344 J. C. MERRIAM THE TEACHING OF HISTORICAL GEOLOGY 



clear view of future development in his subject without intimate personal 

 relation to the most advanced work in progress. 



From the point of view of the student, training in constructive work 

 or in development of creative imagination, suggested in point (&), must 

 be considered of importance at least equal to the securing of information 

 or the disciplining of the mind to habits of work. As in no other type 

 of mental attitude, this involves the acquiring of a distinct love of the 

 work and understanding of its purpose. It is not conceivable that the 

 university will neglect this extraordinarily important aspect of the stu- 

 dent's preparation for future activit}^, or that it will expect the student 

 to proceed without guidance. If this particular phase of educational 

 activity is not to be eliminated, it places upon the instructor the require- 

 ment that he stand before his students as an unmistakable representative 

 of creative work and as illustrating in his personal attainment the end or 

 purpose of his effort. Evidence of any other attitude on the part of the 

 instructor will make useless whatever attempt he may make to serve as a 

 leader or adviser in the field of constructive study. 



The third contribution of value (c) furnished by research related to 

 education concerns the immediate use of the results of this study by the 

 community. While the university is naturally assumed to be primarily 

 an educational institution, it has been made clear that without continuing 

 research it can neither provide adequate instruction nor maintain its 

 leadership in the educational work required. Constructive problems in 

 all departments of investigation must be continuously the subject of suc- 

 cessful handling, and the results of this work will be products of the first 

 importance to the community. It is natural that to such an institution 

 the whole people will look for the appearance of new ideas of broadest 

 significance and of practical value. It is to be expected that the state 

 will depend upon the university for information and will expect it to 

 furnish the necessary knowledge and the constructive ability required 

 in meeting new situations that make necessary the building of new plans 

 of thought for community use. The contributions made by research in 

 these institutions will generally tend to concern fundamental subjects 

 and to group themselves on the more indefinite areas along the borders 

 of knowledge, but it is frequently these broader principles which offer the 

 largest opportunity for real addition to the sum of immediately useful 

 information. 



The fourth reason (d) for including research as a part of the necessary 

 program of an institution of higher learning involves one of the distin- 

 guishing characteristics of the university. By reason of the extraordi- 

 laary scope of interests represented in such a body, one might expect the 



