164 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1338 



alternately thirteen weeks at tte Lynn works 

 of the General Electric Con^pany and eleven 

 weeks at the institute followed by a two weeks' 

 vacation. Compensation is paid by the Gen- 

 eral Electric Company to students in this 

 course at an hourly rate which considerably 

 more than pays for their tuition. For a suc- 

 cessful completion of the course, the institute 

 confers the degrees of Bachelor of Science 

 and Master of Science. 



The educational concept upon which the 

 course is founded combines the rudiments of 

 Spencer's theory of education with the central 

 idea of Josiah Eoyce's. It is an endeavor to 

 develop simultaneously all the desirable sides 

 of an engineer's mind, character and body and 

 at the same time inculcate in him the spirit 

 of loyalty to his life's work. The course was 

 planned so that these several activities are 

 carried on uninterruptedly throughout the 

 cooperative period. Thus, throughout those 

 periods spent at the works as well as those at 

 the institute, instruction is given in theory, 

 classes are conducted in some humanistic 

 study, time is given and facilities provided 

 for collateral reading, and arrangements are 

 made for systematic physical exercise and 

 recreation. The change therefore, at the end 

 of each period, does not mean so much a 

 change in occupaton as a change in the sub- 

 jects upon which greatest emphasis is laid. 



To facilitate the carrying out of these ideas, 

 the General Electric Company has provided 

 a club house where all the students are housed 

 during their sojourn at Lynn. Here classes 

 in theory of electrical engineering and gen- 

 eral studies are conducted. Here the men 

 get to know the full meaning and value of 

 teamwork in play and cooperation in business. 

 Life here is very much like that of a small 

 fraternity with its opportunities for quiet 

 study and recreation. A small library is pro- 

 vided consisting of a collection of technical 

 books and works of interest to the engineer, 

 and also of nearly one htmdred volumes from 

 the Lynn Public Library upon more general 

 subjects and in divers fields of literature. 



Everything at the club house tends to 

 lessen the sense of separation from the insti- 



tute and to make the men feel that they still 

 have a part in the activities and student life 

 at Technology. In the works, the students 

 are also made to feel the controlling presence 

 of the institute. On three or four days each 

 week, a member of the staff of the electrical 

 engineering department of the institute spends 

 a half day at the plant in the various shops 

 and offices in which the students are assigned. 

 The student is thus ever conscious of the 

 supervision which the institute exercises over 

 his work even in the shop. 



It is in this particular method of super- 

 vision, that the Technology cooperative course 

 differs from others. The General Electric 

 Company is doing some real cooperation in 

 the training of manufacturing engineers. 

 The company recognizes that for three year"? 

 these students are placed in its plant for the 

 prime purpose of being educated and trained 

 as electrical engineers of a particularly high 

 grade and specially informed in manufactur- 

 ing practise. It has been clearly understood 

 that these students are in the shops and offices 

 to learn and learn thoroughly manufacturing 

 methods. Because he can best obtain this 

 knowledge by actually doing the work him- 

 self, and because the skill which he attains in 

 any process is the only fair indication of his 

 knowledge of that process, the student is put 

 on the company's pay roll and becomes a part 

 of its organization. The length of time 

 spent in each of the work's departments is 

 regulated not by the needs of that department 

 but by the value of the experience to the 

 students. As soon as it is deemed that a 

 student has sufficient knowledge of the details 

 in one department he is changed to another. 

 The cooperative students work as earnestl.y 

 and consistently as the other men in the 

 various departments, as is shown by the re- 

 ports from the foremen. They are graded on 

 the amount and quality of the work which 

 they do in the various shops and thus the 

 inducement to do good work is as strong in 

 them as in the regular workmen. This spirit 

 of genuine cooperation on the part of the 

 cooperating company, it seems to me, is a 

 fundamental contribution which the Tech- 



