1 
 
 1 
 
 '•iiil'.H'^lUV'filiiiiUl'Ay.' 
 
 ^.,l;:;:H;:•^;l;;:;.:;;^. 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 
£^ 2'1 
 
 iMW. 
 
 C-OPHRIGHT DSPOSm 
 
COLLEGE TEACHING 
 
 STUDIES IN 
 
 METHODS OF TEACHING IN 
 
 THE COLLEGE 
 
 Edited by 
 PAUL KLAPPER, Ph.D. 
 
 Associate Professor of Education 
 The College of the City of New York 
 
 with an 
 
 Introduction by 
 
 NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER, LL.D. 
 
 President of Columbia University 
 
 Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York 
 
 WORLD BOOK COMPANY 
 
 1920 
 
WORLD BOOK COMPANY ^ 
 
 THE HOUSE OF APPLIED KNOWLEDGE ^^ 
 
 Established, 1905, by Caspar W. Hodgson Op / 
 
 YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK VN^ 
 
 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago \ 
 
 A treasure of wisdom is stored in the col- 
 leges of the land. The teachers are the 
 custodians of knowledge that makes life 
 free and progressive. This book aims to 
 make the college teacher effective in hand- 
 ing down this heritage of knowledge, rich 
 and vital, that will develop in youth the 
 power of right thinking and the courage 
 of right living. Thus College Teaching 
 carries out the ideal of service as ex- 
 pressed in the motto of the World Book 
 Company, " Books that Apply the World's 
 Knowledge to the World's Needs " 
 
 APk -3 1920 
 
 Copyright, 1920', by World Book Company 
 
 Copyright in Great Britain 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
 ©CI.A566347 
 
 71 r 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE student of general problems of education or of 
 elementary education finds an extensive literature of 
 varying worth. In the last decade our secondary schools 
 have undergone radical reorganization and have assumed 
 new functions. A rich literature on every phase of the 
 high school is rapidly developing to keep pace with the 
 needs and the progress of secondary education. The litera- 
 ture on college education in general and college pedagogy 
 in particular is surprisingly undeveloped. This dearth is 
 not caused by the absence of problem, for indeed there is 
 room for much improvement in the organization, the ad- 
 ministration, and the pedagogy of the college. Investiga- 
 tors of these problems have been considerably discouraged 
 by the facts they have gathered. This volume is conceived 
 in the hope of stimulating an interest in the quality of 
 college teaching and initiating a scientific study of college 
 pedagogy. The field is almost virgin, and the need for 
 constructive programs is acute. We therefore ask for our 
 effort the indulgence that is usually accorded a pioneer. 
 
 In this age of specialization of study it is evident that 
 no college teacher, however wide his experience and ex- 
 tensive his education, can speak with authority on the 
 teaching of all the subjects in the college curriculum, or 
 even of all the major ones. For this reason this volume is 
 the product of a cooperating authorship. The editor devotes 
 himself to the study of general methods of teaching that 
 apply to almost all subjects and to most teaching situa- 
 tions. In addition, he coordinates the work of the other 
 contributors. He realizes that there exists among college 
 professors an active hostility to the study of pedagogy. 
 The professors feel that one who knows his subject can 
 teach it. The contributors have been purposely selected 
 in order to dispel this hostility. They are, one and all, 
 men of undisputed scholarship who have realized the need 
 of a mode of presentation that will make their knowledge 
 alive. 
 
 iii 
 
iv Preface 
 
 Books of multiple authorship often possess too wide a 
 diversity of viewpoints. The reader comes away with no 
 underlying thought and no controlling principles. To 
 overcome this defect, so common in books of this type, a 
 tentative outline was formulated, setting forth a desirable 
 mode of treating, in the confines of one chapter, the teach- 
 ing of any subject in the college curriculum. This outline 
 was submitted to all contributors for critical analysis and 
 constructive criticism. The original plan was later modi- 
 fied in accordance with the suggestions of the contributors. 
 This final outline, which follows, was then sent to the con- 
 tributors with the full understanding that each writer was 
 free to make such modifications as his specialty demanded 
 and his judgment dictated. This outline is followed in 
 most of the chapters and gives the book that unifying ele- 
 ment necessary in any book and vital in a work of so large 
 a cooperating authorship. 
 
 The editor begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to the 
 many contributors who have given generously of their time 
 and their labor with no hope of compensation beyond the 
 ultimate appreciation of those college teachers who are 
 eager to learn from the experience of others so that they 
 may the better serve their students. 
 
 TENTATIVE OUTLINE FOR THE TEACHING 
 OF IN THE COLLEGE 
 
 L Aim of Subject X in the College Curriculum: 
 
 Is it taught for disciplinary values? What are they? 
 
 Is it taught for cultural reasons? 
 
 Is it taught to give necessary information? 
 
 Is it taught to prepare for professional studies? 
 
 Is the aim single or eclectic? Do the aims vary for different 
 groups of students? Does this apply to all the courses in 
 your specialty? How does the aim govern the methods of 
 teaching? 
 II. Place of the Subject in the College Curriculum: 
 
 In what year or years should it be taught? 
 
 What part of the college course^ in terms of time or cred- 
 its — should be allotted to it? 
 
Preface v 
 
 What is the practice in other colleges? 
 
 What course or courses in this subject should be part of the 
 general curriculum or be prescribed for students in art, 
 in science, in modern languages, or in the preprofessional 
 or professional groups? 
 
 III. Organization of the Subject in the College Course: 
 
 Desired sequence of courses in this subject. 
 
 What is the basis of this sequence? Gradation of successive 
 difficulties or logical sequence of facts? 
 
 Should these courses be elective or prescribed? All pre- 
 scribed? For all groups of students? 
 
 In what years should the elective work be offered? 
 
 IV. Discussion of Methods of Teaching this Subject: 
 
 Place and relative worth of lecture method, laboratory work, 
 recitations, research, case method, field work, assignment 
 from a single text or reference reading, etc. 
 Discussion of such problems as the following: 
 Shall the first course in chemistry be a general and extensive 
 course summing up the scope of chemistry, its function in 
 organic and inorganic nature, with no laboratory work 
 other than the experimentation by the instructor? 
 Should students in the social sciences study the subject de- 
 ductively from a book or should the book be postponed and 
 the instructor present a series of problems from the social 
 life of the student so that the analysis of these may lead 
 the student to formulate many of the generalizations that 
 are given early in a textbook course? 
 Should college mathematics be presented as a series of sub- 
 jects, e.g., algebra (advanced), solid geometry, trigonom- 
 etry, analytical geometry, calculus, etc.? Would it be 
 better to present the subject as a single and unified whole 
 in two or three semesters? 
 Should a student study his mathematics as it is developed 
 in his book, — viz., as an intellectual product of a matured 
 mind familiar with the subject, — or should the subject 
 grow gradually in a more or less unorganized form from 
 a series of mechanical, engineering, building, nautical, sur- 
 veying, and structural problems that can be found in the 
 life and environment of the student? 
 V. Moot Questions in the Teaching of this Subject. 
 VI. How judge whether the subject has been of worth to the stu- 
 dent? 
 How test whether the aims of this subject have been realized? 
 How test how much the student has carried away? What 
 means, methods, and indices exist aside from the traditional 
 examination ? 
 
vi Preface 
 
 VII. Bibliography on the Pedagogy of this Subject as Far as It Ap- 
 plies to College Teaching. The aim of the bibliography 
 should be to give worth-while contributions that present 
 elaborations of what is here presented or points of view and 
 modes of procedure that differ from those here set forth. 
 
 Paul Klapper 
 The College of the City of New York 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 _ PAGE 
 
 Introduction xiii 
 
 By Nicholas Murray Butler, Ph.D., LL.D. 
 President of Columbia University. Author of The 
 Meaning of Education, True and False Democracy, 
 etc. Editor of Educational Review 
 
 PART ONE — THE INTRODUCTORY STUDIES 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I History and Present Tendencies of the 
 
 American College 3 
 
 By Stephen Pierce Duggan, Ph.D. Professor of 
 Education, The College of the City of New York. 
 Author of A Student's History of Education 
 
 II Professional Training for College 
 
 Teaching 31 
 
 By Sidney E. Mezes, Ph.D., LL.D. President of 
 The College of the City of New York. Formerly 
 President of University of Texas. Author of 
 Ethics, Descriptive and Explanatory 
 
 III General Principles of College Teaching 43 
 
 By Paul Klapper, Ph.D. Associate Professor of 
 Education, The College of the City of New York. 
 Author of Principles of Educational Practice, The 
 Teaching of English, etc. 
 
 PART TWO — THE SCIENCES 
 
 IV The Teaching of Biology 85 
 
 By T. W. Galloway, Ph.D., Litt.D. Professor 
 of Zoology, Beloit College. Author of Textbook 
 of Zoology, Biology of Sex for Parents and Teach- 
 ers, Use of Motives in Moral Education, etc. 
 
 V The Teaching of Chemistry . . . . 110 
 
 By Louis Kahlenberg, Ph.D. Director of the 
 Course in Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry, 
 University of Wisconsin. Author of Outlines of 
 Chemistry, Laboratory Exercises in Chemistry, 
 Chemistry Analysis, Chemistry and Its Relation to 
 Daily Life, etc. 
 
 VI The Teaching of Physics 126 
 
 By Harvey B. Lemon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor 
 of Physics, University of Chicago 
 vii 
 
viii Contents 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 VII The Teaching of Geology 142 
 
 By T. C. Chamberlin, Ph.D., LL.D., Sc.D. Pro- 
 fessor and Head of Department of Geology and 
 Director of Walker Museum, University of Chicago. 
 Author of Geology of Wisconsin, The Origin of the 
 Earth. Editor of The Journal of Geology 
 
 VIII The Teaching of Mathematics . . . 161 
 
 By G. A. Miller, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics, 
 University of Illinois. Author of Determinants, 
 Mathematical Monographs (co-author). Theory and 
 Applications of Groups of Finite Order (co-author), 
 ' Historical Introduction to the Mathematical Lit- 
 erature, etc. Co-editor of American Year Book 
 and Encyclopedic des Sciences Mathematiques 
 
 IX Physical Education in the College . . 183 
 
 By Thomas A. Storey, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of 
 Hygiene, The College of the City of New York. 
 State Inspector of Physical Training, New York. 
 Secretary-General, Fourth International Congress of 
 School Hygiene, .Buffalo, 1913. Executive-Secre- 
 tary, United States Interdepartmental Social Hygiene 
 Board. Author of various contributions to standard 
 works on physiology, hygiene, and physical training 
 
 PART THREE — THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 
 
 X The Teaching of Economics .... 217 
 
 By Frank A. Fetter, Ph.D., LL.D, Professor of 
 Political Economy, Princeton University. Author 
 of Economic Principles and Modern Economic 
 Problems 
 
 XI The Teaching of Sociology .... 241 
 
 Arthur J. Todd, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology 
 and Director of the Training Course for Social and 
 Civic Work, University of Minnesota. Author of 
 The Primitive Family as an Educational Factor, 
 Theories of Social Progress 
 
 XII The Teaching of History 
 
 A. American History 256 
 
 By Henry W. Elson, A.M., Litt.D. President of 
 Thiel College. Formerly Professor of History, Ohio 
 University. Author of History of the United States, 
 The Story of the Old World (with Cornelia E. 
 MacMullan), etc. 
 
Contents ix 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 B. Modern European History . . . . 263 
 
 By Edward Krehbiel, Ph.D. Professor of Modern 
 European History, Leland Stanford University. 
 Author of The Interdict, Nationalism, War and 
 Society 
 
 XIII The Teaching of Poutical Science . . 279 
 
 By Charles Grove Haines, Ph.D. Professor of 
 Government, University of Texas. Author of Con- 
 flict over Judicial Powers in the United States 
 prior to 1870, The American Doctrine of Judicial 
 Supremacy, The Teaching of Government (Report 
 of Committee on Instruction, Political Science Asso- 
 ciation) 
 
 XIV The Teaching of Philosophy . . . . 302 
 
 By Frank Thilly, Ph.D., LL.D. Professor of Phi- 
 losophy, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, 
 Cornell University. Author of Introduction to 
 Ethics, History of Philosophy 
 
 XV The Teaching of Ethics 320 
 
 By Henry Neumann, Ph.D. Leader of the Brook- 
 lyn Society for Ethical Culture. Formerly of the 
 Department of Education, The College of the City 
 of New York. Author of Moral Values in Sec- 
 ondary Education 
 
 XVI The Teaching of Psychology .... 334 
 By Robert S. Woodworth, Ph.D. Professor of 
 Psychology, Columbia University. Author of Dyna- 
 mic Psychology, he Mouvement, Care of the Body, 
 Elements of Physiological Psychology (with George 
 Trumbull Ladd) 
 
 XVII The Teaching of Education 
 
 A. Teaching the History of Education . 347 
 By Herman H. Horne, Ph.D. (Harvard). Pro- 
 fessor of the History of Education and the History 
 
 of Philosophy, New York University. Author of 
 The 'Philosophy of Education, The Psychological 
 Principles of Education, Free Will and Human- 
 Responsibility, etc. 
 
 B. Teaching Educational Theory . , . 359 
 By Frederick E. Bolton, Ph.D. Dean of the Col- 
 lege of Education, University of Washington. Au- 
 thor of Principles of Education, The Secondary 
 School System of Germany 
 
X 
 
 Contents 
 
 PART FOUR — THE LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XVIII The Teaching of English Literature . 379 
 
 By Caleb T. Winchester, L.H.D. Professor of 
 English Literature, Wesleyan University. Author 
 of Some Principles of Literary Criticism, A Group 
 of English Essayists, William Wordsworth: How 
 to -Know Him, etc. 
 
 XIX The Teaching of English Composition . 389 
 
 By Henry Seidel Canby, Ph.D. Adviser in Liter- 
 ary Composition, Yale University. Author of The 
 Short Story in English, College Sons and College 
 Fathers, etc. 
 
 XX The Teaching of the Classics .... 404 
 
 By William K. Prentice, Ph.D. Professor of 
 Greek, Princeton University. Author of Greek and 
 Latin Inscriptions in Syria 
 
 XXI The Teaching of the Romance Lan- 
 guages 424 
 
 By William A. Nitze, Ph.D. Professor and Head 
 of Department of Romance Languages, University 
 of Chicago. Author of The Grail Romance, Glas- 
 tonbury and the Holy Grail, Handbook of French 
 Phonetics, etc. Contributor to New International 
 Encyclopedia 
 
 XXII The Teaching of German 
 
 440 
 
 By E. Prokosch, Ph.D. Late Professor of Ger- 
 manic Languages, University of Texas. Author of 
 Teaching of German in Secondary Schools, Phonetic 
 Lessons in German, Sounds and History of the 
 German Language, etc. 
 
 PART FIVE — THE ARTS 
 XXIII The Teaching of Music 457 
 
 By Edward Dickinson, Litt.D. Professor of His- 
 tory and Criticism of Music, Oberlin College. Au- 
 thor of Music in the History of the Western 
 Church, The Study of the History of Music, The 
 Education of a Music Lover, Music and the Higher 
 Education 
 
Contents 
 
 XI 
 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIV The Teaching of Art 475 
 
 By Holmes Smith, A.M. Professor of Drawing 
 and the History of Art, Washington University. 
 Author of various articles in magazines on art 
 topics 
 
 PART SIX — VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS 
 
 XXV The Teaching of Engineering Subjects . 501 
 
 By Ira O. Baker, C.E., D. Eng'g. Professor of 
 Civil Engineering, University of Illinois. Author 
 of Treatise on Masonry Construction, Treatise on 
 Roads and Pavements 
 
 XXVI The Teaching of Mechanical Drawing . 525 
 
 By James D. Phillips, B.S. Asisstant Dean and 
 Professor of Drawing, College of Engineering, Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin. Author of Elements of De- 
 scriptive Geometry (with A. V. Millar) , Mechanical 
 Drawing for Secondary Schools (with F. 0. Craw- - 
 shaw), Mechanical Drawing for Colleges and Uni- 
 versities (with H. D. Orth) 
 
 and Herbert D. Orth, B.S. Assistant Professor of 
 Mechanical Drawing and Descriptive Geometry, 
 University of Wisconsin. Author of Mechanical 
 Drawing for Colleges and Universities (with J. D. 
 Phillips) 
 
 XXVII 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 The Teaching of Journalism . . . . 
 By Talcott Williams, A.M., LL.D., Lttt.D. Di- 
 rector, School of Journalism, Columbia University 
 
 533 
 
 Index . 
 
 Business Education 555 
 
 By Frederick B. Robinson, Ph.D. Professor of 
 Economics and Dean of the School of Business and 
 Civic Administration, College of the City of New 
 York 
 
 ■ 577 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 IT is characteristic of the American people to have pro- 
 found faith in the power of education. Since Colonial 
 days the American college has played a large part in 
 American life and has trained an overwhelming propor- 
 tion of the leaders of American opinion. There was a time 
 when the American college was a relatively simple institu- 
 tion of a uniform type, but that time has passed. The 
 term " college " is now used in a variety of significations, 
 a number of which are very new and very modern indeed. 
 Some of these uses of the term are quite indefensible, as 
 when one speaks of a college of engineering, or of law, 
 or of medicine, or of journalism, or of architecture. Such 
 use of the word merely confuses and makes impossible 
 clear thinking as to educational institutions and educational 
 aims. 
 
 The term " college " can be properly used only of an 
 institution which offers training in the liberal arts and 
 sciences to youth who have completed a standard secondary 
 school course of study. The purpose of college teaching 
 is to lay the foundation for intelligent and effective special- 
 ization later on, to open the mind to new interpretations 
 and new understandings both of man and of nature, and to 
 give instruction in those standards of judgment and ap- 
 preciation, the possession and application of which are the 
 marks of the truly educated and cultivated man. The size 
 of a college is a matter of small importance, except that 
 under modern conditions a large college and one in im- 
 mediate contact with the life of a university is almost cer- 
 tain to command larger intellectual resources than is an 
 institution of a different type. The important thing about 
 a college is its spirit, its clearness of aim, its steadiness of 
 purpose, and the opportunity which it affords for direct 
 personal contact between teacher and student. Given these, 
 the question of size is unimportant. 
 
 There was a time when it was felt, probably correctly, 
 that a satisfactory college training could be had by requir- 
 
 xiii 
 
xiv Introduction 
 
 ing all students to follow a single prescribed course of 
 study. At that time, college students were drawn almost 
 exclusively from families and homes of a single type or 
 kind. Their purposes in after-life were similar, and their 
 range of intellectual sympathy, while intense, was rather 
 narrow. The last fifty years have changed all this. Col- 
 lege students are now drawn from families and homes of 
 every conceivable type and kind. Their purposes in after- 
 life are very different, while new subjects of study have 
 been multiplied many fold. The old and useful tradition 
 of Latin, Greek, and mathematics, together with a little 
 history and literature, as the chief elements in a college 
 course of study, had to give way when first the natural 
 sciences, and then the social sciences, claimed attention 
 and when even these older subjects of study were them- 
 selves subdivided into many parts. 
 
 These changes forced a change in the old-fashioned pro- 
 gram of college study, and led to the various substitutes 
 for it that now exist. Whether a college prefers the elective 
 system of study, or the group system, or some other method 
 of combining instruction that is regarded as fundamental 
 with other instruction that is regarded as less so, the fact 
 is that all these are simply different kinds of attempt to 
 meet a new condition which is the natural result of intel- 
 lectual and economic changes. Just now the college is in a 
 state of transition. It is not at all clear precisely what its 
 status will be a generation hence, or how far present 
 tendencies may continue to increase, or how far they may 
 be counteracted bv a swing of the pendulum in the op- 
 posite direction. Therefore this is a time to describe rather 
 than to dogmatize, and it is description which is the char- 
 acteristic mark of the important series of papers which 
 constitute the several chapters in the present volume. 
 
 A careful reading of these papers is commended not only 
 to the great army of college teachers and college students, 
 but to that still greater army of those who, whether as 
 alumni or as parents or as citizens, are deeply concerned 
 with the preservation of the influence and character of the 
 
Introduction xv 
 
 American college for its effect upon our national standards 
 of thought and action. 
 
 American colleges are of two distinct types, and it may 
 be that the future has in store a different position for each 
 type. The true distinction between colleges is according as 
 they are separate or are incorporated in a university system, 
 and not at all as to whether they are large or small. A 
 separate college, such as Amherst or Beloit or Grinnell or 
 Pomona, has its own peculiar problems of support and 
 administration. The university college, on the other hand, 
 such as Columbia or Harvard or Chicago or the college of 
 any state university, has quite different problems of sup- 
 port and of administration. It is not unlikely that the dis- 
 tinction between these two types of college will become 
 more sharply marked as years go by, and that eventually 
 they will appear to be two distinct institutions rather than 
 two types of one and the same institution. 
 
 Meanwhile, we have to deal with the college as it is, 
 in all its varied forms, but characteristically American 
 whatever its form. The American college has little or no 
 resemblance to the English Public School or to the French 
 Lycee or to the German Gymnasium. It is something more 
 than any one of these, and at the same time something less. 
 It differs from them all very much as the conditions of 
 American life differ from those of English or of French 
 or of German life. The college may or may not involve 
 residence, but when it does involve residence, it is at its 
 best. It is then that the largest amount of carefully ordered 
 and stimulating influence can be brought to bear upon the 
 daily life of growing and expanding youth, and it is then 
 and only then, that youth can get the inestimable benefits 
 which follow from daily and hourly contact with others of 
 like age, like tastes, like habits, and like purposes. Indeed, 
 it has often been said that the college gives more through 
 its opportunities which attach to residence, than through 
 its opportunities which attach to instruction. 
 
 Almost every conceivable problem that can arise in col- 
 lege life and college work, is discussed in the following 
 
xvi Introduction 
 
 pages. It is now coming to be understood that the health 
 of the college student is as much a matter of concern as his 
 instruction, and that a college is not doing its full duty by 
 those who seek its doors, when it merely provides libraries, 
 laboratories, and skillful teachers. It must also provide 
 for such conditions of residence, of food, of exercise, and 
 of frequent medical examination and inspection, as shall 
 protect and preserve the health of those who come to take 
 advantage of its instruction. 
 
 There is one other point which should not be overlooked, 
 and that is the literally immense influence exerted in 
 America by that solidarity of college sentiment and college 
 opinion which is kept alive by organizations of former col- 
 lege students scattered throughout the land. This, again, 
 is a peculiarly American development, and it serves to unite 
 the college and public sentiment much more closely than 
 any formal tie could possibly do. Indeed, it illustrates 
 how completely the American people claim the college as 
 their own. The man or woman who has once been a col- 
 lege student never ceases to be a member of that particular 
 college or to labor to extend its influence and to increase 
 its usefulness. 
 
 Every reader of this volume should approach It in a 
 spirit of sympathetic understanding of American higher 
 education, and of the college as the oldest instrument of 
 that higher education and still one of the chief elements 
 in it. 
 
 Nicholas Murray Butler 
 
 Columbia University 
 
PART ONE 
 The Introductory Studies 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I History and Present Tendencies of the 
 
 American College Stephen P. Duggan 
 
 II Professional Training for College Teaching 
 
 Sidney E. Mezes 
 
 III General Principles of College Teaching 
 
 Paul Klapper 
 
I 
 
 HISTORY AND PRESENT TENDENCIES OF THE 
 AMERICAN COLLEGE 
 
 T 
 
 1. THE COLONIAL PERIOD 
 HE American colonies were founded chiefly by English- ^^® ?^^ 
 
 doin.iji.£Liic6 
 
 men who came to America for a variety of reasons, of the 
 
 Some of these were economic and political, but the most ^^^ifious 
 
 r •> motive 
 
 important of their reasons was the desire to practice their 
 religious convictions with greater freedom than was per- 
 mitted at home. Apart from the state religion, however, all 
 the colonists were animated by a love for English institu- 
 tions which they transplanted to the New World, and among 
 these institutions were the grammar school and the college. 
 Wherever the Reformation had been chiefly a religious 
 rather than a political and ecclesiastical movement, the in- 
 terest in education and the effect upon it were direct and 
 immediate. This was true where Calvinism prevailed, as in 
 the Netherlands, Scotland, and among the Puritans in Eng- 
 land. Hence it is natural to find that the first effective 
 movements in America toward the establishment of educa- 
 tional institutions, both elementary and higher, should have 
 taken place in New England. 
 
 A large proportion of university graduates were included 
 among the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They 
 were chiefly graduates of Cambridge, which had always been 
 religiously more tolerant than Oxford, and especially of 
 Emmanuel College, which was the stronghold of Puritanism 
 at Cambridge. It was natural that these men, leaders in 
 the aff"airs of the colony, should want to establish a New 
 Cambridge University, but it is astonishing that they were 
 able to do so as early as 1636, only six years after the 
 founding of this colony. Two years later the college was 
 named after John Harvard, a clergyman and a graduate 
 of Emmanuel, who upon his death bequeathed half his estate 
 
 3 
 
4 College Teaching 
 
 and all his fine library of three hundred volumes to the 
 college. The religious motive predominated in the found- 
 ing of Harvard, for though the colonists longed " to advance 
 learning and perpetuate it to posterity," they were actuated 
 chiefly by dread " to leave an illiterate ministry to. the 
 churches, when our present Ministers shall lie in the Dust." 
 
 Harvard remained the sole instrument in the colonies 
 for that purpose for more than half a century. In 1693 the 
 College of William and Mary was founded in Virginia, with 
 the most generous endowment of any pre-Revolutionary col- 
 lege, generous because of the help received from the mother 
 country. It was the child of the Church of England, and its 
 president and its professors had to subscribe to the Thirty- 
 nine Articles. Subscription to a religious creed was also 
 demanded of the president and tutors of the third American 
 college, founded in 1701. This Collegiate Institute, as it 
 was called, moved from place to place for more than a dec- 
 ade, but finally it settled permanently in New Haven in 
 1717. It afterward received the name of Yale College in 
 honor of Elihu Yale, who had given it generous assistance. 
 
 As a result of the founding of these three institutions, the 
 New England and the Southern colonies had their need for 
 ministers fairly well supplied, but this was not yet true of 
 the Middle colonies. However, the Presbyterians had be- 
 come particularly strong in the Middle colonies, and their 
 religious zeal resulted in the establishment of the College of 
 New Jersey, now Princeton University, in 1746. 
 
 A few years later Benjamin Franklin advanced for the 
 college a new raison d'etre. In 1749 he published a pam- 
 phlet entitled " Proposals Relating to the Education of 
 Youth in Pennsylvania," in which he advocated the estab- 
 lishment of an academy whose purpose was not the training 
 of ministers but the secular one of developing the practical 
 virtue necessary in the opening up of a new country. The 
 Academy was opened in 1751, and the charter, granted in 
 1755, designated the institution as " The College, Academy, 
 and Charitable School of Philadelphia." Though the 
 extremely modern organization and curriculum suggested 
 
History and Present Tendencies 
 
 by Franklin were not realized, the institution, which was 
 afterward called " The University of Pennsylvania," offered 
 the most liberal curriculum of any college in the colonies 
 up to the Revolution. 
 
 The human motive was uppermost also in the establish- 
 ment of King's College in 1754. The colonial assembly 
 desired its establishment to enhance the welfare and reputa- 
 tion of the colony, and the only connection between the col- 
 lege and the Church of England lay in the requirement that 
 the president should be a communicant of that church and 
 that the morning and evening service of the college should 
 be performed out of the liturgy of- that church. But the re- 
 ligious motive again comes to the fore in the establishment 
 of Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1764, 
 primarily to train ministers for the Baptist churches; of 
 Queens, afterwards named Rutgers, in 1766, to provide min- 
 isters for the Dutch Reformed churches ; and of Dartmouth, 
 in 1769, from which it was hoped at first that the evan- 
 gelization of the Indians would proceed. 
 
 These colonial colleges in their histories bear a great re- Character 
 semblance to one another. They were almost all born in coion^iai 
 poverty and led a desperate financial existence for many college 
 years. In some cases survival was possible only as the 
 result of the untiring self-sacrifice of some great personality 
 like Eleazar Wheelock, the first president of Dartmouth; 
 in all cases, of the devotion of teachers and officers. Their 
 beginnings were all small; in some cases the president was 
 the only member of the instructing staff and taught all the 
 subjects of the curriculum. The students were few in num- 
 ber, the equipment was simple, the buildings usually con- 
 sisting of a house for the president, in which he often 
 heard recitations, a dormitory for the students, and a col- 
 lege hall. Libraries, laboratories, and recreational facili- 
 ties were usually conspicuous by their absence. In fact, as 
 the curriculum consisted almost exclusively of philosophy, 
 Greek, Latin, rhetoric, and a little mathematics, there was no 
 great need of much equipment. The classics were taught by 
 the intensive grammatical method; in philosophy there was 
 
6 College Teaching 
 
 a great deal of dialectical disputation; rhetoric was studied 
 as an aid to oratory; mathematics included only arithmetic 
 and geometry. The aim of instruction was, not to give a 
 wide acquaintance with many fields of knowledge for cul- 
 tural and appreciative purposes, but rather to develop power 
 through intensive exercise upon a restricted curriculum. 
 But the value of the materials utilized to produce power 
 which would function in oratory, debate, and diplomacy is 
 splendidly illustrated in the decades before the Revolution. 
 The contest between the colonies and the mother country 
 was essentially a rational contest in which questions of con- 
 stitutional law and, indeed, of the fundamental principles 
 of civil and political existence were debated. Splendidly 
 did the leaders of public opinion in the colonies, almost 
 every one of whom was a graduate of a colonial college, 
 defend the cause of the colonists in pamphlet and debate. 
 And when debate was followed by war, twBnty-five per cent 
 of the twenty-five hundred graduates of the colonial colleges 
 were found in the military service of their country. At the 
 close of the struggle for independence, it was again upon 
 the shoulders of the men who had gained vision and char- 
 acter in the colonial colleges that the burden fell of organ- 
 izing the mutually suspicious and antagonistic colonies into 
 one nation. Space will not permit even of the enumeration 
 of the great leaders who graduated from all the colonial 
 colleges, but an idea of the service rendered by those insti- 
 tutions to the new nation may be obtained by mentioning the 
 names of a few statesmen who received their instruction in 
 one of the least of them, William and Mary. In its class- 
 rooms were taught Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, 
 Edmund Randolph, James Monroe, and John Marshall. 
 
 2. THE NATIONAL ERA 
 
 Trench French influence upon American political and intellectual 
 
 life had become quite pronounced as the result of the con- 
 tact between the leaders of the two peoples during and after 
 the Revolution. That influence was reflected in the colleges. 
 
 J 
 
History and Present Tendencies 7 
 
 Instruction in the French language was offered in several of 
 the colleges before the close of the eighteenth century, and 
 a chair of French was established at Columbia as early as 
 1779 and at William and Mary in 1793. The secularizing 
 influence of the French united also with the democratizing 
 influence of the Revolution in diminishing the influence of 
 the church upon the colleges and emphasizing the influence 
 of the State and especially the relations between college and 
 people. Of the fourteen colleges founded between 1776 and 
 1800, the majority were established upon a non-sectarian 
 basis. These included institutions of a private nature like 
 Washington and Lee, Bowdoin, and Union, as well as insti- 
 tutions closely related to the state governments like the Uni- 
 versities of North Carolina and of Vermont. There can 
 hardly be any doubt that the French system of centralized 
 administration in civil affairs influenced the establishment 
 of the University of the State of New York. The University 
 of the State of New York is not a local institution, but a 
 body of nine regents elected by the legislature to control 
 the administration of education throughout the State of New 
 York. Though organized by Alexander Hamilton, it was 
 in all probability much influenced by John Jay, who re- 
 turned from France in 1784. But the most potent factor in 
 the spread of French influence in the early history of our 
 country was Thomas Jefferson. While Jefferson was Amer- 
 ican minister to France, he studied the French system of edu- 
 cation and embodied ideas taken from it in the organization 
 of the University of Virginia. This occupied much of his 
 attention during the last two decades of his life. The Uni- 
 versity was to be entirely non-sectarian and had for its pur- 
 pose (1) to form statesmen, legislators, and judges for the 
 commonwealth; (2) to expand the principles and structure 
 of government, the laws which regulate the intercourse of 
 states, and a sound spirit of legislation; (3) to harmonize 
 and promote the interests of all forms of industry, chiefly 
 by well-informed views of political economy; (4) to de- 
 velop the reasoning faculties of youth and to broaden their 
 minds and develop their character; (5) to enlighten them 
 
8 College Teaching 
 
 with knowledge, especially of the physical sciences which 
 will advance the material welfare of the people. These 
 progressive views of what the college should aim to do were 
 associated with equally advanced views of college ad- 
 ministration, such as the elective system and the impor- 
 tation of professors from abroad. The remarkable vision, 
 constructive imagination, courage, and faith of Jefferson in 
 his break with what was traditional and authoritative in 
 education has been justified by the fine career of the uni- 
 versity which he founded. 
 
 The state ^11 the colleges that were established before the Revolu- 
 
 universities . c ^ ^ i n i 
 
 system tion, and most oi those between the Revolution and the year 
 
 1800, had received direct assistance from the colonial or 
 state government either in grants of land, money, the pro- 
 ceeds of lotteries, or special taxes. Most of them, however, 
 were dependent upon private foundations and controlled by 
 denominational bodies. The secularizing influence from 
 France, the growing interest in civic and political aff'airs, 
 and the democratic spirit resulting from the Revolution 
 combined to develop a distrust of the colleges as they were 
 organized and a desire to bring them under the control of 
 the state. This was apparent in 1779, when the legislature 
 of Pennsylvania withdrew the charter of the college of Phil- 
 adelphia and created a new corporation to be known as 
 " The Trustees of the University of the State of Pennsyl- 
 vania "; it was shown in 1787 when Columbia College was 
 granted a new charter by the state legislature, under which 
 the board of trustees were all drawn from the Board of 
 Regents of the State; it was made most evident in 1816 
 when the legislature of New Hampshire transformed Dart- 
 mouth College into a university without the consent of the 
 board of trustees and empowered the governor and council 
 to appoint a Board of Overseers. In the celebrated Dart- 
 mouth College case, 1819, the old board of trustees, when 
 defeated before the Supreme Court of New Hampshire in 
 their suit for the recovery of property which had been seized, 
 carried the case to the Supreme Court of the United States 
 and engaged Daniel Webster as their counsel. The Court 
 
History and Present Tendencies 9 
 
 declared the act of the New Hampshire legislature in viola- 
 tion of the provision of the Constitution of the United States 
 which reads that " No state shall pass any . . . law impair- 
 ing the obligation of contracts." The decision drew a sharp 
 distinction between public and private corporations, and a 
 necessary inference was that most of the existing institutions 
 for higher education were in the latter class. The result 
 was to strengthen the rising demand for publicly controlled 
 institutions. The Southern and Western states across the 
 Alleghanies that were on the point of framing state consti- 
 tutions made provision for state universities under state 
 control. 
 
 The intention to provide higher education freely for the 
 people had already received its greatest impetus in an Act 
 of Congress passed shortly after the passage of the Ordi- 
 nance of 1787, providing for the organization of the North- 
 west Territory. By that act two entire townships of public 
 land were reserved to the states to be erected out of the terri- 
 tory, the proceeds of the sale of which were to be devoted to 
 the establishment of a state university. These universities 
 followed swiftly upon the establishment of new states, and 
 the democratic ideal that prevailed is shown in the determi- 
 nation that the state university was to be the crown of the 
 public educational system of the state. This is well illus- 
 trated in the provision of the constitution of Indiana, 
 adopted in the very year of the Dartmouth College decision, 
 1819, which reads, " It shall be the duty of the General 
 Assembly, as soon as circumstances will permit, to provide 
 by law for a general system of education, ascending in reg- 
 ular gradation from township schools to a state university, 
 wherein tuition shall be gratis and equally open to all." 
 Circumstances did permit in the following year, and the 
 provisions of the bill materialized. The national policy of 
 granting public lands for educational purposes to new states 
 was continued, and one or two townships were devoted in 
 each case to the establishment of a state university. Na- 
 tional assistance to higher education was given on an im- 
 mense scale in 1862, when the Morrill Act was passed pro- 
 
10 College Teaching 
 
 viding for the grant of 30,000 acres of land for each repre- 
 sentative and senator, to be devoted to the support in each 
 state of a higher institution of learning, in which technical 
 and agricultural branches should be taught. Within twenty 
 years every state in the Union had taken advantage of this 
 splendid endowment, either to found a new state university 
 which would comply with the requirements as regards 
 courses of instruction or to establish an agricultural college 
 as an independent institution, or in connection with some 
 already existing institution. Not only do some of the finest 
 state universities like those of California, Illinois, and Min- 
 nesota owe their origins to the Morrill Act, but others owe 
 to it their real beginnings as institutions of collegiate grade. 
 Up to the passage of the Morrill Act a dozen state universi- 
 ties struggled to maintain themselves with meager revenues 
 and few students. They were trying to do broad aca- 
 demic work, but by no means reached the standards of the 
 strong colleges in the eastern part of the country. 
 
 The establishment of state-supported and state-controlled 
 universities in the commonwealths organized after the close 
 of the eighteenth century by no means put an end to the es- 
 tablishment of colleges upon religious foundations. De- 
 nominational zeal was very strong in the decades preceding 
 the Civil War, and the church was the center of community 
 life in the newly settled regions. The need to provide an in- 
 telligent ministry and also a higher civilization led to the es- 
 tablishment of many small sectarian colleges in the new 
 states. Despite the fact that practically all of them would 
 today be considered only of secondary grade, they accom- 
 plished a splendid work and provided ideals and standards 
 of intellectual life in a new country whose population was 
 engaged chiefly in supplying the physical needs of life. 
 The response made in the Civil War by the institutions of 
 higher education throughout the United States, whether pri- 
 vately or publicly supported, was a magnificent return for 
 the sacrifices endured in their establishment and mainte- 
 nance. Everywhere throughout the North the colleges were 
 depleted of instructors and students who had entered the 
 
History and Present Tendencies 11 
 
 ranks, and in the South nearly all the colleges were com- 
 pelled to close their doors. Upon the shoulders of their 
 graduates fell the burden of directing civil and military 
 affairs in state and nation. 
 
 3. THE MODERN ERA 
 
 Were a visitor to Harvard or Columbia in 1860 to revisit 
 it today, the changes he would observe would be startling. 
 The elective system, graduate studies, professional and tech- 
 nical schools, an allied woman's college, and a summer ses- 
 sion are a few of the most noticeable activities incorporated 
 since 1860. It would be impossible to set any date for the 
 beginning of this transformation, so gradual and subtle has 
 it been, but the accession of Dr. Charles W. Eliot to the 
 presidency of Harvard College in 1869 and the establish- 
 ment of Johns Hopkins University in 1876 are definite land- 
 marks. 
 
 This chapter is a history of the American college, and 
 space will not permit of a detailed description of these ac- 
 tivities but simply of a narration of the way they developed 
 and of the forces which brought them into being. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that the curriculum of the ^J^^ curric- 
 
 1 1 • • f 1 • ulum and 
 
 average American college at the beginning oi the nmeteenth the eiec- 
 
 century differed but little from the curriculum followed in *^^® system 
 the middle of the seventeenth. The reason is simple. The 
 curriculum is based upon the biological principle of adap.- 
 tation to environment, and the environment of the average 
 American of 1800 differed but slightly from his ancestor of 
 a century and a half previous. The growth of the curric- 
 ulum follows, slowly it is often true, upon the growth of 
 knowledge. The growth of knowledge during the seven- 
 teenth and eighteenth centuries was slow and insignificant 
 compared to its marvelous growth in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, particularly in the last half of it. The great discov- 
 eries in science, first in chemistry, then in physics and biol- 
 ogy, resulted in their gradually displacing much of the 
 logic and philosophy which had maintained the prime place 
 
12 College Teaching 
 
 in the old curriculum. The interest aroused in the French 
 language and literature by our Revolution; in the Spanish 
 by the South American wars of independence; and in the 
 German by the distinguished scholars who studied in the 
 German universities during the middle decades of the nine- 
 teenth century, caused a demand that those languages as 
 well as English have a place in the curriculum. This could 
 be secured only by making them partly alternatives to the 
 classical languages. The Industrial Revolution, based as it 
 was upon the application of science to industry, not only 
 gave an impetus to the establishment of technical schools, 
 but by revolutionizing the production and distribution of 
 wealth pushed into the curriculum the science that deals 
 with wealth, political economy. The growth of cities that 
 followed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the con- 
 flicts between the interests of classes, — viz., landowners, 
 capitalists, and laborers, — the rapid decay of feudalism and 
 the spread of political democracy following the French Rev- 
 olution, the expansion of commerce to all corners of the 
 globe and the resulting development of colonialism, all these 
 human interests gave a new meaning to the study of his- 
 tory and politics which caused them to secure a place of 
 great prominence in the curriculum during the last quarter 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 It is perfectly obvious that as the time at the student's 
 disposal remained the same, if he were to pursue even a 
 part of the new subject matter that was gradually admitted 
 into the curriculum, the course of study could no longer 
 remain wholly prescribed and he would have to be granted 
 some freedom of choice. The growth in number of students 
 also produced changes in administration favorable to the 
 introduction of the elective system. In the early history of 
 the American college one instructor taught a single class in 
 all subjects, and it was not until 1776 that the transfer 
 was made at Harvard from the teaching of classes by one 
 instructor to the teaching of each subject by one instructor. 
 With increase in numbers the students were unable to receive 
 in each year instruction by every member of the teaching 
 
History and Present Tendencies 13 
 
 staff. In spite of the quite obvious advantages of the elec- 
 tive system, it was obstinately resisted by the defenders of 
 the classics and also of orthodox religion and at first made 
 but slow progress. Thomas Jefferson gave it the first great 
 impetus when he made it an essential element in the organ- 
 ization of the University of Virginia in 1825. Francis 
 Wayland, president of Brown University and one of the few 
 college presidents of his day who were educators in the 
 modern sense, made a splendid exposition and defense of it 
 in 1850 in his " Report to the Corporation of Brown Uni- 
 versity on Changes in the System of Collegiate Education." 
 But the elective system waited upon the elevation of Charles 
 W. Eliot to the presidency of Harvard in 1869 for its general 
 realization; in 1872 the senior year at Harvard became 
 wholly elective; in 1879, the" junior year; in 1884, the soph- 
 omore year; and in 1894 the single absolute requirement 
 that remained in the entire college course was English A. 
 The action of Harvard was rapidly imitated to a more or 
 less thorough extent throughout the country. 
 
 Probably no two colleges administer the elective system 
 in the same way. There has been a considerable revulsion 
 of opinion against unrestricted election of individual sub- 
 jects. In many colleges the subjects of the curriculum were 
 arranged into groups which must be elected in toto. This 
 resulted in the multiplication of bachelor's degrees, each in- 
 dicating the special course — arts, science, philosophy, or 
 literature — which had been followed. At the present time 
 the tendency is to prescribe the -subjects considered essen- 
 tial to a liberal education chiefly in the first two years and 
 to permit election among groups of related courses in the 
 last two. This has maintained the unity that formerly pre- 
 vailed and introduced greater breadth into the curriculum. 
 It has also brought the new bachelor's degrees into disfavor, 
 and today the majority of the best colleges give only the 
 A.B. degree for the regular academic course. Valuable 
 modifications in the elective system are constantly being 
 adopted. One such is the preceptorial system at Princeton 
 and elsewhere, under which the preceptors personally super- 
 
14 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 German in- 
 fluence and 
 graduate 
 study 
 
 vise the reading and study of a small group of students and 
 can therefore advise them from personal knowledge of their 
 capacity. Another is the system of honor courses adopted 
 at Columbia and elsewhere, whereby a distinction is made 
 between mere " passmen " and students desirous of attain- 
 ing high rank in courses that are carefully organized in se- 
 quence. 
 
 The introduction of new subjects into the curriculum of 
 the college and the adoption by it of the elective system 
 owe much to German influence upon American education. 
 Though this influence was partly exerted by the study of the 
 German language and literature, it resulted chiefly from the 
 residence of American students at German universities. 
 The first American to be granted the degree of Doctor of 
 Philosophy from a German university was Edward Everett, 
 who received it at Gottingen in 1817. He was followed by 
 George Ticknor, George Bancroft, Henry W. Longfellow, 
 John Lothrop Motley, Frederick Henry Hedge, William 
 Dwight Whitney, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, and a host of 
 scholars who shed luster upon American education and 
 scholarship in the mid-nineteenth century. Most of these 
 men became associated with American colleges in some ca- 
 pacity and had a profound influence upon their ideals, or- 
 ganization, and methods of teaching. They came back de- 
 voted advocates of wide and deep scholarship, of independ- 
 ent research, and of the need of such scholastic tools as 
 libraries and la«boratories. But especially did they give an 
 impetus to the movement in favor of freedom of choice 
 (Lernfreiheit) in studies. Only by the adoption of such a 
 principle could the pronounced tastes or needs of individual 
 students be satisfied. 
 
 Some slight effort had been made in the first four dec- 
 ades of the nineteenth century by a few of the colleges to 
 conform to the desire of students for further study in some 
 chosen field, but the results were negligible. In 1847 Yale 
 esta'blished a " department of philosophy and the arts for 
 scientific and gr-aduate study leading to the degree of bach- 
 elor of philosophy." The first degree of doctor of philos- 
 
History and Present Tendencies 15 
 
 ophy was bestowed in 1861, .but a distinct graduate school 
 was not organized until 1872. Harvard announced in the 
 same year the establishment of a graduate department to 
 which only holders of the bachelor's degree would be ad- 
 mitted and in which the degrees of doctor of philosophy and 
 doctor of science would be conferred. The graduate depart- 
 ment was not made a separate school, however, until 1890. 
 
 The greatest impetus to the establishment of graduate 
 schools in the American universities was made by the estab- 
 lishment of Johns Hopkins University in 1876. Upon its 
 foundation the chief aim was announced to be the develop- 
 ment of instruction in the methods of scientific research. 
 The influence of this institution upon the development of 
 higher education in the United States has been incalculably 
 great. Johns Hopkins was not a transplanted German uni- 
 versity. The unique place of the college in American edu- 
 cation was shown by the fact that graduate schools have 
 followed the lead of Johns Hopkins in building upon the 
 college. Even Clark University at Worcester, founded in 
 1889 upon a purely graduate basis, established an under- 
 graduate college in 1902. 
 
 One of the most gratifying features of higher education 
 in the United States during the past quarter century has 
 been the extension of graduate schools to the strong state 
 universities. Research work in them usually began in the 
 school of agriculture, where the intensive study of the sci- 
 ences, particularly chemistry and biology, had such splendid 
 results in improved farming and dairying that legislatures 
 were gradually persuaded to extend the support for research 
 to purely liberal studies. With the growth and development 
 of graduate schools in this country, the practice of going to 
 Europe for advanced specialized study has abated consid- 
 erably. It will probably so continue in the future, partic- 
 ularly with regard to Germany. On the other hand, should 
 the new ideal of international good will become a living 
 reality, education through a wide system of exchange pro- 
 fessors and students may be expected to make its contribu- 
 tion. 
 
16 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Technical 
 and profes- 
 sional 
 study 
 
 While the graduate school was built upon the college, the 
 technical school grew up by the side of it or upon an inde- 
 pendent foundation. The first technical school was estab- 
 lished at Troy, New York, in 1824, and was called Rens- 
 selaer Polytechnic Institute, after its founder, Stephen Van 
 Rensselaer. For a score of years no other development of 
 consequence was made, but in 1847 the foundations were 
 made of what have since become the Lawrence Scientific 
 School at Harvard and the Sheffield Scientific School at 
 Yale. The passage of the Morrill Act in 1862 had a quick- 
 ening effect on education in engineering and agriculture. 
 In the decade from 1860 to 1870 some twenty-two techni- 
 cal institutions were founded, most of them by the aid of the 
 land grants. The most important of them is the Massachu- 
 setts Institute of Technology, where instruction was first 
 given in 1865 and which has exerted by far the greatest influ- 
 ence upon the development of scientific and technical edu- 
 cation. The best technical schools require a high school 
 diploma for admission and have a four-year course of study, 
 but the only technical school on a graduate basis is the 
 School of Mines at Columbia University. 
 
