Apbil 3, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



525 



war, and in promoting the vital concerns 

 of a peaceful society. In legislation, in 

 administration, in the making of new pro- 

 vision for the betterment of life, there are 

 larger responsibilities falling every year 

 upon those agencies of human culture 

 which this section and this association rep- 

 resent. It will devolve upon us here to 

 consider changes such as these, and devise 

 and recommend ways in which the larger 

 duties and opportunities may be met. 



There is not time to enlarge upon these 

 considerations. But they are laid before 

 you in the briefest possible compass, with 

 the conviction that here is real work to be 

 done, which will count for positive gains 

 to our national life. 



Elmer Ellsworth Brown 

 BcBEATj OF Education, 

 Washington, D. C. 



SECTION L, EDUCATION'- 

 The first meeting of the new section for 

 education of the American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science was held on 

 Tuesday, December 31, at 10 a.m. The 

 meeting was called to order by the vice- 

 president, Commissioner E. E. Brown, 

 who, in a brief address, welcomed the mem- 

 bers present and urged that the section 

 always maintain the high ideals of educa- 

 tion as a science for whose advancement 

 the section had been formed. Three inde- 

 pendent sessions of the section, and two 

 joint sessions with other organizations were 

 held. One of these joint sessions was with 

 the American Psychological Association, 

 and the other with the American Society 

 of Naturalists. An open address was de- 

 livered before a large audience composed 

 of members from aU sections by Vice-presi- 

 dent Brown on the topic "The Outlook of 

 the Section for Education." This address 

 is printed in full in the current number 

 * Chicago, December 31, 1907-Jaiiuary 2, 1908. 



of Science. The officers chosen for the 

 coming year are : 



Vice-president — Professor John Dewey, Colum- 

 bia University. 



Secretary — Professor C. R. Mann, the Univer- 

 sity of Chicago. 



Member of the ComioiZ— President C. S. Howe, 

 Case School of Applied Science. 



Member of the General Committee — Professor 

 D. P. MacMillan, Chicago. 



Members of the Sectional Committee — C. H. 

 Judd, C. S. Howe, T. M. Balliet, E. L. Thorndike, 

 C. M. Woodward. 



At the sessions of the section the follow- 

 ing papers were presented : 



The Ethical Judgments of School Chil- 

 dren: Professor H. A. A.tkens, "Western 

 Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. 



The Practise Curve as an Educational 

 Method: Professor J. McKeen Cattell, 

 Columbia University. 

 Practise curves were exhibited showing 

 the improvement which occurred in learn- 

 ing to use the typewriter and in memor- 

 izing German words. The practise was 

 continued as long as 365 consecutive days 

 by two observers. Curves were also shown 

 measuring the extent to which practise in 

 one direction causes improvement in other 

 directions. In such experiments the learn- 

 er works as hard as possible for a short 

 time each day and knows exactly what he 

 accomplishes, and the plan seems to have 

 some advantages as an educational method. 

 The greatest possible concentration and 

 exertion for a short time is probably the 

 best way to learn, and the child is led to 

 this by his efforts to improve his record. 

 The experiment can be so arranged that all 

 the elementary subjects— reading, writing, 

 spelling and arithmetic— are required in 

 the experiment and are in definite relation 

 to a task in which the child becomes inter- 

 ested. There is a fair competition with 

 other students which may be emphasized 

 as far as is desirable, but the main com- 



