m-connJ EXPERIMENT IN TEACHING BIOLOGY 79 



in the usual way, by written examinations, the same questions 

 being given, of course, to both sections. The third point, pow- 

 er of interpretation and original attack, is judged from the re- 

 sults obtained on laboratory problems given alike to both sec- 

 tions. 



The parallel groups used are divisions of a class in first- 

 year biology — called Zoology the first semester, Botany the 

 second. They are approximately equal in size. They use, of 

 course, the same laboratory and equipment, and are furnished 

 the same materials. Both are provided with the same text- 

 books and the same manuals — books chosen because of their 

 neutral character with respect to the point at issue. It should 

 perhaps be added that the instructor is not a man with a theory 

 which he is attempting to prove; he is a man with a question, 

 to which he is seeking an answer either one way or the other. 



During the first six weeks of each semester the work of the 

 two sections is made the same, and by tests during this period on 

 all three of the points in question, and by a comparison of the 

 grades of the students in other subjects, a measure is secured of 

 the inevitable difference in native ability of the two groups. This 

 measure is used to interpret the data on the same three points 

 obtained after the differentiation of the two courses. 



This differentiation begins with the seventh week of each 

 semester. It is a matter of emphasis, secured by the introduc- 

 tion of outside material by the instructor, partly in the recita- 

 tion, partly in assigned reading. The supplementary material 

 for section A is of the "pure science" type. Darwin and Huxley, 

 for example, are drawn upon to extend the treatment of evo- 

 lution in the text; and an appeal is made to what may be called 

 the naturalist's interest — the interest in living things simply as 

 such, — using such authors as John Burroughs. In section B. 

 on the other hand, the text is made to suffice for such phases 

 of the subject, while the economic phases are supplemented, the 

 material being drawn largely -from the bulletins issued by the 

 Department of Agriculture and the various colleges of agricul- 

 ture. 



It will be noted that the course remains in both cases a 

 course in biology. Both sections complete the text, and are 

 examined primarily upon the text. The differentiation is one of 

 emphasis, approach, incentive. The specific problem involved 

 is ultimately that of the character of adolescent interest in na- 

 ture. 



