Head Knowledge

Sounds crazy, but at least one educator is singing the praise of a revolutionary new teaching process. It’s simple: posters on bathroom walls. An instructor at the State University of New York conducted an educational experiment by hanging cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) posters in “strategic places” in dormitory bathrooms.

His findings? Those who read the posters averaged nearly 25 percent higher scores on CPR tests than the control group. Also, students in the bathroom poster group who had never received CPR training scored as well on a techniques test as those who had received classroom teaching. The instructor next plans to install Heimlich choking maneuver posters in selected stalls. All of which lends new meaning to the term “head knowledge.”

Campus Life, February, 1981, p. 18