734 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. A'OL. XV. No. 884. 



ondary Schools, and a Course of Study for 

 Elementary Schools. 



EicHARD E. Dodge, 



Chairman. 

 Teachers College, 

 Columbia UniveesitY. 



NATURE STUDY SECTION. 



The program for this section was de- 

 signed to bring out the opinions of those 

 present on the training that a teacher 

 should have in order to teach nature sttidy. 

 The first session was devoted to papers and 

 discussions on these matters, and the sec- 

 ond session to the relating of personal expe- 

 rience by teachers actually engaged in car- 

 rying on nature study work successfully in 

 their schools. 



The speakers were all present and the 

 discussions were taken up with much vigor 

 and interest. We agreed that the basis for 

 successfully teaching nature study lies in 

 an interest in the subject, a belief in its 

 educational value in the broadest sense, 

 and in a certain amount of personal ex- 

 perience with nature itself. That more 

 training is desirable, if added to the above 

 essentials, was admitted by all. 



Miss Hill, Miss Carss and Professor 

 Eardwell showed how much could be done 

 by trained nature students in the instruct- 

 ing of both children and teachers. But 

 it was shown by Miss King, Miss Whittaker, 

 Miss Mershon, Mr. Round and Mr. Drum 

 that special science training is not abso- 

 lutely necessary to carry out the spirit of 

 true nature study. 



Mr. Beach, in presenting his plan for 

 teachers ' classes made practical suggestions 

 which recommended themselves to all. No 

 doubt many such classes will be formed 

 during the coming year in cities. Men- 

 tion was made of the correspondence 

 course for teachers, conducted by the Bu- 

 reau of Nature Study at Cornell University. 

 Teachers were urged to make use of every 



available opportunity to increase their 

 knowledge of subject matter, not in order 

 that they may teach facts, but in order 

 that they may teach their pupils how to 

 learn from nature. 



Mary Rogers Miller, 



Ch airman. 

 Cornell University. 



SECTION OP biology. 



Four papers were read and discussed : 

 The Preparation of Secondary Teachers in 



Biology: Professor F. B. Lloyd, Teachers 



College, Columbia University. 



The high school is the 'college of the 

 people' in a wide sense and worthy of the 

 best efforts of well-educated and trained 

 teachers. Owing to the inadequate prepa- 

 ration of many teachers the present work 

 in biology shows a lack of uniformity in 

 ideals, unevenness in the quality of instruc- 

 tion, and a remarkably heterogeneous high 

 school course, taking the country as a whole. 

 Those preparing for the profession of sec- 

 ondary teaching in biology should hold the 

 bachelor's degree, and should have studied 

 physics and chemistry. In biology they 

 should have earned at least nine points 

 credit before graduation, one third of 

 which should have been in botany or 

 zoology. Following this course of study 

 they should have a professional training, 

 including psychology, history and prin- 

 ciples of education, special study of the 

 problems of the high school and a course in 

 the theory and practice of teaching biology 

 in secondary schools. This latter course 

 embraces two parts: (a) Theory, consisting 

 of lectures and reading on the history and 

 aims of the teaching of biology, on courses 

 of study, topics, etc. ; ( & ) practice, consist- 

 ing in observation of teaching, construction 

 of a course of study and examination of 

 available materials. This course culmi- 

 nates in a season of actual teaching under 

 skilled criticism. During the course the 



