646 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 852 



any any method is as good as any other 

 method, and that the results must be good 

 because ive have done the work. I feel 

 sure that the use of experiment in connec- 

 tion with our methods of teaching, and the 

 measurement of results will go a long way 

 toward changing our present methods and 

 improving upon our present results. 



F. E. Clements 

 University of Minnesota 



DISCUSSION 



Professor John M. Coulter, University of 

 Chicago : 



As Dr. Bessey says, some of us began 

 botany a good while ago, when facts were 

 so few that they were pieced out with 

 enthusiasm, and our knowledge of the sub- 

 ject was chiefly enthusiasm; but now the 

 facts have multiplied so enormously that 

 it is a problem how to present them. 



I have been in discussions of this kind 

 for a good many more years than I should 

 like to acknowledge. They have all 

 sounded alike to me, but the thing I learn 

 from them is this: that no matter how 

 much thought we give to the technique of 

 teaching botany, or how many devices we 

 suggest as to methods of presenting it, a 

 gratifying group of successful botanists 

 continue to surmount all the obstructions 

 we manage to place in their way. My defi- 

 nition of a successful teacher has long been 

 one who places the fewest obstructions in 

 the way of the student. 



It is clear that we must encourage inde- 

 pendence and originality in our students if 

 they are to become investigators or only 

 teachers. This attitude is appearing in the 

 teaching of botany, for teachers are becom- 

 ing more independent, and are thinking 

 more for themselves. No teacher, however 

 successful, has the right to prescribe for 

 others a detailed method of teaching. It is 

 only a stupid teacher who copies some other 



teacher. Every one must have his own 

 way, and if the text-book is the only way 

 for him, let him use it ; if he can do better 

 without it, let him throw it away. 



In brief, the problem is this. We are 

 confronted by all sorts of suggestions as to 

 teaching. Our subject has grown to be so 

 vast and is still growing so rapidly that 

 we know not how to deal with it in detail. 

 There are just two general things that a 

 teacher must keep in mind, and the details 

 can be left to shift for themselves. 



In the first place, there must be devel- 

 oped a general perspective of the subject. 

 It is a vast plexus, and each of iis in his 

 own individual way must develop for the 

 student some conception of the extent and 

 interrelationships of this plexus we call 

 botany, so that he may leave us with no 

 narrow vision. 



In the second place, in addition to the 

 perspective, there must be developed what 

 we call the scientific method, which is a cer- 

 tain attitude of mind. This is absolutely 

 fundamental. There are many ways of 

 doing this and every teacher has his own 

 way of enforcing the training that demands 

 the truth, and knows what it takes to reach 

 the truth. 



It is my conviction that any one cultiva- 

 ting this perspective and this scientific atti- 

 tude of mind, by whatever detail of method 

 they have been reached, is likely to prove 

 successful in any form of botanical ac- 

 tivity, whether it be teaching or investiga- 

 ting, with the scientific motive or with the 

 practical motive. The details have become 

 too numerous to include in instruction, but 

 it will always be possible to train a spirit 

 that will be able to master any details. 



Professor F. C. Newcombe, University of 

 Michigan : 

 I will say that I feel considerably cheered 

 up since the last two addresses. No doubt 



