NOVEMBEE 13, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



661 



then should be left largely to their own 

 ingenuity to produce those results. In 

 each particular line of study there is, more- 

 over, a particular form of problem-work 

 that is appropriate. In engineering sub- 

 jects it is the design of new structures and 

 of new machines; in the descriptive sci- 

 ences it is the identification of materials 

 (provided this be done not by tables nor 

 by a set method of procedure, but by the 

 student himself upon the basis of his own 

 knowledge) ; in English it is the writing 

 of themes; and so on. Each teacher must 

 consider how his subject can be presented 

 so as to afford the largest opportunity for 

 developing the student's reasoning power 

 and creative ability. 



Permit me next to say a few words in 

 regard to the importance of independent 

 work in the solving of problems. I be- 

 lieve that only by insisting upon this can 

 anything like the full benefit be secured. 

 In the first place, what we: want to do is 

 not to teach the student how to solve cer- 

 tain particular problems, but to train him 

 in original thinking— to solve any kind of 

 problem; and to this end he must do the 

 work himself. Secondly, the line can not 

 be effectively drawn at any other point 

 than that of absolute independence. If 

 one allows working together at all, some 

 students will copy, and a still greater num- 

 ber will get other students to do all the 

 thinking for them. Then, again, if prob- 

 lems form a large part of the term's work, 

 the marks of the term ought to be based 

 principally upon those problems; and this 

 is not fair unless we are able to assure our- 

 selves that the results represent individual 

 work. When this requirement is made of 

 the student, the instructor must be ready 

 to assist him in his difSculties, and must 

 provide definitely for opportunity for con- 

 sultation; else the conscientious student 

 will waste an undue amount of time before 

 some obstacle which a few minutes' talk 



with the teacher would remove. It is, I 

 think, very desirable to introduce more 

 extensively the plan, already followed in 

 some subjects, of requiring problems to be 

 done at assigned hours under the guidance 

 of the instructor rather than in outside 

 hours of preparation. I am well aware 

 that there are some advantages in allowing 

 students of the same proficiency to work 

 out their problems together: difficulties 

 are overcome with less loss of time, the 

 principles involved become clearer by dis- 

 cussion, and the work is made more at- 

 tractive. In exceptional cases, especially 

 with small classes of rather advanced stu- 

 dents, who have acquired the true point of 

 view, these advantages may be secured 

 without incurring the evils to which I have 

 referred ; but I believe that this is true only 

 in such exceptional cases, and that the dif- 

 ference in the emphasis laid upon inde- 

 pendent work by different instructors is a 

 source of demoralization to our students. 



The introduction of more problem work 

 naturally carries with it the laying of 

 greater weight on the term work and less 

 on the final examination in determining the 

 record of the student— a thing which is In 

 itself highly desirable. An instructor is 

 sometimes heard to say, " If a man gets the 

 subject in the end, it is all right." That 

 remark shows, I think, that he does not 

 have the true conception of the main 

 purpose of his course, which is not to give 

 a certain amount of knowledge in the sub- 

 ject, but to give a mental training which 

 can only be acquired gradually by per- 

 sistent effort through the whole term. In- 

 deed, in my own opinion, one of the most 

 effective means of raising the standard of 

 our instruction is the abandonment of final 

 examinations in more of our courses. 

 Thereby not only are the many serious 

 evils of the examination system removed — 

 such as the postponement of serious study 

 till the end of the term, the cramming dur- 



