462 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXX. No. 771 



takes of his first years of teaching, in cir- 

 cumstances in which less harm will be done 

 to the student— and perhaps to the man's 

 own reputation. If he has already taught, 

 it should be possible to cure him of some 

 of the worst habits he may have formed. 

 One of our problems seems to me, there- 

 fore, to be the improving of the teaching 

 in college classes by some system of train- 

 ing college teachers. 



IMPROVED METHODS OP TEACHING NEEDED 



If we are to give work in college up to 

 the professional standard and in such a 

 way that training to solve the problems of 

 after life is to be given, we must have, not 

 only skilful teachers, but improved meth- 

 ods of teaching. 



The method of teaching languages, 

 partly because of the nature of the subject, 

 and partly as a result of long experience, 

 has been brought to a high degree of per- 

 fection. The grammar furnishes the laws 

 and general principles, together with all 

 the known exceptions. The dictionary sup- 

 plies the isolated facts in such a way that 

 they can be most readily found. The text 

 provides the subject of study in constant 

 and definite form. The method of study- 

 ing a language is extremely simple and is 

 easily worked into the habit of thought of 

 the pupil. He learns from experience to 

 suspend his judgment in regard to the 

 meaning of the author until he is in pos- 

 session of the facts. He knows exactly 

 where to look for the facts and what facts 

 to look for. He learns to reason correctly, 

 and the nature of the subject is such that 

 he almost always knows when he has 

 reached the correct conclusion. In other 

 words, every conclusion is tested, and 

 every element in problem-solving by the 

 scientific method is covered. Mistakes, 

 when he makes them, are sooner or later de- 

 tected and rectified. The method is simple, 

 yet of unquestionable efficiency. 



A method so simple and certain has not 

 yet been devised for history, literature, 

 political economy or chemistry. Perhaps 

 the successful study of these subjects can 

 never be made so easy as in the case of 

 languages. Yet it should, at least, be pos- 

 sible to detect the fundamental character- 

 istics which make the study of language 

 successful and adapt them to the teaching 

 of other subjects. 



THE LECTURE METHOD 



Can it be said that any such successful 

 method is used in chemistry ? Is there, in- 

 deed, a general method of any description 

 in use? Most commonly a course of lec- 

 tures occupies a prominent place in the 

 scheme of instruction, and an even more 

 prominent place in the estimation of the 

 student. The lecture method has its ad- 

 vantages. The facts can be presented more 

 graphically than by any book. The rela- 

 tions of the facts can be explained with 

 greater lucidity and in a more impressive 

 manner. Illustrations can be multiplied, 

 as they could hardly be multiplied in a 

 book. Experimental illustrations, which 

 are impossible in print, can be given. Yet 

 who would feel that a lecture on twenty- 

 five French words, no matter how brilliant, 

 followed by other lectures of the same kind, 

 with occasionally a lucid and interesting 

 exposition of the meaning and application 

 of some rule, would confer an ability to 

 read, construe or speak French ? After all, 

 it is the student who has to acquire the 

 French. By vigorous and persistent exer- 

 cise, the student has to possess himself of it 

 completely. One might almost as well at- 

 tempt to make a change in the plumbing 

 of one's house by talking to it, or to drive 

 a golf ball by the use of language — alone, 

 as to teach French by lecturing. 



It too frequently happens, although it is 

 not a necessary part of the lecture system, 

 that the lecture is given by one who has no 



