PAPERS ON BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 75 



SOME RADICAL DEPARTURES ON THE 



TEACHING OF BIOLOGY 



Elliot R. Downing, The University of Chicago 



The psychology of science teaching is now sufficiently 

 clarified and the experimental determination of the rela- 

 tive values of method of instruction sufficiently advanced 

 to warrant certain radical changes in onr courses of 

 study in biology and the technique of presentation. 



All subject-matter should be eliminated from the 

 course that is not socially worth while, and at the same 

 time of prime interest to the pupils. The only justifica- 

 tion for the taxation of the people to cover the expenses 

 of the education of their children is that education con- 

 tributes to the efficiency of those educated as members 

 of the community. Interest is a prime prerequisite. For 

 any educational process is the result of self activity and 

 that is conditioned in its intensity by interest. We know 

 from the studies of Man, Finley, Trafton, and others 

 that pupils are interested primarily in the activities of 

 animals and plants, their identification and relation to 

 the environment — not in their structure, classification, 

 utility. Further, that the interest is chiefly in birds, in- 

 sects, and common mammals among the animals, and in 

 wild flowers, trees and garden plants. Our biology 

 should deal largely with these groups and it should be 

 concerned chiefly with behavior and environment rela- 

 tionships. 



The subject-matter should be organized in relatively 

 small units, with topic titles that challenge attention, for 

 the mental grasp of High School sophomores is not ex- 

 tensive. The pupil needs to progress by small, well de- 

 fined steps, so that he may have a constant sense of 

 mastery and not feel lost in the intricacies of a hazy, 

 large subject. 



The unit, or a small group of them, should eventuate 

 in a comprehension of a biological law or generalization 

 of major social importance, because in proportion as 

 one gets his knowledge generalized is it applicable to a 

 new situation, and then only as he has had drill in such 

 application. The teacher must therefore spend time in 



