APPENDIX 



(FOR THE TEACHER) 



SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING LABORATORY AND FIELD 



WORK 



Nearly every teacher of any branch of biology finds it necessary 

 to work out his own laboratory and field exercises for the reason that 

 it is impossible for anyone to make a manual, or set of exercises, that 

 will fit all localities and all working conditions. It is believed, how- 

 ever, that the following suggestions will prove helpful as a working 

 basis, especially for teachers who are offering a course in plant ecology 

 for the first time or who are unfamiliar with methods of carrying on 

 field work. They are intended only as suggestions and should be 

 modified to meet the varying needs of individual classes of students. 



The Scientific Method.— Every course in any science should have 

 as one of its chief aims the teaching of the inductive method which is 

 the method of science. In the practical use of this method one first 

 accumulates as many data as possible on the questions involved. 

 He then classifies and evaluates the data and frames hypotheses 

 to explain them. Finally he compares these hypotheses with known 

 facts in every possible way and draws definite conclusions as to the 

 truth or falsity of each. To train students in this orderly method of 

 thinking is the greatest and most valuable thing that any teacher 

 can do. It is true that the students must be expected to acquire 

 a certain amount of information, but the mere acquisition of informa- 

 tion is the easiest part of scientific training. The information can 

 practically all be found in books and the simplest and quickest way 

 to get it is to go to the books for it. In the laboratory and field 

 work the chief concern of both teacher and student should be with 

 mental development ; with growth in ability to acquire data and to 

 make use of these data in arriving at conclusions through scientific 

 thinking. This mental growth is more likely than anything else to 

 lead the students to an enthusiastic love of the subject being pur- 

 sued for nearly everyone gets pleasure from doing things that lead 

 to personal accomplishment and that is what the scientific method 

 enables us to do. The problem method is the accepted method for 



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