 Professional education in theology, law, and medicine in 
 the United States was conducted chiefly upon the appren- 
 ticeship system down into the nineteenth century. Though 
 chairs of divinity existed in the colonial colleges in the 
 eighteenth century, systematic preparation for the minis- 
 try was not generally attempted and the prospective minis- 
 ter usually came under the special care of a prominent 
 clergyman who prepared him for the profession. In 1819 
 Harvard established a separate faculty of divinity, and three 
 years later Yale founded a theological department. Since 
 then about fifty colleges and universities have established 
 theological faculties and about 125 independent theological 
 schools have been founded as the result of denominational 
 zeal. A majority of all these institutions require at least a 
 high school diploma for admission; half of them require 
 a college degree. Nearly all off^er a three-year course of 
 study and confer the degree of bachelor of divinity. 
 
History and Fresent Tendencies 17 
 
 Previous to the Civil War the 'great majority of legal 
 practitioners obtained their preparation in a law office. 
 Though the University of Pennsylvania attempted to estab- 
 lish a law school in 1791, and Columbia in 1797, both at- 
 tempts were abortive, and it remained for Harvard to estab- 
 lish the first permanent law school in 1817. Even this was 
 but a feeble affair until Justice Joseph Story became asso- 
 ciated with it in 1830. Up to 1870 but three terms of study 
 were required for a degree; until 1877 students were ad- 
 mitted without examination, and special students were ad- 
 mitted without examination as late as 1893. Since then the 
 advance in standards has been very rapid, and in 1899 Har- 
 vard placed its law school upon a graduate basis. Though 
 but few others have emulated Harvard in this respect, the 
 improvement in legal education during the past two decades 
 has been marked. Of the 120 law schools today, the great 
 majority are connected with colleges and universities, de- 
 mand a high school diploma for admission, maintain a 
 three-year course of study, and confer the degree of LL.B. 
 Twenty-four per cent of the twenty thousand students are 
 college graduates. In some of the best schools the induc- 
 tive method of study — i.e., the " case method " — has super- 
 seded the lecture, and in practically all the moot court is a 
 prominent feature. 
 
 Entrance into the medical profession in colonial times was 
 obtained by apprenticeship in the office of a practicing phy- 
 sician. The first permanent medical school was the medical 
 college of Philadelphia, which was established in 1765 and 
 which became an integral part of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania in 1791. Columbia, Harvard, and Dartmouth also 
 founded schools before the close of the eighteenth century, 
 and these were slowly followed by other colleges in the early 
 decades of the nineteenth century. During almost the en- 
 tire nineteenth century medical education in the United 
 States was kept on a low plane by the existence of large 
 numbers of proprietary medical " colleges " organized for 
 profit, requiring only the most meager entrance qualifica- 
 tions, giving poor instruction, and having very inadequate 
 
18 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 College edu- 
 cation for 
 women — 
 The inde- ' 
 pendent 
 college 
 
 equipment in the way of laboratories and clinics. In fact, 
 medical education did not obtain a high standard until the 
 establishment of the Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1893. 
 Since then the efforts of the medical schools connected with 
 the strong universities and of the Rockefeller Foundation to 
 raise the minimum standard of medical education have re- 
 sulted in the elimination of the weakest medical schools. 
 The total number fell from 150 in 1900 to 100 in 1914. 
 Not all of these demand a high school diploma for admis- 
 sion, though the tendency is to stiffen entrance requirements, 
 but all have a four-year course of study. In most insti- 
 tutions experience in laboratory, clinic, and hospital has 
 superseded the old lecture system as the method of instruc- 
 tion. Closely associated with the progress in medicine and 
 to a great extent similar in history has been the progress in 
 dentistry and pharmacy. There are now fifty schools of 
 dentistry, with nearly 9000 students, and seventy-two schools 
 of pharmacy, with nearly 6000 students. 
 
 One of the most gratifying advances in professional educa- 
 tion has been that of the teacher. Practically all the state 
 universities and many of the universities and colleges upon 
 private foundations have established either departments or 
 schools of education which require at least the same entrance 
 qualifications as does the college proper and in many cases 
 confine the work to the junior and senior years. Teachers 
 College of Columbia University is on a graduate basis. 
 Though many of the 250 training and normal schools 
 throughout the country do not require a high school diploma 
 for admission, the tendency is wholly in that direction. In 
 no field of professional education has the application of 
 scientific principles to actual practice made such progress as 
 in that of the teacher. 
 
 Few movements in the history of American education had 
 more important results than the academy movement which 
 prevailed during the period between the Revolution and the 
 Civil War. Possibly the principle upon which the new na- 
 tion was established, i. e., the privilege of every individual 
 to make the most of himself, influenced the founders of the 
 
History and Present Tendencies 19 
 
 academies to make provision for the education of girls be- 
 yond the mere rudiments. Certainly this aspect of the 
 movement had a far-reaching influence. Some of the ear- 
 liest of the academies admitted girls as well as boys from 
 the beginning, and some soon became exclusively female. 
 When it became evident from the work of the academies 
 that sex differences were not of as great importance as had 
 been supposed, it was not a long step to higher education. 
 Some of the academies added a year or two to the curric- 
 ulum and took on the more dignified name of " seminary." 
 In this transition period the influence of a few great per- 
 sonalities was profound, and even a brief sketch of the his- 
 tory of women's education cannot omit to mention the splen- 
 did work of Emma Willard and Mary Lyon. Mrs. Willard 
 was an exponent of the belief that freedom of development 
 for the individual was the greatest desideratum for human- 
 ity. She not only diffused this idea in her addresses and 
 writings but tried to utilize it in the establishment in 1814 
 of the Troy Female Seminary, which was the forerunner of 
 many others throughout the country. Mary Lyon was rather 
 the representative of the religious influence in education, the 
 embodiment of the belief that to do one's duty is the great 
 purpose in life. In 1837 she founded Mount Holyoke Sem- 
 inary, which had an influence of inestimable value in send- 
 ing well-equipped women throughout the country as teach- 
 ers. The importance of this service was particularly evi- 
 dent during the period of the Civil War. 
 
 Although a number of excellent institutions for women 
 bearing the name of college were founded before the Civil 
 War, the first one of really highest rank was Vassar College, 
 which opened its doors to students in 1865. Smith and Wel- 
 lesley were founded in 1875, and Bryn Mawr in 1885. 
 These four colleges are in every respect the equal of the 
 best colleges for men. They are the most important of a 
 dozen independent colleges for women, almost all of which 
 are situated in the East. To establish the independent col- 
 lege was the chief method adopted in the older parts of the 
 country to solve the problem of women's higher education, 
 
20 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The develop- 
 ment of co- 
 education 
 
 The af- 
 filiated col- 
 lege for 
 women 
 
 Graduate 
 and pro- 
 fessional 
 studies for 
 women 
 
 rather than to reorganize colleges for men where conditions 
 were already established. 
 
 The independent college is not the method that has pre- 
 vailed in the West. When the inspiration to higher educa- 
 tion for women arrived west of the Alleghanies, conditions, 
 especially lack of resources, practically necessitated coedu- 
 cation. Oberlin, founded in 1834, was the first fully co- 
 educational institution of college grade in the world. In 
 1841 three women received from it the bachelor's degree, 
 the first to get it. Oberlin's success had a pronounced influ- 
 ence on the state universities, which, it was argued, should 
 be open and free to all citizens, since they were supported by 
 public taxation. Almost all the state universities and the 
 great majority of the colleges .and universities on private 
 foundations are today coeducational. The results predicted 
 by pessimists, viz., that the physical health of women would 
 suffer, that their intellectual capacity would depreciate 
 scholarship, and that the interests of the family would be 
 menaced, have not eventuated. 
 
 The spread of coeducation in the state universities of the 
 West and the South and its presence in the newer private 
 universities like Cornell and Chicago had an influence upon 
 the older universities of the East. This influence has re- 
 sulted in a third method of solving the problem of women's 
 education; viz., the establishment of the affiliated college. 
 Several universities have established women's colleges, 
 sometimes under the same and sometimes under a different 
 board of trustees, to provide the collegiate education for 
 women which is given to men by the undergraduate depart- 
 ments. Barnard College, affiliated with Columbia Univer- 
 sity, Radcliffe College, affiliated with Harvard University, 
 Woman's College, affiliated with Brown University, the Col- 
 lege for Women, affiliated with the Western Reserve Uni- 
 versity, and the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for 
 Women, affiliated with Tulane University, have all been 
 founded within the past forty years. 
 
 All the universities for men except Princeton and Johns 
 Hopkins and all the fully coeducational institutions admit 
 
Fraternities 
 
 History and Present Tendencies 21 
 
 women upon the same terms as men to graduate work. 
 Graduate work is also undertaken with excellent results in 
 some of the independent women's colleges, as at Bryn Mawr. 
 Professional education for women has been coeducational 
 from the beginning, with the exception of medicine. The 
 prejudice against coeducation in that profession was so 
 strong that five women's medical schools were organized, 
 but they provide instruction for little more than a quarter 
 of the women medical students. The increase in the num- 
 ber of women in professional schools has not by any means 
 kept pace with the increase in the colleges. It appears 
 that, with the exception of teaching, woman is not to be a 
 very important f»actor in the learned professions in the near 
 future. 
 
 Nothing differentiates more clearly the American college Under- 
 from European institutions of higher education than the iife — 
 kind of non-scholastic activities undertaken by the students. 
 From the very beginning the college became a place of resi- 
 dence as well as of study for students from a distance, and 
 the dormitory was an essential element in its life. With 
 increase in numbers, especially after the Revolution, when 
 all distinctions of birth or family were abolished, students 
 naturally divided into groups. The first fraternity. Phi 
 Beta Kappa, was founded in 1776 at William and Mary, 
 with a patriotic and literary purpose, and membership in 
 it has practically ever since been confined to graduates who 
 have attained high scholastic standing. When one speaks 
 of college fraternities, however, he does not refer to $ B K, 
 but to one of the intercollegiate social organizations which 
 have chapters in several colleges organized somewhat upon 
 the plan of a club and whose members live in a chapter 
 , house. The first such fraternity was founded at Yale in 
 1821, but it was limited to the senior class. The three fra- 
 ternities established at Union in 1825-1827 form the founda- 
 tion of the present system. The fraternities spread rapidly 
 and are today very numerous. There are about thirty of na- 
 tional importance, having about a thousand chapters and a 
 quarter of a million members. The fraternity system is 
 
22 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Eeligious 
 life 
 
 Physical 
 education 
 
 bitterly attacked as being undemocratic, expensive, empha- 
 sizing social rather than scholastic attainments, and, gener- 
 ally speaking, a divisive rather than a unifying factor in 
 college life. Hence some colleges have abolished it. Fra- 
 ternities have been defended, however, as promoting close 
 fellowship and even helping to develop character. So 
 strongly are they entrenched, not only in undergraduate but 
 also in alumni affection, that they probably form a perma- 
 nent element in college life. 
 
 The early American college was primarily a place to 
 prepare for the ministry, and personal piety was a matter 
 of official enforcement. For a number of reasons religious 
 zeal declined in the eighteenth century. After the Revolu- 
 tion, under the influence of the new political theories and of 
 French skepticism the percentage of students professing to 
 be active Christians fell very low. In the early nineteenth 
 century the interest of students in religion increased, and 
 religious organizations in a number of colleges were 
 founded. Practically all of these later gave way to the 
 Young Men's Christian Association, which has now over 
 50,000 members organized in almost all the colleges of the 
 country save the Roman Catholic. The religious interests 
 of Roman Catholic students are in many colleges served by 
 the Newman Clubs and similar organizations, and of Jewish 
 students by the Menorah Society. The religion of college 
 students has become less a matter of form and speech and 
 more a matter of service — social service of many kinds 
 at home and missionary service abroad. 
 
 The educational reformers of Europe in the late eight- 
 eenth and early nineteenth centuries placed great emphasis 
 upon a more complete physical training. This interest was 
 felt in the United States, and simple gymnastic apparatus 
 was set up at Harvard and Yale in 1826. The movement 
 spread very slowly, however, due probably to ignorance of 
 its real physiological import. Since the Civil War the de- 
 velopment of the gymnastic system has been rapid, and 
 now practically every first-class college has its gymnasium, 
 attendance upon which is compulsory, and some have their 
 
History and Present Tendencies 23 
 
 stadium and natatorium. Of independent origin but hast- 
 ened by the spread of the gymnasium is the vast athletic in- 
 terest of undergraduates. Its earliest form, conducted on a 
 considerable scale, was rowing. The first rowing club was 
 formed at Yale in 1843, and the first intercollegiate race was 
 rowed on Lake Winnepesaukee in 1852, Harvard defeating 
 Yale. Rowing is now a form of athletics at every college 
 where facilities permit. The first baseball nine was formed 
 at Princeton in 1859, and the game spread rapidly to all the 
 other colleges. Football in a desultory and unorganized 
 way made its appearance early in the nineteenth century. 
 As early as 1840 an annual game was played at Yale be- 
 tween the freshmen and the sophomores, but the establish- 
 ment of a regular football association dates from 1872, also 
 at Yale. In the following year an intercollegiate organiza- 
 tion was formed, and since then football has increased in 
 popularity at the colleges to such an extent that just as base- 
 ball has become the great national game, so has football be- 
 come the great American collegiate game. Track athletics 
 is the most recent form of athletic sports to be introduced 
 into the college, and most colleges now have their field 
 days. In addition to these four major forms of college 
 sports, tennis, lacrosse, basketball, and swimming also have 
 a prominent place. The four major sports are usually un- 
 der the control of special athletic associations, which spend 
 large sums of money and have a great influence with the 
 students. In fact, so great has become the interest of col- 
 lege students in athletics that much fear has been expressed 
 about its influence upon scholastic work, and voices are not 
 lacking demanding its curtailment.^ Military training is a 
 phase of physical education which, though it had earlier 
 found a place in the land-grant institutions, came to the fore 
 as a part of the colleges' contribution to winning the world 
 war. Students' Army Training Corps were established at 
 many of the higher institutions of the country, and the aca- 
 demic studies were made to correlate with the military work 
 as a nucleus. At the present time, however, the colleges are 
 1 W. T. Foster in N. E. A. Reports, 1915. 
 
24 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Student 
 literary ac- 
 tivities — 
 College 
 journalism 
 
 Student 
 self-govern- 
 ment 
 
 putting their work back on a pre-war basis, and it seems 
 most unlikely that military training will survive as a cor- 
 porate part of their work. 
 
 Journalism, though its actual performance is limited to a 
 small number of students, has had an honored place as an 
 undergraduate activity for almost a hundred years. It 
 served first as a means of developing literary ability among 
 the students, afterwards as a vehicle for college news, and 
 now there has been added to these purposes the uniting of 
 alumni and undergraduates. Hence we find among college 
 journals dailies, monthlies, and quarterlies, .some of them 
 humorous and some with a serious literary purpose. Jour- 
 nalism is not the only method of expressing undergraduate 
 thought. There has been a great revival of intracollegiate 
 and of intercollegiate debating in recent years. Literary 
 societies for debating the great issues preceding the Revolu- 
 tion was the first development of undergraduate life, and 
 every college before and after the Revolution had strong 
 societies. As undergraduate interests increased in number, 
 and especially as the fra«ternity system began to spread, de- 
 bating societies assumed a relatively less important place, 
 but in the past two decades great interest has been revived 
 in them. The glee club, or choral society, along with the 
 college orchestra, minister to the specialized interests of 
 some students, and the dramatic association to those of 
 others. One significant result of such activities has been 
 to establish a nexus between the college and community 
 life. 
 
 One other feature of undergraduate life cannot be over- 
 looked; viz., student self-government. The college student 
 today is two or three years older than was his predecessor 
 of fifty or sixty years ago. Moreover, with the great in- 
 crease in the number of students has come a parallel in- 
 crease in complexity of administration and in the duties 
 of the college professor. Finally, a sounder psychology 
 has taught the wisdom of placing in the hands of the stu- 
 dents the control of many activities which they can supervise 
 better than the faculty. As a result of these and of other 
 
History and Present Tendencies 25 
 
 influences, in many colleges today all extra-scholastic activi- 
 ties are either supervised by the student council, the mem- 
 bers of which are elected by the students, or by a joint body 
 of student and faculty members. The eff'ect in almost every 
 instance has been the diminution of friction between the fac- 
 ulty and students and the development of better relations be- 
 tween them. In some colleges the honor system is found, 
 under which even proctoring at examinations does not exist, 
 as all disciplinary matters, including the decision in serious 
 offenses like cheating, rest with the student council. Stu- 
 dent self-government is only one evidence of the democra- 
 tization that has taken place in the administration of the col- 
 lege during the past two decades. Even more noticeable 
 than student self-government is the tendency recently mani- 
 fested to transfer more of the control of the government of 
 the college from the board of trustees to the faculty. 
 
 With the extension of commerce and the attempt to bring 
 it under efficient organization in the nineteenth century, the 
 demand has been made upon the colleges to train experts in 
 this field. Germany was the first to engage in it, and just 
 before the war probably led the world. France and Eng- 
 land have remained relatively indifferent. In America, the 
 so-called " business college " proved entirely too narrow in 
 scope, and beginning with the Wharton School of Finance 
 and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania (1881), 
 the higher institutions have begun to train for this import- 
 ant field. Some of the colleges of commerce, like those of 
 Dartmouth and Harvard, demand extensive liberal prepara- 
 tion; others, like Wharton and the schools connected with 
 the state universities, coordinate their liberal and vocational 
 work; a few, like that of New York University, give 
 almost exclusive attention to the practical element. 
 
 Two other movements might be mentioned as illustrat- 
 ing the attempt to extend the opportunity for higher edu- 
 cation to an ever increasing number of people. One 
 
 the development of extension courses and the other 
 
 IS 
 
 New oppor- 
 tunities in 
 higher edu- 
 cation 
 
 the offering of evening work 
 the regular sessions. These 
 
 to 
 are 
 
 those who cannot attend 
 both steps in the direc- 
 
26 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The future 
 of the col- 
 lege in 
 American 
 education — 
 Relation to 
 secondary 
 schools 
 
 The junior 
 college 
 
 tion of equality of opportunity which is the ultimate aim 
 of education in a democratic country. 
 
 The college preceded the high school in time, and when 
 the high school began its career in the middle of the 
 nineteenth century it was made tributary to the college 
 in all essentials. By deciding requirements for admis- 
 sion, the college practically prescribed the curriculum 
 of the high school; by conducting examinations itself it 
 practically determined methods of teaching in the high 
 school. But a remarkable change in these respects has 
 taken place in the past two decades. The high school, 
 which is almost omnipresent in our country, has attained 
 independence and today organizes its curricula without 
 much reference to the college. If there be any domina- 
 tion in college entrance requirements today, it is rather 
 the high school that dominates. Over a large part of 
 the country, especially in states maintaining state universi- 
 ties, there are now no examinations for entrance to college. 
 The college accepts all graduates of accredited high 
 schools — i. e., high schools that the state university de- 
 cides maintain proper secondary standards. This growth 
 in strength and independence has been accompanied by a 
 lengthening of the high school course from two years 
 in the middle of the last century to four years at the 
 present time. 
 
 With the introduction of the principle of promotion by 
 subject instead of by class, the strong high schools have 
 been enabled to undertake to teach subjects in their last 
 years which were formerly taught in the first years of the 
 college. They have done this so well that the practice 
 has grown up in some parts of the country, especially on 
 the Pacific Coast, of extending the course of the high 
 school to six years and of completing in them the work 
 of the first two years of college. This enables more 
 young men and women throughout the state to receive 
 collegiate education, and as the best-equipped teachers 
 in the high schools are usually in the last years and the 
 worst-equipped teachers in the college are usually in the 
 
Histof'ij and Present Tendencies 27 
 
 first years, the system makes for better education. More- 
 over, it relieves the state universities of the crowds of 
 students in the first two years and permits overworked pro- 
 fessors to concentrate upon the advanced work of the last 
 two years and upon research work in the graduate schools. 
 A system which offers so many advantages and is so pop- 
 ular both in the high, school and the university bids fair to 
 spread. 
 
 While the movement makinar for the elimination of the Theajbre- 
 
 . 1 . xvT viated and 
 
 college from below has been taking place in the West, condensed 
 
 another movement having the same effect has been taking l^^j^^se 
 place in the East, only the pressure has been from above. 
 The tendency is spreading for the professional schools of 
 the strong universities to demand a college degree for ad- 
 mission. If the full four years of the college are de- 
 manded in addition to the four years of the secondary 
 school and the eight years of the elementary school, the 
 great majority of students will begin their professional 
 education at twenty-two and their professional careers at 
 twenty-six, and they will hardly be self-supporting before 
 thirty. This seems an unreasonably long period of prepa- 
 ration compared to that required in other progressive 
 countries. The German student, for example, begins his 
 professional studies immediately upon graduation from the 
 gymnasium at eighteen. Hence the demand has arisen 
 for a shortening of the college course. This demand has 
 been met in several ways. In some colleges the courses 
 have been arranged in such a way that the bright and in- 
 dustrious student may complete the work required for 
 graduation in three years. In others, as at Harvard, the 
 student may elect in his senior year the studies of the 
 first year of the professional school. Another tendency 
 in the same direction is to permit students in the junior 
 and even in the sophomore years to elect subjects of a 
 vocational nature. This has been bitterly contested by 
 those who hold that the minimum essentials of liberal 
 culture should be acquired before vocational specialization 
 begins. Columbia permits a student to complete his college 
 
28 College Teaching 
 
 and professional studies in six years, and at the end of that 
 time he receives both the bachelor's and the professional 
 degrees. 
 
 It is to be noted, however, that these solutions of the 
 problem and, in fact, most other solutions that have been 
 suggested, apply only to a college connected with a univer- 
 sity; they could not be administered in the independent 
 college. But a movement has developed in the Middle 
 West which may result in another solution ; i. e., the Junior 
 College. It can be best understood by reference to the 
 policy of the University of Chicago. That institution 
 divides its undergraduate course into two parts: a Junior 
 College of two years, the completion of whose course brings 
 with it the title of Associate in Arts, and a Senior College 
 of two years, the completion of whose course is rewarded 
 with the regular bachelor's degree. There have become 
 affiliated with the University of Chicago a considerable 
 number of colleges throughout the Mississippi Valley which 
 have frankly become Junior Colleges and confine their 
 work to the freshman and sophomore years. And this has 
 become true of other universities. It would seem inevitable 
 that the bachelor's degree will finally be granted at the 
 end of the Junior College and some other degree, perhaps 
 the master's, which has an anomalous place in American 
 education in any case, at the end of the Senior College, 
 This has, in fact, been suggested by President Butler. The 
 University of Chicago has also struck out in another new 
 direction. Provided a certain amount of work is done 
 in residence at the University, the remainder may be com- 
 pleted in absentia, i. e., through correspondence courses. 
 
 The Junior College movement has had the excellent re- 
 sult of inducing many weak colleges to confine their work 
 to what they really can afford to do. Many parts of our 
 country have a surplus of colleges, chiefly denominational. 
 Ohio alone has more than fifty. The cost of maintaining 
 dormitories, laboratories, libraries, apparatus, and other 
 equipment and paying respectable salaries cannot be met 
 by the tuition fees in any college. The college must either 
 
History and Present Tendencies 29 
 
 have a large income-producing endowment, which few have, 
 or must receive gifts sufficient to meet expenses. Gifts to 
 colleges and universities form one of the finest evidences 
 of interest in higher education in the United States, and 
 reach really colossal proportions. In the past fifty years, 
 during which this form of generosity has prevailed, over 
 600 million dollars have been given, and in 1914 gifts from 
 private sources amounted to more than 30 million dollars. 
 Most of this money is given to the non-sectarian institu- 
 tions and not to the small denominational colleges 
 scattered over the country. As they are in addition unable 
 to compete with the state universities, they are for every 
 reason justified in becoming Junior ' Colleges. But this 
 does not apply to the old independent colleges, such as 
 Amherst, Williams, Dartmouth, etc., which have loyal 
 and wealthy alumni associations. They have the support 
 necessary to retain the four-year course and seem deter- 
 mined to do so. 
 
 Just what the outcome of the whole question of short- 
 ening the college course may be is not now evident. That 
 concessions in time must be made to the demand for an 
 earlier beginning of professional education seems certain. 
 That the saving should be made in the college course is 
 not so certain. A sounder pedagogy seems to indicate that 
 one year, if not two, can be saved in the period from the 
 sixth to the eighteenth year. It is probable that the 
 arbitrary division of American education into elementary, 
 secondary, collegiate, and university, each with a stated 
 number of years, will give way to a real unification of the 
 educational process. Most Americans would regret to see 
 the college, the unique product of American education, 
 which has had such an honorable part in the development 
 of our civilization, disappear in the unifying process. 
 
 Stephen Pierce Duggan 
 
 College of the City of New York 
 
30 College Teaching 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 The bibliography on the American college is almost inexhaustible. 
 The list here given is confined to the best books that have appeared 
 since 1900. 
 
 Angell, J, B. Selected Addresses. New York, 1912. 
 Association of American Universities. Proceedings of the Annual 
 
 Conference. 
 Butler, N. M. Education in the United States. New York, 1900. 
 Cattell, J. M. University Control. New York, 1913. 
 Crawford, W. H. (editor) . The American College. New York, 
 
 1915. (Papers by Faunce, Shorey, Haskins, Rhees, Thwing, 
 
 Finley, Few, Slocum, Meiklejohn, Claxton.) 
 Cyclopedia of Education, article on " American College.'" New 
 
 York, 1911. 
 Dexter, E. G. History of Education in the United States. New 
 
 York, 1904. 
 Draper, A. S. American Education. Boston, 1909. 
 Flexner, a. The American College: A Criticism. General Educa- 
 tion Board, New York, 1908. 
 Foster, W. T. Administration of the College Curriculum.. Boston, 
 
 1911. 
 Harper, W. R. The Trend in Higher Education. Chicago, 1905. 
 Kingsley, C. D. College Entrance Requirements. United States 
 
 Bureau of Education, 1913. 
 MacLean, G. E. Present Standards of Higher Education in the 
 
 United States. United States Bureau of Education, 1913. 
 National Association of State Universities in the United States of 
 
 America. Annual Transactions and Proceedings. 
 Risk, R. K. America at College. London, 1908. 
 Snow, L. F. College Curriculum in the United States. New York, 
 
 1907. 
 Thwing, C. F. History of Higher Education in the United States. 
 
 New York, 1906. 
 
 The American College; What It Is and What It May Become. 
 
 New York, 1914. 
 
 College Administration. New York, 1900. 
 
 West, A. F. Short Papers on American Liberal Education. New 
 York, 1907. 
 
II 
 
 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR COLLEGE 
 TEACHING 
 
 WERE this chapter to be a discussion of schemes of introduction 
 training, now in operation, that had been devised to 
 prepare teachers for colleges, it could not be written, 
 for there are no such schemes. Many elementary and 
 secondary teachers have undergone training for their life 
 work, as investigators have, by a different regimen, of 
 course, for theirs. But if college and university teachers 
 do their work well, it is because they are born with com- 
 petence for their calling, or were self-taught, or happened 
 to grow into competence accidentally, as a by-product of 
 training for other and partly alien ends, or learned to teach 
 by teaching. 
 
 There are able college men, presidents and others, who 
 view this situation with equanimity, if not with satisfaction. 
 Teachers are born, not made, it is said. Can pedagogy 
 furnish better teachers than specialized scholarly training? 
 it is asked. If we train definitely for teaching, we shall 
 diminish scholarship, cramp and warp native teaching 
 faculty, and mechanize our class procedure, it is objected. 
 
 Had the subject of training for college teaching been 
 discussed, no doubt other objections would have been ad- 
 vanced. But it has not been discussed, as will be seen 
 from the very scant bibliography at the end of the chapter. 
 No plan of training for college teaching is in operation, 
 and no discussion of such a plan can be found. Each 
 of a half-dozen men has argued his individual views, and 
 elicited no reply. 
 
 This state of facts notwithstanding, the subject is well 
 worth discussing, and one may even venture to prophesy 
 that in a decade, or at latest two, the subject will have 
 a respectable literature, and enough training plans will be 
 in operation to permit fruitful comparisons. 
 
 31 
 
32 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 How the 
 college 
 teacher 
 has been 
 and is 
 trained 
 
 When specific training is first urged for specialized work, 
 there always is opposition. The outgoing generation re- 
 members the opposition to specialized training for law, 
 medicine, and engineering, to say nothing of farming, 
 school teaching and business. But in spite of obstructive 
 and retarding objections, specialized types of training for 
 specialized types of work have grown in number and favor, 
 and today we are being shown convincingly that nations 
 which have declined to set up the fundamental types of 
 special training find themselves able to make effective only 
 a fraction of their resources. The majority of the per- 
 sonnel in every higher calling has about average native 
 aptitude for it, and it is just the average man who can 
 be improved in competence for any work by training 
 directed to that end rather than to another. This is, of 
 course, true of college teaching. 
 
 In early days in this country the great majority of college 
 teachers were clergymen, trained in most cases abroad. 
 Later bookish graduates came to be the chief source of 
 supply, their appointment in their own colleges, and in- 
 frequently in others, following close upon their graduation. 
 Well into the third quarter of last century college faculties 
 were selected almost exclusively from these two types, 
 representatives of the former decreasing and of the latter 
 increasing in relative number. Neither type was specifi- 
 cally trained for teaching in colleges or elsewhere. 
 
 With the founding and developing of Johns Hopkins 
 University a new era in higher education opened in this 
 country. The paucity of exact scholarship came to be 
 known, and the country's need of scholarship to be ap- 
 preciated. In colleges grown from English seedlings we 
 sought to implant grafts from German universities. In- 
 dependent colleges and colleges within universities, while 
 still called upon by American traditions and needs to pre- 
 pare their students for enlightened living by means of a 
 broadening and liberating training, came to be manned 
 preponderatingly by narrowly specialized investigators, 
 withdrawn from everyday life, with concentrated interests 
 
Training for College Teaching 33 
 
 focused upon subjects or parts of subjects, rather than upon 
 students. Little thought was, or is yet, given to the prepa- 
 ration of college teachers for their duties as teachers, 
 and that little rested, and still in large measure rests, 
 satisfied with the assumption that by some unexplained and 
 it may be inexplicable transfer of competence a man 
 closeted and intensively trained to search for truth in books 
 and laboratories emerges after three or more years well 
 equipped for divining and developing the mental processes 
 and interests of freshmen. 
 
 Once fairly examined, this assumption lacks plausibility. 
 " We consider the Ph.D. a scholar's degree and not a 
 teacher's degree," says the dean of one of our leading 
 graduate schools, and yet preparation for this scholar's 
 degree has been and is practically the only formal prepara- 
 tion open to college teachers in this country. 
 
 It goes without saying that scholarship is one of the Equipment 
 basal needs of college teachers, a scholarship that keeps college 
 alive, and is human and contagious. But it should be re- teachers 
 membered that there are several kinds of scholarship, and 
 it is pertinent to ask what kind college teachers need. 
 Should they, for instance, model themselves on the broad 
 shrewdness and alluring scholarly mellowness of James 
 Russell Lowell or on the untiring encyclopedic exactitude 
 and minuteness of Von Helmholz? Or is there an even 
 better ideal or ideals for them? I would suggest that the 
 teacher's knowledge of his subject should, essentially, be 
 of a kind that would keep him in intellectual sympathy 
 with the undeveloped minds of his students, and this means 
 chiefly two things. The more points of contact of his 
 knowledge with the past experience and future plans of his 
 students the teacher has at his command, the better teacher 
 he will be; for he can use them, not as resting places, but 
 as points of departure for the development of phases of 
 his subject outside the students' experience. And secondly, 
 the teacher should see his subject entire, with its parts, 
 as rich in number and detail as possible, each in its proper 
 place within the whole. For the students' knowledge of 
 
34 College Teaching 
 
 the subject is vague and general; he is trying to place it, 
 and many other new things, in some kind of a coherent 
 setting; in fact, he is in college largely for the very purpose 
 of working out some sort of rudimentary scheme of things. 
 The duty of the college teacher is to help him in thi^ 
 quite as much as to teach him a particular subject. And, 
 besides, each particular subject can be best taught if ad- 
 vantage is taken of every opportunity to attach it to the 
 only knowledge of it the student has, vague and general 
 though it be. Highly specialized and dehumanized knowl- 
 edge is not as useful for the college teacher as broad and 
 vital knowledge, which is, of course, much harder to ac- 
 quire. Even in the case of " disciplinary " subjects, there 
 is no gain in concealing the human bearings. The teacher 
 should be trained to seize opportunities in the classroom 
 and out to help the student, through his subject and his 
 maturer life experience, to see the bearing of what he is 
 learning on the life about him and on the life he is to lead. 
 This is the college teacher's richest opportunity and the 
 opportunity that tries him most shrewdly. If he is to rise 
 to it, his entire equipment, native and acquired, must come 
 into play. 
 
 What else does the teacher need? So that he may select 
 the best and continue to improve them, he needs a knowl- 
 edge of the different methods and aims in the teaching of 
 his subject, and, so far as possible, of the results attained 
 by each. Too much of college teaching is a blind groping, 
 chartless and without compass. Instead of expecting each 
 inexperienced teacher to start afresh, he should set out 
 armed with the epitomized and digested teaching experience 
 of those that have gone before him. 
 
 Finally, the teacher needs a sympathetic and expert 
 understanding of the thinking and feeling of college 
 students. This should be his controlling interest. The 
 teacher, his interest in his subject, and in all else except the 
 student, should be instrumental, not final. Every avail- 
 able strand of continuity between studenthood and teacher- 
 hood should thereafter be preserved. 
 
Training for College Teaching 35 
 
 This need suggests a capital weakness of the training 
 for the doctorate in philosophy as a preparation for teach- 
 ing. As it proceeds it shifts the interest from under- 
 graduate student to scholarly specialty, and steadily snaps 
 the ties that bound the budding investigator to his college 
 days. It also explains the greatness of some college 
 teachers and personalities before the eighties. Their de- 
 grees in arts were their licenses to teach. They suffered 
 no drastic loss of touch with undergraduate thought and 
 life. In the early years of their teaching this sympathetic 
 and kindly understanding was fresh and strong, and they 
 used it in their classroom and wove it into the tissue of 
 their tutorial activities. A discerning observer of college 
 faculties can even today discover in them men and women 
 who entered them by the same door as these great ones of 
 old, irregularly as we would say now, — without the hall- 
 mark, and whose good teaching is a surprise to their 
 doctored colleagues. In one institution I know of, the best 
 five teachers some years ago were all of this type. The 
 training of college teachers might well, it therefore seems, 
 include an apprenticeship, beginning with, or in exceptional 
 cases before, graduation from college. 
 
 But the duties and opportunities of the college teacher The college 
 do not stop at the door leading from his classroom. In and admin- 
 
 addition to dealing directly with students, individually 
 and in groups, and even, if possible, with their families, 
 as he grows in service he becomes, as faculty member and 
 committeeman, a college legislator and administrator. In 
 exercising these important functions he needs the equip- 
 ment that would aid him to take the central point of view, 
 a background of scholarly knowledge of what education in 
 general and college education in particular are in their 
 methods and in their social functions and purposes. There 
 is too much departmental logrolling as well as too much 
 beating of the air in faculty meetings, and too many excur- 
 sions into the blue in faculty legislation and administra- 
 tion arrangements. The educational views of faculty 
 members greatly need to be steadied, ordered, and ap- 
 
 istrator 
 
36 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 A tenta- 
 tive scheme 
 of training 
 for college 
 teachers 
 
 preciably broadened and deepened by a developed and 
 trained habit of thinking educationally under the safe- 
 guards of scientific method and on the basis of an adequate 
 supply of facts. That pedagogy has made but the smallest 
 beginning of gathering and ordering such facts and de- 
 veloping a scientific method in this field is not a valid 
 objection. These tasks are no more difficult than others 
 that have been compared, as they will be, the sooner for 
 being imposed. 
 
 It is significant that coincident with sharp and wide- 
 spread criticism of the American college (justified in part 
 by what college teachers have been made into by their 
 training) , appear demands on the part of faculties for 
 more power. In this connection it may be remembered 
 that autocracy is the simplest and easiest form of govern- 
 ment, and that history shows that it can at least be made 
 to work with less brains and training than are required 
 for the working of democracy. As American colleges and 
 universities have grown in complexity and responsibility, 
 their faculties have lost power because they did not acquire 
 the larger competence that was the indispensable condi- 
 tion of even reasonably successful democratic control. It 
 is highly desirable that the power of faculties should in- 
 crease to the point of preponderance. But the added power 
 they will probably acquire, will not be retained unless 
 faculty members learn their business much better than they 
 now know it in most institutions. Thomas Jefferson, when 
 asked which would come to dominate, the states or the 
 federal government, replied that in the long run each of 
 the opposed pair would prevail in the functions in which 
 it proved the more competent. 
 
 To outline a scheme of such importance without any 
 experience to examine as a basis is a very bold undertaking, 
 and one that can hope for but partial success. What I 
 shall propose, however, is similar to the proposals of 
 Pitkin (5), Home (11), and Wolfe (14), my only 
 predecessors in this rash enterprise. The general spirit 
 and purpose of our proposals are the same. But we dis- 
 
Training for College Teaching 37 
 
 agree more or less in details — which is fortunate, as it 
 may encourage discussion of the subject, which is the thing 
 most needed. Indeed, a lively sense of this need has led 
 me to venture some unpopular assertions. It may also be 
 admitted that the desiderata for teachers mentioned above 
 are not likely to be all insured by any system of training. 
 
 The proposal submitted for discussion is that a three- 
 year graduate course be established, its spirit and purpose 
 being to train young men to become college teachers. 
 This course should lead to a doctorate; e. g., to the degree 
 of Doctor of Philosophy, or of Doctor of Philosophy in 
 Teaching, or of Docendi Doctor. What degree is selected 
 is, in the long run, relatively unimportant, provided the 
 course is soundly conducive to its end. 
 
 The course might well be divided into three parts, having 
 the approximate relative value in time and effort of two 
 fifths, two fifths, and one fifth. These parts should pro- 
 ceed simultaneously throughout the three years, the first 
 being an apprenticeship — under supervision, of course — 
 in the functions of the college teacher, the second a broad 
 course of study and investigation of the subject to be taught, 
 and the third a course of pedagogical study and investiga- 
 tion. Let me suggest a minimum of detail within these 
 outlines. 
 
 The apprentice teacher would, naturally, do the least 
 classroom teaching during his first year, and the most 
 during his last. He would also each year " advise " a 
 group of freshman in studies and in life, or cooperate with 
 students in the conduct of athletics, dramatics, publication 
 work, or other " activities." On all this apprentice work 
 he would report, and in all he would be guided and super- 
 vised appropriately by the department whose subject he 
 was teaching, by the department of education, and by other 
 departments concerned. This and other parts of the train- 
 ing would attract others in addition to narrowly bookish 
 graduates, something much to be desired (other parts would 
 eliminate those not bookish enough), and would tend to 
 keep alive in all apprentices an interest in students, 
 
38 College Teaching 
 
 especially in student character, and to prevent them from 
 thinking of students as disembodied minds. 
 
 The course of study and investigation in the subject to 
 be taught should be based on adequate undergraduate work 
 in the same and allied fields, and should be something 
 like the honor course in Oxford or Cambridge (or our 
 old M.A. course) in its conduct and purpose; it should 
 hark back to our collegiate origin in England. The work 
 should be in charge of a don, a widely and wisely read 
 and a very human guide, philosopher, and friend. Stated 
 class meetings and precise count of hours of attendance 
 should receive little emphasis. But wide reading of the 
 subject, in a spirit that breeds contagion, running off 
 into a study, in books, laboratories, and meetings, of the 
 human and practical bearings of the subject, should be re- 
 quired, and enough conference with the don should be had 
 to enable him to judge and criticize the student's plan 
 and amount of work, to test his mettle in handling the 
 subject, and to aid him to grasp it as a whole and in its 
 chief subdivisions, and to get glimpses of its bearings on 
 and place in human life. This part of the training should 
 lead up to and culminate in a thesis dealing with some 
 major phase of the subject comprehendingly in its setting 
 and connections. Naturally this program could be carried 
 out most successfully with the social subjects, which lend 
 themselves easily to culture, like history or philosophy, 
 and less completely with the exact subjects, which are better 
 fitted for precise discipline, like mathematics. But if 
 treated, as far as possible, after the manner indicated, even 
 the latter could be made better instruments for the training 
 of college teachers than they are now in narrow specializa- 
 tion for the Ph.D degree. Among returning Rhodes 
 scholars some excellent material for dons could be 
 found. 
 
 The fifth of the course directed to pedagogy should in- 
 clude a very brief study of the methods of teaching the 
 chosen subject, with glimpses into teaching methods in 
 general; and courses in the history and philosophy of edu- 
 
Training for College Teaching 39 
 
 cation, with emphasis on, but by no means exclusive deal- 
 ing with, the educational and social functions of the college. 
 It might include an intensive investigation of some rela- 
 tively simple college problem in preparation for future 
 faculty membership. All this should, of course, be in- 
 timately articulated with the student's apprenticeship work. 
 Such a course of pedagogical study should furnish a basis 
 for better teaching methods and for helpful self-criticism 
 therein ; should encourage the formation of a habit of think- 
 ing and working out educational problems scientifically 
 with eyes open to the purpose of the college as a whole; 
 and should discourage departmental selfishness in legisla- 
 tion and administration. 
 
 The college would, under this plan, have some of its incidental 
 teaching done at minimum cost by student teachers, who 
 should receive only the graduate scholarship or fellow- 
 ship now customary for Ph.D. candidates. Care would be 
 necessary to prevent the assignment to them of mere routine 
 hackwork without training value. It is safe to say that, 
 though slightly less mature, their services, being super- 
 vised, would be more valuable than those rendered during 
 their first few years of teaching by most better-paid winners 
 of the doctorate of philosophy, who, if they do so at all, 
 grope their way to usefulness as teachers, with little aid 
 from others more experienced. 
 
 With good teaching prepared for, required, and 
 adequately rewarded (a point to be developed later), 
 somewhat longer schedules could properly be assigned and 
 further economy effected. Schedules would, of course, 
 have to be kept short enough to allow ample time for 
 reading, for some writing, and for faculty and committee 
 work in later years. But time would not be required by 
 college teachers for specialized research, and the freedom 
 from such tasks resulting for them would be a blessed 
 relief to many who are now compelled to assume a virtue 
 they have not, and to conceal the love of teaching they have. 
 And when we bear in mind the heavy mass of uninspired 
 and unimportant hackwork that is now dumped on the 
 
40 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Consequent 
 change of 
 plan in ap- 
 pointments 
 and promo- 
 tions 
 
 scholarly world, we shall welcome the prospect of a light- 
 ened burden for ourselves. 
 
 The need of students, especially of freshmen, for advis- 
 ers is widely recognized. They come into a new freedom 
 exercised in a new environment. This makes for bewilder- 
 ment that involves loss of precious time and opportunities, 
 and presents perils which involve possible injuries to many 
 and certain injuries to some. Efforts, many and various, 
 to constitute a body of advisers chosen from among faculty 
 members have met with but little success. With few ex- 
 ceptions the task is not congenial to those who now man 
 our faculties, and for that and other reasons they are ill 
 fitted for it. But a greater measure of success has been 
 attained, even under present conditions, when the coopera- 
 tion of volunteers from among seniors and graduate 
 students has been had. This suggests that the problem 
 might come nearer solution when some dependence came 
 to be placed upon the services of apprentices. Such serv- 
 ice would be a part of their regular work having a bear- 
 ing on their future career, and would therefore be super- 
 vised and rest on sustained interest and the consciousness 
 that it was counting. 
 
 Finally, young student teachers would, under proper en- 
 couragement and arrangement, help materially to bridge 
 the gulf, that is broader than is wholesome, between a 
 faculty of mature men and young students. The mixing 
 of these different generations, so far as possible, is much 
 to be desired, difficult as it is to accomplish. 
 
 This is not the place to discuss the details of appointment 
 and promotion plans, interesting and important as they 
 are. But it is evident that the scheme of training outlined, 
 if adopted, would call for changes in present practices. 
 
 The appointing authorities of colleges looking for young 
 teachers could ascertain their strong and weak points as 
 they developed during their apprenticeship in classrooms 
 and in other educational activities, as well as the quality 
 and trend of their scholarship. They would not rest satis- 
 fied with ascertaining the minute corner of the field of 
 
T?mning for College Teaching 41 
 
 philosophy, history, or physics in which a man recom- 
 mended had done research. Records could be kept throw- 
 ing much-needed light on the teaching ability, scholarship, 
 and personality of candidates for appointment. In 
 selecting college teachers, appointing authorities would 
 value this evidence and would come to prefer teaching 
 power to investigating ability. 
 
 Moreover, the record keeping, and, no doubt, some of 
 the supervision begun during the apprentice years would 
 continue during the early instructorial years. This would 
 render it possible to evaluate and to value effectiveness in 
 teaching in making promotions. Ambitious teachers would 
 no longer be practically forced, as their only resort, to 
 neglect their students and give their best energies to publi- 
 cation in order to make a name and get a call, in the in- 
 terest of promotion. The expert teacher would have a 
 chance and a dignity equal to that of the skilled investigator. 
 The individual could follow, and not be penalized for so 
 doing, his own bent and the line of his highest capacity. 
 
 The training now given in graduate schools here and Training 
 elsewhere for the doctorate in philosophy will, of course, gators 
 continue, and increase rather than diminish. Investigators 
 will be preferred in research, in universities, and in some 
 colleges and college departments. They will be increas- 
 ingly prized in the government service and in important 
 branches of industry. The recent terrible experiences burn 
 into our minds the imperative need strong nations have 
 of exact knowledge and of skill that has a scientific edge. 
 And the specific training for these great tasks will be 
 stronger when it is based on a college course in which 
 highly effective and whole-hearted teaching is valued and 
 rewarded. 
 
 Sidney E. Mezes 
 
 College of the City of New York 
 
42 College Teaching 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Anonymous. Confessions of One Behind the Times. Atlantic, Vol. 
 3, pages 353-356, March, 1913. 
 
 Canby, H. S. The Professor. Harpers, April, 1913. 
 
 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Bulletin 
 No. 2, May, 1908, pages 55-57. 
 
 Flexner, Abraham. Adjusting the College to American Life. Sci- 
 ence, Vol. 29, pages 361-372. 
 
 Handschin, C. H. Inbreeding in the Instructional Corps of Amer- 
 ican Colleges and Universities. Science, Vol. 32, pages 707-709. 
 November, 1910. 
 
 Holliday, Carl. Our " Doctored " Colleges. School and Society, 
 Vol. 2, pages 782-784. November 27, 1915. 
 
 HoRNE, Herman H. The Study of Education by Prospective College 
 Instructors. School Review, Vol. 16, March, 1908, pages 162- 
 170. 
 
 Pitkin, W. B. Training College Teachers. Popular Science^ Vol. 
 74, pages 588-595. June, 1909. 
 
 Report of the Committee on Standards of American Universities. 
 Science, Vol. 29, page 172. November 17, 1908. 
 
 Robinson, Mabel L. Need of Supervision in College Teaching. 
 School and Society, Vol. 2, pages 514-519, October 9, 1915. 
 
 Sanderson, E. D. Definiteness of Appointment and Tenure. Sci- 
 ence, Vol. 39, pages 890-896, June, 1914. 
 
 Stewart, Charles A. Appointment and Promotion of College In- 
 structors. Educational Review, Vol. 44, 1912, pages 249-256. 
 
 WiLCZYNSKi, E. J. Appointments in College and Universities. Sci- 
 ence, February 28, 1909; Vol. 29, pages 336ff. 
 
 Wolfe, A. B. The Graduate School, Faculty Responsibility, and the 
 Training of University Teachers. School and Society, Septem- 
 ber 16, 1916. 
 
Ill 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COLLEGE 
 TEACHING 
 
 THE investigator of educational practices and methods 
 of teaching is impressed with an unmistakable educa- 
 tional anti-climax, for the conviction grows on him that 
 elementary school teaching is on a relatively high plane, 
 that secondary school teaching is not as effective, and that 
 collegiate teaching, with rare exceptions, is ineffective and 
 in urgent need of reform. A superficial survey of educa- 
 tional literature of the last ten years shows that while the 
 problem of the high school is now receiving earnest atten- 
 tion, elementary education continues to absorb the earnest 
 efforts of an army of vitally interested investigators. The 
 field of college pedagogics is still virgin soil, and no sig- 
 nificant or extensive program for improved methods of 
 teaching has yet been advanced. 
 
