132 



NATURE 



[July 27, 191 1 



tun when the examination system was initiated and 

 the conditions prevailing at the present time, and that 

 changes are necessary in order to bring these 

 examinations into harmony with modern developments of 

 educational thought and practice. The Board clearly 

 realises that the annual examination must not be the 

 dominant factor in education. The examination must be 

 subordinate to the teaching. Further, the yearly test, to 

 be of any value, must be mainly an " internal " one, in 

 which the teacher plays an important part. At the 

 present time, the examinations conducted by the Board 

 .in' purely " external " examinations, carried out by an 

 outside body which is out of touch with the teacher and 

 iln students, and necessarily unacquainted with the actual 

 conditions under which the educational work is carried out. 



The Board, however, is not yet prepared, " as regards all 

 students, to hand over entirely to the teaching staffs . . . 

 the functions which the Board at present discharge in 

 regard to the testing- and certification of the attainments 

 of individual students, although a partial transfer of such 

 responsibility has now become possible." In the future, the 

 Board will leave the examination of, and the issue of 

 diplomas to, full-time day technical institution students to 

 the teachers concerned, subject to regulations to be pre- 

 1] submitted to and approved by the Board. Full-time 

 day students will not in general be permitted to attend the 

 evening science examinations. The examination of all 

 first stage evening or part-time students is also handed 

 over to the institutions. Further. " the Board intend to 

 invite the assistance of some teachers in technical schools 

 as members of the examining boards to be constituted for 

 til-' reorganised examinations." 



Coming to the examinations themselves, the principal 

 changes enumerated in the circular are the following : — 



(a) A number of the examinations formerly held by the 

 Board will be discontinued. These examinations are mainlv 

 in subjects which have attracted comparatively few candi- 

 dates in the past (e.g. nautical astronomy), and in certain 

 branches of natural science, such as botany and biology, 

 which have usually been taken only by candidates reading 

 for university degrees. The examinations to be retained 

 by the Board are divided into five groups as follows : — 



(il Group A. — Pure and Applied Mathematics: — Prar- 

 tical plane and solid geometry, pure mathematics, practical 

 mathematics, theoretical mechanics (solids), and theoretical 

 mechanics (fluids). 



(2) Group B. — Engineering : — Machine construction and 

 drawing, applied mechanics (materials and structures), 

 applied mechanics (machines and hydraulics), heat engines, 

 building construction, and naval architecture. 



(3) Group C. — Physics : — Heat, magnetism, and elec- 

 tricity. 



(4) Group D. — Chemistry : — Inorganic chemistry and 

 organic chemistry. 



(5) Group K. — Mining and metallurgy : — Coal mining, 

 metallurgy. 



It may, perhaps, be regretted that the Board proposes to 

 its examinations in subjects such as agriculture, 

 hygiene, and physiology, in view of the national import- 

 of thesi subjects, the rapid development of public 

 interest in them, the increasing provision of facilities for 

 instruction, and the absence of any generally recognised 

 nnd easily accessible system of examinations in these 

 subjects if the Board's examinations be withdrawn. 



to tin Dri sent the Board has held four examina- 

 tions in each subject, arranged as follows : ist stage. 2nd 

 stage, 3rd stage, and Honours. In the future, the Board 

 will not conduct elementary examinations corresponding to 

 the first stage, as it is f.lt that these examinations are 

 now unnecessary, tie " inspection " by the officials of the 

 Poard on their visits to tl being sufficient to test 



tin' efficiency of the teaching. The Board will only hold 

 two examinations in each subject, termed " Lower " and 

 " Hiffher " examinations respectively. The standard of the 

 : examination will be approximated eou.il to thai of 

 tli'- present Stage II., while that of die •' Higher " examina- 

 tion will he intermediate between Stage 111. and Honours. 

