710 



SCIENCE 



[iV. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 748 



how to play and then trying it once. Kepetition 

 is largely lacking in science teaching. We cover 

 too much ground. The student gets only a veneer. 

 Knowledge of this sort is not of much use, and 

 the drill given by such study is not effective. We 

 must introduce into science teaching the drill 

 element that comes only from repetition of the 

 sort that is characteristic of languages and 

 mathematics. 



" Chemistry has one kind of work involving 

 repetition of the right sort, namely, qualitative 

 analysis. This field offers good educational pos- 

 sibilities, but the work is in great danger of 

 becoming mechanical. The student is prone to go 

 through the motions with his mind on his book, 

 to guess at the results, to report, watching the 

 reaction of the teacher closely, and to get credit. 

 In order to introduce this element of repetition, 

 quantitative work has been introduced to save the 

 situation. Some quantitative work is desirable. 

 It makes it possible to keep a student at one 

 experiment till he has obtained good results. Such 

 work is monotonous, though it has the advantage 

 of not requiring the student to cover too much 

 ground. 



" The remedy for these two important defects is, 

 unfortunately, unattainable at present. We must 

 get good teachers. Much is being done in the way 

 of training teachers, and much that is good is 

 coming from this work. Yet we must not forget 

 that good teachers are not easily made. It is 

 harder- to train a teacher to conduct laboratory 

 work efficiently than to train one to teach mathe- 

 matics or a language. In science the laboratory 

 presents a new problem, and serious errors have 

 occurred and are occurring. Yet, in spite of this, 

 great progress is being made, and there is little 

 doubt that in the end scientific training will fully 

 justify itself in the schools and colleges. 



" In closing let me again specifically state that 

 1 do not consider myself competent to speak of 

 science training in the secondary schools; all that 

 I have been saying applies, as far as my own 

 definite knowledge goes, only to the colleges." 



Dr. G. F. Stradling showed that there has been 

 no notable change within the past decade in the 

 relation of doctorates in physics to the whole 

 number conferred in the United States, nor has 

 any notable change in the proportion of students 

 offering physics upon entrance to college taken 

 place. There has, however, been a very marked 

 decrease in the percentage of all liigh school 

 students taking physics. 



From 1890 to 1900 the high school population 

 became two and three fourths times as great, 

 while the number of students of physics merely 

 doubled. Had the ratio of 1S90 held unchanged, 

 49,000 more students would have been studying 

 physics in the high schools in 1906. In 1890 

 about 21.3 per cent, of all high school students 

 studied physics, in 1906 only 15.5 per cent. For 

 chemistry the numbers are 9.6 and 6.8. Every 

 year since 1894, without exception, has shown a 

 smaller percentage of students in physics. 



From 1890 to 1906 the percentage of Latin 

 students grew from 33.6 to 50 per cent.; of 

 German students, from 11.5 to 21 per cent.; of 

 algebra students, from 43 to 57.6 per cent. 

 Chemistry, astronomy, physiology, 'I'eology and 

 physical geography all are losing grouno in the 

 high school. The sum of the percentages of stu- 

 dents in these branches and in physics in the 

 period named fell from 93 to 67 per cent., while 

 the sum for Latin, Greek, French and German 

 rose from 71 to 84 per cent. 



Causes suggested for these changes were : ( 1 ) 

 introduction of a wider system of electives; (2) 

 lack of well-prepared teachers, and (3) change in 

 the method of teaching. 



A commission of the caliber of the committee 

 of ten ought to investigate thoroughly tne con- 

 ditions of science teaching in the United States. 

 An increased appropriation from Congress to the 

 Bureau of Education would help to bring about 

 such an investigation. 



Mr. William T. Campbell, of the Boston Latin 

 School, claimed that more attention is needed to 

 the care of students of average mathematical 

 ability. Under the elective system these drift 

 into other paths. Something has been done to 

 make the subject more attractive to them; but 

 more remains to do. It is doubtful whether our 

 present course, even if improved, will meet the 

 situation. Considerable change in the direction 

 of practical work and of closer connection with 

 other sciences is needed. 



Professor Coulter pointed out that, while the 

 problems of the teaching of botany were constantly 

 changing, those at present most urgent seem to 

 be: (1) to get the prepared teacher who has a 

 general knowledge of the fundamentals of botany, 

 clear conceptions of the purpose of botany in the 

 secondary schools as distinguished from higher 

 institutions, and ability to attack the subject in 

 a variety of ways; (2) the place of economic 



