224 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 34. 



perience in this bi-anch of pedagogical 

 science leads me to believe that there are 

 not very many really good examiners, and 

 that the average examinations do not test 

 the minds of the student as they ought to 

 be tested. The average examination calls 

 mainly for an exercise of memory, and for 

 some proof that the student understands 

 the matter he has studied. No man values 

 the faculty of memory more highly than I 

 do, or requires a better understanding of a 

 given subject. But memory and mere un- 

 derstanding are only the foundations of 

 education. More than this is called for. 

 Some examinations require skill in observa- 

 tion, others accurate definition; while others 

 bristle with problems. Some call for knowl- 

 edge in which the teacher is weak. Almost 

 every pedagogic earmark may be found in 

 examination papers, but rarely is the paper 

 constructed on such a plan that it tests not 

 only the qualitj' and quantity of knowledge 

 in the mind, but also the various workings 

 of the mind, and ascertains what the mind 

 can do when set in action by the particular 

 subject. 



In my own specialty of chemistry there 

 is an excellent opportunity for examination 

 papers, which may test the mind qualita- 

 tively and quantitatively, and probe both 

 absorptive and productive powers. I have 

 always taken a great interest in working 

 out examination papers and in studying the 

 minds as they appear in the answers. I 

 am accustomed to work out questions un- 

 der various heads. The following exam- 

 ples will serve to indicate my meaning, and 

 may also encourage others to experiment 

 in examinational science ; and I think that 

 the method will be found so interesting 

 that the investigation will not be hastily 

 dropped. I should add that in the ex- 

 amination paper as given to the students 

 the questions are mixed up, so that the 

 classifications given as follows do not ap- 

 pear. 



QUESTIONS FOR TESTING: 



3Iemnry. — (1) Give a iDrief history of oxygen. (2) 

 Outline the tlieory of phlogiston. (3) What are 

 'copperas;' 'bluestone, ' 'tincal.' 



Accuracy of DefinUion. — (4) State concisely the 

 laws of Dal ton, Charles, Mariotte and Avogadro. ( 5 ) 

 Define a mechanical mixture. (6) Define an element. 



Observation of Experimentally Demonstrated Facts.* — 

 (7) Describe and sketch an apparatus for producing 

 acetylene from calcium carbid and explain the work- 

 ing of it. ( 8 ) Describe and sketch the combustion of 

 nitric acid in iodohydric acid. 



Accuracy of Detail. — (9) Explain with the aid of 

 sketches the reduction of hot cujiric oxid by hydro- 

 gen, heating the oxid in a combustion-furnace and 

 preparing the hydrogen in a Kipp generator.! 

 ( 10 ) Make a sketch of a section of Pepy gasometer, 

 and explain how the apparatus works. 



Acquaintance with the Properties of Matter. — (11) 

 Describe the properties and chemical behavior of nit- 

 rogen, sulfur, zinc, silica and iodin. 



Retention of Oral Instruction. — (12) Explain the 

 contamination of water by sewage. (13) Describe 

 the process for making open hearth steel. 



The Faculty of Comparison. — (14) State similarities 

 and differences between the properties of oxygen and 

 hydrogen. (15) Wbat substances resemble lead 

 sulfid in color and solubility in nitric acid. 



Lucidity of Statement. — (16) Describe minutely and 

 without sketches the apparatus and method of pre- 

 paring phosphine. (17) Prove by analysis of stibine 

 by volume that the molecule of antimony is tetra- 

 tomic. 



Recognition of Substances. — (18) A yellowish green 

 gas ivith a suffocating odor. What may it be ? (19) 

 A colorless gas, very soluble in water, gives white 

 fxrmes with hydrochloric acid. What may it be? 

 (20) A white powder, insoluble in water; heated 

 ■ttith concentrated nitric acid it evolves red fumes and 

 yields a solution, which, when excess of acid is evap- 

 orated off, and it is diluted with water, yields a pre- 

 cipitate which is insoluble in concentrated nitric 

 acid. AVhat may this white substance be ? (21) A 

 chemist wishes to fill a jar with red liquid. What 

 substance may he use ? 



The Ability to Observe. — (22) Give four examples of 

 chemical change which you observe in this room. (23 ) 

 Describe an ordinary red building brick, stating di- 

 mensions and jjroperties of surface, weight, fracture, 

 etc. (24) Water expands on freezing. Give five 

 examples of results caused by this expansion which 

 you have personally observed. 



* Given in lectures and not in text-book. 



t Given in text-book and demonstrated in lecture. 



