BOOK REVIEWS 



Methods and Materials for Teaching Biological Sciences* 



R. C. Benedict 



In a book "prepared for teachers of elementary courses in the 

 biological sciences ranging from junior high school to junior col- 

 lege," Professors Miller and Blaydes have produced a text which 

 should be decidedly useful for biology teachers working in the 

 indicated grades. The book is divided into two parts. The first 

 part, "Principles and class room methods," deals in ten chapters 

 totalling 130 pages with such pedagogical topics as "The biological 

 basis of education," "The objectives of teaching in biological 

 sciences," "Methods of presentation," "How to choose a text," etc. 

 Part II, on the "Preparation and uses of class room materials," 

 totals nearly 3CX) pages, divided into twelve chapters. This part 

 of the book is essentially a manual in the teaching of biology, 

 and should be a real practical help to many teachers. Each of the 

 twenty-three chapters of the book has a well selected bibliography 

 which will enable the interested teacher to go beyond the necessary 

 space Hmitations of this volume. 



As a whole, the Miller and Blaydes' book fills a place in the 

 field of biology teaching for which there has been no text available 

 since the Lloyd and Bigelow, "Teaching of biology in secondary 

 schools," (Longmans, Green & Co., 1904) went out of print. 

 Current texts which deal with biology teaching, such as those 

 by Kinsey, Cole, and Hunter, are concerned almost entirely with 

 educational principles and pedagogical methods, the material dealt 

 with in the first part of the Miller and Blaydes. The three books 

 just referred to are also more restricted in their scope and general 

 content. For example, Kinsey's "Methods in Biology" (Lippincott), 

 while excellent in its general analysis, is definitely focussed on a 

 particular type of high school biology course, an elementary course 

 of natural history type. The Hunter volume (American Book 

 Co.) deals with biological methods only incidental to a considera- 

 tion of all the high school sciences. 



* Miller, D. T., and Blaydes, C. W. Methods and materials for teaching 

 biological sciences. McGraw-Hill, 1938. $3.50. 



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