Septembee 17j 1915] 



SCIENCE 



369 



most institutions and it is not considered 

 essential. 



The subcommittee approves in general of 

 these methods of looking after the interests of 

 the abler students and strongly recommends 

 that equivalent plans be made by all institu- 

 tions of collegiate rank. As stated above, 

 these methods refer to the work in junior and 

 senior years. In freshman and sophomore 

 years, where many classes are large enough to 

 be taken in sections, it is recommended that 

 the sections be formed according to the ability 

 of the students as early as this can be ascer- 

 tained. In this manner the best students will 

 be able to advance more quickly and so be 

 better prepared for the special arrangements 

 for the later years. The subcommittee feels 

 that in the past nearly all the time and energy 

 of the instructor has been given to the lower 

 end of the class, and that in consequence, the 

 upper end has seriously suffered. While it 

 may be true that a certain amount of stimulus 

 is given to the whole class by the best men, the 

 loss to the latter far outweighs any possible 

 gain that might accrue to the majority from 

 the presence of these men in the classroom. 

 The latter often leave college with diminished 

 powers if increased knowledge, having never 

 felt the need of making great efforts in order 

 to accomplish what is asked of them. The re- 

 sult is a serious loss of time and efficiency 

 even for those who later take up professions 

 which demand hard and concentrated work. 

 The loss to the community is even more seri- 

 ous, particularly in respect of the number of 

 men who will not make new efforts to develop 

 their full capacities. The real interests of the 

 nation are better served by giving to the upper 

 twenty per cent, of the class an education 

 suited to their abilities than by allowing these 

 abilities to be frittered away for the sake of a 

 doubtful gain to the remaining eighty per 

 oent. In any case, it is not likely that the edu- 

 cation of the latter will suffer under the 

 democratic principles of our government. 



As to the methods to be adopted, the sub- 

 committee favors segregation into separate 

 classes as in general the best. The question, 

 however, of expense to the institution arises. 



This can be met in several ways. In most 

 departments elective courses are given which 

 are taken only by a few students. The major- 

 ity of these are naturally the best students in 

 the department, but there are generally a cer- 

 tain number who take an elective for other 

 reasons. It is recommended that the latter be 

 excluded unless their previous work is of high 

 grade so that these courses may be confined 

 to the best students. It will be found in most 

 cases that a considerable number of the elec- 

 tive courses can be so confined without seri- 

 ous loss to the rest of the students. Where 

 this plan can be adopted no new expenditure 

 for extra courses will be incurred. The ex- 

 cluded students will choose from the remainder 

 of the list of electives, which, in the larger in- 

 stitutions at least, is greater than the needs 

 of those who are not making a serious study 

 of the subject demand. 



In some subjects where segregation is not 

 feasible extra work can be assigned, but this 

 work should be carefully laid out and pub- 

 lished in the catalogue as an essential part of 

 the honors course and not left to the momen- 

 tary inclination of the instructor. 



Many institutions report that their instruct- 

 ors give extra time to promising students. 

 While in isolated eases much benefit is de- 

 rived by the students, it is not recommended as 

 a permanent plan. Additional work for which 

 he receives no compensation is laid on the in- 

 structor already overburdened with teaching, 

 and an incentive from competition to most of 

 the better students is lacking. 



Harvard University reports that it has no 

 specially organized plans for the interests of 

 the abler students, but that many of them are 

 able to take advanced courses in their under- 

 graduate years because there is no sharp line of 

 distinction between graduate and undergradu- 

 ate courses. This method has been adopted for 

 several years in some of the larger institutions 

 with fully organized graduate departments, 

 but it is not possible for the great majority of 

 the colleges. 



A final examination covering the whole of 

 the special work for the honors course is ad- 

 visable, and a considerable amount of stress 