 Three earnest and intelligent students representing three 
 colleges of undisputed standing were asked informally about 
 their instructors for the current semester. Nothing was said 
 to make these students aware that their judgment would hold 
 any significance beyond the friendly conversation. The 
 summary of opinions is offered, not because the investiga- 
 tion is complete and affords a basis for scientific conclusion, 
 but because it reflects typical college teaching in three recog- 
 nized institutions of more than average standing. 
 
 status of 
 teaching in 
 the colleges 
 
 Student No. I 
 Teacher A : A pop- 
 ular and interesting 
 teacher, talks enthusi- 
 astically but talks all 
 the time. Lessons as- 
 signed are not heard. 
 Students seldom recite. 
 Written quizzes on 
 themes of assigned 
 reading are rated by 
 an assistant. The work 
 comes back with an A, 
 a C, or a D, but we do 
 
 Student No. II 
 T packer A : A good 
 teacher of mathematics. 
 He assigns a new les- 
 son for home study. 
 The next day he asks 
 auestions on this lesson. 
 The answers are writ- 
 ten out on the black- 
 boards. After fifteen 
 minutes all students 
 take their seats and the 
 work on the blackboard 
 is taken up for expla- 
 
 43 
 
 Student No. Ill 
 Teacher A : A very 
 popular teacher of 
 English. If the final 
 examination is given by 
 another teacher. I may 
 not have enough spe- 
 cific facts to pass. 
 We began Chaucer last 
 week. He spent a 
 good part of each ses- 
 sion reading to us. 
 All of us were sur- 
 prised to find how 
 
44 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Student No. I 
 
 not know why the rat- 
 ing was given. Fre- 
 quently two students 
 who worked together 
 are marked B and D 
 respectively for the 
 same work. Some- 
 times a student who 
 " cribbed " his outline 
 from another who actu- 
 ally " worked it up " 
 receives a higher mark 
 than was given for the 
 original. 
 
 Teacher B : Rather 
 an interesting teacher ; 
 assigns lessons from a 
 book. At the begin- 
 ning of the hour he 
 asks questions on the 
 text but is soon carried 
 away and rambles 
 along for the period, 
 touching on every sub- 
 ject. We never com- 
 plete a chapter or 
 topic. The succeeding 
 hour we take the next 
 chapter, which meets 
 the same fate. Writ- 
 ten tests determine the 
 students' rank. The 
 grade for the written 
 test is announced, but 
 the papers are not re- 
 turned and one never 
 knows why the papers 
 were rated C or D. 
 
 Teacher C: A con- 
 scientious teacher in 
 physics. He assigns a 
 definite lesson for each 
 recitation of the term. 
 
 Student No. II 
 
 nation. He explains 
 every difficulty very 
 clearly. We rarely 
 cover the lesson. Some 
 topics go unexplained 
 because during the next 
 hour the blackboard 
 problems are based on 
 the new lesson. If I 
 understood the second 
 half of each lesson as 
 clearly as the first, I 
 would feel hopeful of a 
 good grade in the final 
 examination. 
 
 Teacher B : A dry 
 course in Art History 
 and Appreciation. We 
 take up the history of 
 architecture, painting, 
 and sculpture. The 
 names of the best art- 
 ists are mentioned, and 
 their many works con- 
 fuse us. We memorize 
 Praxiteles, Phidias, 
 
 Myron, the ancient 
 cairns, the parts of an 
 Egyptian temple. Pic- 
 tures are shown on the 
 screen. I elected this 
 course in the hope that 
 it would teach me 
 something about pic- 
 tures, how to judge 
 them and give me 
 standards of beauty, 
 etc., but it has been 
 history and not appre 
 ciation so far. We do 
 not see any beauty in 
 the pictures of old 
 madonnas. Even the 
 religious ones among 
 us say this. 
 
 Teacher (7: A good, 
 clear, effective lecturer 
 in chemistry. Everv 
 lesson we learn a defi- 
 nite principle and its 
 
 Student No. Ill 
 much more the text 
 meant than after our 
 own reading. In the 
 last session we went to 
 our book on literature 
 and tried to justify the 
 characterization which 
 the author gives of 
 Chaucer. The class 
 agreed with all in the 
 book except in one 
 characterization. In the 
 composition work we 
 took up the structure 
 of short narratives. 
 The assignment was to 
 find narratives in cur- 
 rent periodicals, in the 
 writings of standard 
 authors, in newspapers, 
 and then attempt to 
 find whether the struc- 
 ture we studied was 
 followed. In each case 
 we had to justify any 
 departure from the 
 standard. There was 
 little time for the foot- 
 notes in Chaucer. I 
 hope we are not asked 
 for these on the final 
 examination. 
 
 Teacher B ; A very 
 conscientious teacher 
 of chemistry. He 
 
 gives us a ten-minute 
 written quiz each hour 
 on the work in the 
 book or on the matter 
 discussed in the last 
 lecture. The rest of 
 the hour is spent in 
 explanation of difficult 
 points and in the appli- 
 cation of what we 
 learned, to industry 
 and physiologj\ It is 
 surprising to see the 
 interest the class shows 
 in the chemical expla- 
 nations of things we 
 never noticed before. 
 
 Teacher C : A schol- 
 arly instructor in his- 
 tory. He assigns 
 thirty to forty pages in 
 English history, and 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 45 
 
 Student No. I 
 At the beginning of 
 the hour students go to 
 the board to write out 
 answers to questions on 
 the lesson. The hour 
 is spent listening to the 
 recitation of each stu- 
 dent and the explana- 
 tion of difficult points. 
 We never cover more 
 than one half of the 
 lesson ; sometimes only 
 one third. The next 
 hour the questions are 
 on the new lesson, not 
 on the incompleted 
 portion of the former 
 lesson. My knowledge 
 of physics is punctu- 
 ated by areas of igno- 
 rance. These alternate 
 with topics that I 
 think I understand 
 clearly. 
 
 Teacher D : A quiet, 
 modest man. Sits back 
 comfortably in his seat 
 and asks questions on 
 assigned texts. The 
 questions review the 
 text, and he explains in 
 further detail the facts 
 in the book. The con- 
 scientious and capable 
 student finds him su- 
 perfluous ; the indiffer- 
 ent student remains un- 
 moved by his phleg- 
 matic presentation ; the 
 poor student finds him 
 a help; the shirk who 
 listens and takes notes 
 is saved studying at 
 home. 
 
 Teacher E : A good 
 teacher of Latin. 
 
 He explains the work, 
 hears the lessons, gives 
 drills, calls on almost 
 everybody every hour. 
 The written work is re- 
 turned properly cor- 
 rected and rated. 
 
 Student No. II 
 
 application. The lab- 
 oratory work of each 
 week is related to the 
 lecture and throws in- 
 teresting side lights on 
 it. We have quiz sec- 
 tions once a week. 
 Here the work is oral 
 and written. 
 
 Teacher D : A very 
 strict teacher of Eng- 
 lish literature. He as- 
 signs text for study, 
 and we must be pre- 
 pared for detailed ques- 
 tions on each of the 
 great writers. He is 
 very strict and de- 
 tailed. We had to 
 know all the fifteen 
 qualities of Macaulay's 
 style. " No, we did 
 not read Macaulay this 
 term ; we study from a 
 history of English lit- 
 erature that tells us all 
 about the master writ- 
 
 Tcacher E : A quiet, 
 dignified gentleman 
 
 %vho teaches us psy- 
 chology. A chapter is 
 assigned in the book, 
 and the hour is spent 
 hearing students recite 
 on the text. He stacks 
 closely to the book. 
 He explains clearly 
 when the book is not 
 clear or not specific 
 enough. The hours 
 drag, for the book is 
 good and those who 
 studied the lessons 
 weary at what seems to 
 us needless repetition. 
 
 Student No. Ill 
 
 then he lectures to us 
 about the topics dis- 
 cussed by the author. 
 He points out errors in 
 dates and places. Occa- 
 sionally he calls on a 
 student. At the end of 
 each month he gives a 
 written test. We re- 
 member little of what 
 we learned and must 
 " bone away " at about 
 200 to 300 pages. 
 His English is delight- 
 ful and we enjoy listen- 
 ing at times, but I 
 seem to retain so 
 little. " Yes, half the 
 term is up. We are 
 beginning the reign of 
 Henry VII." 
 
 Teacher D : A very 
 enthusiastic lecturer in 
 economics. He ex- 
 plains the important 
 principles in economics. 
 We follow in a printed 
 syllabus, so that it is 
 unnecessary to take 
 notes. He talks well 
 and makes things clear. 
 We are given assign- 
 ments in S 's " Ele- 
 ments of Economics," 
 on which we are ques- 
 tioned by another 
 teacher. " Is the work 
 in the quiz section re- 
 lated directly to the lec- 
 tures ? Sometimes. No, 
 we do not take current 
 economic problems. 
 These are given in a 
 later elective course." 
 
 Teacher E : An in- 
 structor in psychology'. 
 His hours are weary 
 and dreary. A chap- 
 ter is assigned in 
 X's " Elements of Psy- 
 chology." He asks a 
 question or two and 
 then repeats what the 
 author tells us. even 
 using the illustrations 
 and diagrams found 
 in the text. Sometimes 
 a student reads a paper 
 which he prepared. 
 " No, we do not get 
 very much oxit of these 
 papers read by stu- 
 dents. But then we 
 get just as little from 
 the instructor. No, we 
 
46 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Student No. I 
 
 Teacher F: One 
 cannot pass judgment 
 on this teacher of me- 
 chanical drawing. He 
 gives out a problem, 
 works a type on the 
 board, and then dis- 
 tributes the plates. 
 We draw. He heli)s 
 us when we ask for 
 aid, otherwise he walks 
 about the room. I 
 suppose one cannot 
 show teaching ability 
 in such a subject. 
 
 Student No. II 
 
 Teacher F : A learn- 
 ed Latin scholar who 
 is very enthusiastic 
 about his specialty. 
 The students exhibit 
 cheerful tolerance. He 
 assigns a given num- 
 ber of lines per day. 
 These Ave prepare at 
 home. In class we 
 give a translation in 
 English that has dis- 
 torted phrases and 
 clauses, lest we be ac- 
 cused of dishonesty in 
 preparation. The rest 
 of the time is spent on 
 questions of syntax, 
 references, footnotes, 
 and the identification 
 of the real and myth- 
 ological characters in 
 the text. The teacher 
 is animated and ef- 
 fective. 
 
 Student No. Ill 
 never apply the psy- 
 chology to our own 
 thinking nor to teach- 
 ing nor to the behavior 
 of children or adults." 
 
 Teacher F : A for- 
 bidding but very strict 
 Latin teacher. His 
 questions are fast and 
 numerous and the hesi- 
 tating student is lost. 
 He assigns at least 
 twenty-five per cent 
 more per lesson than 
 any other instructor. 
 The hour is spent in 
 translating, parsing, 
 
 and quizzing on histo- 
 rical and mythological 
 allusions. Every "pony" 
 user is soon caught, be- 
 cause he is asked so 
 many questions on each 
 sentence. There is a 
 distinct relief when the 
 hour is over because 
 he is constantly at you. 
 "Will I take the next 
 course in Latin ? Not 
 unless I must. This 
 is prescribed work. It 
 can't end too soon for 
 me, nor for the others 
 in the class." 
 
 Causes of 
 ineffective 
 college 
 teaching 
 
 The Student of scientific and statistical measurements in 
 education may object to attaching any importance to these 
 informal characterizations of college teachers by under- 
 graduates. College teachers interested in the pedagogical 
 aspects of their subject, and college administrators who 
 spend time observing class instruction will concede that 
 these young men were not at all unfortunate in their teach- 
 ers. The significance of these characterizations is not that 
 college teachers vary in teaching efficiency, but rather that 
 inefficient college teaching is general, and that the causes of 
 this inefficiency are such as respond readily to simple 
 remedial measures very well known to elementary and high 
 school teachers. 
 
 It may be well to note the chief causes of ineffective col- 
 lege teaching before directing attention to a remedial pro- 
 gram: 
 
 (a) Many college teachers hold to be true the time- 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 47 
 
 honored fallacy that the only equipment for successful 
 teaching is a thorough knowledge of the subject. They do 
 not stop to square their belief with actual facts. They over- 
 look the examples of their colleagues possessed of undis- 
 puted scholarship who are failures in the classroom. They 
 fail to realize that there are psychological and pedagogical 
 aspects of the teaching art which demand careful organiza- 
 tion, skilful gradation and a happy selection of illustrations 
 intimately related to the lives of the students. 
 
 (b) Closely related to this first cause of ineffective 
 teaching is a lack of sympathetic understanding of the 
 student's viewpoint. The scholarly teacher, deep in the 
 intricacies and speculations of his specialty, is often im- 
 patient with the groping of the beginner. He may not 
 realize that the student before him, apparently indifferent 
 to the most vital aspects of his subject, has potentialities 
 for development in it. His interest in his researches and 
 his vision of the far-reaching human relations of his sub- 
 ject may blind him to the difficulties that beset the path 
 of the beginner. 
 
 (c) The inferiority of college teaching in many institu- 
 tions can often be traced to the absence of constructive 
 supervision. The supervising officer in elementary and 
 secondary schools makes systematic visits to the class- 
 rooms of young or ineffective teachers, observes their work, 
 offers remedial suggestions, and tries to infuse a profes- 
 sional interest in the technique of teaching. In the college 
 such supervision would usually stir deep resentment. The 
 college teacher is, in matters of teaching, a law unto him- 
 self. He sees little of the actual teaching of his colleagues; 
 they see as little of his. His contact with the head of 
 his department, and his departmental and faculty meet- 
 ings,- are usually limited to discussions of college policy 
 and of the sequence and content of courses. Methods of 
 teaching are rarely, if ever, brought up for discussion. 
 The results are inevitable. Weaknesses in teaching are 
 perpetuated, while the devices and practices of an effective 
 teacher remain unknown to his colleagues. 
 
48 College Teaching 
 
 id) A fourth factor which accounts for much of the in- 
 efficiency in college pedagogics is made the thesis of 
 Dr. Mezes' chapter on " The Training of the College 
 Teacher." The college teacher, unlike teachers in other 
 grades of an educational system, is expected to teach with- 
 out a knowledge of educational aims and ideals, and with- 
 out a knowledge of the psychological principles which 
 should guide him in his work. The prospective college 
 teacher, having given evidence of scholarship alone, has 
 intrusted to him, the noisy, expressive, and rapidly de- 
 veloping youth. We set up no standards aside from char- 
 acter and scholarship. We do not demand evidence of 
 teaching ability, a knowledge of applied psychology and 
 of accepted teaching practices, skill in presentation, power 
 of organizing material in graded sequence, or ability to 
 frame a series of questions designed to stimulate and sus- 
 tain the self-activity of the pupils. The born college 
 teacher remains the successful teacher. The poor college 
 teacher finds no agent which tends to raise his teaching 
 to a higher level. The temperamentally unfit are not 
 weeded out. But teaching is an art, and like all arts it 
 requires conscientious professional preparation, the mastery 
 of underlying scientific principles, and practice under super- 
 vision scrupulous in its attention to technique. 
 
 We have here outlined a few of the causes which 
 keep college teaching on a low plane. The remedial 
 measures are in each case too obvious to mention. It re- 
 mains for college authorities to formulate a well-conceived 
 and adjustable program of means and m.ethods of ridding 
 college teaching of those forces which keep it in a dis- 
 couraging state. It is our purpose in the remainder of 
 this chapter not to evolve a system of pedagogics, but rather 
 to touch on the most vital principles in teaching which must 
 be borne in mind if college teaching is to be rendered peda- 
 gogically comparable to elementary and secondary teaching. 
 We shall confine ourselves to teaching practices which are 
 applicable to all subjects in the college curriculum. 
 
General Principles o f College Teaching 49 
 
 PRINCIPLES IN COLLEGE TEACHING 
 
 One of the very first elements in good teaching is the ^ clearly 
 clear recognition of a well-defined aim that gives purpose atS'^musf 
 and direction to all that is attempted in a lesson or in a <^°"tr?iaii 
 period. The chief cause of poor teaching is aimless teach- ^^^ '"^ 
 ing, in which the sole object seems to be to fill the allotted 
 time with talking about the facts of a given subject. We 
 sit patiently through a recitation in English literature. 
 Act I, Scene 1 of Hamlet had been assigned for home study 
 and is now, the text for the hour. Questions are asked 
 on the dramatic structure of this scene, on versification, on 
 the meaning of words and expressions now obsolete, on 
 peculiarities of syntax, and finally a question or two on a 
 character portrayal. The bell brings these questions to 
 an abrupt end. Ask teacher and students the aim of all 
 these questions. To the former, they are means of test- 
 ing the students' knowledge of a variety of facts of language 
 and literature; to the latter they mean little, and serve 
 only to repress a living interest and appreciation of living 
 literary text. How much more effective the hour in English 
 literature would have been if the entire act had been as- 
 signed with a view to giving the students an insight into the 
 dramatic structure of each scene in this act and of the act 
 as a whole. All the questions would then bear on dramatic 
 movement, on the dramatist's technique, on his way of 
 arousing interest in his story, on devices for giving the 
 cause and the development of the action. In the opening 
 scene we read: 
 
 Elsinore. A Platform before the Castle. 
 Francisco at his post. Enter to him Bernardo. 
 
 Ber. Who's there? 
 
 Fran. Nay, answer me ; stand, and unfold yourself. 
 Ber. Long live the King ! 
 Fran. Bernardo? 
 Ber. He. 
 
 Fran. You come most carefully upon your hour. 
 . Ber. 'Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco. 
 
50 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The educa- 
 tional aim 
 vs. the in- 
 structional 
 aim 
 
 Fran, For this relief much thanks : 'tis bitter cold. And I am sick 
 at heart. 
 
 Ber. Have you had a quiet guard? 
 
 Here we see the guard on duty challenged by his relief, 
 a most unusual procedure. Why does this experienced 
 guard so far forget the customary forms as to challenge 
 the guard on duty? What possible reason can there be 
 for this? How would you read the second line? What 
 words must be emphasized to show the surprise of the 
 challenged guard? If the entire hour were given to the 
 whole of Act I and all the questions sought to reveal 
 to the students Shakespeare's power of dramatic structure, 
 a definite and lasting impression would be carried away. 
 Act I should be assigned again, but with a different aim. 
 The teacher now seeks to make clear to the student the 
 dramatist's method of character portrayal. A third hour 
 may be spent on certain portions of this act in which 
 attention is given to significant facts of language, choice of 
 words, or poetic form. When a guiding aim controls, all 
 questions, suggestions, explanations, and illustrations tend 
 to create in the mind of the pupil a rich and unified impres- 
 sion. Where no distinct aim gives direction to the work, 
 the student is confused by a variety of facts — isolated facts 
 — that are displaced by another group o'f disjointed bits 
 of information. Aimless teaching leads to mental wander- 
 ing on the part of the student; teaching governed by a 
 definite aim leads to mental development and to the acquisi- 
 tion of new viewpoints and new power. 
 
 We must distinguish clearly between the general or edu- 
 cational aim and the specific or instructional aim. The 
 former sums up the hope of an entire course or an entire 
 subject. In the teaching of literature we hope to develop 
 a vital interest in reading, a discriminating taste, an en- 
 livened imagination and a quickened perception which en- 
 able the student to visualize the situations and to ac- 
 quire the thought on the printed page. The instruc- 
 tional aim, however, is much more specific; it posits a 
 task that can be accomplished in a very limited time; it 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 51 
 
 seeks to give an insight into Shakespeare's mastery of words, 
 or into his power of character portrayal, or into his 
 methods of enhancing dramatic interest. Each of these 
 two types of aims has its unmistakable influence on methods 
 of teaching. 
 
 What aim should we select to guide us in formulating The variety 
 principles of collegiate teaching? The question is almost tha^mly 
 basic, for the selection of a proper aim gives color and govern 
 direction to all our teaching. In brief, the aim may be 
 one of the following: 
 
 (a) The informational aim. A given course in chemistry 
 or physics may be designed to sum up for the student the 
 vital facts necessary for an intelligent comprehension of 
 common phenomena. With such an aim, it is obvious that 
 only so much laboratory work will be assigned as will give 
 the student a general knowledge of the tools and methods 
 of laboratory work; that the major portion of the work will 
 be divided into occasional lectures, regular book assign- 
 ments, and extensive applications of knowledge gained to 
 surrounding chemical and physical phenomena. A 
 language course may seek to give pupils a stock of words 
 designed to develop power to read the language in a very 
 short time. Obviously, grammatical work and translations 
 into the mother tongue will now be minimized, and those 
 devices which give the eye the power to find thought in 
 new symbols will be emphasized. There is no standard 
 for determining the relative importance of this informa- 
 tional or utilitarian aim when compared to other aims. 
 The significant thing is, not so much to discover its rela- 
 tive importance, but, having adopted it, to devise methods 
 which clearly tend to bring the students to an eff^ective 
 realization of it. 
 
 ih) The disciplinary aim. On the other hand, the con- 
 trolling aim in any subject may be to develop the power 
 to reason about natural phenomena, the power to ob- 
 serve, and the power to discriminate between vital and 
 inconsequential details. If this be the aim, the assign- 
 ment of subject matter must be reduced, the phenomena 
 
52 College Teaching 
 
 ■ - . - . - ■ -- - ■ ' ■ 
 
 studied must be submitted in the forms of problems, first- 
 hand observations must be made, and students must be led 
 to see the errors in their observations and their reasoning. 
 The course which is extensive in subject matter and which 
 relies on the lecture method sacrifices mental discipline for 
 information. From the teaching point of view, the result 
 of the time-honored quarrel between the disciplinists and 
 the utilitarians is not so important as the adoption of a 
 definite aim, and the formulation of consistent methods of 
 teaching in order to attain that aim. Ineffective teaching 
 is not caused by the selection of the one aim or of the 
 other, but by systems of instruction devoid of any aim at 
 all. 
 
 (c) The appreciative or aesthetic aim. It is obvious that 
 a subject may be taught for the power it develops for 
 aesthetic appreciation of the arts of lifco We have here a 
 legitimate aim of coordinate importance with the two pre- 
 ceding ones; and if we adopt it, the vital thing in teaching 
 is to allow this appreciative aim to mold all instructional 
 effort. It is obvious that a college course in aesthetics must 
 be inspirational, must seek to develop a real appreciation 
 of the beauty of line, of color and of sound. Such a course 
 must, therefore, encourage contact with the products of art, 
 rather than promote the study of texts on the history of any 
 of the arts. So, too, courses in music or in literature which 
 do not send the student away with an intense desire to hear, 
 to see, to feel the masterpieces of music or literature must be 
 judged dismal failures. The formalization of an art course 
 given to the general student, kills the live material and 
 leaves the student himself cold. 
 
 id) The aim to teach technique. An effective college 
 course may select for its aim the development of the 
 technique of a given subject. It is obvious that a science 
 course governed by this aim will emphasize the laboratory 
 method at the expense of information; that a course in 
 the social sciences will seek to cover less ground but will 
 develop in the student the power to find facts and use them 
 to formulate an intelligent conclusion; that a course in 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 53 
 
 biology will minimize names, classifications and structures, 
 but will emphasize field and laboratory work and the modes 
 of utilizing the data thus discovered. We must repeat the 
 statement made before, that no one can set himself up as the 
 final arbiter of the claims of these contending aims. They 
 are all vitally necessary for a thorough understanding of 
 life's problems. The significant conclusion for teaching 
 is that one or more of these aims must be consciously chosen 
 and that content and method must be determined by them 
 absolutely. Teaching for the sake of teaching consumes 
 time and makes drafts on energy, but it leaves the student 
 no richer in power and with no truer understanding. 
 
 It is obvious that no general law can be formulated for should the 
 the adjustment of aims to the needs of students. Teachers J^ fo^j."^°*^^" 
 have usually found it necessary to change the aim, the varying 
 content, and the method of a course according to the needs ftudents? 
 of different classes of students. In one of our colleges 
 science students are required to take two years of Latin. 
 The course offered these young men gives the ordinary 
 drill in grammar, translation, and analysis of Caesar, Cicero, 
 and Vergil, as well as practice in prose composition in which 
 nondescript and disjointed English sentences, grammati- 
 cally correct, are turned into incorrect Latin. This de- 
 scription, without any changes whatever, applies also to the 
 course given in the introductory years in Latin to students 
 specializing in the arts. Even a superficial analysis re- 
 veals a different set of needs in the two classes of students 
 which can be served only by a corresponding difference 
 in content and mode of teaching. A student who takes 
 French or German because he wants enough mastery of these 
 languages to enable him to read in foreign journals about 
 the progress of his specialty must be given a course which 
 appeals to the eye and minimizes the grammatical and con- 
 versational phases of these languages. 
 
 There are courses that are foundational and that must 
 therefore be governed by an eclectic aim. In the first course 
 in college physics it is obvious that we must teach the 
 necessary facts of the subject as well as its method. These 
 
54 College Teaching 
 
 aspects of the work must be emphasized with equal force 
 for all students; no differentiation need be made for future 
 medical or engineering students or for prospective teachers 
 of the subject in secondary schools. Generally speak- 
 ing, initial courses in a department are governed by an 
 eclectic aim, but in the advanced courses there must be 
 constant adjustment to the needs of various groups. An 
 eclectic aim can be as effective an instrument in enhancing 
 the quality of teaching as a single, clear-cut aim, provided 
 there is a clear recognition of the relative importance 
 of the ends set up, and provided a definite plan is evolved 
 to attain them. 
 
 The aim or aims of a subject or a lesson, once formu- 
 lated, must always be kept before the students as well 
 as before the teacher. Every pupil must know the ends 
 to be attained in the course he is taking, and as work 
 progresses he must experience a growing realization that 
 the class is moving toward these ends. The subject matter 
 of the course, the method of instruction, the assigned task, 
 now glow with interest which springs from work clearly 
 motivated. The average student plods through his semes- 
 ter from a sense of duty or obedience rather than from 
 a conviction of the worth of both subject matter and 
 method. 
 Value of ]\Jq|- Qjjly must the general aim be indicated to the student, 
 
 fined aims but he must also be made acquainted with the specific 
 aim. Where students have been acquainted with the spe- 
 cific task that must be accomplished in a given period, 
 concentration and cooperation with the instructor are easier; 
 the students can, at stages in the lesson, anticipate succeeding 
 steps; their answers have greater relevancy, their thought 
 is more sequential and flows more readily along the path 
 planned by the instructor. A specific aim for each lesson 
 makes for economy, for it is a standard of relevancy for 
 both student and teacher. The student whose answer or 
 observation is irrelevant is asked to recall the aim of the 
 lesson and to judge the pertinence of his contribution. 
 The instructor given to wandering far afield finds that a 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 55 
 
 clearly fixed aim is an aid in keeping him in the pre- 
 scribed path. Too many college hours, especially in the 
 social sciences, find the instructor beginning with his sub- 
 ject but ending anywhere in the field of human knowledge. 
 These wanderings are entertaining enough, but they dis- 
 sipate the energies of the students and produce a mental 
 flabbiness already too well developed in the average college 
 student. 
 
 A second factor which contributes much toward the 
 effectiveness of college teaching is the principle of moti- 
 vation. So long as most of the college course is prescribed, 
 course by course, students will be found pursuing certain 
 studies without an intelligent understanding of their social 
 or mental worth. Ask the student " doing " prescribed logic 
 to explain the value of the course. In friendly or inti- 
 mate discussion with him, elicit his conception of the 
 utilitarian or disciplinary worth of the prescribed Latin 
 or mathematics in the arts course. He sees no relation 
 between the problems of life and the daily lessons in many 
 of these subjects. He submits to the teacher's attempts to 
 graft this knowledge upon his intellectual stock merely be- 
 cause he has learned that the easiest course is to bend 
 to authority. Instruction in too many college subjects is 
 based, not on intelligent and voluntary attention, but on 
 the discipline maintained by the institution or by the in- 
 structor. It is obvious that such instruction is stultifying 
 to the teacher and can never devel-op in the student a liberal 
 and cultured outlook upon life. 
 
 The principle of motivation in teaching seeks to justify 
 to the student the experience that is presented as part of 
 his college course. It is obvious that this motivation need 
 not always be explained in terms of utilitarian values. A 
 student of college age can be made to realize the mental, the 
 cultural, or the inspirational values that justify the prescrip- 
 tion of certain courses. The college instructor who tries to 
 motivate courses in the appreciation of music or painting 
 finds no great difficulty in leading his students to an enthusi- 
 astic conviction of their inspirational value. It is well 
 
 Motivation 
 in college 
 teaching 
 
56 College Teaching 
 
 worth taking the student into our confidence in these mat- 
 ters of aim and value. We must become more tolerant of 
 the thoughtful student who makes honest inquiry as to the 
 value of any of the presented courses. We must learn to 
 regard such questions as signs of growing seriousness and 
 increasing maturity and not as signs of impertinence. We 
 constantly ask ourselves questions about the round of our 
 daily task; we seek to know thoroughly their uses, their 
 values, their meaning in our lives. Clear conception of use 
 or value in teaching is as vital as it is in life — for what is 
 teaching if not the process of repeating life's experiences? 
 
 In the principle of motivation lies the most successful 
 solution of the problem of interest in teaching. We have 
 too long persisted in the " sugarcoating " conception of 
 interest. We have regarded it as a process of " making 
 agreeable." Interest has therefore been looked upon as a 
 fictitious element introduced into teaching merely to in- 
 veigle the mind of the student into a consideration of what 
 we are offering it. Our modern psychology teaches a truer 
 conception of interest: a feeling accompanying self-expres- 
 sion. Interest has been defined as a feeling of worth in ex- 
 perience. Where this feeling of worth is aroused, the in- 
 dividual expresses his activity to attain the end that he 
 perceives. Every act, every effort, to attain this end is 
 accompanied by a distinctive feeling known as interest. 
 When a class is quiet and gives itself to the teacher, it is 
 obedient and polite, but not necessarily interested. The 
 class that looks tolerantly at the stereopticon views that the 
 instructor presents, or listens to the reading of the profes- 
 sor of English, is amused but not necessarily interested. 
 But when the students ask questions about the pictures or 
 ask the professor of English for further references, then 
 have we evidence of real interest. Interest is, therefore, an 
 active attitude toward life's experience. Rational motiva- 
 tion is almost a guarantee of this active attitude of interest. 
 
 Intelligent motivation in teaching has far-reaching values 
 for both student and teacher. It stirs interest and guar- 
 antees attention and thus tends to keep aroused the activity 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 57 
 
 of the students. It establishes an end toward which all 
 eflort of teacher and student must bend. It enables the 
 student to follow a line of thought more intelligently, and 
 occasionally to anticipate conclusions. For the teacher it 
 serves as a standard, in terms of which he reorganizes his 
 subject matter, judges the value of each topic, and omits 
 socially useless matter which has too long been retained 
 in the course in the fond hope that it will in some way 
 develop the mind. 
 
 The instructor who strives to motivate the subject matter Beginning 
 he teaches usually begins with that phase of the subject ofconuct" 
 which is most intimately related to the student's life and 
 environment. Every subject worth teaching crosses the stu- 
 dent's life at some point. The contacts between pupil and 
 subject afford the most natural and the most effective 
 starting points in the teaching of any subject. 
 
 The subject matter in a college course is too frequently 
 so organized that it presents points of discrepancy be- 
 tween itself and the student. To the college student life 
 is not classified and systematized to a nicety. Experiences 
 occur in more or less accidental but natural sequence. 
 Scientific classification is the product of a mature mind 
 possessing mastery of a given portion of the field of knowl- 
 edge. To thrust the student, who is just finding his way 
 in a new course, into a thoroughly scientific classification 
 of a subject, is to present in the introduction what should 
 come in the conclusion. 
 
 Many a student taking his introductory course in psy- 
 chology begins with a definition of the subject, its re- 
 lation to all social and physical sciences, and its classifi- 
 cation. All these are aspects of the subject which 
 the mind conversant with it sees clearly and understands 
 thoroughly, but which the inexperienced student accepts 
 merely because the facts are printed in his text-book. The 
 youthful mind is concerned with the present and with 
 the immediate environment. Too many of our college 
 courses, in the initial stages, transport the student into 
 the realm of theory or into the distant past. The 
 
58 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 point of 
 contact 
 
 Student cannot orientate himself in this new environment 
 and is soon lost on the highways and byways of classifica- 
 tion; to him the subject becomes a study of words rather 
 than of vital ideas. Why must the introductory course in 
 philosophy begin with the ancient philosophers, and give the 
 major part of the term to the study of dead philosophers 
 and their theories long since refuted and discarded, while 
 vital modern philosophic thought is crowded into the last 
 few sessions of the semester? 
 of"maxr°^^ '^^^ pedagogical significance of beginning at the point 
 Begin at the of contact can best be understood and appreciated by illus- 
 trations of actual teaching conditions. Most initial courses 
 in economics begin by positing that economics is the science 
 of the consumption, distribution, and production of wealth. 
 The student is told that in earlier systems of economics 
 production was studied as the initial economic process, but 
 that the more modern view makes consumption the starting 
 process. All this the student takes on faith. He does not 
 really see its bearings and its implications; he is as uncon- 
 cerned with the new formulation as he is with the old; 
 he feels at once far removed from economics. The suc- 
 ceeding lessons study economic laws with little reference 
 to the economic life that the student lives. In a later 
 chapter he learns a definition of wages, the forces that de- 
 termine wage, and the mode of computing the share of the 
 total produce that must go to wages. 
 
 Here we have a course that does not begin at the point 
 of contact, that presents the very discrepancies between 
 itself and the student that were noted before. How can 
 we overcome them? By proceeding psychologically. The 
 instructor refers to two or three important wage disputes 
 in current industrial life; these conflicts are analyzed; 
 the contending demands are studied, and the forces con- 
 trolling the adoption of a new wage scale are noted. After 
 this study of actual economic conditions the students are 
 led to formulate their own definition of wages, qnd to dis- 
 cover the forces that determine wage. Their conclusions 
 are of course tentative. The textbook or textbooks are 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 59 
 
 consuhed in order to verify the formulations and the con- 
 clusions of the class. Thus the course is developed entirely 
 through a series of contacts with economic life. The final 
 topic in the course is the formulation of a definition of 
 economics. Now the class sums up all that it has seen 
 and learned of economics during the year. The cold 
 and empty definition now glows with meaning. Such a 
 course awakens an intelligent interest in economic life; 
 it develops a mode of thought in social sciences. and a sense 
 of self-reliance; it teaches the student that all conclusions 
 are tentative and constantly. subject to verification; it fosters 
 a critical attitude toward printed text. 
 
 The college graduate who studied college mathematics, 
 advanced algebra, trigonometry, analytical geometry, and 
 calculus, looks back with satisfaction at work completed. 
 Each of these subjects seemed to have little or no relation 
 to the other; each was kept in a water-tight compartment. 
 He remembers few, if any, of the formulae, equations, and 
 symbols. He recalls vividly his admiration of the author's 
 ingenious method of deriving equations. Every succeeding 
 theorem, formula, or equation was another puzzle in a 
 subject which seemed to be composed of a series of diffi- 
 cult, unrelated, and unapplied mathematical proofs. The 
 course ended, the mass of data was soon obliterated from 
 the mind's active possessions. 
 
 What is the meaning of it all? What is its relation to 
 life? There is no doubt that much of this mathematics 
 has its application to life's needs, and that these successive 
 subjects of mathematics are thoroughly interdependent. 
 But nothing in the mode of instruction leads the student 
 to see either the application or the interrelation of all this 
 higher mathematics. Would it not be better to give a 
 single course called mathematics rather than these successive 
 subjects? Would it not be more enlightening if each new 
 mathematical principle were taught through a situation in 
 building, engineering, or mechanics so that the student 
 would at all times see the intimate relation between mathe- 
 matical law and physical forces? Would not the disci- 
 
60 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Beginning 
 at the point 
 of contact 
 relates the 
 subject to 
 the life of 
 the student 
 
 plinary values of mathematics be intensified for the student 
 by teaching it in a way that presents a quantitative inter- 
 pretation of the daily phenomena in his experience? 
 
 Teachers of philosophy and psychology too often fall 
 into a formalism that robs their subject of all its vital- 
 izing influences. Many a student enters his course in 
 logic with high hopes. At last he is to learn the laws of 
 thought which will render him keen in detection of fallacies 
 and potent in the presentation of argument. How bitter 
 is his disappointment when he finds his course dissipated 
 in definitions and classifications. His logic gives itself 
 to the discussion of such patent fallacies as, " A good teacher 
 knows his subject; Williams knows his subject, therefore 
 he is a good teacher." Day after day he proves the error 
 in every form of stupidity or the truth of what is axio- 
 matic. He tires of " Gold is a metal " and " Socrates is 
 mortal." Few courses in logic have the courage to break 
 away from the traditional formalism and to begin each new 
 principle or fundamental concept of logic by analyzing edi- 
 torials, arguments, contentions in newspapers, magazines, 
 campaign literature, or the actual textbooks. Few students 
 complete their course in logic with a keener insight into 
 thought and with a maturer or more aggressive mental atti- 
 tude. 
 
 It was pointed out in a previous illustration that the col- 
 lege student " taking philosophy " is seldom made to feel 
 that the subject he studies is related to the problems that 
 arise in his own life. Too frequently introductory courses 
 in philosophy are historical and extensive in scope, striv- 
 ing to develop mastery of facts rather than to give new 
 viewpoints. The student learns names of philosophers, and 
 attempts to memorize the philosophic system developed by 
 each thinker. Such a course imposes a heavy burden on re- 
 tentive power, for no little eff"ort is required to remember 
 the distinctive philosophical systems advocated by the re- 
 spective writers. To the students these philosophers repre- 
 sent a group of peculiar people diff^ering one from the 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 61 
 
 other in their degrees of " queerness." One system is as far 
 removed as another from the life that the student ex- 
 periences; no system helps him to find himself. An intro- 
 ductory course in philosophy should begin with the prob- 
 lems of philosophy; it should have its origin in the reflective 
 and speculative problems of the student himself. As the 
 course progresses, the student should feel a growing sense of 
 power, an increasing ability to formulate more clearly, to 
 himself at least, the questions of religion and ethics that 
 arise in the life of a normal thinking person. So, too, 
 courses in ethics and psychology lose the vital touch unless 
 they begin in the life of the student and apply their lessons 
 to his social and intellectual environment. 
 
 It must be pointed out, however, that the social sciences 
 lend themselves more readily to this intimate treatment 
 than do languages, or the physical sciences, but at all points 
 possible in the study of a subject, the experience of the 
 student must be introduced as a means of giving the subject 
 real meaninsj. In teaching composition and rhetoric illus- 
 trations of the canons of good form need not be restricted 
 to the past. Current magazines and newspapers are not 
 devoid of effective illustrations. When the older literary 
 forms are used exclusively as models of language, the 
 student ends his course with the erroneous notion that con- 
 temporary writing is cheap and sensational and devoid of 
 artistic craftsmanship. 
 
 Courses in physics and chemistry frequently devote them- 
 selves to a development of principles rather than to the 
 applications of the studies to every sphere of life. Intro- 
 ductory college courses in zoology spend the year in the 
 minutiae of the lowest animal forms and rarely reach any 
 ianimal higher in the scale than the crayfish. We still find 
 students in botany learning the various margins of leaves, 
 the system of venation, the scientific classifications, but at 
 the end of the course, unable to recognize ordinary leaves 
 and just as blind to nature as they were before. Zoology 
 and botany do not always — as they should — give a new 
 
62 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Pedagogical 
 vs. logical 
 organization 
 
 view of life, a new attitude towards living phenomena, a new 
 contact with nature. 
 
 Careful inquiry among college students will reveal an 
 amazing ignorance of common chemical and physical 
 phenomena after full-year courses in chemistry and physics. 
 We find a student giving two semesters to work in each of 
 these subjects. He spends most of his time learning the 
 chemical elements, their characteristics and the modes of 
 testing for them. The major portion of the time is spent 
 in the laboratory, where he must discover for himself the 
 elementary practices of the subject and test the validity 
 of well-established truths. At the end of his second semes- 
 ter he has not developed sufficient laboratory technique for 
 significant work in chemistry; he is ignorant of the chem- 
 ical explanation of the most common phenomena in life. 
 
 There is much to be said for the position taken by the 
 " older teachers," who may not possess the scholarship of the 
 " younger investigators " but who argue for a general course 
 in which laboratory work shall be reduced, technique mini- 
 mized, and attention focused on giving an extensive view of 
 chemical forces. The simple chemical facts in digestion, 
 metabolism, industry, war, medicine, etc., would be pre- 
 sented in such a way as to make life a more intelligent 
 process and to give an insight into the method of science. 
 In the courses that follow the introductory one, there would 
 be a marked change in aim; the student would be taught the 
 laboratory technique and would be given a more intensive 
 study of the important aspects of chemistry. Similar 
 changes in the introductory courses in physics are urged 
 by these same teachers. 
 
 Beginning at the point of contact may frequently inter- 
 fere with the logical arrangement of the course of study; 
 it may wrench many a topic out of its accustomed place in 
 the textbook; it will demand that the applications, which 
 come last in most logically arranged courses, be given 
 first and that definitions and principles which come first 
 be given last. This logical arrangement, it was pointed 
 out, is usually the expression of the matured mind that is 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 63 
 
 thoroughly conversant with every aspect of a subject; it may 
 mean little, however, to the beginner — so little that he 
 does not even slightly appreciate its significance. The loss 
 in logical sequence entailed by beginning at the point of 
 contact is often more than compensated for by the advan- 
 tages which are derived from a psychological presentation. Proper 
 ^. „ .11 ^' • 1 • 1 organization 
 
 A well-organized lesson possesses teacnmg merits wnicri as a factor in 
 
 may counteract ahnost all the usual weaknesses found in 
 poor teaching. Good organization determines clearness of 
 comprehension, ease of retention, and ability of recall; it 
 makes for economy of time and mental energy; it simpli- 
 fies the processes of mental assimilation; it teaches the 
 student, indirectly but effectively, to think sequentially. 
 We have all suffered too keenly, as auditors and readers, 
 the inconveniences of poor organization, not to realize the 
 worth of proper organization of knowledge in teaching. 
 
 Organization of knowledge has become a pedagogical 
 slogan, but its increase in popularity has not been accom- 
 panied by increased clearness of comprehension of its 
 meaning. What, then, is meant by proper organization? 
 It must ever be borne in mind that proper organization 
 is a relative condition, the limits of which are determined 
 by the capacities of the students and the nature of the sub- 
 ject matter. What is effective organization of facts in ele- 
 mentary history may be very ineffective organization for 
 students of high school or college grade. Making due 
 allowance for relative conditions, good organization may be 
 said to consist of five essential characteristics. 
 
 Logical sequence is the first of these. It is apparent that 
 the more rational the sequence of facts, the more effective 
 is the organization of knowledge. Data organized on a 
 basis of cause and effect, similarity, contrast or any other 
 logical relationship will help to secure the teaching advan- 
 tages we have mentioned. A search for this simple prin- 
 ciple in most textbooks on American or English history or 
 literature reveals its complete absence. A detailed mass 
 of historical information grouped into administrations or 
 reigns is merely a mechanical organization in which time, 
 
 effective 
 teaching 
 
64 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Meaning of 
 organization 
 of subject 
 matter 
 
 the accidental element, and not the development of social 
 movements, the logic of human history, is the detei'mining 
 factor. In too many courses in literature the student learns 
 names of writers, biographical data, and literary character- 
 istics of the masters, but fails to see the development of the 
 movement of which the writer was a part. Events of his- 
 tory placed in their social movements, writers in literature 
 placed in the school in which they belong, give the student 
 the logical ties which bind the knowledge to him. So, too, 
 one often analyzes the sequence of chapters in an advanced 
 algebra or a trigonometry and fails to discover the govern- 
 ing rationale. It must be remembered, however, that the 
 nature of the subject will often reduce the logical element, in 
 its organization. Instances in language teaching may be 
 cited as illustrations of teaching situations where a mechani- 
 cal organization is often the only one possible because of 
 the arbitrary character of the subject matter. 
 
 Relativity of importance is the second factor of good 
 organization. A cursory study of a well-organized chapter 
 or merely passing attention to a well-organized lecture 
 reveals at once a distinct difference in the emphasis on the 
 various parts or elements of the subject. The proportional 
 allotment of time or space, the number of illustrations, the 
 number of questions asked on a given point, the force of 
 language — these are all means of bringing out the rela- 
 tive importance of constituent topics or principles. In 
 retrospect, a well-organized lesson presents an appearance 
 similar to a contour map; each part stands out in distinc- 
 tive color according to its significance. 
 
 It is frequently argued by teachers that students of 
 college age should be required to distinguish the relativ- 
 ity of importance of the parts of a lesson or the topics 
 in a subject; that the instructor who points out the chang- 
 ing importance of each succeeding part of a lesson is en- 
 ervating the student by doing for him what he oiight to 
 do for himself. This is true in part, but it must be realized 
 that the instructor who through questions and directed dis- 
 cussions leads students to formulate for themselves the rela- 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 65 
 
 live importance of data is not only carrying out the sugges- 
 tion made in the preceding paragraph but is also develop- 
 ing in his students a power they too frequently lack. Those 
 who have studied the notes that students take in their classes 
 have seen how frequently facts are torn from their moor- 
 ings; how wrong principles are derived from illustrations; 
 how a catch-phrase becomes a basic principle; how simple 
 truths and axioms are distorted in the frenzy of note taking. 
 Through questions if possible, through emphasis on illus- 
 trations and explanations, where no other means is available, 
 students must be made to see that all facts of a subject are 
 not of the same hue, that some are faint of tint, others in 
 shadow, and still others in high colors. Without this rela- 
 tivity of importance, facts are grouped; with it, they are 
 intelligently organized. 
 
 An underlying tendency can be discerned in well-organ- 
 ized knowledge. Not only are facts arranged in logical 
 sequence and emphasized according to importance, but 
 there is in addition a central principle or an underlying 
 purpose giving unifying force to them all. We can illus- 
 trate the need of this third characteristic of good organi- 
 zation by referring to a college course in American history 
 which gives much time to the period from 1815 to 1860. 
 The events of these forty-five years are not taught in 
 administrations but are summed up in six national tenden- 
 cies; viz., the questions of state sovereignty, slavery, terri- 
 torial acquisition, tariff, industrial and transportational 
 progress, and foreign policy. Each of these movements is 
 treated as intensively as time permits. At the end of the 
 study of the entire period, the student is left with these 
 six topics but without a unifying principle; to him, these are 
 six unrelated currents of events. In each of these prob- 
 lems the North and the South displayed distinctive atti- 
 tudes, acted from distinctive motives, expressed distinctive 
 needs and preferences, but these were never brought out 
 either through well-formulated questions or through expla- 
 nation. As a result, the class never realize fully that those 
 years, 1815-1860, marked the period of growing sectional 
 
QQ College Teaching 
 
 differences, misunderstandings, and animosities. Had this 
 underlying tendency been brought out clearly at various 
 points in the course, the students would have carried away 
 a permanent impression of what is most vital in this period 
 of American development. 
 
 Gradation of subject matter is another characteristic of 
 good organization. Careful gradation is not so vital in 
 subjects of social content as it is in mathematics, foreign 
 languages, and exact sciences. The most important single 
 factor in removing difficulties that beset a student is grada- 
 tion. Teaching problems often arise because the instructor 
 or the textbook presents more than one difficulty at a time. 
 Teachers who lack intellectual sympathy or who are so lost 
 in the advanced stages of their specialty that they can no 
 longer image the successive steps of difficulty, one by one, 
 that present themselves to a mind inexperienced in their 
 respective fields, are frequently guilty of this pedagogical 
 error. Malgradation of subject matter is the direct cause 
 of serious loss of time and energy and of needless dis- 
 couragement not only to students but to instructors as well. 
 Ability of the student to summarize easily is a test of 
 good organization. At the end of a loosely organized chap- 
 ter or lesson the student experiences no little difficulty in 
 setting forth the underlying principles and their supporting 
 data. It does not help much to have the textbook or the 
 instructor state the summary either at the end of the lesson 
 in question or at the beginning of the succeeding one. The 
 summary of a lesson, given by the class, is a test of the 
 effectiveness of instruction. Summaries given by teachers 
 or textbooks have little or no pedagogical justification. 
 Only in cases where the summary introduces a new point 
 of view or unifying principles, or when it sets forth basic 
 principles in particularly forceful language — only then is 
 the statement by teacher or textbook justifiable. 
 Thorough- Teachers are advised to be thorough in their instruction. 
 
