64 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1045 



proximating 1.7 per cent, relatively. Conse- 

 quently the non-fraternity graph — which un- 

 fortunately was not published — ^must have 

 tended downward. The interpretation of this 

 result seems not to have been considered in 

 the paper and if we accept the interpretation 

 of the data as a whole as due to the greater 

 interest by fraternities in grades, the down- 

 ward movement of the plotted line is un- 

 doubtedly due to the transfer of men to the 

 one group at the expense of the other group. 

 Thus one might well regret that there were 

 not subdivisions Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc., 

 in the non-fraternity group in order to see if 

 the competition engendered would not raise 

 the average grade of all, instead of permitting 

 one to draw on the other for resources. 

 The statement is made that 



in. 1909 the chapters were widely scattered up 

 and down the scale, and in 1914 they are closely 

 grouped around the fraternity average. This fact 

 means undoubtedly that during the interval be- 

 tween these years the fraternities have intensified 

 their attention to scholarship. 



Such an opinion evidently based on the 

 range between chapters with the maximum 

 and minimum grades, which happens to be 

 smaller in 1914, is of course no criterion of 

 " scatter " as ordinary inspection should have 

 •demonstrated. Computing the coefficient of 

 variation based on chapter units, it may be 

 found that this has a value in 1909 of 2.44 =fc 

 .99 per cent, and in 1914 a value of 2.02 ± .95 

 per cent., a negligible difference. 



It would have been of considerable inter- 

 est to have presented data for a discussion of 

 the possible effect the increased interest by 

 students in their marks might have had on 

 grading by the faculty although the latter will 

 deny it and even charge that such a sugges- 

 tion is heresy. Nevertheless it is not at all 

 impossible that the average gain of 1.11 per 

 cent, for all students is connected with a 

 factor of this nature, however unconsciously 

 the result may have been brought about. 



The whole question as to the value of grades 

 as a criterion for scholarship and efficiency in 

 our higher institutions of learning, partic- 

 ularly where based on frequent examinations 



throughout the semester, is still an open one, 

 although several interesting papers bearing on 

 the subject have been published. While the 

 individual who would normally " loaf " is thus 

 compelled to retain bookish facts temporarily, 

 there are others in which a distaste for a sub- 

 ject results from such methods. It is evident 

 however that until the grade of instruction in 

 our secondary schools is brought to a much 

 higher standard, we are not in a position to 

 adopt the plan of the German universities 

 and require a single examination period as a 

 preliminary to the conferring of the degree. 



The publication of data relative to efficiency 

 in college instruction is to be commended, but 

 the interpretation of the facts will often pre- 

 sent many difficulties. The methods of cor- 

 relation are adapted to solving numerous 

 problems in pedagogy, and it is to be hoped 

 that not only from the University of Illinois 

 but also from a large number of other insti- 

 tutions may data be presented with a clear 

 mathematical treatment. 



L. B. Walton 



Kenyon College, 

 Gambier, 0. 



sentiment versus education 

 Foe many years our principals, in secondary 

 schools, have been dinning into the ears of the 

 teachers the order to teach, not to " hear reci- 

 tations." The same bureaucrats have urged 

 the teachers to help the dull ones, letting the 

 bright ones find their own way. It has re- 

 sulted that by the time the teacher has gone 

 through the five formal steps the bright stu- 

 dents know enough to make a passable recita- 

 tion the next day, at least if the teacher proves 

 as " helpful " as the custom of the school re- 

 quires. The dull ones know that the matter 

 will be gone over and over again and they 

 see no necessity to study. The teacher has 

 displaced the text-book. 



Our pupils do not secure the power to get 

 the meaning of any passage more complex 

 than what we find in the daily paper or 

 popular novel. This is partly due to the fact 

 that the teacher is ordered to use "simple 

 language, the language of all great writers." 



