64 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



2. Thu teachers' meetings were held on Friday afternoons after class 

 hours. Teaching problems, grading, discipline, etc., were presented and 

 discussed or papers were prepared and read by some of the instructors on 

 appropriate subjects or outsiders lectured. 



3. Three afternoons each week, after class-work, the instructing force 

 "went to school" in rotation, one or two weeks in each of the instructional 

 departments. This promoted cooperation. Also the instructors attended 

 the lectures given to the soldiers, in the subjects. germain to their work. 



The fifth afternoon was devoted to making or devising necessary changes 

 in equipment to improve the work. 



4. Individual grading was done at the end of each class day, the forms 

 used, being provided with photo of the soldiers to assist in this task. 



Another point developed from experience was that most of the soldiers 

 wanted a text book of some kind. We procured and sold to them several 

 hundred copies of Dj^ke's Encyclopedia and prepared, gratis, complete 

 mimeograph notes in all departments. 



The manuals issued by the Committee did not arrive in time for the 

 first and second detachments and did not then meet our requirements, 

 because they predicated "reading" before "doing" and this did not appeal 

 to the soldiers, or to the instructors. These manuals were, however, very 

 useful to the instructors from the "points" and suggestions contained as 

 to the ground to be covered and the information and skill which the sol- 

 diers should have. 



In tractor work a manual which had given good results with civilians 

 was used for the soldiers. 



Note books were furnished to soldiers and their use advised in some 

 units such as ignition and lighting. 



Experience showed that some instructors were not of the caliber or 

 experience required, at least in the positions originally assigned to them. 

 Transfers were made, involving sometimes demotion or promotion, and 

 eventually some were released. 



Soldier instructors were used to some extent from the first week and 

 were fairly successful especially after they were given temporary "non 

 com" rank and allowed to put in full time, including attendance on in- 

 structors' meetings and schools. 



Since writing the above I have read Mr. Dooley's "Final Report" and' 

 I conclude that my experience has much in common with others similarly 

 engaged. 



An analysis of the general experience seems to me to show that the 

 success which attended this large experiment in vocational training was 

 due to : 



1. Superior motivation. 



2. Appropriate subject matter. 



3. The application of sound principles of organization. 



4. The application of sound pedagogic principles. 



5. The disciplinary experience. 



1. The motivation was two-fold- — major and minor. The major motiva- 

 tiori was the spirit to "win the war" which had awakened in the whole 

 nation and was growing with tremendous speed and accomplishing won- 

 ders in all national undertakings. This spirit invested the very soul of 

 soldier-students and was bound to produce results if the energy resulting 

 was wisely directed. 



