370 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1081 



should be laid on the results. The subcom- 

 mittee recommends that the question of outside 

 examiners for this purpose be seriously con- 

 sidered. These examiners would set the papers 

 but not necessarily examine the answers of the 

 students. It was pointed out that with the 

 system of outside examiners there is a con- 

 siderable degree of cooperation between the stu- 

 dent and his instructor. The papers should 

 deal mainly with the general principles and 

 fundamental facts of the subject, and only 

 rarely with questions of detail in special por- 

 tions of the subject. 



The subcommittee also believes that the 

 courses might very properly include one or 

 two subjects in each department for which no 

 class-room instruction is provided. 



It is believed that the effect of these methods 

 wiU be greater progress and more thorough in- 

 struction to the better students in the funda- 

 mentals of all subjects. A higher degree of 

 stimulation to work and to take an interest in 

 scientific pursuits will undoubtedly result, so 

 that greater numbers with better training will 

 be induced to enter the graduate schools and to 

 take up research as a permanent career. These 

 students will also feel that their work is of 

 value to them and will not search outside for 

 opportunities to make use of their powers. 



The subcommittee obtained reports on the 

 systems adopted in Germany, France and Eng- 

 land. It did not appear that, at the present 

 stage of American education, a close examina- 

 tion of the systems of Germany and France 

 would be useful to the work of the committee. 

 They are highly organized from the bottom to 

 the top. In Germany and France admission 

 to the university is gained by a difficult exami- 

 nation which eliminates the majority of those 

 who can not obtain real profit from university 

 courses. In German universities almost no 

 pressure of any kind is brought to bear on any 

 students good or bad, except by means of the 

 final examination and the thesis. At Cam- 

 bridge and Oxford the honors schools have 

 long been definitely established. About forty 

 per cent, of the students enter them and they 

 receive separate instruction from the outset. 

 Tlntil the last two decades, but little thought 



was given to the work of the remaining sixty 

 per cent., but the interests of the latter have 

 recently been seriously considered and much 

 improvement has been made. 



A difficult situation is brought about by the 

 student having no knowledge of his after 

 career during his undergraduate course, so 

 that he is not able to choose his line of work 

 effectively. While vocational training is not 

 in question in this connection, all the training 

 for scientific work needs thorough and broad 

 foundations. If the student has a knowledge 

 of his after career he is able to choose his 

 course so that these foundations may be well 

 and truly laid. It is recommended, therefore, 

 that advice be given to all students in college 

 to choose their careers as early as possible. 



The majority of those who expect to do re- 

 search look to positions in colleges and uni- 

 versities in order to earn a living. Informa- 

 tion should be given them as to research posi- 

 tions in the government service and also those 

 in industrial laboratories. Work under the 

 government appears to be somewhat better paid 

 than that in the collegiate world, but there is 

 some limitation on the problems which may be 

 taken up for research. In the industrial labo- 

 ratories these differences are still greater. 



It is recommended that students be encour- 

 aged to change their institution between the 

 undergraduate and postgraduate work. A 

 greater breadth of view is desirable. It is also 

 recommended that students be encouraged to 

 choose their university for postgraduate work 

 on account of the quality of the men in the 

 subject rather than for other reasons. Much 

 can be done by the advice of the undergraduate 

 teaching body in this respect. 



The subcommittee was only able to deal with 

 these questions as far as the colleges and uni- 

 versities were concerned. Some information 

 was forthcoming as to the situation in the 

 technical schools, but it did not feel itseK in a 

 position to undertake this part of the work. 

 It recommends that a new subcommittee con- 

 sisting of a fuller representation of those con- 

 nected with technical instruction be appointed 

 to consider what measures should be taken to 

 secure the objects in view. 



