146 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 970 



I have in mind a certain course given in a cer- 

 tain college, that shall be nameless, that is 

 strictly of the first kind. It is eminently 

 practical and I believe it is as eminently use- 

 less as far as mental development is con- 

 cerned. 



This interpretation of practical education 

 is common and the inadequateness of this 

 form of instruction taken hy itself is so glar- 

 ing when compared with some of the old and 

 much-maligned classical methods as to make 

 one pause and wonder. Yet there are, as we 

 shall see, places in our educational structure 

 where such courses are not only desirable but 

 necessary. The error comes in assuming that 

 they are sufficient unto themselves as educa- 

 tional tools. 



The second interpretation forms the basis of 

 the arguments presented by some of those who 

 would reform our high school science teaching. 

 The claim is made, and with good reason, that 

 the interest of the student is much more read- 

 ily secured through familiar visualized phys- 

 ical phenomena than through the abstract 

 mathematical statements of the underlying 

 principles. Once his attention and interest are 

 secured, it is easy to lead him to investigate 

 and rediscover these laws, thereby acquiring a 

 general knowledge of the phenomena and also 

 the scientific method of approach which should 

 be of use in attacking the many other prob- 

 lems of his life. Or, as Professor Mann' has 

 expressed it, the present order of procedure is 

 usually: principle, demonstration, exemplifi- 

 cation in laboratory, application; while the 

 newer ideas would make the order: applica- 

 tion, problem, solution in the laboratory, prin- 

 ciple. Professor Mann's reasoning for this 

 order is based on his definition of the benefits 

 to be derived from the study of physics (and 

 the same argument holds for all other funda- 

 mental sciences) . These benefits he says are of 

 two kinds ; they consist of (1) useful knowledge 

 of physical phenomena; (2) discipline in the 

 methods of acquiring this useful knowledge. 

 No fault can be found with this statement as 

 far as it goes and, as will be shown, there are 

 parts of our educational structure where this 



>"The Teaching of Physics," p. 213. 



form of instruction, like the former one, is not 

 only justifiable but sufficient. The error again 

 is in assuming that this order of procedure 

 forms an educational basis sufficient for all 

 men and all forms of study. Let us see where 

 this reasoning will carry us. 



As this writer himself points out, knowledge 

 of physical phenomena and discipline in ac- 

 quiring it may be either specific or general, 

 and specific knowledge and training acquired 

 by studying some special field becomes more 

 and more useful as it becomes more and more 

 general by being used and interwoven with a 

 wide range of experience. This is true not 

 only of scientific studies, but of all forms of 

 educational efl^ort. Let us then apply this new 

 theory to the teaching of some simple funda- 

 mentals such as reading and spelling, where, 

 incidentally, the method of approach advocated 

 is already well developed. By means of the 

 common objects of the child's environment he 

 soon is taught the principles of reading and 

 spelling and may acquire not only much in- 

 formation regarding these objects, but a con- 

 siderable mental development in attack, with 

 a considerable knowledge of the principles in- 

 volved in reading and spelling. But he is still 

 a long way from being able to either read or 

 spell even after these principles have been 

 made evident to him. He must now apply 

 these principles long and tediously before he 

 can master this fundamental study. This is 

 even more marked in mathematics. Approach 

 through applications, demonstrations and in- 

 vestigation to secure data, and the discovery 

 of the principles involved are not sufficient. 

 To use these principles freely requires long 

 and close application of them, and while this 

 labor may be made more interesting by using 

 practical problems, there is a quantitative ele- 

 ment that can not be overlooked. This is very 

 clearly instanced in the ease of factoring in 

 algebra. Many cases of a similar kind may be 

 cited even when the processes are manual 

 in their character. It is easy, for example, to 

 approach the making of good letters and fig- 

 ures through the making of mechanical draw- 

 ings of some familiar object that the student 

 is interested in. But even after the student 