 They in turn urge their students to strive for thoroughness 
 in study. We praise or impugn the scholarship of our col- 
 leagues because it possesses or lacks thoroughness. Here 
 
 ness 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 67 
 
 we have a quality of knowledge universally extolled. But 
 what is meant by thoroughness? How can teachers or 
 students know that they are attaining that degree of com- 
 prehension known as thoroughness? We are told that thor- 
 oughness is a relative condition, always changing with 
 accompanying circumstances. Even an unattainable ideal 
 can be defined, — why not thoroughness? We must, there- 
 fore, attempt to determine the meaning of thoroughness as 
 used in teaching and study. 
 
 It may be helpful to formulate the common or lay inter- Negative in- 
 pretation of thoroughness. The term " thoroughness " is ofthorougS- 
 erroneously used in a quantitative sense to describe scholastic ^ess 
 attainment. We are told of a colleague's thoroughness 
 in history; he knows all names, dates, places, facts in the 
 development of mankind; his knowledge of his specialty 
 is encyclopedic; " there is no need of looking things up when 
 he is around." A professor of English literature boasted 
 of the thoroughness with which he teaches Hamlet: " Every 
 word of value and every change in the form of versification 
 are marked; every allusion is taken up, every peculiar gram- 
 matical construction is brought to the attention of the class." 
 Here we have illustrations of an erroneous conception of 
 thoroughness which gives it an extensive meaning and re- 
 gards it as the accumulation of a mass of data. 
 
 Yet the master of chronological detail in history may have 
 no historical imagination, no historical perspective, no his- 
 torical judgment. He may possess the facts, but a period 
 in history still remains for him a stretch of time limited by 
 two dates, rather than a succession of years in which all 
 mankind seems to be moving in the same direction, possessed 
 of the same viewpoints, the same hopes and aspirations. 
 The professor of English literature does not see that in 
 teaching Hamlet he forsook his specialty, literature, for 
 philology and mythology; that he turned his back on art 
 and took up language structure. Thoroughness is not com- 
 pleteness, because the possession of the details of a subject 
 does not necessarily bring with it a true comprehension of 
 it. Add all the details, and the sum total is nothing more 
 
68 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Positive in- 
 terpretation 
 of thorough- 
 ness 
 
 than the group of details. Thoroughness is a degree of com- 
 prehension resulting from the acquisition of new points of 
 view. The teacher of history who sees underlying forces 
 in the facts of the past, who understands that true inwardness 
 of any movement which shows him its relation to all phases 
 of life, but who nevertheless may not have ready command 
 of all the specific details, is more thorough in his scholar- 
 ship. He has the things that count; the facts that are for- 
 gotten can easily be found. The class that studies the 
 dramatic structure of Hamlet, that sees Shakespeare's power 
 of character portrayal, that takes up only such grammatical 
 and language points as give clearer comprehension or lead 
 to greater appreciation of diction, is thorough although 
 it does not possess all the facts. It is thorough because what 
 is significant and dynamic in' Hamlet is made focal. The 
 postgraduate student assiduously searching for data for his 
 doctorate thesis is often guided by the erroneous conception 
 of thoroughness; he wants facts that have never seen the 
 light. The more he gets of these, the nearer he approaches 
 his goal. He avoids conclusions; he is counseled by his pro- 
 fessors against giving too much of his book to the expression 
 of his views. Analyze the chapters of a doctorate thesis 
 and note the number of pages given to facts and those to 
 conclusions and interpretations. The proportion is aston- 
 ishing. The student's power to find facts is clearly shown; 
 his power to use facts is not revealed by his thesis. The 
 richer the thesis is in detail, in references, in allusions to 
 dusty tomes and original sources, the more thorough is it fre- 
 quently considered by the faculty. We have failed to realize 
 that this excessive zeal in gathering and collating a large num- 
 ber of not commonly known facts may make the thesis more 
 cumbersome, more complete, but not necessarily more thor- 
 ough. However, the plea for a new standard in judging doc- 
 torate theses is meeting with gratifying encouragement. 
 
 What, then, are the teaching practices that make for 
 greater thoroughness, that increase the qualitative and inten- 
 sive character of knowledge? We shall discuss some of 
 these in the succeeding paragraphs. 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 69 
 
 The acquisition of new points of view makes for in- How can 
 creased thoroughness of comprehension. The class that ness be 
 understands the causes of the American Revolution from the produced? 
 American point of view knows of the navigation laws, the 
 quartering of soldiers in American homes, the Stamp Act, 
 the Boston Massacre, — the usual provocations that strained 
 patience to the breaking point. The college teacher of 
 American history who spends time on the riots in New York 
 in which a greater number of colonists was killed than in 
 Boston, who teaches in detail the various acts forbidding the 
 manufacture of hats and of iron ware, or the protests against 
 English practices in the colonies made by British merchants, 
 etc., is adding more facts, but he may only be intensifying 
 the erroneous conclusion tha-t the students have formed in 
 earlier and less complete courses. The topic, " Causes of 
 the American Revolution," grows in thoroughness, not 
 through the addition of these facts but through the presen- 
 tation of new interpretations of the practices of the English. 
 When we explain that the English believed in virtual and 
 not actual representation, the students see a new mean- 
 ing in " taxation without representation." When the 
 students learn that the English government decided on a 
 new economic and industrial policy which planned to have 
 the mother country specialize in manufacture and trans- 
 portation and the colonies in production of raw materials, 
 the students see reason, though not necessarily justice, in 
 the acts prohibiting Americans from various forms of manu- 
 facture and transportational activities. These new facts 
 modify in the minds of students the point of view so often 
 given in elementary courses, that the War for Independence 
 was caused by sheer British meanness and injustice, by 
 her policy of reckless repression. 
 
 It is not always possible to give new points of view to all 
 knowledge in all subjects. There are cases in which there 
 is only one point of view or where students may not be 
 ready for a new interpretation because of their limited 
 mastery of a new field of knowledge. Under these condi- 
 tions an added point of view is a source of confusion rather 
 
70 College Teaching 
 
 than an aid to clearer comprehension. Some subjects, like 
 the social sciences, naturally allow for richer interpretations. 
 Others, like the languages and the physical sciences, pre- 
 sent only very limited opportunities; in the biological 
 sciences the possibilities, though not as rich as in the social 
 sciences, are numerous and productive of good results. 
 
 Comparison is a second means of producing thoroughness 
 of comprehension. Good teaching abounds in comparisons 
 which are introduced at the end of every important topic 
 rather than reserved for examination questions. Compari- 
 sons used liberally at every logical pause in the develop- 
 ment of a subject always give an added viewpoint, review 
 early subject matter incidentally, stir thought, and make 
 for better organization. How much more clearly are the 
 causes of the War of 1812 understood after they are com- 
 pared with those that brought on the Revolutionary War! 
 How much more definite are the causes of the American 
 Revolution when compared with those that brought on the 
 French Revolution! A writer, a school, or a movement in 
 English literature may be understood when studied by itself; 
 but how is comprehension deepened when each is compared 
 with another writer or school or movement! Comparison of 
 perception and conception or appreciation and association in 
 psychology, makes each activity stand out clearer in the mind 
 of the student. Compare the laws of rent, wage, profit, and 
 interest in economics, and not only each is better under- 
 stood but the basic laws of distribution are readily derived 
 by the student. Similarly, comparisons in mathematics, 
 physics, chemistry, and the entire range of collegiate sub- 
 jects give increased comprehension, useful though inci- 
 dental reviews, and greater unification of knowledge, as 
 well as added points of view. 
 
 Correlation as a means of producing thoroughness is 
 closely allied to comparison. Correlation relates kindred 
 topics of different subjects, while comparison points out 
 relations in the same subject. The instructor who corre- 
 lates the history of education with the political and eco- 
 nomic history that the student learned in another course is 
 
General Principles of College Teacliing 71 
 
 unifying related experience, reducing the field of knowledge, 
 introducing logical organization, and adding new interpre- 
 tations to facts already acquired. Similarly, teaching must 
 be enriched by correlating physics and mathematics, chem- 
 istry and physics, literature and music, history of literature 
 and general history, until instruction has taken advantage 
 of every vital relation among subjects. With the growth 
 of specialized subjects there is an unfortunate tendency: 
 toward isolation until the untrained mind looks upon the 
 curriculum as a series of unrelated experiences, each rival- 
 ing the other in its claim to importance. 
 
 The advantage of correlation will remain lost in college 
 teaching as long as each instructor regards himself as a 
 specialized investigator concerned with teaching his subject 
 rather than his students. How many college teachers know 
 what subjects their students have already taken, or knowing 
 the names of these subjects, have a general knowledge of 
 their content? The college professor of the preceding gen- 
 eration was a cultured gentleman whose general scholarship 
 transcended the limits of his specialty. He understood and 
 knew the curriculum as a whole. Because of changes in 
 every phase of our civilization, his successor has a deeper but 
 a narrower knowledge. He knows little of the work of his 
 students outside of his own subject. He does not relate and 
 correlate the ever growing field of knowledge; he merely 
 adds — by the introduction of his own mass of facts — to 
 the isolation which characterizes the parts of college cur- 
 ricula. This tendency must be counteracted, not by inter- 
 fering with the scholastic interests of any instructor, but by 
 occasional conferences of instructors of allied subjects in 
 order to agree on common meeting grounds, on points of 
 correlation, on useful repetitions, and on the elimination of 
 needless duplications. Such pedagogical conferences are 
 rare because college teachers are not alive to the need of 
 reform in methods of college teaching. 
 
 Thoroughness results from increase in the number of ap- 
 plications of knowledge. The introduction of the functional 
 view into teaching brings with it a realization of the vital 
 
72 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Teaching as 
 a process of 
 arousing 
 self-activity 
 
 needs of increased ways of applying the experience we pre- 
 sent to students. As the laws of physics, mathematics, biol- 
 ogy, composition, economics, etc., are applied to a number 
 of specific instances, the generalization grows in meaning 
 an(l in force. Specific cases vary, and, varying, give new 
 color and new meaning to the laws that are applied to ex- 
 plain them. How much a law in chemistry means after 
 it is applied to specific instances in industry, human 
 and animal physiology, plant life, or engineering! The 
 equation learned in descriptive geometry may be under- 
 stood, but it never means so much as when it is applied to 
 specific problems in engineering. Applications give added 
 insight into knowledge and therefore make for greater 
 thoroughness of comprehension. 
 
 Locke's Blank Paper Theory, enunciated centuries ago, 
 has been repeatedly and triumphantly refuted even by tyros 
 in psychology, but in educational practices it continues to 
 hold sway. College teaching too frequently proceeds on the 
 assumption that the mind is an aching void anxiously await- 
 ing the generous contributions of knowledge to be made by 
 the teacher. College examinations usually test for multi- 
 plicity of facts acquired, rather than for power developed. 
 College teaching usually does not perceive that the mind is 
 a reacting machine containing a vast amount of pent-up 
 potential energy which is ready to react upon any presen- 
 tation; that development takes place only as this self- 
 activity expresses itself; that education is evolutionary rather 
 than involutionary. Teaching is, therefore, a process of 
 arousing, sustaining, and directing the self-activity of pupils. 
 The more persistently and successfully this activity is 
 aroused, the more systematically it is directed to intelligent 
 ends, the more skillful is the teaching. Teachers do not 
 impart knowledge, for that is impossible; they occasion 
 knowledge. Only as the teacher succeeds through ques- 
 tions, directions, diagrams, and all known devices, in arous- 
 ing the self-activity of the student, is he producing the 
 conditions under which knowledge is acquired by the 
 pupil. 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 73 
 
 The methods commonly used in college teaching are Evaluation 
 
 of commo 
 methods i 
 teaching 
 
 r_n_,,,^. of common 
 
 as follows: methods of 
 
 1. Lecture method, with or without quiz sections. 
 
 2. Development method, with or without textbook. 
 
 3. Combination of lecture and development method. 
 
 4. Reference readings and the presentation of papers by 
 students. 
 
 5. Laboratory work by students, together with lectures 
 and quiz sections. 
 
 Teachers have long debated the relative merits of these 
 methods or combinations of them. They fail to realize that 
 each method is correct, depending upon the aim to be accom- 
 plished and the governing circumstances. No method has 
 a monopoly of pedagogical wisdom; no method, used 
 exclusively, is free from inherent weakness. A teaching 
 method must be judged by its ability to arouse and sustain 
 self-activity and to attain the aim set for a specific lesson. 
 With this standard for judging a method of teaching, we 
 must stop to sum up the relative worth of common methods 
 of college teaching. 
 
 The lecture method has been the target for much criti- Lecture 
 cism for many centuries. Socrates inveighed against its evaluated 
 use by the sophists, and educators since have repeated the 
 attack. The reasons are legion: (a) The lecture method 
 tends to discourage the pupil's activity. The student feels 
 no responsibility during the lecture; he listens leisurely, 
 and makes notes of the instructor's contribution. The 
 student's judgment is not called into play; he learns to take 
 knowledge on the authority of the instructor. The sense 
 of comfort and security experienced in a lecture hour is 
 fatal even to aggressive and assertive minds. Sooner or 
 later the students succumb to the inertia developed by the 
 lecture system. 
 
 (6) A second limitation of an exclusive lecture method is 
 its inability to make permanent impressions. Many a 
 student, entering the lecture hall, has completely forgotten 
 
74 College Teaching 
 
 even the theme of the last lecture. Knowledge is retained 
 only when it is obtained by the expression of self-activity. 
 To offset this weakness notes must be taken, but these prove 
 to be the bane of the lecture method. Some students, in 
 their efforts to record a point just concluded, lose not only 
 the thought of what they are trying to write but also the 
 new thought which the instructor is now explaining; they 
 drop both ideas from their notes and wait for the next step 
 in the development of the lecture. This accounts for the 
 many gaps in the notes kept by students. Some instruc- 
 tors, dismayed by the amount of knowledge lost by students, 
 resort to dictation devices. Others, realizing the pedagog- 
 ical weakness of such teaching, distribute mimeographed 
 outlines of carefully prepared summaries of the lectures. 
 Now the student is relieved of the tedium of note taking, 
 but the temptation to let his mind wander afield is intensi- 
 fied. An outline, scanty of detail, but so devised as to keep 
 the organization and sequence of subject matter clear in the 
 minds of students, is, of course, helpful. But detailed out- 
 lines distributed among the students discourage even at- 
 tentive listening. 
 
 (c) In teaching by lectures only there is no contact 
 between student and teacher. The student does not recite; 
 he does not reveal his type of mind, his mode of study, 
 his grasp of subject matter. He is merely a passive 
 recipient. To this third weakness of the lecture method 
 we may add a fourth: id) it tends to emphasize quantity 
 rather than method. The student is confronted with a 
 great mass of facts, but he does not acquire a mode of 
 thought nor does he see the method by which a given sub- 
 ject is developed, (e) The lecture method, therefore, 
 inculcates in students an attitude of mental subservience 
 which is fatal for the development of courageous and 
 vigorous thought. And finally (/) it must be urged that 
 in lecture teaching the instructor is not testing the accuracy 
 of the students' conceptions nor is he able to judge the 
 efficacy of his own methods. 
 
 But, on the other hand, it must be admitted that with 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 75 
 
 an effective lecturer, possessed of commanding person- 
 ality, the lecture gives a point of view of a subject and 
 an enthusiasm for it which other devices fail to achieve. 
 The lecture method makes for economy of time and en- 
 ables one to present his subject to his class with a succinct- 
 ness absent from many textbooks. Where much must be 
 taught in a limited time, where a comprehensive view of 
 an extensive field must be given, when certain types of 
 responses or mental attitudes are desired, the lecture serves 
 well. 
 
 Experience teaches that an exclusive lecture svstem is ^^"^^ ^o^*^^ 
 
 of l6ctur6 
 not conducive to efficient work; that lectures to regular method 
 
 classes ought to be punctuated by questions whenever in- 
 terest lags; that the occasional and even the unan- 
 nounced lecture is more effective; that supplementary de- 
 vices for checking up assignments and regular collateral 
 study are of vital importance. Where regular lectures are 
 followed by detailed analyses in quiz sections the best re- 
 sults are obtained when the lecturer himself is the questioner. 
 Where quiz sections are turned over to assistants, wise 
 procedure requires that quiz leaders attend the lectures 
 and decide, in conference with the lecturer, the specific 
 aims which must be achieved in the quiz work and the 
 assigned readings which must be given to students in 
 preparation for each quiz hour. Unless this is done, the 
 student is frequently confused by the divergent points of 
 view presented by lecturer, quiz master, and textbook. 
 The development method has much to commend it. 
 It stimulates activity by its repeated questions. Few or 
 no notes are taken. There is constant contact with the 
 student. At every point the mental content of the pupils 
 is revealed. The teacher sees the result of his teaching 
 by the intelligence of successive responses. The pupil is 
 being trained in systematic thought and in concentration. 
 But it must be remembered that the development method 
 is often costly in time because answers may be wrong or 
 irrelevant. It may encourage wandering; a student's 
 reply reveals ignorance of a basic principle, and the aim 
 
76 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Place of 
 reference 
 reading in 
 college 
 teaching 
 
 Evaluation 
 of develop- 
 ment — So- 
 cratic or 
 heuristic 
 method 
 
 of the lesson is often forgotten in the eagerness to patch 
 up this misconception. Then, too, in subject matter that 
 is arbitrary, as in descriptive and narrative history, no 
 development is possible. In such cases the questions are 
 designed to test the student's knowledge of the text, and 
 the lesson becomes a quiz rather than a development. 
 
 It is plain, therefore, that a judicious combination of 
 the lecture and development methods will give better re- 
 sults than the exclusive use of either one. The analysis 
 of the pedagogical advantages of each leads to the con- 
 clusion that the development method should predominate 
 and that the lecture method should be used sparingly and 
 always with some of the checking devices described. 
 
 A common method employed in advanced courses in 
 college subjects emphasizes reference study and research. 
 The entire course is reduced to a series of problems, each 
 of which deals with a vital aspect of the subject. Each 
 student is made responsible for a topic. The initial hours 
 are devoted to an examination of the common sources of 
 information in this specific subject, the modes of using 
 these, the standards to be attained in writing a paper on 
 one of the topics, and similar matters. The remainder of 
 the term is given over to seminar work: each student reads 
 his paper and holds himself in readiness to answer all 
 questions his classmates may ask on his topic. The aims 
 of such a course are obviously to develop a knowledge of 
 sources and an ability to use intelligently the unorganized 
 data found by the student. The results of these pseudo- 
 seminar courses are far from what was anticipated. A 
 thorough investigation of such a course will soon con- 
 vince the teacher that the seminar method, whatever its 
 merits in university training, must be refined and diluted 
 before it is applied to college teaching. Let us see why. 
 
 Successful reference reading requires a knowledge of the 
 field studied, maturity of mind, discriminating judgment in 
 the selection of material, and ability in organization. The 
 university student is not only maturer and more serious 
 but has a basis of broader knowledge than most under- 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 77 
 
 graduates. Without this equipment of mental powers and 
 knowledge, the student cannot judge the merits .of contend- 
 ing views nor harmonize seeming discrepancies. A 
 student who has no ample foundation of economics cannot 
 study the subject by reference reading on the problems 
 of economics. To learn the meaning of value he would 
 read the psychological explanations of the Austrian schools 
 and the materialistic conceptions of the classical writers. 
 He would then find himself in a state of confusion, owing 
 to what seemed to him to be a superfluity , of explanations 
 of value. When one understands one point of view, an 
 added viewpoint is a source of greater clarity and a means 
 of deeper understanding. But when one is entirely 
 ignorant of fundamental concepts, two points of view 
 presented simultaneously become two sources of confusion. 
 In the university only the student of tried worth is per- 
 mitted to take a seminar course. In the upper classes in 
 college, mediocre students are often welcomed into a 
 seminar course in order to help float an unpromising elec- 
 tive. 
 
 The college seminar is usually unsuccessful because Limitations 
 few students have ability to hold the attention of their method in 
 classmates for a period of thirty minutes or more. >^i^der- 
 Language limitations, lack of a knowledge of subject teaching 
 matter, inability to illustrate eff^ectively, and the skeptical 
 attitude of fellow students all militate against successful 
 teaching by a member of the class. Students presenting 
 papers often select unimportant details or give too many 
 details. The rest of the class listen languidly, take oc- 
 casional notes, and ask a few perfunctory questions to help 
 bring the session to a close. A successful hour is rare. 
 The student who prepared the topic of the day undoubt- 
 edly is benefited, but those who listen acquire little knowl- 
 edge and less power. The course ends without a compre- 
 hensive view of the entire subject, without that knowledge 
 which comes from the teacher's leadership and instruction. 
 This type of reference reading and research has value when 
 used as an occasional ten or fifteen minute exercise to 
 
78 College Teaching 
 
 supplement certain aspects of class work. But as a steady 
 
 diet in a college course, the seminar usually leaves much 
 
 to be desired. 
 
 The laboratory method is growing in favor today in 
 
 college teaching. It is employed in the social sciences, in 
 
 sociology, in economics, in psychology, in education, as 
 
 well as in the physical and the biological sciences. Where 
 
 it is followed the aim is clearly twofold; viz., to teach 
 
 the method by which the specific subject is growing and 
 
 to develop in the students mental power and a scientific 
 
 attitude towards knowledge. 
 
 Value of Lgl^ ug illustrate these two aims of the laboratorv method, 
 
 laboratory k ^ ^ - ^ • i • i • i 
 
 method A laboratory course in chemistry or biology or sociology 
 
 may be designed to teach the student the use of apparatus 
 and equipment necessary for work in a respective field; 
 the method of attacking a problem; a standard for dis- 
 tinguishing significant from immaterial data; methods of 
 gathering facts; the modes of keeping scientific records,- — 
 in a word, the essence of the experience of successive gen- 
 erations of investigators and contributors. But no success- 
 ful laboratory results can be obtained without a proper 
 mental attitude. The student must learn how to prevent 
 his mental prepossessions or his desires from coloring his 
 observations; to allow for controls and variables; to give 
 most exacting care to every detail that may influence his 
 result; to regard every conclusion as a tentative hypothesis 
 subject to verification or modification in the light of 
 further test. Unless the student acquires a knowledge of 
 the method of science and has achieved these necessary 
 modes of thought, his laboratory course has failed to make 
 its most significant contribution. 
 
 In courses where the aim is to teach socially necessary 
 information or to give a comprehensive view of the scope 
 of a specific subject, it is obvious that the laboratory 
 method will lead far afield. It is for this reason that 
 introductory courses given in recitations, with demonstra- 
 tions by instructors, and occasional lecture and laboratory 
 hours, are more liberalizing in their influence upon the 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 79 
 
 beginners than courses that are primarily laboratory in 
 character. 
 
 Most laboratory courses would enhance their usefulness Cautions in 
 by observing a few primary pedagogical maxims. The Jhe iTborL 
 first of these counsels that we establish most clearly the to^y method 
 distinctive aim of the course. The instructor must be sure 
 that he has no quantitative aim to attain but is occupied 
 rather with the problems of teaching the method of his 
 specialty. Second, an earnest effort must be made to 
 acquaint the students with the general aim of the entire 
 course as well as with the specific aim of each laboratory 
 exercise. The students must be made to realize that they are 
 not discovering new principles but that by rediscovering 
 old knowledge or testing the validity of well-established 
 truths they are developing not only the technique of in- 
 vestigational work, but also a set of useful mental habits. 
 Much in laboratory work seems needless to the student 
 who does not perceive the goal which every task strives to 
 attain. 
 
 A third requisite for successful laboratory work re- 
 quires so careful a gradation that every type of problem 
 peculiar to a subject is made to arise in the succession 
 of exercises. It is wise at times to set a trap for 
 students so that they may learn through the consequences 
 of error. For this reason students may be permitted to 
 leap to a conclusion, to generalize from insufficient data, 
 to neglect controls, to overlook disturbing factors, etc. 
 An improperly planned and poorly graded laboratory 
 course repeats exercises that involve the same problems 
 and omits situations that give training in attacking and 
 solving new problems. 
 
 Effective laboratory courses afford opportunity to 
 students to repeat those exercises in which they failed 
 badly. If each exercise in the course is designed to make 
 a specific contribution to the development of the student, 
 it is obvious that merely marking the student zero for a 
 badly executed experiment is not meeting the situation. 
 He must in addition be given the opportunity to repeat the 
 
80 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The college 
 teacher not 
 the univer- 
 sity pro- 
 fessor 
 
 experiment in order to derive the necessary variety of 
 experiences from his laboratory training. And, finally, 
 the character of the test that concludes a laboratory course 
 must be considered. The test must be governed by the 
 same underlying aims that determine the entire course. 
 It must seek to reveal, not the mastery of facts, but growth 
 in power. It must measure what the student can do rather 
 than what he knows. A properly organized test serves to 
 reinforce in the minds of students the aims of the entire 
 course. 
 
 An analysis of effective teaching is necessarily incom- 
 plete that does not give due consideration to the only 
 human factor in the teaching process — the teacher. We 
 have too long repeated the old adages: "he who knows can 
 teach"; "a teacher is born, not made"; "experience is 
 the teacher of teachers." These dicta are all tried and 
 true, but they have the failings common to platitudes. It 
 often happens that those who know but lack in imagina- 
 tion and sympathy are by that very knowing rendered unfit 
 to teach. " Knowing " so well, they cannot see the diffi- 
 culties that beset the learner's path, and they have little 
 patience with the student's slow and measured steps in the 
 very beginnings of their specialty. It is true that some are 
 born teachers, but our educational institutions could not 
 be maintained if classes were turned over only to those to 
 whom nature had given lavishly of pedagogical power. 
 Experience teaches even teachers, but the price paid must 
 be computed in terms of the welfare of the student. 
 Teaching is one of the arts in which the artist works only 
 with living material; yet college authorities still make 
 no demand of professional training and apprenticeship as 
 prerequisites for admission to the fraternity of teaching 
 artists. 
 
 Ineffective college teaching will not improve until pro- 
 fessional teaching standards are set up by respected in- 
 stitutions. The college teacher must be possessed of ample 
 scholarship of a general nature. He must have expertness 
 in his specialty, to give him a knowledge of his field, 
 
General Principles of College Teaching 81 
 
 its problems and its methods. He must be a constant 
 student, so that his scholarship in his specialty will win 
 recognition and respect. But part of his preparation must 
 be given over to professional training for teaching. With- 
 out this, the prospective teacher may not know until it is 
 too late that his deficiencies of personality unfit him for 
 teaching. With it, he shortens his term of novitiate and 
 acquires his experience under expert guidance. The plan 
 of college-teacher training, given by Dr. Mezes in Chapter 
 II, so complete in scope, so thoroughly sound and progres- 
 sive in character, is here suggested as a type of professional 
 preparation now sorely needed. 
 
 The usual test of teacher and student is still the tradi- Testing the 
 
 ITQSIllfiS of 
 
 tional examination, with its many questions and sub-ques- instruction 
 tions. We still measure the results of instruction by 
 fathoming the fund of information our students carry 
 away. But these traditional examinations test for what is 
 temporary and accidental. Facts known today are for- 
 gotten tomorrow. The professor himself often comes to 
 class armed with notes, but he persists in setting up, as 
 a test of the growth of his students, their retentivity of the 
 facts he gave from these very notes. In the final analysis, 
 these examinations are not tests. The writer does not urge 
 the abolition of examinations, but argues rather for a re- 
 organized examination that embodies new standards. A 
 real examination must test for what is permanent and vital; 
 it must measure the degree to which students approximate 
 the aims that were set up to govern the entire course; it 
 must gauge the mental habits, the growth in power, rather 
 than facts. Part of an examination in mathematics, should 
 test students' ability to attack new problems, to plan a line 
 of work, to think mathematically, to avoid typical fallacies 
 of thought. For this part of the test, books may be opened 
 and references consulted. In literature we may question 
 on text not discussed in class to ascertain the students' 
 power of appreciation or of literary criticism. So, too, in 
 examinations in social sciences, physical sciences, foreign 
 languages, and biological sciences, the examination must 
 
82 College Teaching 
 
 consist, in great measure, of questions which test the 
 acquisition of the habits of thought, of work, of laboratory 
 procedure — in a word, the permanent contribution of any 
 study. This part of an examination should be differ- 
 entiated from the more mechanical and memory questions 
 which seek to reveal the student's mastery of those facts 
 of a subject which may be regarded as socially necessary. 
 Reduce the socially necessary data of any subject to an 
 absolute minimum and frame questions on it demand- 
 ing no such slovenly standard — sixty per cent — as 
 now prevails in college examinations. If the facts called 
 for on an examination are really the most vital in the sub- 
 ject, the passing grade should be very high. If the ques- 
 tions seek to elicit insignificant or minor information, any 
 passing mark is too high. It is obvious, therefore, that a 
 student should receive two marks in most subjects, — one 
 that rates power and another that rates mere acquisition 
 of facts. The passing grade in the one would necessarily 
 be lower than in the other. An examination is justified 
 only when it is so devised that it reveals not only the 
 students' stock of socially useful knowledge but also their 
 growth in mental power. 
 
 Paul Klapper 
 
 College of the City of New York 
 
PART TWO 
 The Sciences 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 IV The Teaching of Biology 
 
 T. W. Galloway 
 
 V The Teaching of Chemistry 
 
 Louis Kahlenberg 
 
 VI The Teaching of Physics 
 
 Harvey B. Lemon 
 
 VII The Teaching of Geology 
 
 T. C. Chamherlin 
 
 VIII The Teaching of Mathematics 
 
 G. A. Miller 
 
 IX Physical Education in the College 
 
 Thomas A. Storey 
 
IV 
 
 THE TEACHING OF BIOLOGY 
 
 Biology and Education 
 
 THE life sciences, broadly conceived, are basal to all de- Biology the 
 partments of knowledge; and the study of bi6logy \^^&iT 
 illumines every field of human interest. To the believer knowing 
 in evolution the human body, brain, senses, intellect, sen- 
 sations, impulses, habits, ideas, knowledges, ideals, 
 standards, attractions, sympathies, combinations, organiza- 
 tions, institutions, and all other powers and possessions of 
 every kind and degree are merely crowning phenomena of 
 life itself. The languages, history, science, economic sys- 
 tems, philosophies, and literatures of mankind are only 
 special manifestations and expressions of life and a part, 
 therefore, of the studies by which we as living beings are 
 trying to appraise and appreciate the meaning of life and 
 of the universe of which life is the most significant product. 
 Life is not merely the most notable product of our universe ; 
 it is the most persuasive key for solving the riddle of the 
 universe, and is the only universe product which aspires to 
 interpret the processes by which it has reached its own pres- 
 ent level. 
 
 All knowledge, then, is biological in the very vital sense 
 that the living organism is the only knowing thing. The 
 knowing process is a life process. Even when knowledge 
 pertains to non-living objects, therefore, it is one-half bio- 
 logical; our most worth-while knowledge — that of our- 
 selves and other organisms — is wholly so. Because all 
 our knowledge is colored by the life process, of which 
 the knowing process is derivative, the study of life under- 
 lies every science and its applications, every art and its 
 practice, every philosophy and its interpretations. Biol- 
 ogy must be taught in sympathy with the whole joint 
 enterprise of living and of learning. 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Adaptation 
 without los- 
 ing adapta- 
 bility the 
 goal of life 
 and of 
 education 
 
 The most outstanding phenomenon of life is the adapta- 
 tion of living things to the real and significant conditions of 
 their existence. Furthermore, as these conditions are noi 
 static, particularly in the case of humans, organisms must 
 not merely be adapted, but must continue thereafter to be 
 adaptable. Now learning is only a special case under 
 living, and education a special case under life. Its pur- 
 poses are the purposes of life. It is an artificial and rapid 
 recapitulation for the individual, in method and results, 
 of past life itself. The purpose of education is " adap- 
 tation, — with the retention of adaptability." It is to bring 
 the individual into attunement, through his own responses 
 and growth, with all the real factors, external and internal, 
 in his life, — material, intellectual, emotional, social, and 
 spiritual, — and at the same time leave him plastic. 
 
 Adaptation comes through the habit-forming experiences 
 of stimulus and response. The very process of adaptation, 
 therefore, tends toward fixity and to destroy adaptability. 
 It is thus the task of education, as it is of life, to replace the 
 native, inexperienced and physiological plasticity of youth 
 with some product of experience which shall be able to 
 revise habits in the interest of new situations. The adapt- 
 ability of the experienced person must be psychical and 
 acquired. It must be in the realm of appreciation, atti- 
 tude, choice, self-direction — a realm superior to habit. 
 
 In this human task of securing adaptation and retaining 
 adaptiveness the life sciences have high rank. In addi- 
 tion to furnishing the very conception itself that we have 
 been trying to phrase, they give illustrations of all the his- 
 toric occasions, kinds, and modes of adaptation; in lacking 
 the exactness of the mathematical and physical sciences 
 they furnish precisely the degree of uncertainty and open- 
 ness of opportunity and of mental state which the act of 
 living itself demands. In other words the science of life 
 is, if properly presented, the most normal possible intro- 
 duction to the very practical art of living. Because of the 
 parallel meaning of education and life in securing progres- 
 sive adaptation to the essential influential forces of the uni- 
 
The Teaching of Biology 87 
 
 verse, an appreciative study of biology introduces directly 
 to the purposes and methods of human education. 
 
 Chief Aims of Biology as a College Subject 
 
 While students differ in the details of their purposes in Why study 
 life, all must learn to make the broad adjustments to the coiiegJ?^" 
 physical conditions of life; to the problems of food and 
 nutrition; to other organisms, helpful and hurtful; to the 
 internal impulses, tendencies, and appetites; to the various 
 necessary human contacts and relations; to the great body 
 of knowledge important to life, which human beings have 
 got together; to the prevailing philosophical interpreta- 
 tions of the universe and of life; and to the pragmatic or- 
 ganizations, conventions, and controls which human society 
 has instituted. In addition to these, some students of biol- 
 ogy are going into various careers, each demanding special 
 adjustments which biology may aid notably. Such are 
 medicine and its related specialties, professional agricul- 
 tural courses,- and biological research of all kinds. 
 
 An extended examination of college catalogs shows some 
 consciousness of these facts on the part of teachers of 
 biology. The following needs are formally recognized in 
 the prospectuses: (1) The disciplinary and cultural needs 
 of the general student; (2) the needs of those preparing 
 for medicine or 'other professional courses; and (3) the 
 needs of the people proposing to specialize in botany and 
 zoology. These aims are usually mentioned in the order 
 given here; but an examination of the character of the 
 courses often reveals the fact that the actual organization of 
 the department is determined by an exact reversal of this 
 order, — that most of the attention is given, even in the 
 beginning courses, to the task of preparing students to take 
 advanced work in the subject. The theory of the depart- 
 ments is usually better than their practice. 
 
 In what follows these are the underlying assumptions, 
 — which seem without need of argument: (1) The gen- 
 eral human needs should have the first place in organizing 
 
88 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 the courses in biology; (2) the introductory courses should 
 not be constructed primarily as the first round in the ladder 
 of biological or professional specialization, but for the gen- 
 eral purposes of human life; (3) the preparation needed 
 by teachers of biology for secondary schools is more nearly 
 like that needful for the general student than that suited 
 to the specialist in the subject; and (4) the later courses 
 may more and more be concerned with the special ends 
 of professional and vocational preparation. 
 
 (1) study 
 of biology 
 furnishes 
 knowledge 
 of adaptive 
 value 
 
 General Aims of Biology in Education 
 
 What are the general adaptive contributions of biology to 
 human nature? What are the results in the individual 
 which biology should aim to bring to every student? 
 There are four classes of personal possessions, important 
 in human adaptation, to which biology ministers in a con- 
 spicuous way: information and knowledge; ability and 
 skills; habits; and attitudes, appreciations, and ideals. 
 These four universal aims of education are doubtless closely 
 related and actually inseparable, but it is worth while to 
 consider them apart for the sake of clearness. 
 
 A. TYPES OF BIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE USEFUL IN THE 
 
 ADAPTATION OF HUMAN BEINGS TO THE MOST 
 
 IMPORTANT CONDITIONS OF THEIR LIFE 
 
 (1) Some knowledge of the processes by which indi- 
 vidual plants and animals grow and differentiate, through 
 nutrition and activity; of the process of development com- 
 mon to all organisms; and the bearing of these facts on 
 human life, health, and conduct. 
 
 (2) An outline knowledge of reproduction in plants and 
 animals; the origin, nature, meaning, and results of sex; 
 the contribution of sex to human life, to social organization 
 and ideals, and its importance in determining behavior and 
 controls. 
 
 (3) A good knowledge of the external forces most im- 
 portant in influencing life; of the nature of the influence; 
 
The Teaching of Biology 89 
 
 of the various ways in which organisms respond and become 
 adjusted individually and racially to these conditions. A 
 sense of the necessity of adaptation; of the working of the 
 laws of cause and effect among living things, as every- 
 where else; of the fact that nature's laws cannot be safely 
 ignored by man any more than by the lower organisms; 
 of the relation between animal behavior and human be- 
 havior. 
 
 (4) Equally a true conception of the known facts about 
 the internal tendencies in organisms including man, which 
 we call hereditary. The principles underlying plant, ani- 
 mal, and human breeding. Any progress in behavior, in 
 legislation, or in public opinion in the field of eugenics, 
 negative or positive, must come from the spread of such 
 knowledge. 
 
 (5) A knowledge of the numerous ways in which plants 
 and animals contribute to or interfere with human welfare. 
 This includes use for food, clothing, and labor saving; 
 their destruction of other plants or animals useful or hurt- 
 ful to us; their work in producing, spreading, or aiding 
 in the cure of disease; their aesthetic service and inspiration; 
 the aid they give us in learning of our own nature 
 through the experiments we conduct upon them; and many 
 miscellaneous services. 
 
 (6) A conception of the evolutionary series of plants and 
 animals, and of man's place in the series; a reassurance that 
 man's high place as an intellectual and emotional being 
 is in no way put in peril by his being a part of the 
 series. Some clear knowledge of the general manner of 
 the development of the plant and animal kingdoms to their 
 present complexity should be gained. The student should 
 have some acquaintance with the great generalizations that 
 have meant so much to the science and to all human think- 
 ing, should understand how they were reached and the main 
 classes of facts on which they are based. 
 
 (7) The general student should be required to have such 
 knowledge of structure and classification as is needed to 
 give foundation and body to the evolutionary conceptions 
 
90 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 (2) Biologi- 
 cal study 
 gives desir- 
 a1}le skills 
 
 of plants and animals, and to the various processes and 
 powers mentioned above — and only so much. 
 
 (8) Some knowledge of the development of the science 
 itself; of its relation to the other sciences; of the men who 
 have most contributed to it, and their contributions; of the 
 manner of making these discoveries, and of the bearing 
 of the more important of these discoveries upon human 
 learning, progress, and well-being. 
 
 (9) Something of the parallelism between animal psy- 
 chology, behavior, habits, instincts, and learning, and those 
 of man, — in both the individual and the social realm. 
 
 (10) An elementary understanding of plant and animal 
 and human distribution over the earth, and of the factors 
 that have brought it about. 
 
 B. FORMS OF SKILL WHICH WORK IN BIOLOGY SHOULD 
 BRING TO EVERY STUDENT 
 
 Skill or ability may be developed in respect to the 
 following activities: seeking and securing information, 
 recording it, interpreting its significance, reaching general 
 conclusions about it, modifying one's conduct under the 
 guidance of these conclusions, and, finally, of appraising 
 the soundness of this conduct in the light of the results of it. 
 All of these are of basic importance in the human task of 
 making conscious adjustments in actual life; and the ability 
 to get facts and to use them is more valuable than to possess 
 the knowledge of facts. Other sciences develop some of 
 these forms of skill better than biology does; nevertheless, 
 we shall find that biology furnishes a remarkably balanced 
 opportunity to develop skills of the various kinds. It pre- 
 sents a great range and variety of opportunity to develop 
 accuracy and skill in raising questions; in observation and 
 the use of precise descriptive terms in recording results of 
 observation; in experimentation; in comparison and classi- 
 fication. It is peculiarly rich in opportunities to gain skill 
 in discriminating between important and unimportant data, 
 — one of the most vital of all the steps in the process of 
 sound reasoning. In practice, a datum may at first sight 
 
The Teaching of Biology 91 
 
 seem trivial, when in reality it is very significant. Skill 
 in estimating values comes only with experience in esti- 
 mating values, and in applying these estimates in practice, 
 and in observing and correcting the results of practice. 
 
 Finally, skill in adjusting behavior to knowledge is one 
 of the most necessary abilities and most difficult to attain. 
 The study of animal behavior experimentally is at the 
 foundation of much that we know of human psychology 
 and the grounds of human behavior. Even in an elemen- 
 tary class it is quite possible so to study animal responses 
 and the results of response as to give guidance and facility 
 to the individual in interpreting the efficiency of his own 
 responses, and in adding to his own controls. As has been 
 said, practice of some kind is necessary to determine 
 whether our estimate of values is good. Even vicarious 
 experience has educative value. 
 
 C. HABITS WHICH MAY BE STRENGTHENED BY THE 
 WORK IN BIOLOGY 
 
 Habits are of course the normal outcome of repeated <^^ ^l^^Y 
 action. Indeed, skills are in a sense habits from another adaptive 
 point of view. Skill, however, looks rather toward the ^*^^*^ 
 output; habit, toward the mode of functioning by the per- 
 son by whom the result is attained. We may then de- 
 velop habits in respect to all the processes and activities 
 mentioned above under the term " skills." The tedcher 
 of biology should have definitely in purpose the securing 
 for the student of habits of inquiry, of diligence, of con- 
 centration, of accuracy of observation, of seeking and 
 weighing evidence, of detecting the essentials in a mass of 
 facts, of refusing to rest satisfied until a conclusion, the 
 most tenable in the light of all known data, is reached, 
 and of reexamining conclusions whenever new evidence is 
 offered. 
 
 Of course it is impossible to use biology to get habits 
 of right reasoning in students unless we really allow them to 
 reason. If we insist that their work is merely to observe, 
 record, and hold in memory, — as so many of us do in 
 
92 College Teaching 
 
 laboratory work, — they may form habits of doing these 
 things, but not necessarily any more than this. Indeed, 
 they may definitely form the habit of doing only these 
 things, failing to use the results in forming for themselves 
 any of the larger conclusions about organisms. Seeing and 
 knowing — without the ability and habit of thinking — is 
 not an uncommon or surprising result of our conventional 
 laboratory work. There is only one way to get the habit 
 of right " following through " in reasoning; this is, always 
 to do the thing. When data are observed or are furnished 
 it is a pedagogical sin on the part of the teacher to allow 
 the student to stop at that point; and equally so to deduce 
 the conclusion for the student, or to allow the writer of the 
 textbook to do so, or at any time to induce the student to 
 accept from another a conclusion which he himself might 
 reach from the data. We have depended too much on our 
 science as a mere observational science, — when as a matter 
 of fact its chief glory is really its opportunity and its 
 incentives to coherent thinking and careful testing of con- 
 clusions. 
 
 It is inexact enough, if we are entirely honest, to force 
 us to hold our conclusions with an open mind ready to 
 admit new evidence. It is entirely the fault of the teacher 
 if the pupil gets a dogmatic, too-sure habit of mind as the 
 result of his biological studies. And yet, as has been said, 
 it is exact enough to enable us to reach just the same sort 
 of approximations to truth which are possible in our own 
 lives. The study of biology presents a superb opportunity 
 to prepare for living by forming the habits of mind and 
 of life that facilitate right choices in the presence of highly 
 debatable situations. In this it much surpasses the more 
 " exact " sciences. We may conclude, then, by positing the 
 belief that the most important mental habit which human 
 beings can form is that of using and applying consciously 
 the scientific method as outlined above, not merely to biol- 
 ogy alone, but to all the issues of personal life as well. 
 
The Teaching of Biology 
 
 93 
 
 D. APPRECIATIONS, ATTITUDES, AND IDEALS AS AIDED BY 
 
 BIOLOGY 
 
 This group of objectives is a bit less tangible, as some (4) Atti- 
 
 think, than those that have been mentioned; but in my J"^®^ °^ 
 ' , , ' •' life per- 
 
 own opinion they are as important and as educable for the fected by 
 good of the youth by means of biology as are knowledge, \^^ Sciences 
 skill, and habit. In a sense these states of mind arise as 
 by-products of the getting of information, skills, and habits; 
 in turn they heighten their value. We have spoken above 
 of the need of skill and habit in making use of the various 
 steps in the scientific method in reaching conclusions in life. 
 These are essential, but skill and habit alone are not enough 
 to meet the necessities in actual life. 
 
 In the first place the habit of using the scientific method 
 in the scientific laboratory does not in itself give assurance 
 that the person will apply this method in getting at the 
 truth in problems in his own personal life; and yet this 
 is the essential object of all this scientific training. In 
 order to get the individual to carry over this method, — 
 especially where feelings and prejudices are involved, — 
 we must inculcate in him the scientific ideal and the scien- 
 tific attitude until they become general in their influence. 
 To do this he ought to be induced as a regular part of 
 his early courses in biology to practice the scientific method 
 upon certain practical daily decisions exactly with the same 
 rigor that is used in the biological laboratory. The custom 
 of using this method in animal study should be trans- 
 formed into an attitude of dependence upon it as the only 
 sound method of solving one's life choices. Only by carry- 
 ing the method consciously into our life's problems, as a part 
 of the exercise in the course in biology, can we break up the 
 disposition to regard the method as good merely in the bio- 
 logical laboratory. We must generate, by practice and pre- 
 cept, the ideal of making universal our dependence upon 
 our best instrument of determining truth. A personal habit 
 in the laboratory must become a general ideal for life, 
 if we hope to substitute the scientific method for prejudice 
 
94 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 (5) Biology 
 a valuable 
 tool for 
 certain 
 technical 
 pursuits 
 
 in human living. There is no department of learning so 
 well capable of doing this thing as biology. 
 
 In the second place, the scientific method standing alone, 
 because of its very excellence as a method, is liable to pro- 
 duce a kind of over-sure dogmatism about conclusions, un- 
 less it be accompanied by the scientific attitude or spirit of 
 open-mindedness. The scientific spirit does not necessarily 
 flow from the scientific method at all, unless the teacher is 
 careful in his use of it in teaching. We make a mistake if, 
 in our just enthusiasm to impress the scientific method upon 
 the student, we fail to teach that it can give, at best, only an 
 approximation to truth. The scientific attitude which holds 
 even our best-supported conclusions subject to revision by 
 new evidence is the normal corrective of the possible dog- 
 matism that comes from over-confidence in the scientific 
 method as our best means of discovering truth. 
 
 The student at the end of the first year of biology ought 
 to have more appreciation and enjoyment of plants and 
 animals and their life than at the beginning, — and in- 
 creased appreciation of his own relation to other animals; 
 some attitude of dependence upon the scientific method of 
 procedure not merely in biology but in his own life; a 
 desire, however modest, for investigating things for himself; 
 and an ideal of open-minded, enthusiastic willingness to 
 subject his own conclusions to renewed testing at all times. 
 All these gains should be reinforced by later courses. 
 
 Special Aims of Biology in Education 
 
 So far as I can see, the preparation of students for 
 medicine, for biological research, or for any advanced ap- 
 plication of biology calls only for the following, — in addi- 
 tion to the further intensification of the emphasis suggested 
 above: 
 
 (a) An increased recognition of the subject matter in 
 organizing the course. In the early courses the subject 
 ought to be subordinated to the personal elements. If one 
 is to relate himself to the science in a professional way, the 
 logic of the science comes to be the dominant objective. 
 
The Teaching of Biology 
 
 95 
 
 (6) Growing out of the above there comes to be a change 
 of emphasis on the scientific method. The method itself 
 is identical, but the attitude toward it is different. In the 
 early courses it was guided by the teaching purpose. We 
 insist upon the method in order that the student may ap- 
 preciate how the subject has grown, may realize how all 
 truth must be reached, and may come habitually to apply 
 the method to his life problems. In the later courses it 
 becomes the method of research into the unknown. The 
 student comes more and more to use it as a tool, in whose 
 use he himself is subordinated to his devotion to a field of 
 investigation. 
 
