications.

Awards

* Educational Film Library Association Award (1961) * Eastman Kodak Gold Medal Award (1968) * Distinguished Services Award (1972) * National Reading Hall of Fame (1972)

References

External links

*See the followin
webpage
for (1) some of the most common misrepresentations, (2) an image of Dale's original cone, and (3) citations. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, Edgar 1900 births 1985 deaths Ohio State University faculty American educational theorists Place of birth missing Place of death missing People from Benson, Minnesota