 The main objections which may be urged against the 

 Stage I. examinations are : — (1) The 

 present Stage I. syllabuses are a valuable guide to many 

 hers, especially perhaps to those interested in the more 



NO. 2178. VOL. 87] 



directly technical subjects and to those employed in the 

 smaller, isolate <1 technical schools; (2) the lack of uni- I 

 formity in tie- elementary stages of technical instrui 

 caused by the absence of syllabuses followed by schools ( 

 all over the country, thus hindering the transfer of stud 

 from one institution to another. These obvious disad- 

 vantages may probably be best overcome by consultation 

 between the representatives of the teachers and the Board | 

 of Education inspectorial staff, with a view to arrive at a 

 common measure of agreement respecting courses, curricula, 

 and the standard of work to be aimed at, especially in the 

 earlier years of a student's work. 



(c) Practical examinations, such as those in chemistrv 

 and metallurgy, will be discontinued, but candidates for 

 admission to the Higher examination in subjects other than 

 practical geometry, mechanics, &c, " will be required to 

 furnish a certificate of having completed a satisfactory 

 amount of laboratory work, and to submit his laboratory 

 note-books signed and certified by the teacher." 



Elaborate regulations, which will probably be found 

 somewhat burdensome in actual practice, are outlined in 

 the circular with regard to " grouped course certificates 

 diplomas, and conditions of endorsements." The Board 

 will not, in general, issue certificates to students who 

 have passed a given single examination. The Board will, 

 however, endorse certificates or diplomas granted by school 

 authorities upon the satisfactory conclusion of well-balanced 

 courses of study, and " they trust that a certificate or 

 diploma, endorsed by the Board under the prescribed con- 

 ditions, will be recognised by all concerned as having at 

 least a definite minimum value and standard." 



" Grouped courses " are classified by the Board into two- 

 main classes : (1) evening or part-time day courses, (2) full- 

 time day courses. Each of these is again subdivided 

 into three groups : (a) junior courses (14 years to 16 years 

 of age), (6) senior courses (16 years to 18 years) 

 advanced courses (iS years to 20 years). 



Generally speaking, the proposed regulations as outlined 

 in the circular mark a distinct advance upon the 

 arrangements in force at present. In the main, the altera- 

 tions are in the direction of freedom for the teachers, a 

 greater elasticity permitting more modifications to suit 

 local educational and industrial requirements, and the 

 placing of examinations in a relatively less important 

 position. The circular holds out to technical teachers the 

 promise of speedy action by the Board of Education in 

 regard to two important matters which they have long 

 1 upon the attention of the authorities at Whitehall, 

 namelv, the cooperation of the teachers in the drawing up 

 of syllabuses and the conduct of examinations, and the 

 improved organisation and coordination of all grades of 

 technical education. J. Wilson. 



THE BRIGHTON CONFERENCE OF THE 

 MUSEUMS ASSO CIA TI ON. 

 ■~PHE attendance at the Brighton meeting of the Museums 

 *■ Association, held on July 10-15, was large and repre- 

 sentative, delegates being present from forty-two museums 

 at home, as will as from the American Museum of Natural 

 History (New York), the Australian Museum (Sydney), 

 and the Desenel Museum (Sail Lake City, Utah). The 

 presidential chair was occupied by Mr. H. M. Platnauer, 

 of York. Mr. Platnauer was one of the original founders 

 of the Museums Association, which was inaugurated at 

 York twenty-two years ago. 



In his presidential address Mr. Platnauer strove to 

 answer the question "What is a museum?" and showed 

 by his remarks that lie conceived all museums, whether of 

 science, art, or historv, 10 have a broad and educational 

 function. He deprecated the idea that a provincial 

 museum should be purely local, would not agree that the 

 function of an art museum is merely to make a pleasurable 

 appi d i" ili - notions, and suggested that museum 

 arrangements should convey the facts of natural evolution 

 by exhibits arranged in more than 

 on,- dimension of space. 



Mr. H. S. Toms had prepared an account of the 



"ii Museum, with special reference to developments 



since the last meeting of the association in Brighton twelve 



years ago. It was plainly indicative of great progress, and 