 (c) A greater emphasis upon such special forms of 
 biological knowledge as will be necessary as tools in the 
 succeeding steps, and the selection of sul3Ject matter with 
 this specifically in view. This is chiefly a matter of infor- 
 mation, making the next steps intellectually possible. 
 
 id) More specific forms of skill, adapted to the work 
 contemplated. Technic becomes an object in such courses. 
 Morphology, histology, technic, exact experimentation, 
 repetition, drill, extended comparative studies, classifi- 
 tion, and the like become more essential than in the ele- 
 mentary courses. Thoroughness and mastery are desiderata 
 for the sake both of subject matter and character; and in 
 very much greater degree than in the general course. 
 
 Organization of the Course in Biology 
 
 The writer does not feel that standardized programs in 
 biology in colleges are either possible or desirable. What 
 is set down here under this heading is merely intended 
 as carrying out the principles outlined above, and not as 
 the only way to provide a suitable program. The writer 
 assumes that the undergraduates are handled by men of 
 catholic interests; and that the undergraduate courses are 
 not distributed and manipulated primarily as feeders for 
 specialized departments of research in a graduate school. 
 This latter attitude is, in my opinion, fatal to creditable 
 
 Biology- 
 courses not 
 to be stand- 
 ardized, 
 rigidly 
 
96 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 But they 
 should 
 follow 
 a general 
 principle: 
 
 (1) The first 
 group of 
 courses 
 should intro- 
 duce to life 
 rather than 
 to later bio- 
 logical 
 courses 
 
 undergraduate instruction for the general student or for the 
 future high school teachers of the subject. 
 
 There are three groups or cycles of courses which may 
 properly be developed by the college or by the undergrad- 
 uate department of the university. 
 
 First Group 
 
 This group contains introductory courses for all students, 
 but organized particularly with the idea of bringing the 
 rich material of biology to the service of young people 
 with the aim of making them effective in life, and not as a 
 first course for making them botanists or zoologists. 
 
 Course — Biology 1. General Biology 
 
 This course should introduce the student to the college 
 method of work in the life sciences; should give him the 
 general knowledge and points of view outlined above as 
 the chief aims of Biology; should synthesize what the student 
 already knows about plants and animals under the general 
 conception of life. Ideally the botanical and zoological 
 portions should be fused and be given by one teacher, rather 
 than presented as one semester of botany and one of zool- 
 ogy. This, however, is frequently impracticable. In any 
 event the total result should really be biology, and not a 
 patchwork of botany and zoology. Hence there should be 
 a free crossing of the barriers in use of materials at all 
 times. 
 
 A year of biology is recommended because each pupil 
 ought to have some work in both fields, and we cannot ex- 
 pect him to take a year in each. 
 
 Course — Biology 2. History of Biology 
 
 This course, dealing with the relation of the development 
 of biology to human interests and problems, may be given 
 separately, or as a part of Course I, — which should other- 
 wise be prerequisite to it. This may be one of the most 
 humanizing of all the possible courses in biology. 
 
The Teaching of Biology 
 
 97 
 
 sional uses 
 
 Second Group 
 
 This group furnishes a series of courses providing a ^^^^g^'^^'jj 
 thorough introduction to the principles and methods of be technical 
 botany and zoology. They provide discipline, drill, com- ductory^'^to 
 parison, mastery of technic as well as increased appreciation profes- 
 of biology and of the scientific method. They should pre- 
 pare for advanced work in biology, and for technical appli- 
 cations of it to medicine, agriculture, stock breeding, for- 
 estry, etc. 
 
 Course — Zoology 1 : Gen- 
 eral and Comparative Zo- 
 ology. 
 
 Course — Zoology 2 : Ani- 
 mal, including Human, 
 Physiology. 
 
 Course — Zoology 3: Mi- 
 crotechnic, Histology, 
 
 Histogenesis, Embryogeny. 
 
 Course — Zoology 4: Ani- 
 mal Ecology. 
 
 This outline for botany and zoology follows in the main 
 the most common arrangement found in the schools of the 
 country. In the personal judgment of the writer all under- 
 graduate courses should combine aspects of morphology, 
 physiology, ecology, etc., rather than be confined strictly 
 to one particular phase; even histology and embryology 
 can be better taught when their physiological aspects are 
 emphasized. There is no fundamental reason, however, 
 why there may not be great latitude of treatment in this 
 group. An alluring feature of biological teaching is that a 
 teacher who has a vital objective can begin anywhere in 
 our wonderful subject and get logically to any point he 
 wishes. These courses may be further subdivided, where 
 facilities allow. 
 
 Third Group 
 
 This group contains certain of the more elementary ap- 
 plications of biology to human welfare. While having 
 
 Course — Botany 1 : Gen- 
 eral and Comparative Bot- 
 any, and the Evolution of 
 Plants. 
 
 Course — Botany 2: Physi- 
 ology and Ecology of 
 Plants. 
 
 Course — Botany 3 : Plant 
 Cytology, Histology, and 
 Embryology. 
 
98 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 (3) A third 
 group of 
 special, but 
 cultural, 
 courses 
 
 The first 
 course ought 
 to he given 
 in such a 
 way that 
 It might 
 fittingly be 
 required of 
 all freshmen 
 
 practical value in somewhat specialized vocations, the 
 courses in this group are not proposed as professional or 
 technical. They are definitely cultural. Every college 
 might well give one or more of them, in accordance with 
 local conditions. They ought to be eligible without the 
 courses of the second group. The order is not significant. 
 
 Biology 3: Economic Entomology; 
 
 Biology 4: Bird Course; 
 
 Biology 5: Tree Course; 
 
 Biology 6: Bacteriology and Fermentation; 
 
 Biology 7: Biology of Sex; Heredity and Eugenics; 
 
 Biology 8: Biology and Education; 
 
 Biology 9: Evolution and Theoretical Problems. 
 
 Place of Biology in the College 
 Curriculum 
 
 The introductory course (Biology 1) can be given in 
 such a way that it ought to be required of all students 
 during the freshman or sophomore year, preferably the 
 freshman. In addition to the life value suggested above, 
 and its introductory value in later biology courses, such 
 a course would aid the student in psychology, sociology, 
 geology, ethics, philosophy, education, domestic economy, 
 and physical culture. Effort should be made to correlate 
 the biological work with these departments of instruction. 
 The course as now given in most of our colleges and 
 universities does not possess enough merit to become a 
 required study. Perhaps all we have a right at present to 
 ask is that biology shall be one of a group of sciences 
 from which all students must elect at least one. It is pre- 
 posterous, in an age of science, that any college should not 
 require at least a year of science. 
 
 Biology 1 should be prerequisite for botany 1 and zoology 
 1, and for the special biology courses in group three. 
 
 Botany 1 and zoology 1 should be made prerequisite for 
 the higher courses in their respective fields; but aside from 
 this almost any sequence would be allowable. 
 
The Teaching of Biology 99 
 
 A major in biology should provide at least for biology 1 
 and 2, botany 1, zoology 1, botany 2 and 3, or zoology, 2 
 and 3. Chemistry is desirable as a preparation for the 
 second group of courses. 
 
 Methods of Teaching as Conditioned by the 
 Aims Outlined Above 
 
 Since the laboratory method came into use among biol- ^^"^^^^^^ 
 ogists, there has been a disposition, growing out of its very retarded by 
 excellences, to make a fetich of it, to refuse to recognize the p^^ P^^a- 
 necessity of other methods, to be intolerant of any science 
 courses not employing the laboratory, and to affect a 
 lofty disdain of any pedagogical discussion of the ques- 
 tion whatsoever. The tone in which all this is done sug- 
 gests a boast; but to the discriminating it amounts to a 
 confession! The result of it has been to retard the de- 
 velopment of biology to its rightful place as one of the most 
 foundational and catholic of all educational fields. The 
 great variety of aim and of matter not merely allow, but 
 make imperative, the use of all possible methods; and 
 there is no method found fruitful in education which does 
 not lend itself to use in biology. The lecture method, the 
 textbook, the recitation, the quiz and the inverted quiz, 
 the method of assigned readings and reports, the method of 
 conference and seminar, the laboratory method, and the 
 field method are all applicable and needed in every course, 
 even the most elementary. 
 
 Our method has thus crystallized about the laboratory as Pro^stitution 
 the one essential thing; but worse, we have used the very laboratory 
 shortcomings of the laboratory as an excuse for extending 
 its sway. The laboratory method is the method of research 
 in biology. It is our only way to discover, unknown facts. 
 Is it, therefore, the best way to rediscover facts? This 
 does not necessarily follow, though we have assumed it. 
 Self-discovered facts are no better nor more true than com- 
 municated facts, and it takes more time to get them. The 
 laboratory is the slowest possible way of getting facts. 
 
tory work 
 
 100 College Teaching 
 
 We have tried to correct this quantitative difl&culty by ex- 
 tending the laboratory time, by speeding up, by confining 
 ourselves to static types of facts like those of structure, 
 and by using detailed laboratory guides for matter and 
 method, all of which tends to make the laboratory exer- 
 cise one of routine and the mere observation and record- 
 ing of facts or a verification of the statements in manuals. 
 The correction of these well-known limitations of the 
 laboratory must come, in my opinion, by a frank recog- 
 nition of, and breaking away from, certain of our mis- 
 apprehensions about the function of the laboratory. Some 
 of these are: 
 Real pur- 1. That the chief facts of a science should be rediscovered 
 
 possibmty ^y ^^ student in the laboratory. This is not true. Life 
 of ^abora- is too short. The great mass of the student's facts must 
 come from the instructor and from books. The laboratory 
 has as its function in respect to facts, some very vital 
 things: as, making clear certain classes of facts which the 
 student cannot visualize without concrete demonstration; 
 giving vividness to facts in general; gaining of enough 
 facts at first hand to enable him to hold in solution the 
 great mass of facts which he must take second hand; to 
 give him skill and accuracy in observation and in record- 
 ing discoveries; to give appreciation of the way in which 
 all the second-hand facts have been reached; to give taste 
 and enthusiasm for asking questions and confidence and 
 persistence in finding answers for them. Anything more 
 than this is waste of time. These results are not gained 
 by mere quantity of work, but only through constant and 
 intelligent guidance of the student's attitude in the process 
 of dealing with facts. 
 
 2. A feeling that the laboratory or scientific method con- 
 sists primarily of observation of facts and their record. 
 In reality these are three great steps instead of one in 
 this method, which the student of biology should master: 
 (1) the getting of facts, one device for doing which is 
 observation; (2) the appraisal and discriinination of these 
 facts to find which are important; and (3) the drawing 
 
The Teaching of Biology 101 
 
 of the conclusions which these facts seem to warrant. There 
 are two practical corollaries of this truth. One is that 
 the laboratory should be so administered that the pupil 
 shall appreciate the full scope of the scientific method, its 
 tremendous historic value to the race, and the necessity 
 of using all the steps of it faithfully in all future progress 
 as well as in the sound solution of our individual prob- 
 lems and the guidance of conduct. The second is that 
 we may make errors in our scientific conclusions and in 
 life conclusions, through failure to discriminate among 
 our facts, quite as fatally as through lack of facts. Indeed, 
 my personal conviction is that more failures are due to 
 lack of discrimination than to lack of observation. The 
 power to weigh evidence is at least as important as the power 
 to collect it. 
 
 3. A disposition to deny the student the right to reach 
 conclusions in the laboratory, — or, as we flamboyantly 
 say, to " generalize." Now in reality the only earthly value 
 of facts is to get truth, — that is, conclusions or general- 
 izations. To deny this privilege is taxation without repre- 
 sentation in respect to personality. The purpose of the 
 laboratory is to enable students to think, to think accu- 
 rately and with purpose, to reach their own conclusions. 
 The getting of facts by observation is only a minor detail. 
 In reality, the data the student can get from books are much 
 more reliable than his own observations are likely to be. 
 Our laboratory training should add gradually to the accu- 
 racy of his observations, but particularly it should enable 
 him to use his own and other persons' facts conjointly, 
 and with proper discrimination, in reaching conclusions. 
 To do other than this tends to abort the reasoning atti- 
 tude and power, and teaches the pupil to stand passive 
 in the presence of facts and to divorce facts and conclu- 
 sions. The fear is, of course, that the students will get 
 wrong conclusions and acquire the habit of jumping pre- 
 maturely to generalizations. But this situation, while criti- 
 cal, is the very glory of the method. What we want to do 
 is to ask them continually, — wherever possible, — where 
 
102 College Teaching 
 
 their facts seem to lead them. Their conclusions are 
 liable to be quite wrong, to be sure. But our province as 
 teachers is to see that the facts ignorance of which made this 
 conclusion wrong are brought to" their attention, — and it 
 is not absolutely material whether they discover these 
 facts themselves or some one else does. What we want 
 to compass is practice in reaching conclusions, and the 
 recognition of the necessity of getting and discriminating 
 facts in doing so, together with a realization that there 
 are probably many other facts which we have not dis- 
 covered that would modify our conclusions. This keeps 
 the mind open. In other words, the student may thus 
 be brought to realize the meaning of the " working hypoth- 
 esis " and the method of approximation to truth. It 
 makes no difference if one " jumps to a conclusion," if 
 he jumps in the light of all his known facts and holds 
 his conclusion tentatively. It is much better to reach wrong 
 conclusions through inadequate facts than to have the 
 mind come to a standstill in the presence of facts. Instead 
 of being a threat, reaching a wrong conclusion gives us the 
 opportunity to train students in holding their conclusions 
 open-mindedly and subject to revision through new facts. 
 Reaching wrong or partial conclusions and correcting them 
 may be made even more educative than reaching right ones 
 at the outset. This would not be true if the conclusion were 
 being sought for the sake of the science. But it is being 
 sought solely for the sake of the student. The distinction is 
 important. The inability to make it is one of the reasons 
 why research men so often fail as teachers. 
 
 All through life the student will be forced to draw con- 
 clusions from two types of facts, — both of which will be 
 incomplete: those he himself has observed and those which 
 came to him from other observers. While he must always 
 feel free to try out any and all facts for himself, it is 
 quite as important in practice that he be able to weigh 
 other persons' facts discriminatingly. We teach in the 
 laboratory that the pupil should not take his facts second 
 hand, though we rather insist that he do so with his con- 
 
The Teaching of Biology 103 
 
 elusions. In reality it is often much better to take our 
 facts second hand; the stultifying thing is to take our con- 
 clusions so. 
 
 4. The dependence upon outlines and manuals. This 
 is one of the most deadening devices that we have insti- 
 tuted to economize gray matter and increase the quantity 
 of laboratory records at the expense of real initiative and 
 thinking. It is easy for the reader to analyze for him- 
 self the mental reaction, or lack of it, of the student in fol- 
 lowing the usual detailed laboratory outline. Every lahora- ^J^J^f 
 tory exercise should he an educative situation calling for a mental re- 
 complete mental reaction from the pupil. In the first place, ^^^^ 
 no exercise should be used which is not really vital and laboratory 
 educative. This assured, the full mental reaction of the 
 student should be about as follows: 
 
 (1) The cursory survey of the situation. 
 
 (2) The raising by the student of such questions as seem 
 to him interesting or worthy of solution. (Here, of course, 
 the teacher can by skillful questioning lead the class to 
 raise all necessary problems, and increase the student's 
 willingness to attack them.) 
 
 (3) The determination through class conference of the 
 order and method of attacking the problems, and the 
 reasons therefor. 
 
 (4) The accumulation and record of discovered facts 
 (sharply eliminating all inferences). 
 
 (5) The arrangement (classification) and appraisal (dis- 
 crimination) of the discovered facts. 
 
 (6) Conclusions or inferences from the facts. (These 
 should be very sharply and critically examined by teacher 
 and class, to see to what extent they are really valid and 
 supported by the facts.) 
 
 (7) Retesting of conclusions by new facts submitted 
 by class, by teacher, or from books, with an effort to dimin- 
 ish prejudice as a factor in conclusions, and to increase 
 the willingness to approach our own conclusions with an 
 open mind. 
 
104 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 When laboratory outlines are used at all they should con- 
 sist merely of directions, and suggestions, and stimulating 
 questions which will start the pupils on the main quest, 
 — the raising and solving of their own problems. 
 
 Some Moot Problems ^ 
 
 Ascending or 
 
 descending 
 
 order? 
 
 Morphology 
 versus other 
 interests 
 
 1. Shall we begin with the simple, little-known, lower 
 forms and follow the ascending order, which is analogous 
 at least to the evolutionary order? Or shall we begin with 
 the more complex but better-known forms and go down- 
 ward? It seems to the writer that the former method has 
 the advantage in actual interest; in its suggestiveness of 
 evolution, which is the most important single impression 
 the student will get from his course; and in the mental 
 satisfactions that come to pupil and teacher alike from 
 the sense of progress. However, our material is so rich, 
 so interesting, and so plastic that it makes little difference 
 where we begin if only we have a clear idea of what we 
 want to accomplish. 
 
 2. What proportion of time should be given to mor- 
 phology in relation to other interests? For several reasons 
 morphology has been overemphasized. It lends itself to 
 the older conception of the laboratory as a place to ob- 
 serve and record facts. It offers little temptation to reach 
 conclusions. It calls for little use of gray matter. This 
 makes it an easy laboratory enterprise. It is what the 
 grade teachers call " busy " work, and can be multiplied 
 indefinitely. It can be made to smack of exactness and 
 thoroughness. 
 
 Furthermore, morphology is in reality a basal considera- 
 tion. It is a legitimate part of an introductory course, — 
 but never for its own sake nor to prepare for higher 
 courses. But morphology is, however, only the starting 
 point for the higher mental processes by which different 
 forms of organisms are compared, for the correlating of 
 structure with activity, for appreciation of adaptations of 
 
 1 These problems relate particularly to the introductory courses. 
 
The Teaching of Biology 105 
 
 structure both to function and to environmental influence. 
 It thus serves as a foundation upon which to build con- 
 clusions about really vital matters. Experience teaches 
 that sensitiveness, behavior, and other activities and powers 
 and processes interest young people more than structure. 
 The student's views are essentially sound at this point. 
 The introductory course should, therefore, be a cycle 
 in which the student passes quite freely back and forth 
 between form, powers, activities, conditions of life, and the 
 conclusions as to the meanings of these. It is important 
 only that he shall know with which consideration he is from 
 time to time engaged. 
 
 3. Shall a few forms be studied thoroughly, or many Few types 
 forms be studied more superficially? There is something ° °^^"y- 
 of value in each of these practices. It is possible to over- 
 emphasize the idea of thoroughness in the introductory 
 courses. Thoroughness is purely a relative condition any- 
 way, since we cannot really master any type. It seems 
 
 poor pedagogy, in an elementary class particularly, to 
 emphasize small and difficult forms or organs because 
 they demand more painstaking and skill on the part of the 
 student. My own practice in the elementary course is to 
 have a very few specially favorable forms studied with a 
 good deal of care, and a much larger number studied par- 
 tially, emphasizing those points which they illustrate very 
 effectively. 
 
 4. What proportion of time should be given to the various Distribution 
 
 rt <r\i«;r/»TT "!• • villi w 
 
 methods of work? Manifestly the answer to this question 
 depends upon the local equipment and upon the character 
 of the course itself. The suggestion here relates primarily 
 to the general or introductory courses. It seems to me 
 that a sound division of time would be: two or three hours 
 per week of class exercises (lectures, recitations, reports, 
 quiz, etc.) demanding not less than four hours of prepara- 
 tion in text and library work; and four to six hours a 
 week of " practical " work with organisms, about two hours 
 of which should take the form of studies in the field wher- 
 ever this is possible. 
 
106 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Weakness of 
 the research 
 man as a 
 teacher for 
 the begin- 
 ning course 
 
 Necessity of 
 differentia- 
 tion and rec- 
 ognition of 
 the two 
 functions 
 
 5. Is the " research " man the best teacher for the in- 
 troductory courses? In spite of a good deal of prejudg- 
 ment on the part of college and university administrators 
 and of the research biologists themselves, I am convinced 
 he is not. While there are notable exceptions, my own 
 observation is that the investigator, whether the head pro- 
 fessor or the " teaching fellow," usually does not have the 
 mental attitude that makes a successful teacher, at least of 
 elementary classes, — and for these reasons: he begrudges 
 the time spent in teaching elementary classes,- presents the 
 subject as primarily preparatory to upper courses, sub- 
 ordinates the human elements to the scientific elements, and 
 actually exploits the class in the interest of research. The 
 real teacher's question about an entering class is this: 
 " How can I best use the materials of our science to make 
 real men and women out of these people? " The question 
 of the professional investigator is likely to be: " How many 
 of these people are fit to become investigators, and how 
 can I most surely find them and interest them in the 
 science? " This is a perfectly fine and legitimate question; 
 but it is not an appropriate one until the first one has been 
 answered. It has been assumed that the answers to the 
 two questions are identical. This is one of the most vicious 
 assumptions in higher education today, in my opinion. 
 Furthermore, the investigator with his interests centering 
 at the margins of the unknown cannot use the scientific 
 method as a teacher, whose interest must center in the 
 pupil. The points of view are not merely not identical; 
 they are incompatible. 
 
 Experience indicates the wisdom of having all beginning 
 courses in biology in colleges and universities given by 
 teachers and not by investigators, mature or immature. 
 All people who propose to teach biology in the high schools 
 should have their early courses given from this human 
 point of view, that they may be the better able to come 
 back to it after their graduate work, in their efforts to 
 organize courses for pupils the greater part of whom will 
 never have any but a life interest in the subject. The 
 
The Teaching of Biology 
 
 107 
 
 problem of presenting the advanced and special courses is 
 relatively an easy one. The investigator is the best possible 
 teacher for advanced students in his own special field if 
 he is endowed with any common sense at all. 
 
 Tests of Effectiveness of Teaching 
 
 As yet we are notably lacking in regard to the measure- 
 ment of progress as the result of our teaching. Our usual 
 tests — examination, recitation, quiz, reports, laboratory 
 notebooks — evaluate in a measure work done, knowledge 
 or general grasp acquired, and accuracy developed. We 
 need, however, measurements of skill, of habits, and of the 
 still more intangible attitudes and appreciations. These 
 may be gained in part by furnishing really educative situa- 
 tions and observing the time and character of the student's 
 reaction. Every true teacher is in reality an experimental 
 psychologist, and must apply directly the methods of the 
 psychologist. 
 
 The laboratory and field furnish opportunity for this More vital 
 
 sort of testing. The student may be confronted with an un- ^^il^ ^^ 
 
 familiar organism or situation and be given a limited teaching 
 
 must be 
 time in which to obtain and record his results. He may found 
 
 be asked to state and enumerate the problems that are 
 suggested by the situation; outline a method of solving 
 them; discover as large a body of facts as possible; ar- 
 range them in an order that seems to him logical, with 
 his reasons; and to make whatever inferences seem to him 
 sound in the light of facts, — supporting his conclusions at 
 every point. The ability to make such a total mental re- 
 action promptly and comprehendingly is the best test of any 
 teaching whatsoever. The important thing is that we shall 
 not ourselves lose sight of the essential parts of it in our 
 enthusiasm for one portion of it. 
 
 In judging attitude and appreciation I think it is pos- 
 sible for discriminating teachers to obtain the testimony 
 of the pupil himself in appraisal of his own progress and 
 attitude. This needs to be done indirectly, to be sure. 
 
108 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The student's self -judgment may not be accurate; but it is 
 not at all impossible to secure a disposition in students 
 to measure and estimate their own progress in these various 
 things with some accuracy and fairness of mind. Besides 
 its incidental value as a test, I know of no realm of 
 biological observation, discrimination, and conclusion more 
 likely to prove profitable to the student than this effort to 
 estimate, without prejudice, his own growth. 
 
 Scarcity of 
 authoritative 
 pedagogical 
 literature in 
 tiology 
 
 The Literature of the Subject 
 
 For various reasons very little attention has been given 
 to the pedagogy of college biology by those in the best 
 position to throw light upon this vital problem. More in- 
 formation as to the attitude of teachers of the subject is 
 to be derived from college and university catalogs than 
 elsewhere,^ — howbeit of a somewhat stereotyped and 
 standardized kind. Much more has been written relative 
 to the teaching of biology in the secondary schools. In my 
 opinion the most effective teaching of biology in America 
 today is being done in the best high schools by teachers 
 who have been forced to acquire a pedagogical background 
 that would enable them to reconstruct completely their 
 presentation of the subject. Most of these people obtained 
 very little help in this task from their college courses in 
 biology. For these reasons every college teacher will 
 greatly profit by studying what has been written for the 
 secondary teachers. School Science and Mathematics 
 (Chicago) is the best source for current views in this field. 
 Its files will show no little of the best thought and investiga- 
 tion that have been devoted to the principles underlying in- 
 struction in biology. Lloyd and Bigelow, in The Teaching 
 of Biology (Longmans, Green & Co.), have treated the prob- 
 lems of secondary biology at length. Ganong's Teaching 
 Botanist (The Macmillan Company) has high value. 
 
 The authors of textbooks of biology, botany, and zoology 
 issued during the last ten years have ventured to develop- 
 in their prefaces, appendices, and elsewhere, their peda- 
 
The Teaching of Biology 109 
 
 gogical points of view. The writer has personal knowl- 
 edge that teaching suggestions are still resented by some 
 college teachers of zoology. Illustrations of the tendency 
 to incorporate pedagogical material in textbooks oti 
 biological subjects can be found in 
 
 Dodge, C. W. Practical Biology. Harper and Brothers, 1894. 
 Gager, C. S. Fundamentals of Botany. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 
 
 1916. 
 Galloway, T. W. Textbook of Zoology. P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 
 
 1915. 
 KiNGSLEY, J. S. Textbook of Vertebrate Zoology. H. Holt & Co. 
 Petrunkevitch, a. Morphology of Invertebrate Types. The Mac- 
 
 millan Company, 1916. 
 
 T. W. Galloway 
 
 Beloit College 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Cramer, F. Logical Method in Biology. Popular Science Monthly, 
 Vol. 44, page 372. 1894. 
 
 Farlow, W. G. Biological Teaching in Colleges. Popular Science 
 Monthly, Vol. 28, page 581. 1886. 
 
 Harvey, N. A. Pedagogical Content of Zoology. Proceedings Na- 
 tional Education Association, 1899; page 1106. 
 
 Hodge, C. F. Dynamic Biology. Pedagogical Seminar, Vols. 11-12. 
 
 Huxley, J. H. Educational Value of Natural History Science. Essay 
 II, Science and Education, 1854. 
 
 Rusk, R. R. Introduction to Experimental Education. Longmans, 
 Green & Co., 1912. 
 
 Saunders, S. J. Value of Research in Education. School Science 
 and Mathematics, Vol. II, March, 1902. 
 
 Smallwood, W. M. Biology as a Culture Study. Journal of Peda- 
 gogy, Vol. 17, page 231. 
 
 Welton, J. Psychology of Education (chapter on "Character"). 
 The Macmillan Company, 1911. 
 
THE TEACHING OF CHEMISTRY 
 
 Preparation ^ OME of the students ' entering classes in chemistry in 
 students a k3 College have already had an elementary course in the 
 determining subject in the high school or academy, while others have 
 not. Again, some study chemistry in college merely for the 
 sake of general information and culture, while many others 
 pursue the subject because the vocation they are planning 
 to make their life's work requires a more or less extensive 
 knowledge of chemistry. Thus, all students in the natural 
 sciences and their applications — as we have them in 
 medicine, engineering, agriculture, and home economics — 
 as well as those who are training to become professional 
 chemists, either in the arts and industries or in teaching, 
 must devote a considerable amount of time and energy 
 to the study of chemistry. The teacher of college chemistry 
 consequently must take into consideration the preparation 
 with which the student enters his classes and also the end 
 which is to be attained by the pursuit of the subject in the 
 case of the various groups of students mentioned. 
 
 In the larger high schools courses in chemistry are now 
 quite generally offered, but this is not yet true of the smaller 
 schools. In some colleges those who have had high school 
 chemistry are at once placed into advanced work without 
 taking the usual basal course in general chemistry which is 
 so arranged that students can enter it who have had no 
 previous knowledge of the subject. In other words, in some 
 cases the college builds directly upon the high school course 
 in chemistry. As a rule, however, this does not prove very 
 successful, for the high school course in chemistry is not 
 primarily designed as a course upon which advanced college 
 chemistry can be founded. This is as it should be, for 
 after all, while the high school prepares students for college, 
 its chief purpose is to act as a finishing school for tho=e 
 
 larger numbers of students who never go to college. The 
 
 110 
 
TJie Teaching of Chemistry 111 
 
 high school course in chemistry is consequently properly 
 designed to give certain important chemical facts and point 
 out their more immediate applications in the ordinary walks 
 of life, as far as this can properly be done in the allotted 
 time with a student of high school age and maturity. The 
 result is consequently that while such work can very well 
 be accepted toward satisfying- college entrance requirements, 
 it is only rarely sufficient as a basis for advanced college 
 courses in the subject. As a rule it is best to ask all 
 students to take the basal course in general chemistry 
 offered in college, arranging somewhat more advanced ex- 
 periments in the laboratory wherever necessary for those 
 who have had chemistry in preparatory schools. This has 
 become the writer's practice after careful trial of other 
 expedients. The scheme has on the whole worked out 
 fairly well, for it is sufficiently elastic to meet the needs 
 of the individual students, who naturally come with 
 preparation that is quite varied. Almost invariably 
 students who, on account of their course in high school 
 chemistry, are excused from the general basal course in 
 college chemistry have been handicapped forever after- 
 ward in their advanced work in the subject. 
 
 The first year's work in college chemistry consists of Organization 
 11- T • 1 1 r n 1 1 • ^ of first-year 
 
 general chemistry. It is basal tor all work that is to course 
 
 follow, and yet at the same time it is a finished course, 
 giving a well-rounded survey of the subject to all who do 
 not care to pursue it further. This basal course is com- 
 monly given in the freshman year, though sometimes it is 
 deferred to the sophomore year. Its content is now fairly 
 uniform in different colleges, the first semester being com- 
 monly devoted to general fundamental considerations and 
 the chemistry of the non-metals, while the metals receive 
 attention in the second semester, the elements of qualitative 
 analysis being in some cases taught in connection with the 
 chemistry of the metals. 
 
 The work is almost universally conducted by means of 
 lectures, laboratory work, and recitations. The lectures 
 have the purpose to unfold the subject, give general orienta- 
 
 General 
 chemistry 
 
112 College Teaching 
 
 tion as to the most important fundamental topics and 
 points of view, and furnish impetus, guidance, and in- 
 spiration for laboratory study and reading. To this end 
 the lectures should be illustrated by means of carefully 
 chosen and well-prepared experiments. These serve not 
 only to illustrate typical chemical processes, and funda- 
 mental laws, but they also stimulate interest and teach the 
 student many valuable points of manipulation, for it is 
 well-nigh impossible to watch an expert manipulator with- 
 out absorbing valuable hints on the building up, arranging, 
 and handling of apparatus. In the lectures the material 
 should be presented slowly, carefully, and clearly, so that 
 it may readily be followed by the student. Facts should 
 always be placed in the foreground, and they should be 
 made the basis of the generalization we call laws, and then 
 the latter naturally lead to theoretical conceptions. It 
 is a great mistake to begin with the atomic theory practi- 
 cally the first day and try to bolster up that theory with 
 facts later on as concrete cases of chemical action are 
 studied. On the other hand, it is also quite unwise to 
 defer the introduction of theoretical conceptions too long, 
 for the atomic theory is a great aid in making rapid pro- 
 gress in the study of chemistry. At least two or three 
 weeks are well spent in studying fundamental chemical re- 
 actions as facts quite independent of any theories whatso- 
 ever, in order that the student may thoroughly appreciate 
 the nature of chemical change and become familiar with 
 enough characteristic and typical cases of chemical action 
 so that the general laws of chemical combination by weight 
 and by volume may be logically deduced and the atomic 
 and molecular theories presented as based upon those laws. 
 Up to this stage the reactions should be written out in 
 words and all formulation should be avoided, so that the 
 student will not get the idea that " chemistry is the science 
 of signs and symbols," or that " chemistry is a hypotheti- 
 cal science," but that he will feel that chemistry deals with 
 certain very definite, characteristic, and fundamental 
 changes of matter in which new substances are formed, 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 
 
 113 
 
 and that these processes always go on in accordance with 
 fixed and invariable laws, though they are influenced by 
 conditions of temperature, pressure, light, electricity, and 
 the presence of other substances in larger or smaller 
 amounts. The theory and formulation when properly in- 
 troduced should be an aid to the student, leading him to see 
 that the expression of chemical facts is simplified thereby. 
 Thus he will never make the error of regarding the symbol 
 as the fundamental thing, but he will from the very out- 
 set look upon it simply as a useful form of shorthand 
 expression, as it were, which is also a great aid in chemical 
 thinking. Facts and theories should ever be kept dis- 
 tinct and separate in the student's mind, if he is to make 
 real progress in the science. 
 
 A thoroughgoing, logical presentation of the subject, 
 leading the student slowly and with a sense of perfect 
 comprehension into the deeper and more difficult phases, 
 should constitute one of the prime features of the work of 
 the first year. Interest should constantly be stimulated by 
 references to the historical development of the subject, 
 to the practical applications in the arts and industries, 
 to sanitation and the treatment of disease, to the providing 
 of proper food, clothing, fuel, and shelter, to the prob- 
 lems of transportation and communication, to the chemical 
 changes that are constantly going on in the atmosphere, 
 the waters, and the crust of the earth as well as in all 
 living beings. Nevertheless, all the time the science should 
 be taught as the backbone of the entire course. The allu- 
 sions to history and the manifold applications to daily 
 life are indeed very important, but they must never obscure 
 the science itself, for only thus can a thorough compre- 
 hension of chemistry be imparted and the benefits of the 
 mental drill and culture be vouchsafed to the student. 
 
 For the freshman and sophomore, two lectures per week 
 
 ■ are sufficient for this type of instruction. In these exercises ^^^^^^ 
 
 the student should give his undivided attention to what is 
 
 presented by the lecturer. The taking of notes is to be 
 
 discouraged rather than encouraged, for it results in divid- 
 
 Methods of 
 teaching — 
 The Lecture 
 
114 College Teaching 
 
 ing the attention between what is presented and the 
 mechanical work of writing. To take the place of the 
 usual lecture notes, students of this grade had better be 
 provided with a suitable text, definite chapters in which 
 are assigned for reading in connection with each lecture. 
 The text thus serves for purposes of review, and also as a 
 means for inculcating additional details which cannot to 
 advantage be presented in a lecture, but are best studied at 
 home by perusing a book, the contents of which have been 
 illuminated by the experimental demonstrations, the ex- 
 planations on the blackboard, the charts, lantern slides, and 
 above all the living development and presentation of the 
 subject by the lecturer. The lectures should in no case 
 be conducted primarily as an exercise in dictation and 
 note taking. If the lectures do not give general orienta- 
 tion, illumination, and inspiration for further study in 
 laboratory and library, they are an absolute failure and 
 had better be omitted entirely. On the other hand, when 
 properly conducted the lectures are the very life of the 
 course. 
 The The laboratory work should be well correlated with 
 
 work the lectures, especially during the first year. The ex- 
 
 periments to be performed by the student should be care- 
 fully chosen and should not be a mere repetition of the 
 lecture demonstrations. The laboratory experiments 
 should be both qualitative and quantitative in character. 
 They should on the one hand illustrate the peculiar prop- 
 erties of the substances studied and the typical concomitant 
 changes of chemical action, but on the other hand a suffi- 
 cient number of quantitative exercises in the laboratory 
 should be introduced to bring home to the student the 
 laws of combining weights and volumes, thus giving him 
 the idea that chemistry is exact and that quantitative rela- 
 tions always obtain when chemical action takes place. At 
 the same time the quantitative exercises lay the basis foi 
 the proper comprehension of the laws of combining weights 
 and volumes and the atomic and molecular theories. At 
 least three periods of two consecutive hours each should 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 115 
 
 be spent in the laboratory per week, and the laboratory 
 exercises should be made so interesting and instructive 
 that the student will feel inclined to work in the laboratory 
 at odd times in addition if his program of other studies 
 permits. The laboratory should at all times be, as its name 
 implies, a place where work is done. Order and neatness 
 should always prevail. Apparatus should be kept neat 
 and clean, and in no case should slovenly habits of setting 
 up apparatus be tolerated. The early introduction of a cer- 
 tain amount of quantitative experimentation in the course 
 makes for habits of order and neatness in experimentation 
 and guards against bringing up " sloppy " chemists. 
 
 The laboratory notebook should be a neat and accurate 
 record of the work in the laboratory. To this end the en- 
 tries in the notebook should be made in the laboratory at 
 the time when the experiment is actually being performed. 
 The writing of data on loose scratch paper and then finally 
 writing up the notebook later at home from such sheets 
 is not to be recommended, for while thus the final appear- 
 ance of the notebook may be improved, it is no longer a 
 first-hand record such as every scientist makes, but rather 
 a transcribed one. The student, in making up such a 
 transcription, is only too apt to draw upon his inner con- 
 sciousness to make the book appear better; indeed, when 
 he has neglected to transcribe his notes for several days, 
 he is bound to produce anything but a true and accurate 
 record, to say nothing about being put to the temptation 
 to " fake " results which he has either not at all obtained 
 in the laboratory, or has recorded so imperfectly on the 
 scratch paper that he can no longer interpret his record 
 properly. The only true way is to have the notes made 
 directly in the permanently bound notebook at the time 
 when the experiment is actually in progress. The student 
 ought not to take the laboratory notebook home at all with- 
 out the instructor's knowledge and permission. Each 
 experiment should be entered in the notebook in a brief, 
 businesslike manner. Long-winded, superfluous discus- 
 sions should be avoided. As a rule, drawings of ap- 
 
116 College Teaching 
 
 paratus in the notes are unnecessary, it being sufficient to 
 indicate that the apparatus was set up according to Figure 
 so-and-so in the laboratory manual or according to the di- 
 rections given on page so-and-so. The student should be 
 made to feel that the laboratory is the place where careful, 
 purposeful experimentation is to be done, that this is the 
 main object of the laboratory work, and that the note- 
 book is merely a reliable record of what has been accom- 
 plished. To this end the data in the notebook should be 
 The complete, yet brief and to the point, so that what has 
 
 laboratory been done can be looked up again and that the instructor 
 record may know that the experiment has been performed prop- 
 
 erly, that its purpose was understood by the student, and 
 that he has made correct observations and drawn logical 
 conclusions therefrom. While in each case the notes 
 should indicate the purpose of the experiment, what has 
 actually been done and observed, and the final conclusions, 
 it is on the whole best not to have a general cut-and-dried 
 formula according to which each and every experiment is 
 to be recorded. It is better to encourage a certain degree 
 of individuality in this matter on the part of each student. 
 Notebooks should be corrected by the teacher every week, 
 and the student should be asked to correct all errors which 
 the teacher has indicated. A businesslike atmosphere 
 should prevail in the laboratory at all times, and this 
 should be reflected in the notebooks. Anythins; that savors 
 of the pedantic is to be strictly avoided. Small black- 
 boards should be conveniently placed in the laboratory 
 so that the instructor may use them in explaining any points 
 that may arise. Usually the same question arises with 
 several members of the class, and a few moments of 
 explanation before the blackboard enable the instructor 
 to clear up the points raised. This not only saves the 
 instructor's time, but it also stimulates interest in the 
 laboratory when explanations are thus given to small 
 groups just when the question is hot. 
 
 It is, of course, assumed that the necessary amount of 
 apparatus, chemicals, and other supplies is available, and 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 117 
 
 that the laboratory desks, proper ventilation of the rooms, 
 and safeguards in the case of all experiments fraught with 
 danger have received the necessary painstaking attention 
 on the part of the instructor, who must never for a moment 
 relax in looking after these matters, which it is not the 
 purpose to discuss here. At all times the student should 
 work intelligently and be fully aware of any dangers that 
 are inherent in what he is doing. It need hardly be said 
 that a beginner should not be set at experiments that are 
 specially dangerous. Having been given proper direc- 
 tions, the student should be taught to go ahead with con- 
 fidence, for working in constant trepidation that an acci- 
 dent may occur often creates a nervous state that brings 
 about the accident. Too much emphasis cannot be laid 
 upon proper, definite laboratory instructions, especially 
 as to kinds and amounts of materials to be used. Such 
 directions as " take a little phosphorus," for example, 
 should be strictly avoided, for the direction as to amount 
 is absolutely indefinite and may in the case where phos- 
 phorus or any other dangerous substance is used lead to 
 dire accidents. The student should be given proper and 
 very definite directions, and then he should be taught to 
 follow these absolutely and not use more of the materials 
 than is specified, as the beginner is so apt to do, thus often 
 wasting his time and the reagents as well. Economy and 
 the correct use of all laboratory supplies should be in- 
 culcated indirectly all the time. A fixed set of printed 
 rules for the laboratory is generally neither necessary nor 
 desirable when students are properly directed to work in- 
 telligently as they go, and good directions are given in 
 the laboratory manual. Thus a spirit of doing intelligently 
 what is right and proper, guarding against accidents, 
 economizing in time and materials of all kinds will soon 
 become dominant in the laboratory and will greatly add 
 to the efficiency of the workers. Minor accidents are almost 
 bound to occur at times in spite of all precautions, and 
 the instructor should be ready to cope with these promptly 
 by means of a properly supplied first-aid kit. 
 
118 College Teaching 
 
 Eecitations For Students of the first year quizzes or recitations should 
 
 be held at least twice a week. In these exercises the ground 
 covered in the lectures and laboratory work should be 
 carefully and systematically reviewed. The quiz classes 
 should not be too large. Twenty-five students is the upper 
 limit for a quiz section. The laboratory sections too 
 should not be larger than this, and it is highly desirable 
 that the same instructor conduct both the recitation and 
 the immediate laboratory supervision of the student. 
 Lecture classes can, of course, be very much larger in 
 number. In most colleges the attendance upon classes in 
 chemistry is so large that it is not possible for the professor 
 to deliver the lectures and also personally conduct all 
 of the laboratory work and recitations. It is consequently 
 necessary to divide the class up into small sections for 
 laboratory and quiz purposes. It is highly desirable that 
 the student become well acquainted with his individual in- 
 structor in laboratory and quiz work, and therefore it would 
 be unfortunate to have one instructor in the laboratory and 
 still another instructor in the quiz. It might be argued 
 that it is a good thing to have the student become acquainted 
 with a number of instructors, but in the writer's experience 
 such practice results to the disadvantage of the student, 
 and is consequently not to be recommended. 
 
 In the recitations the student is to be encouraged to do 
 the talking. He is to be given an opportunity to ask ques- 
 tions as well as to answer the queries put by the teacher. 
 Short written exercises of about ten minutes' duration can 
 be given to advantage in each of these recitations. In 
 this way the entire class writes upon a well-chosen ques- 
 tion or solves a numerical chemical problem and thus a 
 great deal of time is saved. The quiz room should be well 
 provided with blackboards which may be used to great 
 advantage in the writing of equations and the solution of 
 chemical problems just as in a class in mathematics. The 
 textbook, from which readings are assigned to the student 
 in connection with the lectures, should contain questions 
 which recapitulate the contents of each chapter. When 
 
The Teaching o'f Chemistry 119 
 
 such questions are not contained in the book, they ought 
 to be provided by the teacher on printed or mimeographed 
 sheets. When properly conducted, .the recitation aids 
 greatly in clarifying, arranging and fixing the important 
 points of the course in the mind of the student. Young 
 instructors are apt to make the mistake of doing too much 
 talking in the quiz, instead of encouraging the student to 
 express his views. In these days, when foreign languages 
 and mathematics are more or less on the wane in colleges, 
 the proper study of chemistry, particularly in the well- 
 conducted quiz, will go far toward supplying the mental 
 drill which the older subjects have always afforded. 
 
 If the work of the first year has been properly con- Summary 
 ducted, it will have given the student a general view of the course ^^^"^ 
 whole field of chemistry, together with a sufficient amount 
 of detail so securely anchored in careful laboratory work 
 and practical experience as to form a basis for either more 
 advanced work in chemical lines or in the pursuance of the 
 vocations already mentioned in which a knowledge of 
 chemistry is basal. It is hardly necessary to add that if well 
 taught, the student will at the end of such a course have a 
 desire for more chemistry. 
 
 The work of the second year of chemistry in college Organiza- 
 generally consists of quantitative analysis, though the more second-year 
 intensive study of the compounds of carbon, known as course 
 organic chemistry, is also frequently taken up at this 
 time, and there is much to be said in favor of such prac- 
 tice. 
 
 In the Quantitative analysis, habits of neatness and ac- Content of 
 
 t/ll3 coiirs6 
 
 curacy must be insisted upon. It is well to give the gen- in quantita- 
 eral orientation and directions by means of lectures. One tive analysis 
 or two such exercises per week will suffice. There should 
 also be recitations. When two lectures per week are given, 
 it will suffice to review the work with the student in con- 
 nection with such lectures, provided the class is not too 
 large for quiz purposes. Intelligent work should charac- 
 terize a course in quantitative analysis. To this end the 
 student should be taught how to* take proper representa- 
 
120 College Teaching 
 
 tive samples of the material to be analyzed. He should 
 then be taught how to weigh or measure out that sample 
 with proper care. The manipulations of the analytical 
 process should be carried out so that each step is properly 
 understood and its relations to the general laws of chem- 
 istry are constantly before the mind. In carrying out the 
 process, the various sources of error must be thoroughly 
 appreciated and guarded against. The final weighing or 
 measuring of the form in which the ingredient sought is 
 estimated should again be carried out with care, and in 
 the calculation of the percentage content due regard should 
 be had for the limits of error of experimentation through- 
 out the entire analytical process. The student feels that a 
 large number of the exercises in quantitative analysis are 
 virtually cases of making chemical preparations of the 
 highest possible purity, thus connecting his previous chem- 
 ical experience with his quantitative work. The course in 
 quantitative analysis should cover the determination of the 
 more important basic and acid radicals, and should con- 
 sist of both gravimetric and volumetric exercises. 
 
 The choice of the exercises is of great importance. It 
 may vary, and should vary considerably in different cases. 
 Thus a student in agriculture is naturally interested in the 
 methods of estimating lime, phosphorus, nitrogen, potash, 
 silica, sulphur, etc., whereas a student in engineering would 
 be more interested in work with the heavy metals and the 
 ingredients which the commercial samples of such metals 
 are apt to contain. Thus, analytical work on solder, bear- 
 ing metal, iron and steel, cement, etc., should be introduced 
 as soon as the student in engineering is ready for it. It 
 is quite possible to inculcate the principles of quantita- 
 tive analysis by selecting exercises in which the individual 
 student is interested, though, to be sure, certain fundamental 
 things would naturally have to be taken by all students, what- 
 ever be the line for which they are training. A few exercises 
 in gas analysis and also water analysis should be given in 
 every good course in quantitative analysis that occupies an 
 entire year. Careful attention should be given to the note- 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 121 
 
 book in the quantitative work, and the student should also be 
 made to feel that in modern quantitative analysis not only 
 balances and burettes are to serve as the measuring instru- 
 ments, but that the polariscope and the refractometer also 
 are very important, and that at times still other physical 
 instruments like the spectroscope, the electrometer, and the 
 viscometer may prove very useful indeed. 
 
 The quantitative analysis offers a splendid opportunity 
 for bringing home to the student what he has learned in the 
 work of the first year, showing him one phase of the ap- 
 plication of that knowledge and making him feel, as it were, 
 the quantitative side of science. This latter view can be 
 imparted only to a limited degree in the first year's work, 
 but the quantitative course offers an unusual opportunity 
 for giving the student an application of the fundamental 
 quantitative laws which govern all chemical processes. It 
 is not possible to analyze very many substances during any 
 college course in quantitative analysis. The wise teacher 
 will choose the substances to be analyzed so as to keep up 
 the interest of the student and yet at the same time give 
 him examples of all the fundamental cases that are com- 
 monly met in the practice of analytical work. A careful, 
 painstaking, intelligent worker should be the result of the 
 course in quantitative analysis. Toward the end of the 
 course, too, a certain amount of speed should be insisted 
 upon. The student should be taught to carry on several 
 processes at the same time, but care should be taken not to 
 overdo this. 
 
