August 12, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



121 



for which the course is given. To a certain 

 degree, also, the purpose should be influenced 

 by the character and prospective careers of 

 the students taking the course. 



With regard to the latter consideration it 

 may be assumed that in a majority of college 

 classes in general zoology there are roughly 

 two groups, one composed of those who will 

 take no other courses in the subject but who 

 are destined to enter ujpon a great variety of 

 walks of life, and the other com]X>sed of those 

 who will pursue the subject further, to pre- 

 pare themselves to become physicians; teach- 

 ers in high schools, colleges and universities; 

 investigators or other kind of professional 

 workers. 



It may properly be asked whether it is 

 possible to give a single course which will 

 satisfy the needs of these different groups of 

 students. The writer believes that an affirm- 

 ative answer can be given. The general pur- 

 poses in teaching zoology are necessarily 

 identical with the aims of all education, 

 namely, to make life more worth while for 

 those who attend the schools by developing 

 and training their mental faculties and by es- 

 tending their knowledge of themselves and 

 the world in which they live. The purposes 

 thus include giving information of a valuable 

 nature, and giving training. Nearly all of 

 the scientific work being done in the world 

 to-day is accomplished by i)ersons trained in 

 scientific methods; and it is the trained mind 

 and hand that employers everywhere are de- 

 manding. Consequently training of the right 

 kind should be of value to all classes of stu- 

 dents while information or content may be 

 varied to meet the more special needs of each 

 class. 



As to the nature of the training that should 

 be given Professor Nichols has given an 

 admirable statement :■* 



The value to the student of biology or zoology 

 as a cultural study lies quite as much in methods 

 acquired and in facts observed as it does in infor- 

 mation received. First and foremost the student 

 should be taught to be careful an his technique, to 

 be precise' in his observation, to be thorough in his 

 attention to details, to be keen in fmding things 

 for himself, to be accurate in his conclusions. 



To these may be added — to make effective use 

 of the English language. Surely no student, 

 no matter how he may be planning his future, 

 could fail to profit by a course which gave 

 training in the qualities enumerated. 



Is it not therefore necessary to select with 

 care the method of teaching which will give 

 the best results in accomplishing the kind of 

 training indicated ? The too-prevalent method 

 of confirmation or verification, when used ex- 

 clusively or combined with purely informative 

 methods, can scarcely give the desired results. 

 The so-called scientific method, involving so 

 far as is practicable the method of discovery, 

 must be employed if training for individual 

 initiative or independence of thought is to be 

 acquired. And unless the student does learn 

 to think independently he can never take the 

 leadership in the community for which his 

 education should be his preparation. 



The scientific method has been called the 

 method of common sense extended and sys- 

 tematized. It involves the inductive process 

 of drawing conclusions from observed facts. 

 It is not only the basic method for all scien- 

 tific work but it is applicable to almost every 

 field of human activity requiring thought and 

 judgment. In applying it there is assumed a 

 purpose or goal to be reached or problem to be 

 solved which is stated or described as clearly 

 as jwssible. Then observations are made 

 which may or may not be based on experi- 

 ment. The observations are made with great 

 care and as extensive as time and material 

 will permit. The observations are recorded in 

 some permanent and convenient form by the 

 use of notes, drawings, models, charts, graphs, 

 maps, or photographs, depending ufion the na- 

 ture of the material. The data thus secured 

 are correlated and coordinated (synthesized) 

 so that a conclusion may be drawn. Should 

 not every course in a science give training in 

 the scientific method? 



As a further amplification of the views of 

 the writer with regard to the use of this 

 method in the course in general zoology, ex- 

 tensive references will be made to the course 

 given at the University of Pennsylvania since 

 the plans for this illustrate in a concrete way 



