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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 969 



also, will admit of study as to their educa- 

 tional and moral characteristics by the offi- 

 cers charged with the recruiting of stu- 

 dents — a study which will be found of 

 financial as well as educational value. 



To a student's rating as thus obtained 

 from his friends would be added that ob- 

 tained from the student himself at the time 

 of entrance regarding such matters as pur- 

 pose in attending college and strongest in- 

 fluence thereto, aim in life, favorite books, 

 chief historical admirations, etc., as well as 

 by a series of tests. Doubtless some adap- 

 tation of the Binet and other tests such as 

 those of Professor Thorndike could be ar- 

 ranged by the department of psychology 

 which would give in more or less approxi- 

 mate form the student's mental status and 

 characteristics. To this there could very 

 wisely be added by the same department 

 the testing of the student's range of in- 

 formation by means of Professor Whipple 's 

 list of key words. With very little modi- 

 fication and extension, also, the present 

 physiological examination could be made to 

 include certain simple tests for the time 

 and form of reaction to tactile and other 

 sensations and perceptions — e. g., color, 

 form, sound, etc. 



These tests, when assembled, would serve 

 as an indication of the starting point for 

 the agencies of the higher educative proc- 

 esses. Reference to this starting place 

 would at least make more definite and ex- 

 act the controversy with the unfriendly 

 critics of higher education who assert that 

 nothing definite can be claimed by the col- 

 lege, simply for the reason that its human 

 material is so selected that a large propor- 

 tion of the effectiveness of its graduates is 

 due to that selection rather than to its in- 

 stitutional efficiency. 



With the starting point thus determined, 

 the measurement of the effectiveness of the 

 college's activities becomes more serious as 



well as more active. Toward this end, also, 

 there can be used a body of persons whose 

 judgment should be better trained for the 

 work than those consulted in connection 

 with the other preliminary measurements 

 suggested. It can surely not be too much 

 to ask that every teacher should be asked 

 by the administration to fill in for each 

 student a blank submitted to him in some 

 such form as the accompanying card. I 

 have had the courage to outline such a card 

 simply for the reason that at this point the 

 whole question of the feasibility of the pro- 

 posed scientific study of the college seems 

 to me to hinge less upon the matter of psy- 

 chology than of mechanism. In the minds 

 of many authorities who have been con- 

 sulted, that is, the practicability of the 

 plan depends not so much upon its worthi- 

 ness as upon its ability to secure the coop- 

 eration of the teacher, in competition with 

 the other interests seeking his attention. 

 Perhaps this will be accomplished all the 

 better, accordingly, if the description of 

 the student as called for by the card is not 

 made of such a nature as to appeal only to 

 the psychologist. At any rate, the plan is, 

 apparently, likely to prove of practical 

 value in proportion as it avoids the neces- 

 sity for extra mechanical work at the hands 

 of the teacher, who is very properly ex- 

 pected to be more interested in other things 

 than the writing of needless words upon a 

 card. You will notice, therefore, that our 

 proposed blank is supposed to go to the 

 teacher with the student's name, classifica- 

 tion and other details above the double line 

 already written upon it before it leaves the 

 administrative office.* You will notice, 

 further, that the card submitted — as also 

 the other questionnaires recommended — is 

 supposed to be filled out almost entirely 

 * It should be true of every one of the blanks 

 used that persons asked to fill them should not be 

 required to write a single word which the admin- 

 istrative office is in a position to write itself. 