 In the course in organic chemistry, lectures, laboratory The course 
 , o 1 ^ ,.• • inorganic 
 
 work, and recitations, arranged very much as to time as m chemistry 
 
 the first year, will be found advantageous. If the inten- 
 sive work in organic chemistry is postponed to the third 
 year in college, there are certain advantages. For example, 
 the student is more mature and has had drill and experience 
 in the somewhat simpler processes commonly taught in gen- 
 eral and analytical chemistry. On the other hand, the post- 
 poning of organic chemistry to the third year has the dis- 
 advantage that the student goes through his basal training 
 
122 College Teaching 
 
 in quantitative analysis without the help of that larger 
 horizon which can come to him only through the study 
 of the methods of organic chemistry. The general work 
 of the first year, to be sure, if well done compensates in 
 part for what is lost by postponing organic chemistry till 
 the third year, but it can never entirely remove the loss 
 to the student. Teachers will differ as to whether the 
 time-honored division of organic chemistry into the ali- 
 phatic and aromatic series should be maintained pedagogi- 
 cally, but they will doubtless all agree that the methods 
 of working out the structure of the chemical compound are 
 peculiarly characteristic of the study of the compounds of 
 carbon, and these methods must consequently constitute 
 an important point to be inculcated in organic chemistry. 
 The derivation of the various types of organic compounds 
 from the fundamental hydrocarbons as well as from one 
 another, and the characteristic reactions of each of these 
 fundamental forms which lead to their identification and 
 also often serve as a means of their purification, ihould 
 naturally be taught in a thoroughgoing manner. The nu- 
 merous practical applications which the teacher of organic 
 chemistry has at his command will always serve to make this 
 subject one of the deepest interest, if not the most fascin- 
 ating portion of the entire subject of chemistry. No student 
 should leave the course in organic chemistry without feeling 
 the beautiful unity and logical relationship which obtains 
 in the case of the compounds of carbon, the experimental 
 study of which has cast so much light upon the chemical 
 processes in living plants and animals, processes upon 
 which life itself depends. The analysis of organic com- 
 pounds is probably best taught in connection with the course 
 in organic chemistry. It is here that the student is intro- 
 duced to the use of the combustion furnace and the method 
 of working out the empirical formulae of the compounds 
 which he has carefully prepared and purified. The labora- 
 tory practice in organic chemistry generally requires the 
 use of larger pieces of apparatus. Some of the experi- 
 ments also are connected with peculiar dangers of their 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 123 
 
 own. These facts require that the student should not ap- 
 proach the course without sufficient preliminary training. 
 Furthermore, the teacher needs to exercise special care in 
 supervising the laboratory work so as to guard the student 
 against serious accidents. 
 
 The historical development of organic chemistry is espe- 
 cially interesting, and allusions to the history of the impor- 
 tant discoveries and developments of ideas in organic chem- 
 istry should be used to stimulate interest and so enhance the 
 value of the work of the student. The practical side of or- 
 ganic chemistry should never be lost sight of for a moment, 
 and under no condition should the course be allowed to de- 
 teriorate into one of mere picturing of structural formulae 
 on the blackboard. All chemical formulas are merely 
 compact forms of expression of what we know about 
 chemical compounds. There are, no doubt, many facts 
 about chemical compounds which their accepted formulas 
 do not express at all, and the wise teacher should lead the 
 student to see this. There is peculiar danger in the course 
 in organic chemistry that the pupil become a mere formula 
 worshiper, and this must carefully be guarded against. 
 
 The applications of organic chemistry to the arts and 
 industries, but especially to biochemistry, will no doubt in- 
 terest many members of the class of a course in organic 
 chemistry if the subject is properly taught. This will be 
 particularly the case if the teacher always holds before the 
 mind of the pupil the actual realities in the laboratory and 
 in nature, using formulation merely as the expression of 
 our knowledge and not as an end in itself. 
 
 Physical chemistry, commonly regarded as the youngest Place of 
 and by its adherents the most important and all-pervading chemistry 
 
 branch of chemistry, is presented very early in the college jnthecoi- 
 
 \ ^ , ^ , . . 1 lege curricu- 
 
 course by some teachers, and postponed to the junior and lum 
 
 even the senior year by others. Just as a certain amount of 
 organic chemistry should be taught in the first year, so a 
 few of the most fundamental principles of physical chem- 
 istry must also find a place in the basal work of the be- 
 ginner. However, in the first year's work in chemistry so 
 
124 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Courses in 
 
 applied 
 
 chemistry 
 
 Enthusias- 
 tic teaching 
 a vital 
 factor 
 
 many phases of the subject must needs be presented in 
 order to give a good general view, that many details in 
 either organic, analytical, or physical chemistry must neces- 
 sarily be omitted. What is to be taught in that important 
 basal year must, therefore, be selected with extreme care. 
 Moreover, so far as physical chemistry is concerned, it is 
 in a way chemical philosophy or general chemistry in the 
 broadest sense of the word, and consequently requires for 
 its successful pursuit not only a basal course, but also 
 proper knowledge of analytical and organic chemistry, as 
 well as a grounding in physics, crystallography, and mathe- 
 matics. At the same time a certain amount of biological 
 study is highly desirable. A good course^ in physical 
 chemistry postulates lectures, laboratory work, and recita- 
 tions. In general, these should be arranged much like 
 those in the basal course and the course in organic chem- 
 istry. If anything, more time should be put upon the 
 lectures and recitations; certainly more time should be de- 
 voted to exercises of this kind than in the course in quan- 
 titative analysis, wTiich is best taught in the laboratory. 
 At the same time it would be a mistake to teach physical 
 chemistry without laboratory practice. Indeed, laboratory 
 practice is the very life of physical chemistry, and the more 
 of such work we can have, the better. However, since 
 physical chemistry, as already stated, delves into the phil- 
 osophical field, discussions in the lecture hall and class- 
 room become of peculiar importance. 
 
 Many colleges now give additional courses in chemical 
 technology. These would naturally come after the student 
 has had a sufficient foundation in general chemistry, chem- 
 ical analysis, and organic and physical chemistry. As a 
 rule such applied courses ought not to be given until the 
 junior or senior year. It is a great mistake to introduce 
 such courses earlier, for the student cannot do the work 
 in an intelligent manner. 
 
 In all the courses in chemistry, interest and enthusiasm 
 are of vital importance. These can be instilled only by 
 the teacher himself, and no amount of laying out courses 
 
The Teaching of Chemistry 125 
 
 on paper and giving directions, however valuable they 
 may be, can possibly take the place of an able, devoted, 
 enthusiastic teacher. Chemistry deals with things, and 
 hence is always best taught in the laboratory. The class- 
 room and the library should create interest and enthusiasm 
 for further laboratory work, and in turn the laboratory 
 work should yield results that will finally manifest them- 
 selves in the form of good written reports. 
 
 Original work should always be carried on by the college 
 teacher. If he fails in this, his teaching will soon be dead. 
 There will always be some bright students who can help him 
 in his research work. These should be led on and devel- 
 oped along lines of original thought. From this source 
 there will always spring live workers in the arts and indus- 
 tries as well as .in academic lines. Lack of facilities and 
 time is often pleaded by the college teacher as an ex- 
 cuse for not doing original work. There is no doubt that 
 such facilities are often very meager. Nevertheless, the 
 enthusiastic teacher is bound to find the time and also the 
 means for doing some original work. A great deal can- 
 not be expected of him as a rule because of his pedagog- 
 ical duties, but a certain amount of productive work 
 is absolutely essential to any live college teacher. 
 
 The importance of chemistry in daily life and in the 
 industries has been increasing and is bound to continue to 
 increase. For this reason the subject is destined to take 
 a more important place in the college curriculum. If 
 well taught, college chemistry will not only widen the hori- 
 zon of the student, but it will also afford him both manual 
 training and mental drill and culture of the highest order, 
 
 Louis Kahlenberg 
 
 University of Wisconsin 
 
 The teacher 
 must con- 
 tinue his re- 
 searches 
 
 Future of 
 chemistry in 
 the college 
 curriculum 
 
VI 
 
 THE TEACHING OF PHYSICS 
 
 Utilitarian 
 value of the 
 study of 
 physics 
 
 Disciplinary 
 value of the 
 study 
 
 THE need of giving to physics a prominent place in the 
 college curriculum of the twentieth century is quite 
 universally admitted. If, as an eminent medical authority 
 maintains, no man can be said to be educated who has not 
 the knowledge of trigonometry, how much more true is 
 this statement with reference to physics? The five human 
 senses are not more varied in scope than are the five great 
 domains of this science. In the study of heat, sound, and 
 light we may strive merely to understand the nature of 
 the external stimuli that come to us through touch, hear- 
 ing and sight; but in mechanics, where we examine criti- 
 cally the simplest ideas of motion and inertia, we acquire 
 the method of analysis which when applied to the mysteries 
 of molecular physics and electricity carries us along 
 avenues that lead to the most profound secrets of nature. 
 Utilitarian aspects dwindle in our perspective as we face the 
 problem of the structure, origin, and evolution of matter 
 — as we question the independence of space and time. 
 Modern physics possesses philosophic stature of heroic size. 
 
 But with regard to everyday occurrences a study of phys- 
 ics is necessary. It is trite to mention the development 
 in recent years of those mechanical and electrical arts 
 that have made modern civilization. The submarine, vital- 
 ized by storage battery and Diesel engine, the torpedo 
 with its gyroscopic pilot and pneumatic motors, the wire- 
 less transmission of speech over seas and continents — 
 these things no longer excite wonder nor claim attention as 
 we scan the morning paper; yet how many understand their 
 mechanism or appreciate the spirit which has given them 
 to the world? 
 
 If culture means the subjective transformation of in- 
 formation into a philosophy of life, can culture be complete 
 unless it has included in its reflections the marvelously 
 
 126 
 
The Teaching of Physics 
 
 127 
 
 simple yet intricate interrelations of natural phenomena? 
 The value of this intricate simplicity as a mental discipline 
 is equaled perhaps only in the finely drawn distinctions 
 of philosophy and in the painstaking statements of limita- 
 tions and the rapid generalizations of pure mathematics; 
 and let us not forget the value of discipline, outgrown 
 and unheeded though it be in the acquisitive life of the 
 present age. 
 
 The professional student, continually increasing in i^eiationof 
 numbers in our colleges, either of science or in certain phuosophy 
 branches of law, finds a broad familiarity with the latest '^g^Q^ ^ 
 points of view of the physicist not only helpful but often sciences 
 indispensable. Chemistry can find with difficulty any arti- 
 ficial basis for a boundary of its domain from that of phy- 
 sics. Certainly no real one exists. The biologist is heard 
 asking about the latest idea in atomic evolution and the 
 electrical theories of matter, hoping to find in these illumi- 
 nating points of view, he tells us, some analogy to his 
 almost hopelessly complex problems of life and heredity. 
 Even those medical men whose interest is entirely commer- 
 cial appreciate the convenience of the X-ray and the impor- 
 tance of correctly interpreting the pathological effects of the 
 rays of radio-activity and ultra-violet light. One finds a 
 great geologist in collaboration with his distinguished col- 
 league in physics, and from the latter comes a contribution 
 on the rigidity of the earth. Astronomy answers nowadays 
 to the name of astrophysics, and progressive observatories 
 recognize in the laboratory a tool as essential as the tele- 
 scope. In a word, the professional student of science not 
 only finds that the subject matter of physics has many funda- 
 mental points of contact with his own chosen field, but also 
 recognizes that the less complex nature of its material 
 allows the method of study to stand out in bolder relief. 
 Training in the method and a passion for the method are 
 vital to a successful and an ardent career. 
 
 In the teaching of physics, then, the aim might at first 
 sight appear to be quite varied, differing with different 
 classes of students. A careful analysis of the situation, 
 
128 
 
 College Teachiiig 
 
 Should the 
 teaching of 
 college 
 physics 
 change its 
 aim for dif- 
 ferent 
 classes of 
 students? 
 
 however, will show, we think, that this conclusion can with 
 difficulty be justified: that it is necessary to conduct college 
 instruction in a fashion dictated almost not at all by the 
 subsequent aims of the students concerned. In the more 
 elementary work, certainly, adherence to this idea is of 
 great importance. The character, design, and purpose of 
 an edifice do not appear in the foundations except that they 
 are massive if the structure is to be great. 
 
 Not infrequently this seems an unnecessary hardship to a 
 professional student anxious to get into the work of his 
 chosen field. If such is the case, let him question per- 
 haps whether any study of physics should be attempted, 
 as this query may have different answers for different in- 
 dividuals. But if he is to study it at all, there is but one 
 place where the analysis of physical phenomena can be- 
 gin, and that is with fundamentals — space, time, motion, 
 and inertia. How can one who is ignorant of the exist- 
 ence and characteristics of rotational inertia understand a 
 galvanometer? How can waves be discussed unless in 
 terms of period, amplitude, frequency, and the like, that find 
 definition in simple harmonic motion? How does one 
 visualize the mechanism of a gas, unless by means of such 
 ideas as momentum interchange, energy conservation, and 
 forces of attraction? 
 
 Let us emphasize here, lest we be misunderstood, that we 
 are considering collegiate courses. We do not doubt that 
 descriptive physics may be given after one fashion to 
 farmers, quite diff'erently to engineers, and from still a 
 third point of view to medical students. Unfortunately 
 some collegiate courses never get beyond the high school 
 method. Our aim is not to discuss descriptive courses, 
 but those that approach the subject with the spirit of 
 critical analysis, for these alone do we deem worthy of a 
 place in the college curriculum. 
 
 The problem of the descriptive course is the problem of 
 the high school. Because of failure there, too often we see 
 at many a university courses in subfreshman physics. These 
 are made necessary where entrance requirements do not 
 
The Teaching of Physics 
 
 129 
 
 demand this subject and where subsequent interest along 
 related lines develops among the students a tardy neces- 
 sity of getting it. From the point of view of the collegiate 
 course it often appears as if the subfreshman course could 
 be raised to academic rank. This is because familiarity 
 with the material must precede an analysis of it. Credit for 
 high school physics on the records of the entrance examiner, 
 unless this credit is based on entrance examination, is 
 often found to stand for very little. Consequently the 
 almost continual demand for the high school work under 
 the direct supervision of a collegiate faculty. The number 
 of students who should go into this course instead of the 
 college course is increasing at the present time in the im- 
 mediate locality of the writer. 
 
 As contributory testimony here, witness the number of 
 colleges that do not take cognizance at all of high school 
 preparation and admit to the same college classes those 
 who have never had preparatory physics with those who 
 have had it. We are told the difference between the two 
 groups is insignificant. Perhaps it is. If so, this fact re- 
 flects as much on the college as on the high school. If we 
 are looking for a solution of our problem in this direction, 
 let us be undeceived; we are looking backwards, not for- 
 ward. 
 
 No one will affirm that to a class of whose numbers 
 some have never had high school physics a course that is 
 really analytical can be given. Wherever a rigorous an- 
 alytic course is given those who have been well trained 
 in descriptive physics do well in it in general. Let us not 
 beg the question by giving such physics in a college that 
 does not require high school preparation. The college cur- 
 riculum is full enough as it is without duplication of high 
 school work, and any college physics course that is a first 
 course is essentially a high school course. 
 
 Let us rather put the responsibility squarely where it 
 lies. The high school will respond if the urgency is 
 made clear. Witness some of them in our cities already 
 attempting the junior college idea, an idea that has not 
 
 The course 
 in college 
 physics dif- 
 ferentiated 
 from the 
 high school 
 course 
 
 Need of 
 adequate 
 high school 
 preparation 
 in physics 
 
130 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Preparatory 
 work in 
 mathematics 
 essential foi 
 success in 
 college 
 physics 
 
 Need of test- 
 ing each 
 student's 
 preparation 
 
 been unsuccessful in some of our private schools. If it 
 is made clear that a thoroughgoing course in descriptive 
 physics is a paramount necessity in college work and that 
 no effort will be spared on the part of the university to 
 insure this quality, the men will be found and the proper 
 courses given. 
 
 We favor a comprehensive examination plan in all 
 cases where the quality of the high school work is either 
 unknown or open to question. 
 
 Familiarity, likewise, with the most elementary uses of 
 mathematics should be insured. It would be highly de- 
 sirable that a course of collegiate grade in trigonometry 
 should immediately precede the physics. This is not be- 
 cause the details of trigonometry are all needed in physics. 
 In fact, a few who have never had trigonometry make a 
 conspicuous success in physics. These, however, are ones 
 who have a natural facility in analysis. To keep them out 
 because of failure to have had a prerequisite course in 
 trigonometry often works an unnecessary hardship. We 
 would argue, therefore, for a formal prerequisite on this 
 subject, reserving for certain students exemption, which 
 should be determined in all cases, if not by the instructor 
 himself, at least by his cooperation with some advisory 
 administrative officer. 
 
 Nor is it sufficient with regard to the mathematical prepa- 
 ration or the knowledge of high school physics in either 
 case to go exclusively by the official credit record of the 
 student. It is our firm conviction from several , years' ex- 
 perience where widely different aims in the student body 
 are represented that above and beyond all formal records 
 attention to the individual case is of prime importance. 
 The opening week of the course should be so conducted 
 that those who are obviously unequipped can be located 
 and directed elsewhere into the proper work. How this 
 may best be accomplished can be determined only by the 
 circumstances in the individual school, we imagine. Daily 
 tests covering the simplest descriptive information that 
 should be retained from high school physics and requiring 
 
The Teaching of Physics 131 
 
 the intelligent use of arithmetic, elementary algebra, and 
 geometry will reveal amazing incapacity in these things. 
 Tuttle, in his little book entitled An Introduction to Labora- 
 tory Physics (Jefferson Laboratory of Physics, Philadel- 
 phia, 1915), gives on pages 15-16 an excellent list of 
 questions of this sort. Any one with teaching experience 
 in the subject whatever can make up an equally good one 
 suited for his special needs and temperament. It should 
 not be assumed that all who fail in such tests should be 
 dropped. Some undoubtedly should be sent back to high 
 school work or its equivalent; others may need double the 
 required work in mathematics to overcome their unreadi- 
 ness in its use. Personal contacts will show that some are 
 drifting into a scientific course who have no aptitude for 
 it and who will be doomed to disappointment should they 
 continue. In a word, then, we are convinced that the 
 more carefully one plans the work of the first week or so 
 the more smoothly does the work of the rest of the year 
 follow. The number of failures may be reduced to a few 
 per cent without in any way relaxing the standard of the 
 course. 
 
 With regard to the organization of the college courses Methods of 
 in physics there seems to us to be at least one method that coUege 
 leads to a considerable degree of success. This is not P^^ysics 
 the lecture method of instruction; neither is it a wholly 
 unmitigated laboratory method. 
 
 To kindle inspiration and enthusiasm nothing can equal Lecture 
 the contact in lectures with others, preferably leaders in laboratory 
 their profession, but ^t least men who possess one of these method 
 qualities. Such contacts need not be frequent; indeed, they 
 should not be. The speaker is apt to make more effort, 
 the student to be more responsive, if such occasions are 
 relatively rare. Even thus, although real information is 
 imparted at such a time, it is seldom acquired. However, 
 perspective is furnished, interest stimulated, and the occa- 
 sion enjoyed. 
 
 For the real acquisition of scientific information, the 
 great method is the working out of a laboratory exercise 
 
132 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Limitations 
 of exclusive 
 use of eacli 
 method 
 
 Aims of the 
 
 laboratory 
 
 method 
 
 Value of the 
 supplemen- 
 tary lecture 
 
 and pertinent problems, with informal guidance in the at- 
 mosphere of active study and discussion engendered among 
 a small group, — the laboratory method. Taken alone, it 
 is apt to become mechanical and uninteresting and the out- 
 look to be obscured by details. Lectures, especially demon- 
 stration lectures, are needed to vitalize and inspire. More- 
 over, many of the most vivid illustrations of physical prin- 
 ciples that occur on every hand to focus the popular atten- 
 tion are never met with in the college course because they 
 are unsuited for inexperienced hands or not readily amena- 
 ble to quantitative experimentation. The more informally 
 such demonstrations can be conducted, the more enthusi- 
 astically they are received. 
 
 With regard to laboratory work, accuracy in moderate 
 degree is important, but too great insistence upon it is 
 apt to overshadow the higher aim; namely, that of the 
 analysis of the phenomena themselves. A determination 
 of the pressure coefficient of a gas to half a per cent, accom- 
 panied by a clear visualization of the mechanism by which 
 a gas exerts a pressure and a usable identification of 
 temperature with kinetic agitation, would seem preferable 
 to an experimental error of a tenth per cent which may be 
 exacted which is unaccompanied by these inspiring and 
 rather modern points of view. Especially in electricity 
 is a familiarity with the essentials of the modern theories 
 important. Here supplementary lectures are of great neces- 
 sity, for no textbook keeps pace with progress in this tre- 
 mendously important field. Problem solving with class 
 discussion is absolutely essential, and should occupy at least 
 one third of the entire time. In no other way can one be 
 convinced that the student is doing anything more than com- 
 mitting to memory, or blindly following directions with no 
 reaction of his own. 
 
 The incorporation recently of this idea into the courses 
 at the University of Chicago has been very successful. 
 Five sections which are under different instructors are com- 
 bined one day a week at an hour when there are no other 
 university engagements, for a lecture demonstration. This 
 
The Teaching of Physics 133 
 
 is given by a senior member of the staff whenever possible. 
 The other meetings during the week are conducted by the 
 individual instructors and consist of two two-hour labo- 
 ratory periods and two class periods that usually run into 
 somewhat over one hour each. These sections are limited 
 to twenty-five, and a smaller number than this would be 
 desirable. The responsibility for the course rests natur- 
 ally upon the individual instructors of these small sections. 
 These men also share in the demonstration work, since 
 each is usually an enthusiast in some particular field and 
 will make a great effort in his own specialty to give a suc- 
 cessful popular presentation of the important ideas involved. 
 The enthusiasm which this plan has engendered is very 
 great. Attendance is crowded and there is always a row 
 of visitors, teachers of the vicinity, advanced students m 
 other fields of work, or undergraduates brought m by 
 members of the class. These latter especially are encour- 
 aged, as this does much to offset current ideas that physics 
 is a subject of unmitigated severity. The particular topics 
 put into these demonstrations will be discussed in para- 
 graphs below, which take up in more detail the organization 
 of the special subdivisions of the material in a general 
 
 physics course. lur v. • 
 
 Mechanics is a stumbling block at the outset. As we have Mec^^ani^ a 
 indicated above, it must form the beginning of any course woc^k- 
 that is analytic in aim. There is no question of sidestep- ^^^^^^,^ 
 ping the difficulty: it must be surmounted. A judicious difficulty 
 weeding during the first week is the initial part of the plan. 
 Interest may be aroused at once in the demonstration lec- 
 tures by mechanical tricks that show apparent violations 
 of Newton's Laws. These group around the type ot ex- 
 periment which shows a modification of the natural unilorm 
 rectilinear motion of any object by some hidden force, most 
 often a concealed magnetic field. The instinctive adhe- 
 rence of every one to Newton's dynamic definition that 
 acceleration defies the ratio of force to inertia, is made ob- 
 vious by the amusement with which a trick in apparent 
 defiance of this principle is greeted. Informality of dis- 
 
134 College Teaching 
 
 cussion in such experiments, questions on the part of the 
 instructor that are more than rhetorical, and volunteer 
 answers and comment from the class increase the vividness 
 of the impressions. A mechanical adaptation of the " mon- 
 key on the string " problem, using little electric hoists 
 or clockworks, introduces interesting discussion of the third 
 law in conjunction with the second. A toy cannon and 
 target mounted on easily rolling carriages bring in the 
 similar ideas where impulses rather than forces alone can 
 be measured. 
 
 There follow, then, the laboratory experiments of the 
 Atwood machine and the force table, where quantitative 
 results are demanded. It is desirable to have these experi- 
 ments at least worked by the class in unison. Whatever 
 may be th-e exigencies of numbers and apparatus equipment 
 that prevent it later, these introductions should be given to 
 and discussed by all together. In the nature of things, 
 fortunately, this is possible. A single Atwood machine 
 will give traces for all in a short time under the guidance 
 of the instructor. The force table experiment is nine- 
 tenths calculation, and verifications may be made for a 
 large number in a short time. Searching problems and 
 discussion are instigated at once, and the notion of rota- 
 tional equilibrium and force moments brought in. Because 
 of the very great difficulty seeming to attach to force reso- 
 lutions, demonstration experiments and problems using a 
 bridge structure, such as the Harvard experimental truss, 
 will amply repay the time invested. Another experiment 
 here, which makes analysis of the practice of weighing, is 
 possible, although there will be divergence almost at once 
 due to the personality of the instructor and the equipment 
 by which he finds himself limited. The early introduc- 
 tion of moments is important, however, because it seems 
 as if a great amount of unnecessary confusion on this topic 
 is continually cropping out later. At this point, if limita- 
 tions of apparatus present a difficulty, a group of more or 
 less independent experiments may be started. Ideas of 
 energy may be illustrated in the determination of the 
 
The Teaching of Physics 135 
 
 efficiency and the horse power of simple machines, such as 
 water motors, pulleys, and even small gas or steam engines. 
 
 In discussion of power one should not forget that in 
 practical problems one meets power as force times velocity 
 rather more frequently than as rate of doing work, and this 
 aspect should be emphasized in the experiments. Conser- 
 vation of energy is brought out in these same experiments 
 with reference to the efficiencies involved. In sharp con- 
 trast here the principle of conservation of momentum may 
 be brought in by ballistic pendulum experiments involving 
 elastic and inelastic impacts. Most students are unfamiliar 
 with the application of these ideas to the determination of 
 projectile velocities, and this forms an interesting lecture 
 demonstration. Elasticity likewise is a topic that may be 
 introduced with more or less emphasis according to the 
 predilection of the instructor. The moduli of Young and 
 of simple rigidity lend themselves readily to quantitative 
 laboratory experiments. Any amount of interesting ma- 
 terial may be culled here from recent investigations of 
 Michelson, Bridgman, and others with regard to elastic 
 limits, departures from the simple relations, variations with 
 pressure, etc., for a lantern or demonstration talk in these 
 connections. 
 
 By this time the student should have found himself suf- 
 ficiently prepared to take up problems of rotational motion. 
 The application of Newton's Laws to pure rotations and 
 combinations of rotation and translation, such as rolling 
 motions, are very many. We would emphasize here the 
 dynamic definition of moment of inertia, I = Fh/ a rather 
 than the one so frequently given importance for computa- 
 tional purposes, %mr". Quantitative experiments are fur- 
 nished by the rotational counterpart of the Atwood ma- 
 chine. Lecture demonstrations for several talks abound: 
 stability of spin about the axis of greatest inertia, Kelvin's 
 famous experiments with eggs and tops containing liquids, 
 which suggest the gyroscopic ideas, and finally a discus- 
 sion of gyroscopes and their multitudinous applications. 
 The book of Crabtree, Spinning Tops and the Gyroscope, 
 
136 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Suggested 
 content for 
 the study of 
 phenomena 
 of heat and 
 molecular 
 physics 
 
 and the several papers by Gray in the Proceedings of the 
 Physical Society of London, summarize a wealth of ma- 
 terial. If one wishes to interject a parenthetical discus- 
 sion of the Bernouilli principle, and the simplest laws of 
 pressure distributions on plane surfaces moving through a 
 resisting medium, a group of striking demonstrations is pos- 
 sible involving this notion, and by simple combination of it 
 with the precession of a rotating body the boomerang may 
 be brought in and its action for the major part given ex- 
 planation. 
 
 Rotational motion leads naturally to a discussion of 
 centripetal force, and this in turn is simple harmonic mo- 
 tion. This latter finds most important applications in the 
 pendulum experiments, and no end of material is here to 
 be found in any of the textbooks. The greatest refinement 
 of experimentation for elementary purposes will be the 
 determination of " g *' by the method of coincidences be- 
 tween a simple pendulum and the standard clock. Ele- 
 mentary analysis without use of calculus reaches its cul- 
 mination in a discussion of forced vibrations similar to 
 that used by Magie in his general text. Many will not care 
 to go as far as this. Others will go farther and discuss 
 Kater's pendulum and the small corrections needed for 
 precision, for here does precision find bold expression. 
 
 It is not our purpose to give a synopsis of the entire 
 general physics course. We have made an especially de- 
 tailed study of mechanics, because this topic is the one 
 of greatest difficulty by far in the pedagogy. It is too 
 formally given in the average text, and seems to have 
 suffered rnost of all from lack of imagination on the part 
 of instructors. 
 
 In the field of heat and molecular physics in general 
 there is much better textbook material. Experiments here 
 may legitimately be called precise, for the gas laws, tem- 
 perature coefficients, and densities of gases and saturated 
 vapor pressures will readily yield in comparatively inex- 
 perienced hands an accuracy of about one in a thousand. 
 In the demonstrations emphasis should be given to the 
 
The Teaching of Physics 
 
 137 
 
 visualization of the kinetic theory points of view. Such 
 models as the Northrup visible molecule apparatus are very 
 helpful. However, in absence of funds for such elabora- 
 tion, slides from imaginative drawings showing to scale con- 
 ditions in solids, liquids, and vapors with average free paths 
 indicated and the history of single molecules depicted will 
 be found ideal in getting the visualization home to the 
 student. Where we have a theory so completely established 
 as the mechanical theory of heat it seems quite fair to have 
 recourse to the eye of the senses to aid the eye of the mind. 
 Brownian movements have already yielded up their dances 
 to the motion picture camera. Need the " movies " be the 
 only ones to profit by the animated cartoon? 
 
 Nor should the classical material be forgotten. Boys' 
 experiments in soap bubbles have been the inspiration of 
 generations of students of capillarity. And if the physicist 
 will consult with the physiological chemist he will find a 
 mass of material of which he never dreamed where these 
 phenomena of surface tension enter in a most direct fashion 
 to leading questions in the life sciences. 
 
 Enough has been said to indicate what we consider the The teacher 
 methods of successful teaching of college physics. It is 
 quite obvious, we think, that physics constitutes no excep- 
 tion to the rule that the teacher must first of all know and 
 understand his subject. Right here lies probably nine 
 tenths of the fault with our pedagogy. No amount of study 
 of method will yield such returns as the study of the subject 
 itself. The honest student, and every teacher should be- 
 long to this class or he has no claim to the name, is well 
 aware that most of his deficiency in explaining a topic 
 is in direct ratio to his own lack of comprehension of it. 
 In physics, as in every other walk of life, we suffer from 
 lack of thoroughness, from a kind of superficiality that is 
 characteristically human but especially American. We 
 have yet to know of any one who really ranks as a scholar 
 in his subject from whom students do not derive inspiration 
 and enthusiasm. Such a one usually pays little attention 
 to the methods of others, for the divine fire of knowl- 
 
 of scholar- 
 ship and 
 understand- 
 ing is the 
 teacher who 
 uses sound 
 methods 
 
138 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The method 
 of analysis 
 dominant 
 in physics 
 
 edge itself does not need much of tinder to kindle 
 the torches of others. Our greatest plea is for our teachers 
 to be men of understanding, for then they will be found to 
 be men of method. 
 
 The sequence in which heat, electricity, sound, and light 
 follow mechanics seems quite immaterial. Several equally 
 logical plans may be organized. Preference is usually 
 accorded one or the other on the basis of local conditions 
 of equipment, and needs little reference to pedagogy. If 
 one gives to mechanics its proper importance, the difficulty 
 in giving instruction in the other topics seems very much 
 less. The momentum acquired seems to serve for the bal- 
 ance of the year. Always must analysis be insisted upon, 
 if our college course is going to differ from that of the 
 high school. If we are to let students be content to read 
 current from an ammeter with a calibrated scale and not 
 have the interest to inquire and the ambition to insist upon 
 the knowledge of how that calibration was originally made, 
 we have no right to claim any collegiate rank for our courses. 
 But if we define electrical current in terms of mechanical 
 force which exhibits a balanced couple on a system in 
 rotational equilibrium, there can be no dodging of the issue, 
 for in no other way than by the study of the mechanics 
 of the situation can the content and the limitations of our 
 definition be understood. Any college work, so called, that 
 does less than analyze thus is nothing more than a review 
 and amplification of the material that should be within the 
 range of the high school student and in that place presented 
 to him. The first college course reveals a different method, 
 the method of analysis. Science at the present time is so 
 far developed that in no branch is progress made by mere 
 description and classification. The method of analysis is 
 dominant in the biological and the earth sciences as well 
 as in the physics and chemistry of today. . 
 
 On the more advanced college courses which follow the 
 general physics course little comment is needed. Problems 
 and questions here also exist, but they have a strongly local 
 color and are out of place in a general discussion. The 
 
The Teaching of Physics 
 
 139 
 
 student body is no longer composed of the rank and file, Teaching 
 
 of advanced 
 courses in 
 physics 
 
 half of whom are driven, by some requirement or other, 
 into work in which they have but a passing interest at 
 best. It is no longer a problem of seeing how much can 
 be made to adhere in spite of indifference, of how firm a 
 foundation can be prepared for needs as yet unrecognized 
 in the subject of the effort. A very limited number, com- 
 paratively, enter further work of senior college courses, 
 and these have either enthusiasm or ability and often both. 
 Of course, a cold neglect or bored indifference in the atti- 
 tude of the teacher will be resented. It will kill enthusiasm 
 and send ability seeking inspiration elsewhere. But any 
 one who is fond of his subject, and of moderate ability 
 and industry, should have no difficulty in developing senior 
 college work. If our instructor in the general course must 
 be a scholar to be successful, the man in more advanced 
 work must be one a fortiori. If he is not, few who come in 
 contact with him have so little discernment as to fail to 
 recognize the fact. 
 
 Organization of senior college work may be in many Orgamza- 
 ways. One method where an institution follows the quarter advanced 
 system is the plan of having eight or ten different and courses 
 rather unrelated twelve-week major courses which may be 
 taken in almost any order. Half of these are lecture 
 courses, the other half exclusively laboratory courses. 
 There should be a correspondence of material to some ex- 
 tent between the two. Lectures on the kinetic theory of 
 gases should have a parallel course in which the classical 
 experiments of the senior heat laboratory are performed,^ 
 such experiments, for example, as vapor density, resistance 
 and thermocouple pyrometry, bomb calorimetry viscosity, 
 molecular conductivity, freezing and boiling points, recal- 
 escence, etc. A course of advanced electrical measurements 
 should have a parallel lecture course in which tlie theoreti- 
 cal aspects of electromagnetism, the classical theories, and 
 the equations that represent transitory and equilibrium con- 
 ditions in complex circuits are discussed. In optics, like- 
 wise, there is ample material of great importance: physical, 
 
140 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Dangers of 
 formalizing 
 methods of 
 instruction 
 
 geometrical optics, spectroscopy, photography, X-ray crys- 
 tallography, etc. The advanced student in these fields finds 
 more elasticity and opportunity for cultivating a special in- 
 terest in having a large number of limited interest courses 
 from which to choose than in having such material presented 
 in a completely organized course covering one or two years 
 of complete work. Instructors who are specialists have op- 
 portunity of working up courses in their own fields which 
 they do more efficiently under this plan. Research begins at 
 innumerable places along the way, and the senior college 
 courses so organized are the feeders of all graduate work. 
 
 In all of the above discussion it should be clearly re- 
 membered that no single plan or no one particular method 
 has the final word or ever will have. As long as a science 
 is growing and unfinished, points of view will continually 
 be shifting. We are largely orthodox in our teaching. If 
 brought up on the laboratory method of instruction it may 
 seem the best one for us, but others may prefer another way 
 which they have inherited. Let us appeal, then, for a con- 
 structive orthodoxy. Let us be as teachers of a subject to 
 which we are devoted, truly and sincerely open-minded, 
 quick to recognize and sincere in our efforts to adopt what 
 is better wherever we meet it: waiting not to meet it, 
 either, but going out to seek it. From the humblest college 
 to the greatest university we shall find it here and there. 
 Not alone in schools but in the legion of human activities 
 about us on every hand are people who are doing things 
 more efficiently, more thoroughly, and more skillfully than 
 we do things. If we would be of the number that lead, we 
 must be among the first to recognize these facts and profit 
 by them. 
 
 First, let our work be organized with respect to that of 
 others — the high schools; not discounting their labor but 
 having them truly build for us. 
 
 Second, let us be open-minded enough to see that all 
 methods of instruction have their advantages and make 
 such combinations of the best elements in each as best suit 
 
 our purpose. 
 
The Teaching of Physics 141 
 
 Above all things, let us know our subject. Here is a task 
 before which we quail in this generation of vast vistas. But 
 there is no alternative for us. No amount of method will 
 remove the curse of the superficially informed. Let us de- 
 vote ourselves to smaller fields if we must, but let us not 
 tolerate ignorance among those who bear the burden of 
 passing on, with its flame ever more consuming, the torch 
 of knowledge. 
 
 Harvey B. Lemon 
 
 University of Chicago 
 
VII 
 THE TEACHING OF GEOLOGY 
 
 Values of 
 the study of 
 geology 
 diverse 
 
 Geology a 
 study of the 
 process of 
 evolution 
 
 SO wide is the scope of the science of the earth, so varied 
 is its subject matter, and so diverse are the mental 
 activities called forth in its pursuit, that its function in col- 
 legiate training cannot be summed up in an introductory 
 phrase or two. Geology is so composite that it is better 
 fitted to serve a related group of educational purposes than 
 a single one alone. Besides this, these possible services 
 have not yet become so familiar that they can be brought 
 vividly to mind by an apt word or phrase; they need elabo- 
 ration and exposition to be valued at what they are really 
 worth. Geology is yet a young science and still growing, 
 and as in the case of a growing boy, to know what it was a 
 few years ago is not to know what it is today. Its dis- 
 ciplines take on a realistic phase in the main, but yet in 
 some aspects appeal powerfully to the imagination. Its 
 subject matter forms a constitutional history of our planet 
 and its inhabitants, but yet largely wears a descriptive or a 
 dynamic garb. 
 
 Though basally historical, a large part of the literature 
 of geology is concerned with the description of rocks, struc- 
 tural features, geologic terrains, surface configurations and 
 their modes of formation and means of identification. A 
 notable part of the text prepared for college students re- 
 lates primarily to phenomena and processes, leaving the 
 history of the earth to follow later in a seemingly secondary 
 way. This has its defense in a desire first to make clear 
 the modes of the geologic processes, to the end that the 
 parts played by these processes in the complexities of ac- 
 tions that make up the historical stages may be better real- 
 ized. This has the effect, however, of giving the impres- 
 sion that geology is primarily a study of rocks and rock- 
 forming processes, and this impression is confirmed by the 
 great mass of descriptive literature that has sprung almost 
 
 142 
 
The Teaching of Geology 
 
 143 
 
 necessarily from the task of delineating such a multitude of 
 formations before trying to interpret their modes of origin 
 or to assign them their places in the history of the earth. 
 The descriptive details are the indispensable data of a sound 
 history, and they have in addition specific values inde- 
 pendent of their service as historical data. But into the 
 multiplicity and complexity of the details of structure and 
 of process, the average college student can wisely enter to 
 a limited extent only, except as they form types, or appear 
 in the local fields which he studies, where they serve as con- 
 crete examples of world-forming processes. 
 
 The study of these structures, formations, configurations, 
 and processes yields each its own special phase of disci- 
 pline and its own measure of information. The work takes 
 on various chemical, mechanical, and biological aspects. 
 As a means of discipline it calls for keenness and diligence 
 in observation, circumspection in inference, a judicial bal- 
 ancing of factors in interpretation. An active use of the 
 scientific imagination is called forth in following forma- 
 tions to inaccessible depths or beneath areas where they are 
 concealed from view. 
 
 While thus the study of structures, formations and con- 
 figurations constitutes the most obtrusive phase of geo- 
 logic study and has given trend to pedagogical opinion 
 respecting its place in a college course, such study is not, 
 in the opinion of the writer, the foremost function of the 
 subject in a college curriculum that is designed to be really 
 broad, basal, and free, in contradistinction to one that is 
 tied to a specific vocational purpose. 
 
 While we recognize, with full sympathy, that the subject 
 matter of geology enters vitally into certain vocational and 
 prevocational courses, and, in such relations, calls for 
 special selections of material and an appropriate handling, 
 if it is to fulfill these purposes effectively, this seems to 
 us aside from the purpose of this discussion, which centers 
 on typical college training — training which is liberal in 
 the cosmic sense, not merely from the homocentric point 
 of view. 
 
 Disciplinary 
 worth of 
 study of 
 geology 
 
 This study 
 concerned 
 primarily 
 with the 
 typical col- 
 lege course, 
 not with vo- 
 cational 
 courses 
 
144 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Knowledge 
 of geology 
 contributes 
 to a truly 
 liberal edu- 
 cation 
 
 Geology 
 embraces 
 all the 
 great evo- 
 lutions 
 
 To subserve these broader purposes, geology is to be 
 studied comprehensively as the evolution of the earth and 
 its inhabitants. The earth in itself is to be regarded as 
 an organism and as the foster-parent of a great series of 
 organisms that sprang into being and pursued their careers 
 in the contact zones between its rigid body and its fluidal 
 envelopes. These contact zones are, in a special sense, 
 the province of geography in both its physical and its biotic 
 aspects. The evolution of the biotic and the psychic worlds 
 in these horizons is an essential part of the history of the 
 whole, for each factor has reacted powerfully on the others. 
 An appreciative grasp of these great evolutions, and of their 
 relations to one another, is essential to a really broad view 
 of the world of which we are a part; it is scarcely less 
 than an essential factor in a modern liberal education. 
 
 Let us agree, then, at the outset, that a true study of 
 the career of the earth is not adequately compassed by a 
 mere tracing of its inorganic history or an elucidation 
 of its physical structure and mineral content, but that it 
 embraces as well all the great evolutions fostered within 
 the earth's mantles in the course of its career. 
 
 Greatest among these fostered evolutions, from the homo- 
 centric point of view, are the living, the sentient, and the 
 thinking kingdoms that have grown up with the later phases 
 of the physical evolution. It does not militate against 
 this view that each of these kingdoms is, in itself, the 
 subject of special sciences, and that these, in turn, envelop 
 a multitude of sub-sciences, for that is true of every com- 
 prehensive unit. Nor is it inconsistent with this larger view 
 of the scope of geology that it is, itself, often given a 
 much narrower definition, as already implied. In its 
 broader sense, geology is an enveloping science, surveying, 
 in a broad historical way, many subjects that call for in- 
 tensive study under more special sciences, just as human 
 history sweeps comprehensively over a broad field culti- 
 vated more intensively by special humanistic sciences. In 
 a comprehensive study of the earth as an organism, it is 
 essential that there be embraced a sufl&cient consideration 
 
The Teaching of Geology 145 
 
 of all the vital factors that entered into its history to give 
 these their due place and their true value among the 
 agencies that contributed to its evolution. A true 
 biography of the earth can no more be regarded as com- 
 plete without the biotic and psychic elements that sprang 
 forth from it, or were fostered within its mantles, than can 
 the biography of a human being be complete with a mere 
 sketch of his physical frame and bodily growth. The 
 physical and biological evolutions are well recognized as 
 essential parts of earth history. Although the mental evo- 
 lutions have emerged gradually with the biological evolu- 
 tions, and have run more or less nearly parallel with them 
 — have, indeed, been a working part of them — they have 
 been less fully and frankly recognized as elements of 
 geological history. They have been rather scantily treated 
 in the literature of the subject; but they are, none the 
 less, a vital part of the great history. They have found 
 some recognition, though much too meager, in the more 
 comprehensive and philosophical treatises on earth-science. 
 It may be safely prophesied that the later and higher evo- 
 lutions that grace our planet will be more adequately 
 emphasized as the science grows into its full maturity and 
 comes into its true place among the sciences. It is im- 
 portant to emphasize this here, since it is preeminently the 
 function of a liberal college course to give precedence to 
 the comprehensive and the essential, both in its selection of 
 its subject matter and in its treatment of what it selects. 
 It is the function of a liberal course of study to bring that 
 which is broad and basal and vital into relief, and to set 
 it over against that which is limited, special, and technical, 
 however valuable the latter may be in vocational training 
 and in economic application. 
 
 In view of these considerations — and frankly recogniz- 
 ing the inadequacies of current treatment — let us note, be- 
 fore we go further, what are the physical and dynamic 
 boundaries of the geologic field, that we may the better 
 see how that field merges into the domains of other 
 sciences. This will the better prepare us to realize the 
 
146 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Physical nature of the disciplines for which earth-science forms a 
 
 and dynamic suitable basis, as well as the types of intellectual furniture 
 boundaries ' i /^i ^ ^ i • i • i i • 
 
 of geology it yields to the mind. Obviously these disciplines and this 
 
 tionrX^r*'^' substance of thought should determine the place of the 
 
 teaching science in the curriculum of any course that assumes the 
 
 task of giving a broad and liberal education. 
 
 Earth-science is the domestic chapter of celestial science. 
 Our planet is but a modest unit among the great celestial 
 assemblage of worlds; but, modest as it is, it is that unit 
 about which we have by far the fullest and most reliable 
 knowledge. The earth not only furnishes the physical base- 
 line of celestial observation, but supplies all the appliances 
 by which inquiry penetrates the depths of the heavens. 
 Not alone earth-science, as such, but several of the inten- 
 sive sciences brought into being through the intellectual 
 evolutions that have attended the later history of the earth, 
 have been prerequisites to the development of the broad 
 science of the outer heavens. The science of the lower 
 heavens is a factor of earth-science in the definition we 
 are just about to give. At tKe same time, the whole earth, 
 including the lower heavens, is enveloped by the more com- 
 prehensive domain of celestial science. 
 
 If we seek the most logical limit that may be assigned the 
 realm of earth-science, as distinguished from that of 
 celestial science, of which it is the home unit, it may be 
 found at that borderline within which any passive body 
 obeys the call of the earth, as against the call of all the 
 outer worlds, and without which such a passive body obeys 
 the call of the outer worlds, the call of the sun in particu- 
 lar. This limit is the dynamic dividing line between the 
 kingdom of the earth and the kingdom of the outer heavens. 
 This boundary, according to Moulton, incloses a spheroid 
 whose minimum radius is about 620,000 miles, and whose 
 maximum radius is about 930,000 miles. We may, then, 
 conveniently say that the earth's sphere of control stretches 
 out a million kilometers from its center and that this de- 
 fines its true realm. At the same time, this defines the 
 logical limit of the earth's ultra-atmosphere and appears 
 
The Teaching of Geology 147 
 
 to mark a zone of exchange between the ultra-atmosphere 
 of the earth and the ultra-atmosphere of the sun. It thus 
 appears to imply the place and the mode of an exchange 
 of vital elements upon which probably hangs the wonder- 
 ful maintenance of the earth's atmosphere for many 
 millions of years and the equally wonderful regulation of 
 the essential qualities of the atmosphere so that these have 
 always remained within the narrow range subservient to 
 terrestrial life. It is needless to add that this regulation 
 also conditions the present intellectual status of the think- 
 ing factor among the inhabitants of the earth out of which 
 — may I be pardoned for saying? — has grown the present 
 educational discussion. 
 
 If this last shall seem to squint toward special pleading, 
 let it be considered that, as we see things, it is precisely 
 those views that take hold of the issues upon which our very 
 being and all its activities depend, that serve best to train 
 youth to broad views and penetrating thought. Such think- 
 ing seems to me to form the very essence of a really liberal 
 education. 
 
 Not only is this definition of the sphere of geology com- 
 prehensive, but it has the special merit of being dynamic, 
 rather than material. Such a dynamic definition comports 
 with the view that earth-study should center on the forces 
 and energies that actuated its evolution, since these are the 
 most vital feature of the evolution itself. It is important 
 to form adequate concepts of the energies that have main- 
 tained the past ongoings of the earth not only, but that still 
 maintain its present activities and predetermine its future. 
 It is the study of the forces and the processes of past and 
 of present evolutions that constitute the soul of the science, 
 rather than the apparently fixed and passive aspects of the 
 earth's formations and configurations which are but the 
 products of the processes that have gone before. Even the 
 apparent passiveness of the geologic products is illusive, 
 for they are in reality expressions of continued internal 
 activities of an intense, though occult, order. These escape 
 notice largely because they are balanced against one another 
 
148 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 in a system of equilibrium which pervades them and gives 
 them the appearance of fixity. To serve their proper func- 
 tions as sources of higher education, the concepts of the 
 constitution of the earth should penetrate even to these 
 refined aspects of physical organization and should bring 
 the whole into harmony with the most advanced views of the 
 real nature of physical organisms. This removes from the 
 whole terrestrial organism every similitude of inertness and 
 gives it a fundamental refinement, activity, and potency 
 of the highest order. To form a true and consistent con- 
 cept, the enveloping earth-science must be assumed to em- 
 brace, potentially at least, the essentials of all that was 
 evolved within it and from it, with, of course, due recogni- 
 tion of what was added from without. 
 
