16 FOREWORD TO TEACHERS 



mulating the problem, to give the class — this time as individual! 

 — opportunity to write their generalizations, or their answer tc 

 the problem, in the form of a good English sentence or paragraph 



After this is done reading of conclusions by several individual; 

 allows by comparison the fixing of the correct conclusion in the 

 minds of all. Time is thus obtained for rectifying the tanglet 

 ideas of those members of the class less able to cope with th( 

 problem. Incidentally, this does away to a large extent wit! 

 correcting laboratory papers, as the student, by comparison wit! 

 the final corrected conclusion, does his own correcting. This 

 makes for more effective science teaching, as the teacher of science 

 should be a leader, not a drudge. 



Sometimes a generalization is asked for, perhaps before the 

 pupil is ready for it, for the object is to incite the worker to be 

 something more than a blind reader of directions and a maker oJ 

 drawings. An immature conclusion — even a wrong conclusior 

 ■ — in the form of a generalization, is better for the pupil thai 

 contentment with no conclusion at all. If the child can be stim- 

 ulated to think from the very beginning, then do not worry ai 

 first over the exactitude of his conclusion so long as he ij 

 trained in the making of judgments. It is the thought process 

 we are after at first, the method of thinking more than the scien- 

 tifically exact result. The latter will come gradually as the hori- 

 zon of the pupil widens. We all know our concepts change 

 What is an exact concept at fourteen would not stand the test a1 

 twenty-four or at forty-four. It is a true maxim that experi- 

 ence is the best teacher. Be that so, even experience does noi 

 make thinkers of us, unless we know how to profit by her teachings 



The pages that follow are intended to act as a guide and a stim- 

 ulus to the pupil so that he will be led to see beyond the printec 

 words in the textbook. Many children do not know how to use 

 their text. Diagrams and figures mean nothing to them. The 

 old-fashioned thought questions found in so many textbooks ol 

 twenty-five years ago were of great value because they crystal- 

 lized the problem before the student and focused the attentior 

 on the essentials within a given paragraph. The pedagogic value 

 of questions on diagrams is great. The use of graphs is a pari 