 The history of the earth should therefore be taught in 
 college courses as a succession of complex dynamic events, 
 great in the past and great in future potentialities. 
 
 The formations and configurations left by the successive 
 phases of action are to be studied primarily as the vestiges 
 of the processes that gave them birth, and hence as their 
 historic credentials. They are to be looked upon less as 
 the vital things in themselves, than as the record of the 
 events of the time and as the forerunners of the subsequent 
 events that may be potential in them. And so, primarily, 
 the geologic records are to be scrutinized to find the deeper 
 meanings which they embody, whether such meanings lie 
 in the physical, the biological, or the psychological world, 
 meanfo/^^ Turning to specific phases of the subject, it may first 
 developing be noted that geology is singularly suited to develop clear 
 imagination visions of vast Stretches of time; it opens broad visions 
 of the panorama of world events, a panorama still passing 
 before us. While the celestial order of things no doubt 
 involves greater lapses of time, these are not so easily 
 realized, for they are not so well filled in with a succession 
 of records of the passing stages that make up the whole. 
 But even the lapses of geologic time are greater than im- 
 mature minds can readily grasp; however, their powers of 
 realization are greatly strengthened by studying so pro- 
 
 of time 
 and space 
 
The Teaching of Geology 149 
 
 traded a record, built up stage upon stage. The very slow- 
 ness with which the geologic record was made, as well as 
 the evidences of slowness in each part of the record, help 
 to draw out an appreciation of the immensity of the whole. 
 The round period covered by the more legible range of the 
 geologic record rises to the order of a hundred million 
 years, perhaps to several hundred million years. The large 
 view of history which this implies has already come to 
 form the ample background on which are projected the 
 concepts of the broader class of thinkers; such largeness 
 of view will quite surely be held to be an indispensable 
 prerequisite to the still broader thinking of the future for 
 which the better order of students are now preparing. 
 
 While this is preeminently true of the concept of time, 
 the concept of space is fairly well cultivated by geologic 
 study, though far less effectively than is done by astronomi- 
 cal study. Astronomy and geology work happily together 
 in contributing to largeness of thought. 
 
 The study of the origin and early history of the earth 
 brings the student into touch with the most far-reaching 
 problems that have thus far called forth the intellectual 
 efforts of man. If rightly handled, these great themes may 
 be made to teach the true method of inquiry into past 
 natural events whose vastness puts them quite beyond the 
 resources of the laboratory. This method finds its key in 
 a search for the history of such vast and remote events by 
 a scrutiny of the vestiges these events have left as their 
 own automatic record. This method stands in sharp con- 
 tradistinction to simple speculation without such search for 
 talismanic vestiges, a discredited method which is too often 
 supposed to be the only way of dealing with such themes. 
 To be really competent in the field of larger and deeper 
 thinking, every courageous mind should be able to cross 
 the threshold of any of the profound problems of the uni- 
 verse with safe and circumspect steps, however certain it 
 may be that only a slight measure of penetration of the 
 problem may be attainable. A well-ordered mind will re- 
 main at once complacent and wholesome when brought to 
 
150 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Geology a 
 means of 
 training in 
 thinking in 
 scientific 
 experiences 
 
 the limit of its effort by the limit of evidence. The prob- 
 lem of the origin of celestial worlds, of which the genesis 
 of the earth is the theme of largest human interest, is 
 admirably suited to give college students at once a modest 
 sense of their limitations and a wholesome attitude toward 
 problems of the vaster type. Without having acquired the 
 power to make prudent and duly controlled excursions into 
 the vaster fields of thought, the mind can scarcely he said 
 to have been liberalized. 
 
 From the very outset, the tracing of the earth history 
 forces a comprehensive study of the co-workings of the three 
 dominant states of matter massively embodied in the 
 atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the lithosphere, the great 
 terrestrial triumvirate. The strata of the earth are the joint 
 products of these three elements and constitute their litho- 
 graphic record. These three cooperating and contending 
 elements not only bring into view the three typical phases 
 of physical action, but they present this action in such 
 titanic aspects as to force the young mind to think along 
 large lines, with the great advantage that these actions are 
 controlled by determinate laws, while the causes and the 
 results are both tangible and impressive. 
 
 While there is a large class of tangible and determinate 
 problems of this kind, embracing shiftings of matter on the 
 earth's surface, distortions of strata, and changes of bodily 
 form, there are also problems of a more hidden nature 
 such as internal mutations. These give rise to mathemati- 
 cal, physical, and chemical inquiries while at the same time 
 they call into play the use of the scientific imagination and 
 are thus rich in the possibilities of training. Thus in varied 
 ways geological work joins hands with chemical, physical, 
 mechanical, and mathematical work. 
 
 When life first appears in the record, there is occasion to 
 raise the profound question of its origin, and with this arises 
 a closely related question as to the nature of the condi- 
 tions that invited life, which leads on to the further ques- 
 tion, what fostered the development of life throughout its 
 long history? While the obscurity of the earliest record 
 
The Teaching of Geology 151 
 
 leaves the question of origin indeterminate for the present, 
 duly guarded thought upon the subject should foster a 
 wholesome spirit toward inquiry in this vital line as well 
 as a hospitable attitude toward whatever solution may 
 finally await us. In all such studies the student should be 
 invited to look to the vestiges left automatically by the 
 process itself for the answer, and he should learn to accept 
 the teachings of evidence precisely as it presents itself. 
 So also when a problem is, for the present, indeterminate, 
 it is peculiarly wholesome for the inquirer to learn to rest 
 the case where the light of evidence fails, and to be com- 
 placent in such suspension of judgment and to wait further 
 light patiently in serene confidence that the vestiges left 
 by the actuating agencies in their constructive processes 
 are the surest index of the ultimate truth and are likely 
 to be sooner or later detected and read truly. 
 
 In the successive records of past life impressed on strata ^goio^^V^ 
 piled one upon another until they form the great paleonto- botany, 
 logic register, there is an ample and a solid basis for the psyc^ifo^ogy 
 study of the historic evolution of life. With this also ffo and. socioi- 
 evidences of the conditions that attended this life progress 
 and that gave trend to it. This record of the relations of 
 life to the environing physical conditions forms one of the 
 most stimulating fields of study that can engage the student 
 who seeks light on the great problems of biological progress. 
 Here geology joins hands with botany and zoology in a 
 mutual helpfulness that is scarcely less than indispensable 
 to each. 
 
 Following, or perhaps immediately attending, the intro- 
 duction of physiological life, there appeared signs of senti- 
 ent life. The preservation of certain of the sense organs, 
 taken together with the collateral evidences of sense action, 
 as early as Cambrian times, furnish the groundwork for a 
 historical study of the progress of sentient life, eventuating 
 in the higher forms of mental life. Here the problems 
 of geology run hand in hand with the problems of 
 psychology. The limitations of the evidence bearing on 
 psychological phenomena, while regrettable, are not with- 
 
152 College Teaching 
 
 out some compensation in that they center the attention 
 on the simpler aspects of the protracted deployment of the 
 psychological functions. 
 
 In addition to the clear evidences of psychic action, 
 in at least its elementary forms, there appeared early in 
 the stratigraphic records intimations of some of the rela- 
 tionships that sentient beings then bore to one another; 
 and this relationship gives occasion to study the primitive 
 aspects of sociological phenomena. If nothing more is 
 learned than the important lesson that sociology is not a 
 thing of today, not an untried realm inviting all kinds 
 of ill-digested projects, but on the contrary is a field of 
 vast and instructive history, the gain will not be incon- 
 siderable. There are intimations of the early existence 
 and effective activity of those affections that precede and 
 that cluster about the parental relationship, the nucleus of 
 the most vital of all the sociological relationships. In 
 contrast to the affections, there are distinct evidences of 
 antagonistic relations, of pursuit and capture, of attack and 
 defense; there were tools of warfare and devices for pro- 
 tection. In time, a wide-ranging series of experiments, so 
 to speak, were tried to secure advantage, to avoid suffer- 
 ing, to escape death, and to preserve the species. There 
 were even suggestions of the cruder forms of government. 
 The many stages in the evolution of the various devices, 
 as well as the stages of their abandonment, that followed 
 one another in the course of the ages recorded the results 
 of a multitude of efforts at sociological adjustment. They 
 raise the question whether a common set of guiding prin- 
 ciples does not underlie all such relationships, earlier and 
 later, whatever their rank in our scale of valuation. And 
 so this great field of inquiry — too narrowly regarded 
 as merely humanistic — comes into view early in the history 
 of the earth. The geological and the sociological sciences 
 find in it common working ground. If the geologic and 
 the humanistic sciences are given each their widest interpre- 
 tation and their freest application, the advantage cannot be 
 other than mutual. 
 
The Teaching of Geology 
 
 153 
 
 It is perhaps not too much to say that studies in the 
 physiological, the psychological, the sociological, and the 
 allied fields necessarily lack completeness if they do not 
 bring into their purview the data of their common historical 
 record traced as far back as it is found to contain intima- 
 tions of their actual extension. 
 
 It is customary to speak of the geologic ages as though 
 they were wholly past; they are, indeed, chiefly past as 
 the record now stands, but time runs on and earth history 
 continues; the processes of the past are still active, and 
 they are likely to work on far into the future. And so 
 geologic study links itself fundamentally into all such 
 present terrestrial interests as take hold of the distant future. 
 The forecast of the earth's endurance, attended by condi- 
 tions congenial to life and to the mental and moral activi- 
 ties, hinges on a sound insight into the great actuating 
 forces inherent in the earth, together with those likely to 
 come into play from the celestial environment. All human 
 interests, in so far as they are dependent on a protracted 
 future, center in the prognosis of the earth based on its 
 present and its past. The latest phases of geologic doctrine 
 prophesy a long future habitability of the earth. They 
 thus give meaning and emphasis to the deeper purposes 
 sought in all the higher endeavors, not the least of which 
 is education, particularly those phases of education that 
 lead to effects which may be handed down from age to age. 
 
 Out of all this vast physical, biological, and psychological 
 history, the things to be selected for substance of thought 
 and for service in mental training in a college course are, 
 first of all, those that are either fundamental in themselves, 
 or that have vital bearings on what is fundamental. These 
 are chiefly the great dynamic factors, the agencies that gave 
 trend to the master events, the forces that actuated the 
 basal processes by which the vast results were attained. 
 The material formations and the surficial configurations 
 that resulted are to be duly considered, to be sure, for they 
 form the basis of interpretation and they are, besides, the 
 repositories of economic values of indispensable worth; 
 
 standard 
 for select- 
 ing subject 
 matter for 
 the general 
 college 
 course: 
 select funda- 
 mentals or 
 that which 
 bears on 
 funda- 
 mentals 
 
154 College Teaching 
 
 but, as already urged, in a course of intellectual training, 
 these are to be regarded rather as the relics of the great 
 agencies and the proofs of their actions, than as the most 
 vital subjects of study, which are the agencies themselves. 
 As already remarked, the geologic formations are to be 
 treated rather as the credentials of the potencies that reside 
 in the earth organism, than as the vital things themselves. 
 The vestiges of creation and the footprints of historical 
 progress embody the soul of the subject; they constitute 
 the chief source of inspiration to those who aspire to think 
 in large, deep ways of really great things. It is of little 
 value, from the viewpoint of liberal culture, to know that 
 there is a certain succession of sandstones, shales, and lime- 
 stones; that professional convention has given them certain 
 names, more or less infelicitous in derivation and in phonic 
 quality; but it is of vital consequence to learn how and 
 why these relics of former processes came to be left as 
 they were left, and thus came to be witnesses, to the history 
 of the far past. It was a wise thing, no doubt, that the 
 fathers of geology strongly insisted that there should be 
 a rigorous and rather literal adhesion to the terrestrial 
 record in all earth studies, because in those times of transi- 
 tion from the loose, more or less fantastic thought that 
 marked the adolescent stage of the human race, it was im- 
 perative that students should stick close to the immediate 
 evidence of what had transpired, and should withhold them- 
 selves from much enlargement of view based on the less 
 tangible evidences; but at the present stage, when the gen- 
 eral nature of the earth's history has been firmly established, 
 it would be an error on the part of those who seek for the 
 most liberalizing and broadening values of the science, to 
 treat the record merely as a material register of immediate 
 import only, to the neglect of the less tangible but more 
 vital teachings immanent in its great forces and processes. 
 The seeker of liberal culture should direct his attention 
 to the great events, and, above all, to the larger and deeper 
 meanings implied by these events. 
 
 And so — may I be pardoned for reemphasizing? — the 
 
The Teaching of Geology 155 
 
 teacher of geology whose essential purpose is liberal train- 
 ing, leading to broad and firm knowledge and to sound 
 processes of thought, will critically observe the distinction 
 between geology taught appropriately from the collegiate 
 point of view, and geology taught specifically from the pro- 
 fessional and technical points of view. In these latter, 
 specific details in specific lines are important, and may even 
 be essential, but it is the function of the college teacher 
 of geology to select from the great mass of material of the 
 science such factors as are basal, vital, and talismanic. He 
 will give these emphasis, while he neglects the multitude of 
 details that lack significance as working elements or as 
 landmarks of progress, whatever their value in other rela- 
 tions. This selection is equally important, whether applied 
 to the great physical processes that have shaped the earth 
 into its present configuration, or to the great chemical and 
 mineralogical processes that have determined its texture 
 and its structure, or to the great biological and psychologi- 
 cal processes that have given trend to the development of 
 its inhabitants. 
 
 Even if the undergraduate course in geology is pursued 
 less for the purpose of liberal culture than as a means 
 of preparing for a professional career as an economic 
 geologist, no essential departure from an effort to master 
 first the basal features and the broader aspects of the 
 science, especially the dynamic aspects, is to be advised. 
 The shortest road to declared success in professional and 
 economic geology lies through the early mastery of its 
 fundamentals. No doubt immediate and apparent success 
 may often be sooner reached by a narrower and shallower 
 study of such special phases of the subject as happen 
 just now to be most obviously related to the existing state of 
 the industries; but industrial demands are constantly 
 changing ~ indeed, at present, rather rapidly — and new 
 aspects follow one another in close succession. These new 
 aspects almost inevitably spring from the more basal factors 
 as these rise into function with the progress of experience 
 or the stress of new demands. Those who have sought only 
 
156 College Teaching 
 
 the immediate and the superficial, at the expense of the 
 basal, and especially those who have neglected to acquire 
 the power and the disposition to search out the funda- 
 mentals, are quite sure to be left among the unfortunates 
 who trail behind; they are little likely to be found among 
 those who lead at the times when leadership counts. In 
 the judgment of those master minds that lead in affairs 
 and that take large and penetrating views, the lines along 
 which the most vital contributions to economic interests 
 are being made connect closely with basal studies of the 
 actuating agencies that condition great enterprises. In the 
 judgment of the writer, it is a false view to suppose that 
 any short, superficial study of so vast a subject as the con- 
 stitution and history of the earth can result in economic 
 competency. In so far as time for study is limited, it 
 should be concentrated on the great underlying factors that 
 constitute the essentials of the science. It is here assumed 
 that men who care to take a college course at all are 
 seeking for a large success and are ambitious for a high 
 personal career. If they look ultimately to professional 
 work in economic lines, they may safely be advised that the 
 straight road to declared success lies in a search for the 
 vital forces, the critical agencies, and the profound prin- 
 ciples that make for great results, not along the by-paths 
 whose winding, superficial courses are turned hither and 
 thither by adventitious conditions whose very nature invites 
 distrust rather than confidence. 
 Evaluations Turning to some of the more formal phases of treat- 
 of teaching nient, three types of work are presented: (1) the use of 
 nature's laboratory, the world itself, (2) the use of the 
 college collections and laboratories, and (3) the use of the 
 literature of the subject. 
 
 (1) Fortunately, there is no place on the face of the earth 
 where there is not some natural material for geologic study, 
 for even in the most artificialized locations geological 
 processes are active. In crowded cities these processes may 
 be easily overlooked, but yet they are susceptible of effec- 
 tive use. Within easy access from almost every college 
 
The Teaching of Geology 157 
 
 site there are serviceable fields of study, and these, in any 
 live course, will be assiduously cultivated. They may be 
 relatively modest in their phenomena; they may seem to 
 lack that impressiveness which has played so large a part 
 in the popular notion of the content of geology, but they 
 may nevertheless serve as most excellent training grounds 
 for young geologists. If students are so situated as to be 
 brought at the beginning of study under the influence of 
 very impressive displays of geologic phenomena — 
 precipitous mountains, rugged cliffs, deep canons, and the 
 like — there is danger that their mental habits may become 
 diffusive rather than close and keen; the emotions may be 
 called forth in wonder rather than turned into zest in the 
 search for evidence. If students are to be trained to 
 diligence in inquiry and to the highest virility in inference 
 and interpretation, it is perhaps fortunate for them if they 
 are located where only modest records of geological pro- 
 cesses are presented for study. In such regions they are 
 more likely to be led to scrutinize the field keenly, sharply, 
 and diligently for data on which to build their interpreta- 
 tions. The scientific use of their imaginations is all the 
 better trained if, in their endeavor to build up a consistent 
 concept of the whole structure that underlies their field, 
 they are forced to project their inferences from a few out- 
 crops far beneath the cover of the adjacent mantle that shuts 
 off direct vision. Few teachers have, therefore, any real 
 occasion to long for richer fields than those accessible to 
 them, if they have the tact to render these fertile in stimulus 
 and suggestion. 
 
 (2) Laboratory work upon the material collected in the 
 field work, as well as laboratory work upon the college 
 collections, are essential adjuncts. Ample provisions for 
 this supplementary work, however modest the appointments, 
 are important and can usually be secured by ingenuity and 
 diligence in spite of financial limitations. 
 
 Both field and laboratory work should be well correlated 
 with one another and with the systematic work on the text 
 that guides the study, so that each shall whet the edge of 
 
158 College Teaching 
 
 the other and all together accomplish what neither could 
 alone. 
 
 (3) The text selected should be such as lends itself, in 
 some notable degree at least, to the general purposes set 
 forth above. It should be supplemented, so far as may be, 
 by judicious assignments for reading and for special study. 
 Lectures may be made a valuable aid to the discussions of 
 the classroom, but with college classes they can rarely be 
 made an advantageous substitute for the discussions. Lec- 
 turing, so far as used, is best woven informally into the 
 classroom discussions. Supplementary lecturettes may be 
 advised if they are of such an informal sort that they may 
 almost unconsciously take their start from any vital point 
 encountered in the course of discussion, may run on as far 
 as the occasion invites, and may then give way again to the 
 discussion with the utmost informality. Such little partici- 
 pations in the work of the classroom, on the part of the 
 teacher, are likely to be cordially welcomed. At the same 
 time, if well done, they will set an excellent example in 
 the presentative art as also in an apt organization of 
 thou?^ht. 
 Organiza- jf '^^ stated course in earth-science is limited to the 
 
 courses junior and senior years by the existing requirements of the 
 
 curriculum of the institution or by the rulings of its officers 
 — as is not uncommonly the case at present — it is rela- 
 tively immaterial whether the sections of the course are 
 marshaled under the single name " geology " or whether 
 they are given separate titles as sub-sciences, provided the 
 special subjects are arranged in logical sequence and in con- 
 secutive order. If, on the other hand, the teacher's choice 
 of time and relations is freer, the more accessible phases 
 of earth study, now well organized under the name of 
 " physiography," form an excellent course for either fresh- 
 men or sophomores. It opens their minds to a world of 
 interesting activities about 'them which have probably been 
 largely overlooked in previous years. It gives them sub- 
 stance of thought that will be of much service in the pursuit 
 of other sciences. It has been found that it is not without 
 
The Teaching of Geology 159 
 
 rather notable service to young students as the basis of 
 efforts in the art of literary presentation, a felicity to which 
 teachers of this important art frequently give emphatic 
 testimony. The secret seems to lie in the fact that 
 physiography gives varied and vivid material susceptible of 
 literary presentation, while the fixed qualities of the subject 
 matter control the choice of terms and the mode of expres- 
 sion. 
 
 If geography and physiography are given in the earlier 
 years, the course in historical geology, as well as the study 
 of the more difficult phases of geological processes, of the 
 principles of dynamic geology, together with mineralogy, 
 petrology, and paleontology, may best fall into the later 
 years, even if some interval separates them from the 
 geography and physiography. 
 
 One hundred and twenty classroom hours, or their 
 equivalent in laboratory and field work, are perhaps to be 
 regarded as the irreducible minimum in a well-balanced 
 undergraduate course, while twice that time or more is re- 
 quired to give a notably strong college course in earth- 
 science. 
 
 A consideration of the sequences among the geological 
 sub-subjects, as also among the subjects that are held to be 
 preliminary to the earth-sciences, is important, but it would 
 lead us too far into details which depend more or less on 
 local conditions. In the experience of American teachers 
 it appears to have been found advisable to put geological 
 processes and typical phenomena to the front and to take 
 up geological history afterwards. The earlier method of 
 taking up the history first, beginning with recent stages 
 and working backward down the ages, — once in vogue 
 abroad, — has been abandoned in this country. It was the 
 order in which the science was developed and it had the 
 advantage of starting with the living present and with the 
 most accessible formations, but this latter advantage 
 is secured by studying the living processes, as such, first, 
 and turning to the history later. This permits the study of 
 the history in its natural order, which seems better to call 
 
160 College Teaching 
 
 forth the relations of cause and effect and to give emphasis 
 to the influence of inherited conditions. 
 
 Respecting antecedents to the study, the more knowl- 
 edge of physics, chemistry, zoology, and botany, the better, 
 but it is easy to over-stress the necessity for such prepara- 
 tion, however logical it may seem, for in reality all the 
 natural sciences are so interwoven that, in strict logic, a 
 complete knowledge of all the others should be had before 
 any one is begun, a reductio ad ahsurdum. The sciences 
 have been developed more or less contemporaneously and 
 progressively, each helping on the others. They may be 
 pursued much in the same way, or by alternations in which 
 each prior study favors the sequent one. They may even 
 be taken in a seemingly illogical order without serious dis- 
 advantage, for the alternative advantages and other consid- 
 erations may outweigh the force of the logical order, which 
 is at best only partially logical. It is of prime importance 
 to stimulate in students a habit of observing natural 
 phenomena at an early age. It may be wise for a student 
 to take up physiography, or its equivalent, early in the 
 college course, irrespective of an ideal preparation in the 
 related sciences. It is unfortunate to defer such study to a 
 stage when the student's natural aptitude for observation 
 and inference has become dulled by neglect or by confine- 
 ment to subjects devoid of naturalistic stimulus. To permit 
 students to take up earth-science in the freshman and 
 sophomore years, even without the ideal preparation, is 
 therefore probably wiser than to defer the study beyond the 
 age of responsiveness to the touch of the natural environ- 
 ment. The geographic and geologic environment condi- 
 tioned the mental evolution of the race. It left an inherited 
 impress on the perceptive and emotional nature, only to be 
 awakened most felicitously, it would seem, at about the age 
 at which the naturalistic phases of the youth's mentality 
 were originally called into their most intense exercise. 
 
 T. C. Chamberlin 
 
 The University of Chicago 
 
I 
 
 VIII 
 THE TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS 
 
 N recent years the teaching of mathematics has under- ^^.ecent 
 1111 • -11 changes 
 
 gone remarkable changes m many countries, both as re- and some 
 
 gards method and as regards content. With respect to 
 college mathematics these changes have been evidenced by 
 a growing emphasis on applications and on the historic 
 setting of the various questions. To understand one direct 
 source of these changes it is only necessary to recall the 
 fact that in about 1880 there began a steady stream of 
 American mathematical students to Europe, especially to 
 Germany. Most of these students entered the faculties of 
 our colleges and universities on their return to America. 
 It is therefore of great importance to inquire what mathe- 
 matical situation served to inspire these students. 
 
 The German mathematical developments of the greater 
 part of the nineteenth century exhibited a growing tendency 
 to disregard applications. It was not until about 1890 that 
 a strong movement was inaugurated to lay more stress on 
 applied mathematics in Germany.^ Our early American 
 students therefore brought with them from Germany a de- 
 cided tendency toward investigations in mathematical fields 
 remote from direct contact with applications to other 
 scientific subjects, such as physics and astronomy, which 
 had so largely dominated mathematical investigations in 
 earlier years. 
 
 This picture would, however, be very incomplete with- 
 out exhibiting another factor of a similar type working in 
 our own midst. J. J. Sylvester was selected as the first 
 professor of mathematics at Johns Hopkins University, 
 which opened its doors in 1876 and began at once to wield 
 a powerful influence in starting young men in higher re- 
 search. Sylvester's own investigations related mainly to the 
 
 1 P. Ziihlke. Zeitschrift fur Mathematischen und Naturwissenschaft- 
 lichen Unterricht, Vol. 45 (1915), page 483. 
 
 161 
 
 of their 
 sources 
 
162 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Influence of 
 researches in 
 mathematics 
 on methods 
 of teaching 
 
 formal and abstract side of mathematics. Moreover, " he 
 was a poor teacher with an imperfect knowledge of mathe- 
 matical literature. He possessed, however, an extraor- 
 dinary personality, and had in remarkable degree the gift 
 of imparting enthusiasm, a quality of no small value in 
 pioneer days such as these were with us." ^ 
 
 Mathematical research was practically introduced into the 
 American colleges during the last quarter of the nineteenth 
 century, and the wave of enthusiasm which attended this 
 introduction was unfortunately not sufficiently tempered by 
 emphasis on good teaching and breadth of knowledge, 
 especially as regards applications. In fact, the leading 
 mathematician in America during the early part of this 
 period was glaringly weak along these lines. By means 
 of his bountiful enthusiasm he was able to do a large 
 amount of good for the selected band of gifted students 
 who attended his lectures, but some of these were not so 
 fortunate in securing the type of students who are helped 
 more by the direct enthusiasm of their teacher than by the 
 indirect enthusiasm resulting from good teaching. 
 
 The need of good mathematical teaching in our colleges 
 and universities began to become more pronounced at about 
 the time that the wave of research enthusiasm set in, as a 
 result of the growing emphasis on technical education which 
 exhibited itself most emphatically in the development of the 
 schools of engineering. While the student who is specially 
 interested in mathematics may be willing to get along with 
 a teacher whose enthusiasm for the new and general leads 
 him to neglect to emphasize essential details in the presenta- 
 tion, the average engineering student insists on clearness 
 in presentation and usability of the results. As the latter 
 student does not expect to become a mathematical specialist, 
 he is naturally much more interested in good teaching than 
 in the mathematical reputation of his teacher, even if 
 his reputation is not an entirely insignificant factor for 
 him. 
 
 •^ Committee No. XII, American Report of the International Commis- 
 sion on the Teaching of Mathematics, 1912, page 9. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 163 
 
 During the last decade of the nineteenth century and the 
 first decade of the present century the mathematical de- 
 partments of our colleges and universities faced an un- 
 usually serious situation as a result of the conditions just 
 noted. The new wave of research enthusiasm was still in 
 its youthful vigor and in its youthful mood of inconsider- 
 ateness as regards some of the most important factors. On 
 the other hand, many of the departments of engineering 
 had become strong and were therefore able to secure the 
 type of teaching suited to their needs. In a number of 
 institutions this led to the breaking up of the mathematical 
 department into two or more separate departments aiming 
 to meet special needs. 
 
 In view of the fact that the mathematical needs of these 
 various classes of students have so much in common, lead- 
 ing mathematicians viewed with much concern this tendency 
 to disrupt many of the stronger departments. Hence the 
 question of good teaching forced itself rapidly to the front. 
 It was commonly recognized that the students of pure 
 mathematics profit by a study of various applications of 
 the theories under consideration, and that the students who 
 expect to work along special technical lines gain by getting 
 broad and comprehensive views of the fundamental mathe- 
 matical questions involved. Moreover, it was also recog- 
 nized that the investigational work of the instructors would 
 gain by the broader scholarship secured through greater 
 emphasis on applications and the historic setting of the 
 various problems under consideration. 
 
 To these fundamental elements relating to the improve- 
 ment of college teaching there should perhaps be added one 
 arising from the recognition of the fact that the number 
 of men possessing excellent mathematical research ability 
 was much smaller than the number of positions in the 
 mathematical departments of our colleges and universities. 
 The publication of inferior research results is of question- 
 able value. On the other hand, many who could have done 
 excellent work as teachers by devoting most of their energies 
 to this work became partial failures both as teachers and as 
 
164 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Range of 
 subjects and 
 preparation 
 of students 
 
 investigators through their ambition to excel in the latter 
 direction. 
 
 It should be emphasized that the college and university 
 teachers of mathematics have to deal with a wide range 
 of subjects and conditions, especially where graduate work 
 is carried on. Advanced graduate students have needs 
 which differ widely from those of the freshmen who aim to 
 become engineers. This wide range of conditions calls for 
 unusual adaptability on the part of the college and univer- 
 sity teacher. This range is much wider than that which 
 confronts the teachers in the high school, and the lack of 
 sufficient adaptability on the part of some of the college 
 teachers is probably responsible for the common impres- 
 sion that some of the poorest mathematical teaching is done 
 in the colleges. It is doubtless equally true that some of 
 the very best mathematical teaching is to be found in these 
 institutions. 
 
 In some of the colleges there has been a tendency to 
 diminish the individual range of mathematical teaching by 
 explicitly separating the undergraduate work and the more 
 advanced work. For instance, in Johns Hopkins University, 
 L. S. Hulburt was appointed " Professor of Collegiate 
 Mathematics " in 1897, with the understanding that he 
 should devote himself to the interests of the undergraduates. 
 In many of the larger universities the younger members of 
 the department usually teach only undergraduate courses, 
 while some of the older members devote either all or most 
 of their time to the advanced work; but there is no uni- 
 formity in this direction, and the present conditions are 
 often unsatisfactory. 
 
 The undergraduate courses in mathematics in the Ameri- 
 can colleges and universities differ considerably. The 
 normal beginning courses now presuppose a year of 
 geometry and a year and a half of algebra in addition to 
 the elementary courses in arithmetic, but much higher re- 
 quirements are sometimes imposed, especially for engineer- 
 ing courses. In recent years several of the largest universi- 
 ties have reduced the minimum admission requirement in 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 165 
 
 algebra to one year's work, but students entering with this 
 minimum preparation are sometimes not allowed to proceed 
 with the regular mathematical classes in the university. 
 
 Freshmen courses in mathematics differ widely, but the Variety of 
 most common subjects are advanced algebra, plane trigo- courses in 
 nometry, and solid geometry. The most common subjects mathematics 
 of a somewhat more advanced type are plane analytic 
 geometry, differential and integral calculus, and spherical 
 trigonometry. Beyond these courses there is much less uni- 
 formity, especially in those institutions which aim to com- 
 plete a well-rounded undergraduate mathematical course 
 rather than to prepare for graduate work. Among the most 
 common subjects beyond those already named are differen- 
 tial equations, theory of equations, solid analytic geometry, 
 and mechanics. 
 
 A very important element affecting the mathematical 
 courses in recent years is the rapid improvement in the 
 training of our teachers in the secondary schools. This has 
 led to the rapid introduction of courses which aim to lead 
 up to broad views in regard to the fundamental subjects. 
 In particular, courses relating to the historical development 
 of concepts involved therein are receiving more and more 
 attention. Indirect historical sources have become much 
 more plentiful in recent years through the publication of 
 various translations of ancient works and through the pub- 
 lication of extensive historical notes in the Encyclopedie 
 des Sciences Mathematiques and in other less extensive 
 works of reference. 
 
 The problem presented by those who are preparing to 
 teach mathematics may at first appear to differ widely from 
 that presented by those who expect to become engineers. 
 The latter are mostly interested in obtaining from their 
 mathematical courses a powerful equipment for doing 
 things, while the former take more interest in those de- 
 velopments which illumine and clarify the elements of their 
 subject. Hence the prospective teacher and the prospective 
 engineer might appear to have conflicting mathematical in- 
 terests. As a matter of fact, these interests are not con- 
 
166 College Teaching 
 
 flicting. The prospective teacher is greatly benefited by the 
 emphasis on the serviceableness of mathematics, and the 
 prospective engineer finds that the generality and clarity 
 of view sought by the prospective teacher is equally help- 
 ful to him in dealing with new applications. Hence these 
 two classes of students can well afford to pursue many of 
 the early mathematical courses together, while the finish- 
 ing courses should usually be different. 
 
 The rapidly growing interest in statistical methods and 
 in insurance, pensions, and investments has naturally di- 
 rected special attention to the underlying mathematical 
 theories, especially to the theory of probability. Some 
 institutions have organized special mathematical courses re- 
 lating to these subjects and have thus extended still further 
 the range of undergraduate subjects covered by the mathe- 
 matical departments. The rapidly growing emphasis on a 
 college education specially adapted to the needs of the 
 prospective business man has recently led to a greater 
 emphasis on some of these subjects in several institutions. 
 
 The range of mathematical subjects suited for graduate 
 students is unlimited, but it is commonly assumed to be 
 desirable that the graduate student should pursue at least 
 one general course in each one of broader subjects such as 
 the theory of numbers, higher algebra, theory of functions, 
 and projective geometry, before he begins to specialize along 
 a particular line. It is usually taken for granted that the 
 undergraduate courses in mathematics should not presup- 
 pose a knowledge of any language besides English, but 
 graduate work in this subject cannot be successfully pursued 
 in many cases without a reading knowledge of the three 
 other great mathematical languages; viz., French, German, 
 and Italian. Hence the study of graduate mathematics 
 necessarily presupposes some linguistic training in addition 
 to an acquaintance with the elements of fundamental mathe- 
 matical subjects. 
 
 Historical studies make especially large linguistic de- 
 mands in case these studies are not largely restricted to pre- 
 digested material. This is particularly true as regards the 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 167 
 
 older historical material. In the study of contemporary 
 mathematical history the linguistic prerequisites are about 
 the same as those relating to the study of other modern 
 mathematical subjects. With the rapid spread of mathe- 
 matical research activity during recent years there has come 
 a growing need of more extensive linguistic attainments 
 on the part of those mathematicians who strive to keep in 
 touch with progress along various lines. For instance, a 
 thriving Spanish national mathematical society was or- 
 ganized in 1911 at Madrid, Spain, and in March, 1916, a 
 new mathematical journal entitled Revista de Matematicas 
 was started at Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic. Hence a 
 knowledge of Spanish is becoming more useful to the mathe- 
 matical student. Similar activities have recently been 
 inaugurated in other countries. 
 
 Until about the beginning of the nineteenth century the History of 
 courses in college mathematics did not usually presuppose ^^^^J^f^ ^j^. 
 a mathematical foundation carefully prepared for a super- 
 structure. According to M. Gebhardt, the function of teach- 
 ing elementary mathematics in Germany was assumed by 
 the gymnasiums during the years from 1810 to 1830.^ Be- 
 fore this time the German universities usually gave in- 
 struction in the most elementary mathematical subjects. 
 In our own country, Yale University instituted a mathe- 
 matical entrance requirement under the title of arithmetic 
 as early as 1745, but at Harvard University no mathe- 
 matics was required for admission before 1803. 
 
 On the other hand, UEcole Polytechnique of Paris, which 
 occupies a prominent place in the history of college mathe- 
 matics, had very high admission requirements in mathe- 
 matics from the start. According to a law enacted in 
 1795, the candidates for admission were required to pass 
 an examination in arithmetic; in algebra, including the 
 solution of equations of the first four degrees and the 
 theory of series; and in geometry, including trigonometry, 
 the applications of algebra to geometry, and conic sec- 
 
 1 Internationale Mathematische Unterrichtskomission, Vol. 3, No, 6 
 (1912), page 2. 
 
168 College Teaching 
 
 tions.^ It should be noted that these requirements are 
 more extensive than the usual present mathematical require- 
 ments of our leading universities and technical schools, but 
 UEcole Polytechnique laid special emphasis on mathema- 
 tics and physics and became the world's prototype of strong 
 technical institutions. 
 
 The influence of UEcole Polytechnique was greatly aug- 
 mented by the publication of a regular periodical entitled 
 Journal de UEcole Polytechnique^ which was started in 
 1795 and is still being published. A number of the 
 courses of lectures delivered at UEcole Polytechnique and 
 at UEcole Normale appeared in the early volumes of this 
 journal. The fact that some of these courses were given 
 by such eminent mathematicians as J. L. Lagrange, G. 
 Monge, and P. S. Laplace is sufficient guarantee of their 
 great value and of their good influence on the later text- 
 books along similar lines. In particular, it may be noted 
 that G. Monge gave the first course in descriptive geona- 
 etry at L'Ecole Normale in 1795, and he was also for a 
 number of years one of the most influential teachers at 
 L^Ecole Polytechnique. 
 
 A most fundamental element in the history of college 
 mathematics is the broadening of the scope of the college 
 work. As long as college students were composed almost 
 entirely of prospective preachers, lawyers, and physicians, 
 there was comparatively little interest taken in mathematics. 
 It is true that the mental disciplinary value of mathematics 
 was emphasized by many, but this supposed value did 
 not put any real life into mathematical work. The dead 
 abstract reasonings of Euclid's Elements, or even the 
 number speculations of the ancient Pythagoreans, were 
 enough to satisfy most of those who were looking to 
 mathematics as a subject suitable for mental gymnastics. 
 
 On the other hand, when the colleges began to train 
 men for other lines of work, when the applications of 
 steam led to big enterprises, like the building of rail- 
 
 ^ Journal de VEcole Polytechnique, Vol. 1 (1896), part 4, page Ix. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 169 
 
 roads and large ocean steamers, mathematics became a 
 living subject whose great direct usefulness in practical 
 affairs began to be commonly recognized. Moreover, it 
 became apparent that there was great need of mathematical 
 growth, since mathematics was no longer to be used merely 
 as mental Indian clubs or dumb-bells, where a limited 
 assortment would answer all practical needs, but as an 
 implement of mental penetration into the infinitude of 
 barriers which have checked progress along various lines 
 and seem to require an infinite variety of methods of pene- 
 tration. 
 
 The American colleges were naturally somewhat slower 
 than some of those of Europe in adapting themselves to the 
 changed conditions, but the rapidity of the changes in our 
 country may be inferred from the fact that in the first half 
 of the nineteenth century Harvard placed in comparatively 
 short succession three mathematical subjects on its list 
 of entrance requirements; viz., arithmetic in 1802, algebra 
 in 1820, and geometry in 1844. Although Harvard had 
 not established any mathematical admission requirements 
 for more than a century and a half after its opening, she 
 initiated three such requirements within half a century. 
 It is interesting to note that for at least ninety years 
 from the opening of Harvard, arithmetic was taught dur- 
 ing the senior year as one of the finishing subjects of 
 a college education.^ 
 
 The passage of some of the subjects of elementary mathe- 
 matics from the colleges to the secondary schools raised 
 two very fundamental questions. The first of these con- 
 cerned mostly the secondary schools, since it involved an 
 adaptation to the needs of younger students of the more 
 or less crystallized textbook material which came to them 
 from the colleges. The second of these questions affected 
 the colleges only, since it involved the selection of proper 
 material to base upon the foundations laid by the secondary 
 schools. It is natural that the influence of the colleges 
 
 ^F. Cajori, Teaching and History of Mathematics in the United 
 States, 1890, page 22. 
 
170 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 schools and 
 college 
 
 should have been somewhat harmful with respect to the 
 secondary schools, since the interests of the former seemed 
 to be best met by restricting most of the energies of the 
 secondary teachers of mathematics to the thorough drilling 
 of their students in dexterous formal manipulations of 
 algebraic symbols and the demonstration of fundamental 
 abstract theoreins of geometry. 
 
 Relation of Students who come to college with a solid and broad 
 
 mathematics i-i -i iii 
 
 in secondary foundation but Without any knowledge oi the superstruc- 
 ture can readily be inspired and enthused by the erection 
 of a beautiful superstructure on a foundation laid mostly 
 underground, with little direct evidence of its value or im- 
 portance. The injustice and shortsightedness of the ten- 
 dency to restrict the secondary schools to such foundation 
 work would not have been so apparent if the majority 
 of the secondary school students would have entered col- 
 lege. As a matter of fact it tended to bring secondary 
 mathematics into disrepute and thus to threaten college 
 mathematics at its very foundation. It is only in recent 
 years that strong efforts have been made to correct this 
 very serious mathematical situation. 
 
 Much progress has been made toward the saner view of 
 letting secondary mathematics build its little structure into 
 the air with some view to harmony and proportion, and of 
 requiring college mathematics to build on as well as upon 
 the work done by the secondary schools. The fruitful and 
 vivifying notions of function, derivative, and group are 
 slowly making their way into secondary mathematics, and 
 the graphic methods have introduced some of the charms of 
 analytic geometry into the same field. 
 
 This transformation is naturally affecting college mathe 
 matics most profoundly. The tedious work of building 
 foundations in college mathematics is becoming more im- 
 perative. The use of the rock drill is forcing itself more 
 and more on the college teacher accustomed to use only 
 hammer and saw. As we are just entering upon this situ- 
 ation, it is too early to prophesy anything in regard to 
 its permanency, but it seems likely that the secondary 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 171 
 
 teachers will no more assume a yoke which some of the 
 college teachers would so gladly have them bear and which 
 they bore a long time with a view to serving the interests 
 of the latter teachers. 
 
 As many of the textbooks used by secondary teachers 
 are written by college men, and as the success of these 
 teachers is often gauged by the success of their students 
 who happen to go to college, it is easily seen that there 
 is a serious temptation on the part of the secondary teacher 
 to look at his work through the eyes of the college teacher. 
 The recent organizations which bring together the college 
 and the secondary teachers have already exerted a very 
 wholesome influence and have tended to exhibit the fact 
 that the success of the college teacher of mathematics is 
 very intimately connected with that of the teachers of second- 
 ary mathematics. 
 
 While it is difficult to determine the most important 
 single event in the history of college teaching in America, 
 there are few events in this history which seem to deserve 
 such a distinction more than the organization of the Mathe- 
 matical Association of America which was effected in De- 
 cember, 1915. This association aims especially to pro- 
 mote the interests of mathematics in the collegiate field 
 and it publishes a journal entitled The American Mathe- 
 matical Monthly, containing many expository articles of 
 special interest to teachers. It also holds regular meet- 
 ings and has organized various sections so as to enable 
 its members to attend meetings without incurring the ex- 
 pense of long trips. Its first four presidents were E. R. 
 Hedrick, Florian Cajori, E. V. Huntington, and H. E. 
 Slaught. 
 
 An event which has perhaps affected the very vitals 
 of mathematical teaching in America still more is the 
 founding of the American Mathematical Society in 1888, 
 called the New York Mathematical Society until 1894. 
 Through its Bulletin and Transactions, as well as through 
 its meetings and colloquia lectures, this society has stood 
 for inspiration and deep mathematical interest without 
 
172 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Aims of 
 college 
 mathe- 
 matics: 
 methods of 
 teaching 
 
 which college teaching will degenerate into an art. Dur- 
 ing the first thirty years of its history it has had as presi- 
 dents the following: J. H. Van Amringe, Emory McClin- 
 tock, G. W. Hill, Simon Newcomb, R. S. Woodward, E. H. 
 Moore, T. S. Fiske, W. F. Osgood, H. S. White, Maxime 
 Bocher, H. B. Fine, E. B. Van Vleck, E. W. Brown, L. E. 
 Dickson, and Frank Morley. 
 
 The aims of college mathematics can perhaps be most 
 clearly understood by recalling the fact that mathematics 
 constitutes a kind of intellectual shorthand and that many 
 of the newer developments in a large number of the sciences 
 tend toward pure mathematics. In particular, " there is a 
 constant tendency for mathematical physics to be absorbed 
 in pure mathematics.^ As sciences grow, they tend to re- 
 quire more and more the strong methods of intellectual 
 penetration provided by pure mathematics. 
 
 The principal modern aim of college mathematics is 
 not the training of the mind, but the providing of infor- 
 mation which is absolutely necessary to those who seek to 
 work most efficiently along various scientific lines. Mathe- 
 matical knowledge rather than mathematical discipline is 
 the main modern objective in the college courses in mathe- 
 matics. As this knowledge must be in a usable form, its 
 acquisition is naturally attended by mental discipline, but 
 the knowledge is absolutely needed and would have to be 
 acquired even if the process of acquisition were not at- 
 tended by a development of intellectual power. 
 
 The fact that practically all of the college mathematics 
 of the eighteenth century has been gradually taken over 
 by the secondary schools of today might lead some to 
 question the wisdom of replacing this earlier mathematics 
 by more advanced subjects. In particular, the question 
 might arise whether the college mathematics of today is not 
 superfluous. This question has been partially answered by 
 the preceding general observations. The rapid scientific 
 advances of the past century have increased the mathe- 
 
 ^ A, E. H. Love, Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society, 
 Vol. 14 (1915), page 183. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 173 
 
 matical needs very rapidly. The advances in college mathe- 
 matics which have been made possible by the improvements 
 of the secondary schools have scarcely kept up with the 
 growth of these needs, so that the current mathematical 
 needs cannot be as fully provided for by the modern col- 
 lege as the recognized mathematical needs of the eighteenth 
 century were provided for by the colleges of those days. 
 
 There appears to be no upper limit to the amount of 
 useful mathematics, and hence the aim of the college 
 must be to supply the mathematical needs of the students 
 to the greatest possible extent under the circumstances. 
 In order to supply these needs in the most economical man- 
 ner, it seems necessary that some of them should be sup- 
 plied before they are fully appreciated on the part of the 
 student. The first steps in many scientific subjects do not 
 call for mathematical considerations and the student fre- 
 quently does not go beyond these first steps in his college 
 days, but he needs to go much further later in life. Col- 
 lege mathematics should prepare for life rather than for 
 college days only, and hence arises the desirability of deeper 
 mathematical penetration than appears directly necessary 
 for college work. 
 
 Another reason for more advanced mathematics than 
 seems to be directly needed by the student is that the more 
 advanced subjects in mathematics are a kind of applied 
 mathematics relative to the more elementary ones, and the 
 former subjects serve to throw much light on the latter. 
 In other words, the student who desires to understand an 
 elementary subject completely should study more advanced 
 subjects which are connected therewith, since such a study 
 is usually more effective than the repeated review of the 
 elementary subject. In particular, many students secure 
 a better understanding of algebra during their course in 
 calculus than during the course in algebra itself, and a 
 course in differential equations will throw new light on 
 the course in calculus. Hence college mathematics usually 
 aims to cover a rather wide range of subjects in a com- 
 paratively short time. 
 
 Advanced 
 work in 
 college 
 mathematics 
 
174 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Mathematics 
 and 
 
 technical 
 education 
 
 Since mathematics is largely the language of advanced 
 science, especially of astronomy, physics, and engineering, 
 one of the prominent aims of college mathematics should 
 be to keep in close touch with the other sciences. That 
 is, the idea of rendering direct and efficient services to other 
 departments should animate the mathematical department 
 more deeply than any other department of the university. 
 The tendency toward disintegration to which we referred 
 above has forcefully directed attention to the great need 
 of emphasizing this aspect of our subject, since such dis- 
 integration is naturally accompanied by a weakening of 
 mathematical vigor. It may be noted that such a dis- 
 integration would mean a reverting to primitive conditions, 
 since some of the older works treated mathematics merely 
 as a chapter of astronomy. This was done, for instance, 
 in some of the ancient treatises of the Hindus. 
 
 The great increase in college students during recent 
 years and the growing emphasis on college activities out- 
 side of the work connected with the classroom, especially on 
 those relating to college athletics, would doubtless have 
 left college mathematics in a woefully neglected state if 
 there had not been a rapidly growing interest in technical 
 education, especially in engineering subjects, at the same 
 time. Naval engineering was one of the first scientific 
 subjects to exert a strong influence on popularizing mathe- 
 matics. In particular, the teaching of mathematics in the 
 Russian schools supported by the government began with 
 the founding of the government school for mathematics 
 and navigation at Moscow in 1701. It is interesting to 
 note that the earlier Russian schools established by the 
 clergy after the adoption of Christianity in that country 
 did not provide for the teaching of any arithmetic what- 
 ever, notwithstanding the usefulness of arithmetic for the 
 computing of various dates in the church calendar, for 
 land surveying, and for the ordinary business transactions.^ 
 in 
 
 The direct aims in the teaching of college mathematics 
 
 IV. V. Bobynin, UEnseigtiement Mathematique, Vol. 1 (1899), page 
 78. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 175 
 
 have naturally been somewhat affected by the needs of the 
 engineering students, who constitute in many of our lead- 
 ing institutions a large majority in the mathematical classes. 
 These students are usually expected to receive more drill 
 in actual numerical work than is demanded by those who 
 seek mainly a deeper penetration into the various mathe- 
 matical theories. The most successful methods of teach- 
 ing the former students have much in common with those 
 usually employed in the high schools and are known as 
 the recitation and problem-solving methods. They involve 
 the correction and direct supervision of a large number of 
 graded exercises worked out by the students on the black- 
 board or on paper, and aim to overcome the peculiar diffi- 
 culties of the individual students. 
 
 The lecture method, on the other hand, aims to exhibit 
 the main facts in a clear light and to leave to the student 
 the task of supplying further illustrative examples and of 
 reconsidering the various steps. The purely lecture method 
 does not seem to be well adapted to American conditions, 
 and it is frequently combined with what is commonly 
 known as the " quiz." The quiz seems to be an American 
 institution, although it has much in common with a species 
 of the French " conference." It is intended to review 
 the content of a set of lectures by means of discussions 
 in which the students and the teacher participate, and it is 
 most commonly employed in connection with the courses 
 of an advanced undergraduate or of a beginning graduate 
 grade. 
 
 A prominent aim in graduate courses is to lead the 
 student as rapidly as possible to the boundary of knowl- 
 edge along the particular line considered therein. While 
 some of the developments in such courses are apt to be 
 somewhat special or to be too general to have much mean- 
 ing, their novelty frequently adds a sufficiently strong 
 element of interest to more than compensate losses in other 
 directions. Moreover, the student who aims to do research 
 work will thus be enabled to consider various fields as re- 
 gards their attractiveness for prolonged investigations of 
 his own. 
 
176 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Preparation 
 of the 
 college 
 teacher of 
 mathematics 
 
 The fact that the college teacher has need of much more 
 mathematical knowledge than he can possibly secure dur- 
 ing the period of his preparation, especially if he expects 
 to take an active part in research and in directing graduate 
 work, has usually led to the assumption that the future 
 teacher of college mathematics should devote all his ener- 
 gies to securing a deep mathematical insight and a wide 
 range of mathematical knowledge.^ On the other hand, 
 students prepared in accord with this assumption have fre- 
 quently found it very difficult to adapt themselves to the 
 needs of large freshman classes of engineering students 
 entering upon the duties for which they were supposed to 
 have been prepared. 
 
 The breadth of view and the sweep of abstraction needed 
 for effective graduate work have little in common with 
 accuracy in numerical work and emphasis on details which 
 are so essential to the young engineering students. The 
 difficulty of the situation is increased by the fact that the 
 young instructor is often led to believe that his advance- 
 ment and the appreciation of his services are directly pro- 
 portional to his achievements in investigations of a high 
 order. This belief naturally leads many to begrudge the 
 time and thought which their teaching duties should nor- 
 mally receive. 
 
 The young college teacher of mathematics is thus con- 
 fronted with a much more complex situation than that 
 which confronts the mathematics teachers in secondary 
 school work. Here the success in the classroom is the one 
 great goal, and the mathematical knowledge required is 
 comparatively very modest. Possibly the situation of the 
 college teacher could be materially improved if it were 
 understood that his first promotion would be mainly de- 
 pendent upon his success as a teacher, but that later pro- 
 motions involved the element of productive scholarship in 
 an increasing ratio. 
 
 The schools of education which have in recent years 
 
 ^ The Training of Teachers of Mathematics, 1917, by R. C. Archibald. 
 Bulletin No. 27, 1917, United States Bureau of Education. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 177 
 
 been established in most of our leading universities have 
 thus far had only a slight influence on the preparation of 
 the college teachers, but it seems likely that this influence 
 will increase as the needs of professional training become 
 better known. It is probably true that the ratio of courses 
 on methods to courses on knowledge of the subject will 
 always be largest for the elementary teacher, in view of the 
 great diff'erence between the mental maturity of the student 
 and the teacher, somewhat less for the secondary teacher 
 and least for the college teacher; but this least should not 
 be zero, as is so frequently the case at present, since there 
 usually is even here a considerable diff'erence between the 
 mathematical maturity of the student and that of the teacher. 
 
 It may be argued that the future college teacher will 
 probably profit more by noting the methods employed 
 by his instructors than he would by the theoretic discus- 
 sions relating to methods. This is doubtless true, but it 
 does not prove that the latter discussions are without value. 
 On the other hand, these discussions will often serve to 
 fix more attention on the former methods and will lead 
 the student to note more accurately their import and prob- 
 able adaptability to the needs of the younger students. 
 
 Among tlie useful features for the training of the future 
 mathematics teachers are the mathematical clubs which are 
 connected with most of the active mathematical depart- 
 ments. In many cases, at least, two such clubs are main- 
 tained, the one being devoted largely to the presentation 
 of research work while the other aims to provide oppor- 
 tunities for the presentation of papers of special interest 
 to the students. The latter papers are often presented by 
 graduate students or by advanced undergraduates, and they 
 offer a splendid opportunity for such students to acquire 
 effective and clear methods of presentation. The same de- 
 sirable end is often promoted by reports given by students 
 in seminars or in advanced courses. 
 
 Prominent factors in the training of the future college 
 teachers are the teaching scholarships or fellowships and 
 the assistantships. Many of the larger universities pro- 
 
178 College Teaching 
 
 vide a number of positions of this type. It sometimes 
 happens that the teaching duties connected with these posi- 
 tions are so heavy as to leave too little energy for vigorous 
 graduate work. On the other hand, these positions have 
 made it possible for many to continue their graduate studies 
 longer than they could otherwise have done and at the 
 same time to acquire sound habits of teaching while in 
 close contact with men of proved ability along this line. 
 
 It should be emphasized that the ideal college teacher of 
 mathematics is not the one who acquires a respectable fund 
 of mathematical knowledge which he passes along to his 
 students, but the one imbued with an abiding interest in 
 learning more and more about his subject as long as 
 life lasts. This interest naturally soon forces him to con- 
 duct researches where progress usually is slow and uncer- 
 tain. Research work should be animated by the desire 
 for more knowledge and not by the desire for publication. 
 In fact, only those new results should be published which 
 are likely to be helpful to others in starting at a more 
 favorable point in their efforts to secure intellectual mas- 
 tery over certain important problems. 
 
 Half a century ago it was commonly assumed that gradu- 
 ation from a good college implied enough training to 
 enter upon the duties of a college teacher, but this view 
 has been practically abandoned, at least as regards the 
 college teacher of mathematics. The normal preparation 
 is now commonly placed three years later, and the Ph.D. 
 degree is usually regarded to be evidence of this normal 
 preparation. This degree is supposed by many to imply 
 that its possessor has reached a stage where he can do 
 independent research work and direct students who seek 
 similar degrees. In view of the fact that in America as 
 well as in Germany the student often receives much direct 
 assistance while working on his Ph.D. thesis, this suppo- 
 sition is frequently not in accord with the facts. ^ 
 
 The emphasis on the Ph.D. degree for college teachers 
 has in many cases led to an improvement in ideals, but 
 iCf. M. Bocher, Science, Vol. 38 (1913), page 546. 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 179 
 
 in some other cases it has had the opposite effect. Too 
 many possessors of this degree have been able to count 
 on it as accepted evidence of scientific attainments, while 
 they allowed themselves to become absorbed in non-scien- 
 tific matters, especially in administrative details. Pro- 
 fessors of mathematics in our colleges have been called 
 on to shoulder an unusual amount of the administrative 
 work, and many men of fine ability and scholarship have 
 thus been hindered from entering actively into research 
 work. Conditions have, however, improved rapidly in re- 
 cent years, and it is becoming better known that the produc- 
 tive college teacher needs all his energies for scientific 
 work; and in no field is this more emphatically true than in 
 mathematics. Some departmental administrative duties will 
 doubtless always devolve upon the mathematics teachers. 
 By a careful division of these duties they need not inter- 
 fere seriously with the main work of the various teachers. 
 
 The American teachers of mathematics follow the textbook The mathe- 
 
 . r • matical text- 
 
 more closely than is customary m Germany, tor mstance. book 
 Among college teachers there is a wide difference of view 
 in regard to the suitable use of the textbook. While some 
 use it simply for the purpose of providing illustrative ex- 
 amples and do not expect the student to begin any sub- 
 ject by a study of the presentation found in the textbook, 
 there are others who expect the normal student to secure 
 all the needed assistance from the textbook and who em- 
 ploy the class periods mainly for the purpose of teach- 
 ing the students how to use the textbook most effectively. 
 The practice of most teachers falls between these two ex- 
 tremes, and, as a rule, the textbook is followed less and less 
 closely as the student advances in his work. In fact, in 
 many advanced courses no particular textbook is followed. 
 In such courses the principal results and the exercises are 
 often dictated by the teacher or furnished by means of 
 mimeographed notes. 
 
 The close adherence to the textbook is apt to cultivate 
 the habit on the part of the student of trying to under- 
 stand what the author meant instead of confining his atten- 
 
180 College Teaching 
 
 tion to trying to understand the subject. In view of the 
 fact that the American secondary mathematics teachers usu- 
 ally follow textbooks so slavishly, the college teacher of 
 mathematics who believes in emphasizing the subject rather 
 than the textbook often meets with considerable difficulty 
 with the beginning classes. On the other hand, it is clear 
 that as the student advances he should be encouraged to 
 seek information from all available sources instead of from 
 one particular book only. The rapid improvement in our 
 library facilities makes this attitude especially desirable. 
 
 An advantage of the textbook is that it is limited in 
 all directions, while the subject itself is of indefinite extent. 
 In the textbook the subject has been pressed into a linear 
 sequence, while its natural form usually exhibits various di- 
 mensions. The textbook presents those phases about which 
 there is usually no doubt, while the subject itself exhibits 
 limitations of knowledge in many directions. From these 
 few characteristics it is evident that the study of textbooks 
 is apt to cultivate a different attitude and a different point 
 of view from those cultivated by the unhampered study 
 of subjects. The latter are, however, the ones which corre- 
 spond to the actual world and which therefore should re- 
 ceive more and more emphasis as the mental vision of the 
 student can be enlarged. 
 
 The number of different available college mathematical 
 textbooks on the subjects usually studied by the large classes 
 of engineering students has increased rapidly in recent 
 years. On the other hand, the number of suitable text- 
 books for the more advanced classes is often very limited. 
 In fact, it is often found desirable to use textbooks written 
 in some foreign language, especially in French, German, 
 or Italian, for such courses. This procedure has the ad- 
 vantage that it helps to cultivate a better reading knowl- 
 edge of these languages, which is in itself a very worthy 
 end for the advanced student of mathematics. This pro- 
 cedure has, however, become less necessary in recent years 
 in view of the publication of various excellent advanced 
 works in the English language. ... : 
 
The Teaching of Mathematics 181 
 
 The greatest mathematical treasure is constituted by the 
 periodic literatures, and the larger colleges and universi- 
 ties aim to have complete sets of the leading mathematical 
 periodicals available for their students. This literature has 
 been made more accessible by the publication of various 
 catalogues, such as the Subject Index, Volume I, published 
 by the Royal Society of London in 1908, and the volumes 
 " A " of the annual publications entitled International Cata- 
 logue of Scientific Literature. All students who have access 
 to large libraries should learn how to utilize this great 
 store of mathematical lore whenever mathematical ques- 
 tions present themselves to them in their scientific work. 
 This is especially true as regards those who specialize along 
 mathematical lines. 
 
 In some of the colleges and universities general infor- 
 mational courses along mathematical lines have been organ- 
 ized under different names, such as history of mathematics, 
 synoptic course, fundamental concepts, cultural course, etc. 
 Several books have recently been prepared with a view 
 to meeting the needs of textbooks for such courses. College 
 teachers of mathematics usually find it difficult to interest 
 their students sufficiently in the current periodic literature, 
 and one of the greatest problems of the college teacher is 
 to instill such a broad interest in mathematics that the 
 student will seek mathematical knowledge in all available 
 sources instead of confining himself to the study of a few 
 textbooks or the work of a particular school. 
 
 G. A. Miller 
 
 University of Illinois 
 
182 College Teaching 
 
 References 
 
 For articles on the teaching of mathematics which appeared during 
 the nineteenth century, consult 0050 Pedagogy in the Royal Society 
 Index, Vol. 1, Pure Mathematics, 1908. For literature appearing 
 during the first twelve years of the present century the reader may 
 consult the Bibliography of the Teaching of Mathematics, 1900-1912, 
 by D. E. Smith and Charles Goldziher, published by the United States 
 Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1912, No. 29. More recent literature 
 may be found by consulting annual indexes, such as the International 
 Catalogue of Scientific Literature, A, Mathematics, under 0050, and 
 Revue Semestrielle des Publication's Mathematiques, under V 1. The 
 volumes of the international review entitled U Enseignement Mathema- 
 tique, founded in 1899, contain a large number of articles relating to 
 college teaching. This subject will be treated in the closing volumes 
 of the large French and German mathematical encyclopedias in course 
 of publication. 
 
IX 
 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 
 
 THE events of the four years between the summer of J-^JS^^' 
 1914 and the winter of 1918 have brought us to a education 
 full realization of the real significance of physical edu- Joridwar 
 cation in the training of youth. America and her allies 
 have had very dramatic reasons for regretting their care- 
 less indifference to the welfare of childhood and youth in 
 former years. Only yesterday, we were told that the great 
 war would be won by the country that could furnish the 
 last man or fight for the last quarter of an hour. America 
 and her allies looked with a new and fearful concern upon 
 the army of young men who were found physically unfit 
 for military service. 
 
 With the danger of war past, there is no lack of evidence 
 that we and our allies will make practical application of 
 this particular lesson. It will be fortunate indeed if the 
 enlightened people of the earth are really permanently 
 awake to the importance of the physical education of their 
 citizens-in-the-making. 
 
 Governmental agencies have already started the move- 
 ment to guarantee to the coming generation more exten- 
 sive and more scientific physical education. Public and 
 private institutions are joining forces so that the advantages 
 of this extended program of physical education will be en- 
 joyed by the young men and young women in industry and 
 commerce as well as by those in schools and colleges. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the American college will do its 
 full share and neglect no reasonable measure whereby the 
 college graduate may be developed into the vigorous and 
 healthy human being that the mentally trained ought to 
 be. It must be admitted that our findings by the military 
 draft boards, as well as other evidences secured through 
 physical examinations, are not such as to make the American 
 college proud of the quality or the extent of physical edu- 
 
 183 
 
184 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Aims of 
 
 physical 
 
 education 
 
 Formula- 
 tions of 
 aims and 
 scope of 
 physical 
 education 
 in official 
 documents 
 — By Ee- 
 gents of the 
 State of 
 New York 
 
 By national 
 committee 
 on physical 
 education 
 
 cation which it has given in the past. We must express 
 our keen disappointment at the prevalence of under-develop- 
 ment, remediable defects, and unachieved physical and 
 functional possibilities in our college graduates. 
 
 Physical training is « concerned with the achievement and 
 the conservation of human health. It has to do with con- 
 ditioning the human being for the exigencies of life in 
 peace or in war. Its standards are not set by a degree 
 of health which merely enables the individual to keep out 
 of bed, eat three meals a day, and run no abnormal tem- 
 perature. Physical training is concerned with developing 
 vigorous, enduring health that is based upon the perfect 
 function, coordination, and integration of every organ of 
 the human body; health that is not found wanting at the 
 military draft; health that meets all its community obliga- 
 tions; health that is not affected by diseases of decay; and 
 health that resists infection and postpones preventable 
 death. 
 
 Official statements and information from reliable sources 
 indicate that physical education and hygiene and physical 
 training are regarded by authorities as covering about the 
 same general field. The general plan and syllabus for 
 physical training adopted by the Regents of the University 
 of the State of New York in 1916 interprets physical train- 
 ing as covering " (1) Individual health examinations and 
 personal health instruction (medical inspection) ; (2) in- 
 struction concerning the care of the body and the important 
 facts of hygiene (recitations in hygiene) ; (3) physical ex- 
 aminations as a health habit, including gymnastics, ele- 
 mentary marching, and organized, supervised play, recrea- 
 tion, and athletics." 
 
 In March of 1918 a National Committee on Physical Edu- 
 cation, formed of representatives from twenty or more 
 national organizations, adopted the following resolutions: 
 
 I. That a comprehensive, thoroughgoing program of health educa- 
 tion and physical education is absolutely needed for all boys 
 and girls of elementary and secondary school age, both rural 
 and urban, in every state in the Union. 
 
Physical Education 185 
 
 ir. That legislation, similar in purpose and scope to the provi- 
 sions and requirements in the laws recently enacted in Cali- 
 fornia, New York State, and New Jersey, is desirable in every 
 state, to provide authorization and support for state-wide pro- 
 grams m the health and physical education field. 
 
 III. That the United States Bureau of Education should be empow- 
 ered by law, and provided with sufficient appropriations to 
 exert adequate influence and supervision in relation to a nation- 
 
 TV ^ program of instruction in health and physical education. 
 
 IV. That it seems most desirable that Congress should give recog- 
 nition to this vital and neglected phase of education, with a 
 bill and appropriation similar in purpose and scope to the 
 ^mith-Hughes Law, to give sanction, leadership, and support 
 to a national program of health and physical education; and to 
 encourage, standardize, and, in part, finance the practical program 
 of constructive work that should be undertaken in every state. 
 
 V. Ihat federal recognition, supervision, and support are urgently 
 needed, as the effective means, under the Constitution, to secure 
 that universal training of boys and girls in health and physical 
 fatness which are equally essential to efficiency of all citizens 
 both m peace and in war. 
 
 In December, 1918, five national organizations, assem- By five na- 
 bled in regular annual meeting, adopted resolutions which S*niL?fons 
 read in part as follows: 
 
 First: That this Society shall make eyery reasonable effort to 
 influence the Congress of the United States and the legislatures 
 of our various states to enact laws providing for the effective 
 physical education of all children of all ages in our elementary and 
 secondary schools, public, institutional and private, a physical 
 education that will bring these children instruction in hygiene, 
 regular periodic health examinations and a training in the practice 
 of health habits with a full educational emphasis upon play, 
 games, recreation, athletics and physical exercise, and shall fur- 
 ther make every possible reasonable effort to influence communi- 
 ties and municipalities to enact laws and pass ordinances provid- 
 ing for community and industrial physical training and recreative 
 activities for all classes and ages of society. 
 
 Second: That this Association shall make persistent effort to 
 influence state boards of education, or their equivalent bodies, in 
 all the states of the United States, to make it their effective rule 
 that on or after June, 1922, or some other reasonable date, no 
 applicant may receive a license to teach any subject in any school 
 who does not first present convincing evidence of having covered 
 m creditable manner a satisfactory course in physical education in 
 a reputable training school for teachers. 
 
186 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 By the 
 United 
 States In- 
 terdepart- 
 mental 
 Social 
 Hygiene 
 Board 
 
 Third: And that this Association hereby directs and authorizes 
 its president to appoint a committee of three to take such steps 
 as may be necessary to put the above resolutions into active and 
 effective operation, and to cooperate in every practical and sub- 
 stantial way with the National Committee on Physical Education, 
 the division of physical education of the Playground and Recrea- 
 tion Association of America, and any other useful agency that 
 may be in the field for the purpose of securing the proper and suf- 
 ficient physical education of the boys and girls of to-day, so that 
 they may to-morrow constitute a nation of men and women of 
 normal physical growth, normal physical development and normal 
 functional resource, practicing wise habits of health conservation 
 and possessed of greater consequent vitality, larger endurance, 
 longer lives and more complete happiness — the most precious as- 
 sets of a nation. 
 
 In January, 1919, the United States Interdepartmental 
 Social Hygiene Board suggested the following organization 
 of a department of hygiene for the purpose of establishing 
 such a department in at least one normal school, college, 
 or university training school for teachers in each state of 
 the Union. 
 
 SUGGESTED ORGANIZATION OF A DEPARTMENT OF HYGIENE 
 
 I. Division of Informational Hygiene. (Stressing in each of its 
 several divisions with due proportion and with appropriate 
 emphasis, the venereal diseases, their causes, carriers, injuries, 
 and prevention) : 
 
 {a) The principles of hygiene. Required of all students at 
 least twice a week for at least four terms. 
 
 (1) General hygiene. (The agents that injure 
 
 health, the carriers of disease, the contribu- 
 tory causes of poor health, the defenses of 
 health, and the sources of health.) 
 
 (2) Individual hygiene. (Informational hygiene, the 
 
 care of the body and its organs, correction, and 
 repair, preventive hygiene, constructive hy- 
 giene.) 
 
 (3) Group hygiene. (Hygiene of the home and the 
 
 family, school hygiene, occupational hygiene, 
 community hygiene.), 
 
 (4) Intergroup hygiene. (Interfamily, intercommun- 
 
 ity, interstate, and international hygiene.) 
 ih) Principles of physical training. (Gymnastics, exercise, 
 athletics, recreation, and play.) Required of all 
 students. To be given at least twice a week for two 
 terms in the Junior or Senior Years. 
 
Physical Education 187 
 
 (c) Health examinations — 
 
 (1) Medical examination required each half year of 
 
 every student. (Making reasonable provisions 
 for a private, personal, confidential relation- 
 ship between the examiner and the student.) 
 
 (2) Sanitary surveys and hygienic inspections ap- 
 
 plied regularly to all divisions of the in- 
 stitution, their curriculums, buildings, dormi- 
 tories, equipment, personal service, and sur- 
 roundings. 
 
 II. Division of Applied Hygiene. 
 
 ia) Health conference and consultations. 
 
 (1) Every student advised under "c" above (health 
 
 examinations) must report to his health ex- 
 aminer within a reasonable time, as directed, 
 with evidence that he has followed the advice 
 given, or with a satisfactory explanation for 
 not having done so. 
 
 (2) Must provide student with opportunities for 
 
 safe, confidential consultations with com- 
 petent medical advisors concerning the inti- 
 mate problems of sex life as well as those of 
 hygiene in general. 
 ib) Physical training. 
 
 (1) Gymnastic exercises, recreation, games, athletics, 
 
 and competitive sports. Required of all 
 students six hours a week every term. 
 
 (2) Reconstructional and special training and exer- 
 
 cise for students not qualified organically for 
 the regular activities covered in " 1 " above. 
 It is assumed that every teacher-in-training 
 physically able to go to school is entitled to 
 and should take some form of physical exer- 
 cise. 
 
 III. Division of Research. 
 
 ia) Investigations, tests, evaluating measurements, records, 
 and reports required each term covering progress made 
 under each division and subdivision of the department, 
 for the purpose of discovering and developing more ef- 
 fective educational methods in hygiene, 
 
 (fe) Provide facilities for the sifting, selection, and investiga- 
 tion of problems in hygiene that may be submitted to 
 or proposed by the department of hygiene. 
 
 (c) Arrange for frequent lectures on public hygiene and 
 public health from competent members of municipal, 
 
188 College Teaching 
 
 state, and national departments of health, and from 
 other appropriate sources. 
 
 IV. Personnel requisite for such a department. — Men and women 
 should be chosen for service in the several divisions of the De- 
 partment, who have a sane, well-balanced, and experienced ap- 
 preciation of the importance of the whole field of hygiene as 
 well as of the place and relations of the venereal diseases. 
 
 (1) One director or head of department. Must have satis- 
 
 factory scientific training and special experience, fit- 
 ting him for supervision, leadership, teaching, research, 
 and administrative responsibility. 
 
 (2) One medical examiner for men and one medical ex- 
 
 aminer for women. There should be one examiner for 
 each 500 students. Must be selected with special care 
 because of the presence of extraordinary opportuni- 
 ties to exercise a powerful intimate influence upon the 
 mental, moral, and physical health of the students 
 with whom such examiners come in contact. 
 
 (3) One special teacher of physical training (a " Physical 
 
 Director") for each group of 500 students. There 
 must be a man for the men and a woman for the 
 women students. The physical training instructors em- 
 ployed in this department should be in charge of and 
 should cover satisfactorily all the directing, training, 
 and coaching carried on in the department and in the 
 institution in its relation to athletics and competitive 
 sports. The men and women who are placed in charge 
 of individual students and groups of students engaged in 
 the various activities of physical training (gymnastics, 
 athletics, recreation and play) should be selected with 
 special reference to their wholesome influence on young 
 men and young women. 
 
 (4) One coordinator (this function may be covered by one 
 
 of the personnel covered by "1," "2" or "3" above). 
 Will serve to influence every teacher in every depart- 
 ment on the entire staff of the institution to meet his 
 obligations, in relation to the individual hygiene of the 
 students in his classes and to the sanitation of the 
 class rooms in which he meets his students. The co- 
 ordinator should bring information to all teachers and 
 assist them to meet more satisfactorily their oppor- 
 tunities to help students in their individual problems 
 in social hygiene. 
 
 (5) Special lectures on the principles and progress of pub- 
 
 lic hygiene and public health. A close coordination 
 
Physical Education 
 
 189 
 
 should be secured between this department and com- 
 munity agencies like the Department of Health that 
 are concerned with public hygiene. 
 (6) Sufficient clerical, stenographic and filing service to 
 meet the needs of the department. 
 
 In February, 1919, the field service of the National Com- 
 mittee on Physical Education issued a tentative outline for 
 a state law for physical education, suggested for use in 
 planning future legislation. The purposes of physical edu- 
 cation as stated in the preamble of this law read as follows: 
 
 1, In order that the children of the State of shall re- 
 ceive a quality and an amount of physical education that will 
 bring to them the health, growth and a normal organic develop- 
 ment that is essential to their fullest present and future education, 
 happiness and usefulness; and in order that the future citizenship 
 
 of the State of may receive regularly from the growing and 
 
 developing youth of the Commonwealth a rapidly increasing num- 
 ber of more vigorous, better educated, healthier, happier, more pros- 
 perous and longer lived men and women, we, the people of the State 
 of represented in the Senate and Assembly do enact as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 In February, 1919, the legislative committee of the Na- 
 tional Committee on Physical Education prepared a bill for 
 federal legislation for the purpose of assisting the states 
 in establishing physical education in their schools. This 
 proposed federal law stated the purpose and aim of physi- 
 cal education as follows: 
 
 The purpose and aim of physical education in the meaning of 
 this act shall be: more fully and thoroughly to prepare the boys 
 and girls of the nation for the duties and responsibilities of citizen- 
 ship through the development of bodily vigor and endurance, mus- 
 cular strength and skill, bodily and mental poise, and such desir- 
 able moral and social qualities as courage, self-control, self-subordin- 
 ation and obedience to authority, cooperation under leadership, 
 and disciplined initiative. The processes and agencies for secur- 
 ing these ends shall be understood to include: comprehensive courses 
 of physical training activities, periodical physical examination; cor- 
 rection of postural and other remediable defects; health supervision 
 of schools and school children; practical instruction in the care of 
 the body and in the principles of health ; hygienic school life, sanitary 
 
 By Legisla- 
 tive Com- 
 mittee of 
 National 
 Committee 
 on Physical 
 Education 
 
190 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 school buildings, playgrounds, and athletic fields and the equipment 
 thereof; and such other means as may be conducive to these pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Poor type 
 of physical 
 education 
 in second- 
 ary schools 
 intensifies 
 problem in 
 the college 
 
 An analysis of these several authoritative and more or 
 less official documents indicates very clearly a unanimity 
 as to scope and aims of physical education, for they all 
 seek to promote and conserve, in the broadest sense of the 
 term, the health of the nation. 
 
 The problem of physical education in the college is in- 
 tensified by the fact that freshmen come to their chosen 
 institutions with a variety of experience in physical train- 
 ing, but unfortunately this experience is, too often, either 
 inadequate or ineffective. The natural physical training of 
 the earlier age periods produces whatever neuro-muscular 
 development, whatever neuro-muscular coordination, what- 
 ever neuro-muscular control, and whatever other organic 
 growth, development, or functional perfection is achieved 
 by the young human concerned. A program of physical 
 training wisely planned with reference to infancy, child- 
 hood, and early youth would include types of exercises, 
 play, games, and sports, that would perfect the neuro- 
 muscular and other functions far more completely than is 
 commonly accomplished through the natural unsupervised 
 and undirected physical training of those early age periods 
 either in city or in rural communities. The force of mod- 
 ern habits of life has led to the destruction of those natural 
 habits of work, play, and recreation that gave a proportion 
 of our forebears a fairly complete natural program of physi- 
 cal exercise during the plastic or formative periods of 
 life. As a result, many students reach college nowadays 
 with stunted growths and with poorly developed, poorly 
 trained, or poorly controlled neuro-muscular equipment. 
 Some of these matriculates are physically weak. They 
 lack alertness; their response is slow. Others are awkward 
 and muscularly inefficient, though their physical growth is 
 objectively — height and weight — normal or even above 
 normal. 
 
Physical Education 191 
 
 The College Department faces these problems through 
 special provisions made for the purpose of supplying a be- 
 lated neuro-muscular training to such cases. It often hap- 
 pens that successful training along these lines is possible 
 only through mdividual instruction of a most elementary 
 sort, takmg the student through simple exercises that ought 
 to have been a part of his experience in early childhood 
 
 For the same reasons that are stated above, the College individual 
 Department of Physical Training finds it necessary to con- T^'^' 
 cern itself with individual students who need special atten- -gmeTt 
 tion directed to specified organs or groups of organs whose department 
 training or care could have been accomplished ordinarilv °^ P^^ysicai 
 far better at an earlier period. These students present '"""'"" 
 problems of posture, lung capacity, and regional weak- 
 ness. 
 
 The College Department of Physical Training finds also Supervision 
 a significant opportunity and an urgent duty in the fact o^^^^ietics 
 that various types of physical exercise are intimately asso- tSn addl^' 
 ciated with social, ethical, and moral consequences. No [tYprobiem 
 other human activity gives the same opportunity for the 
 development of a social spirit and personal ethical stand- 
 ards as do play, games, and sports of children and adoles- 
 cents. Unsupervised, these activities degenerate and bring 
 unmoral practices and an anti-social spirit in their wake. 
 
 Because of these opportunities and obligations. College 
 Departments of Physical Training are including within 
 their programs and jurisdictions more and more supervision 
 of college athletics, and assume an ever increasing role 
 in the direction of recreational activities of college stu- 
 dents. It remains true, however, that these influences of 
 supervised play and athletics should operate long before 
 the individual reaches college age. 
 
 The intense interest of college students in athletic com- 
 petitions, united with the opportunity which athletics off'er 
 for social and character training, has decided a number of 
 colleges to turn athletic training over to the Department 
 of Physical Training. This preparation for the supreme 
 physical and physiological test must be built upon a founda- 
 
192 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion of De- 
 partment of 
 Physical 
 Education 
 
 tion of safe and sound health. There is no more fitting 
 place in the collegiate organization for these athletic and 
 recreational activities. 
 
 The college departments that cover this field in whole 
 or in part are known by various names. We have depart- 
 ments of Physical Training; of Physical Education; of 
 Physical Culture; of Hygiene; of Physiology and Physical 
 Education; of Hygiene and Physical Education; of Physical 
 Training and Athletics, and so on. 
 
 An analysis of these college departments shows that they 
 all concern themselves with much the same important ob- 
 jects, although they differ in their lines of greater emphasis. 
 We find, too, that in some colleges the department includes 
 activities that form separate, though related departments in 
 other institutions. 
 
 The activities of such departments fall into three large 
 divisions, each one of which has its logical subdivisions. 
 One of these large divisions may be called the division of 
 health examination. It has to do with the health examina- 
 tion of the individual student and with the health advice 
 that is based on and consequent to such examination. The 
 second division has to do with health instruction cover- 
 ing the subject matter of physical training. The third 
 division covers directed experiences in right living and the 
 formation of health habits, and includes the special ac- 
 tivities noted above. 
 
 We often refer to the first division noted above as the 
 division of medical inspection, physical examination, or 
 health examination; to the second as hygiene, physiology, 
 biology, or bacteriology; and to the third as gymnastics, 
 physical exercise, organized play, recreation, athletics, or 
 narrowly as physical training. 
 
 The prime purpose of collegiate physical training, then, 
 is to furnish the student such information and such habit- 
 forming experiences as will lead him to formulate and prac- 
 tice an intelligent policy of personal health control and an 
 intelligent policy of community health control. The col- 
 lateral and special objects of physical training vary with the 
 
Physical Education 193 
 
 individual student under the influence of his previous train- 
 ing and his present and future life plans. 
 
 The Collegiate Department of Physical Training is pri- 
 marily concerned, therefore, with the acquisition and con- 
 servation of human health — mental, moral, and physical 
 health. Because of his physical training, the college man 
 should live longer; he should meet his environments obli- 
 gations more successfully; he should be better able to pro- 
 tect himself from, and better able to avoid, injury; he should 
 lose less time on account of injury, poor health, and sick- 
 ness; he should get well more rapidly when he is sick; 
 he should be better able to recover his health and 
 strength after injury or illness; and he should therefore 
 give to society a fuller, happier, and more useful life. 
 
 Such a department is concerned secondarily with (a) 
 those special defects of earlier physical training that bring 
 to college, students in need of neuro-muscular training 
 and organic development, ib) with social, ethical, and 
 character training, and (c) with the conditioning and spe- 
 cial training of students for athletic competition or for 
 other extraordinary physical and physiological demands. 
 
 In the light pf the above statements, the objects of physi- 
 cal training may be summarized as follows: 
 
 I. The fundamental and ever present object of physical 
 training is the acquisition and conservation of vigorous, 
 enduring health, the summated effect of perfect functions in 
 each and every organ of the human body. 
 
 II. The special objects of physical training vary in their 
 needs for emphasis at different age periods and under the 
 changing stresses of life. Among the more important of 
 these special objects are: 
 
 (T) General, normal growth. An object in the early age 
 periods. 
 
 (2) Neuro-muscular development, coordination, and con- 
 
 trol. Accomplished best in early age periods. 
 
 (3) Special organic (anatomical and functional) develop- 
 
 ment. Optimum period in childhood and youth. 
 
194 College Teaching 
 
 (4) Social, ethical, and moral training. Character build- 
 
 ing. Objects more easily secured in childhood and 
 youth. 
 
 (5) Preparation for some supreme physical and physio- 
 
 logical test; e. g., athletic competition, police or fire 
 service, military service. Most desirable training 
 period in late youth and early maturity. Must de- 
 pend, however, on the effects of earlier physical 
 training. 
 
 (6) The formation of health habits. Best accomplished in 
 
 early life but commonly an important function of 
 the College Department of Physical Training. 
 
 (7) The conservation of health. Always an object, but 
 
 more particularly so in the middle and later life. 
 
 THE MEDICAL EXAMINATION 
 
 In the American college of today, the student's first 
 contact with the Department of Physical Training is very 
 likely to be in the examining room. In the College of the 
 City of New York ^ it has become the established custom 
 to require a satisfactory health examination before ad- 
 mitting the applicant to registration as a student in the 
 college. Entering classes are enrolled in this institution 
 at the beginning of each term, and in each list of appli- 
 cants there are always a few to whom admission is de- 
 nied because of unsatisfactory health conditions. 
 
 In each case in which admission is denied because of un- 
 satisfactory health, the individual is given careful advice 
 relative to his present and probable future condition, and 
 every effort is made to help the applicant plan his life 
 so that he may be able at a later time to enter the college. 
 Of course, it occasionally happens that applicants are 
 found with serious and incurable health defects which make 
 it very improbable that they will ever be in condition to 
 attempt a college education. 
 
 1 The construction of this chapter on the teaching of physical 
 training is based very largely upon the experiences and organ- 
 ization of the Department of Hygiene in the College of the City 
 of New York. 
 
Physical Education 
 
 195 
 
 The health examination of the student should cover those scope of 
 
 facts in his family and personal heahh history that are 
 likely to have a bearing upon his present or future health, 
 and the examination should include a very careful in- 
 vestigation of the important organs of his body. This ex- 
 amination calls for expert medical and dental service. 
 
 The most useful examiner is he who is at the same time 
 a teacher. Nowhere else is a better or even an equally good 
 opportunity given to drive home impressively, and some- 
 times dramatically, important lessons in individual hygiene. 
 Through a pair of experimental lenses placed by his ex- 
 aminer before his hitherto undiscovered visual brain cells, 
 the young student who has had poor vision and has never 
 known it, may obtain, for the first time, a glimpse of the 
 beauty in his surroundings. 
 
 The dental examiner who finds bad teeth and explains 
 bad teeth to the student whose health is being, or may be, 
 destroyed by such teeth, has before him all the elements 
 necessary for very effective health instruction. 
 
 The health examination should be a personal and pri- 
 vate affair. It is often best not to have even a recorder 
 present. The student should understand that whatever 
 passes between him and his examiner is entirely confiden- 
 tial. 
 
 All advice given a student at these examinations should be 
 followed up if it is the kind of advice that can be followed 
 up. If the advice involves the attention of a dentist or 
 treatment by a physician, time should be allowed for mak- 
 ing arrangements and for securing the treatment neces- 
 sary. After that time has elapsed the student should be 
 called upon to report with information from his parent 
 or guardian, or from his. family health adviser, indicating 
 what has been done or will be done for the betterment 
 of the conditions for which the advice was originally given. 
 In the hands of a tactful examiner — one who is a teacher 
 as well as an examiner — the student and parent, particu- 
 larly the parent, will cooperate effectively in this plan 
 for the development of health habits of the student. Less 
 
 health ex- 
 amination 
 
 How to con- 
 duct health 
 examination 
 
196 College Teaching 
 
 than three tenths of one per cent of the parents of City 
 College students refuse to secure special health attention for 
 their boys when we do so advise. 
 
 These examinations should be repeated at reasonable in- 
 tervals throughout the entire college course. We have 
 found in the College of the City of New York that a repe- 
 tition every term is none too frequent. Visual defects, 
 dental defects, evidences of heart trouble and signs of 
 pulmonary tuberculosis, and other defects, not infrequently 
 arise in cases of individuals who have been seen several times 
 before without showing any evidence of poor health. It is 
 hoped that these repeated examinations may lead to the 
 continuation of such habits of bodily care in postgraduate 
 years. 
 
 A careful and concise record must be made covering the 
 mstin facts of each examination and of each conference 
 with the student subsequent to his examination. These 
 memoranda enable the examiner at each later examination 
 to talk to the student with a knowledge of what has been 
 found and what has been said and what has been done 
 on preceding examinations, and on preceding follow-up 
 conferences. As a result, the examiner-teacher is in posi- 
 tion to be very much more useful not only because of sig- 
 nificant facts before him concerning the student with whom 
 he is talking, but also because of the greater confidence 
 which the student will necessarily have in an examiner who 
 is obviously interested in him and who possesses such an 
 accurate record of his health history. 
 
 These examinations should apply to every student in a 
 college or a university, regardless of the division to which 
 he belongs. The need for health instruction or for the 
 establishment of health habits, in order that one may be 
 physically trained for the exigencies of life, is not peculiar 
 to any student age period or to any academic or technico- 
 logical group, or to a college for men or a college for 
 women. 
 
 One of the dangers present in these college examinations 
 is the tendency of the examiner to become more interested 
 
Physical Education 
 
 197 
 
 in the number of students examined and the number of 
 diagnoses made than in the good influence he may have 
 upon the heajth future of the student. 
 
 Every " case " should be treated by the heahh examiner 
 as if it were the first and only case on hand for the day. 
 The student certainly classifies the examiner as the first 
 and only one he has had that day. The examiner should 
 plan to make every contact he has with a student a help to 
 the student. 
 
 HEALTH INSTRUCTION 
 
 A second large division of physical training deals with 
 health instruction. As has been pointed out above, the 
 division of health examination produces a very important 
 and very useful opportunity for individual health instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Hygiene, however, is presented commonly to groups of Content 
 students in class organization rather than individually, instruction 
 Anatomy, physiology, psychology, bacteriology, pathology, 
 general hygiene, individual hygiene, group hygiene, and 
 intergroup hygiene are sciences, or combinations of sciences, 
 from which physical training draws its facts. These 
 sciences and those phases of economics and sociology that 
 have to do with the economic and social influences of 
 health and disease, of physical efficiency and physical de- 
 generacy, supply physical training with its general subject 
 matter. 
 
 Health instruction, then, as a part of physical training, 
 draws its content from these sources. A logical plan of 
 class instruction would, therefore, include the elements of 
 anatomy, physiology, psychology, bacteriology (and general 
 parasitology), pathology, economics, and sociology, as a 
 basis for a more complete presentation of the facts of gen- 
 eral hygiene, individual hygiene, group hygiene, and inter- 
 group hygiene. 
 
 The most satisfactory presentation of these subjects in- Method of 
 volves the grouping of students into small classes, the em- struction 
 
198 College Teaching 
 
 ployment of laboratory methods, the use of reference libra- 
 ries, and the assignment of problems for investigation 
 and study, with a general group discussion of these 
 problems. 
 
 Unfortunately, college classes are large and the number 
 of teachers employed in the department of physical train- 
 ing, or in those departments from which physical training 
 draws its science and its philosophy, is small, so that it is 
 impractical to plan to give this instruction to small groups 
 of students covering this range of subject matter. 
 
 As a result, the lecture method with its obvious defects 
 and shortcomings is the common medium for the health 
 instruction of college students organized into classes. The 
 more intimate and detailed instruction in these subjects is 
 is secured in special courses and in professional schools. 
 
 In the College of the City of New York, we expect that 
 students who come to us from high schools and prepara- 
 tory schools have had the elements of anatomy and physi- 
 ology either in courses on those subjects or in courses in 
 biology.^ Our health instruction, therefore, has been de- 
 veloped along the lines of lectures on general hygiene, in- 
 dividual hygiene, group hygiene, and intergroup hygiene 
 running through the four terms of the freshman and sopho- 
 more years. 
 
 These lectures are given in periods of from ten to fifteen 
 minutes each, preceding class work in various forms of 
 physical exercise. They are often called " floor talks." 
 The shortness of the presentation favors vigor of address; 
 necessitates a concise organization of material and a clarity 
 and brevity of statement; and is more likely to command 
 student attention and concentration. It has, however, its 
 obvious defects. In these lectures persistent effort is made 
 to influence the daily habits of the student. The lecture 
 content is selected with reference to the practical problems 
 of the daily life of the individual and of the community 
 of which he is a part. It is obvious that the amount of 
 
 1 This precollegiate instruction is, unfortunately, uniformly poor 
 in so far as it relates to health. 
 
Physical Education 199 
 
 time devoted to the presentation of the subject matter is 
 utterly inadequate. 
 
 Short written tests are given once each month, and a 
 longer written test is given at the end of each term, These 
 examinations stimulate the student to organize his informa- 
 tion and make it more completely his own property. The 
 classes are too large ^ and the instructional force relatively 
 too small to permit the assignment of references, presenta- 
 tion of reports, and the conduct of investigations. 
 
 Further instruction in physiology and bacteriology is se- 
 cured in this institution through elective courses open to 
 students in their junior and senior years. These elective 
 courses, however, are not planned primarily for the health 
 education of the student, but rather for his partial prepara- 
 tion as a teacher of physical training, a student of medicine, 
 a scientific specialist, or for public health work. 
 
 HEALTH-FORMING ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPART- 
 MENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION 
 
 The third division of activities contains the health-habit- 
 forming influences covered by the Department of Physical 
 Training. These influences are formed partly in connec- 
 tion with the follow-up activities associated with the health 
 examinations and advice noted above; partly through im- 
 pressions made by way of individual and class instruction 
 concerning the laws of health (also noted above) ; and 
 partly through systematic class work, group work, and in- 
 dividual work in gymnastics, organized recreation, games, 
 play, and athletics. 
 
 The student who has been given a health examination 
 each term throughout his college career will be very likely 
 to continue the practice as a habit after graduation. This 
 habit will follow more surely if the examiner has been a 
 real health teacher and not a perfunctory recorder of ob- 
 servations made upon the student. A lack of sympathy 
 
 1 The present enrollment in these classes, February, 1919, is ap- 
 proximately 1500. 
 
200 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Place of 
 physical 
 exercise in 
 program for 
 physical 
 education 
 
 Class work 
 in physical 
 exercise 
 
 and tact may easily prejudice the student against the ex- 
 amination. 
 
 The student who has been led regularly to care for de- 
 fects of one sort or another; whose contact with his ex- 
 aminer-teacher in conferences following up the advice that 
 has been given at the time of examination has been ac- 
 companied by the right sort of explanation and mutual 
 understanding, will be more likely to continue to exercise 
 that sort of care for the welfare of his body after he is 
 no longer under the influence of the college. 
 
 The student who has seen the application of class health 
 talks to his everyday problems is likely to be influenced to 
 the practice of consequent health habits, particularly if 
 those short lectures serve to correlate his various habit- 
 forming experiences while in college. 
 
 And finally, the student who is brought into contact with 
 regular systematic exercise may, if the exercise is attract- 
 ive and interesting, achieve a health habit that will be 
 carried out into his postgraduate life. 
 
 The existence of the Department of Physical Training 
 would be amply justified if its influence upon the health 
 and vigor of the student were limited to the period of his 
 stay in college. The full success of this department, how- 
 ever, like that of all other college departments, must be 
 measured by its influence upon the life of the student after 
 he has left college. The formation of lasting health habits 
 is, therefore, the most important object of this department. 
 
 Regular appropriate physical exercise is one of our most 
 important health habits. It is perhaps safe to say that for 
 the average individual it is the most important health habit. 
 This is true because of its intimate and impressive influence 
 upon all the fundamental organic functions of the body. 
 Physical exercise in the American college is provided either 
 as organized class work in the gymnasium, or by means 
 of voluntary recreational opportunities, or through ath- 
 letics. 
 
 Class work may include: marching, mass drills with or 
 without light apparatus, work on heavy apparatus, games. 
 
Physical Education 
 
 201 
 
 dancing, swimming, and track and field work. This class 
 work may be indoors or outdoors, depending on the season 
 or climate. 
 
 Voluntary recreational opportunities are offered through 
 free mass drills open to all students who may desire to take 
 them regularly or irregularly; through open periods for ap- 
 paratus work; and through facilities and space for games, 
 swimming, mass athletics, and so on. 
 
 Competitive athletics are typical of the American col- 
 lege. Theoretically, athletics are open to all students. 
 Practically, in many of our colleges athletics are made 
 available only to the student with leisure time and excep- 
 tional physique. Consistent effort is being made today by 
 college authorities to provide opportunities for intramural 
 (interclass, intergroup, and mass) athletics for the whole 
 student body; at the same time preserving the desirable 
 features of the more specialized intercollegiate competitions. 
 
 Physical exercise in these various forms has its imme- 
 diate and valuable influence upon the health condition of the 
 individual student, if taken in sufl&cient quantity. It has its 
 lasting and very much more important influence in those 
 cases in which physical exercise becomes a habit. It has, 
 therefore, become the increasing concern of the college 
 teacher of physical training to develop activities in physical 
 exercise that the student may use after graduation. Teachers 
 of physical training have become more and more impressed 
 with the importance of interesting exercise, not only because 
 interesting exercise is more likely to become habitual exer- 
 cise, but also because exercise that is accompanied by the 
 play spirit, by happiness and joy, is physiologically and 
 therefore healthfully of very much more value to the in- 
 dividual. The relationship between cheerfulness and good 
 health has become very firmly established through the 
 scientific researches of the modern physiologist. We know 
 that health habits which are associated with cheerfulness and 
 happiness are bound to be more effective. 
 
 The teacher of physical training finds opportunity for inci- 
 dental and yet very important instruction leading to the 
 
 Additional 
 facilities 
 for physi- 
 cal exercise 
 
 Becreation- 
 al activities 
 and ath- 
 letics 
 
 Inculcating 
 habits of 
 physical 
 exercise 
 
202 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Opportuni- 
 ties for 
 character 
 building 
 
 formation of fine qualities of character and fine standards 
 of personal conduct. These opportunities arise constantly 
 in the various general types of physical exercise found in the 
 curriculum of the department of physical training. They 
 are especially present in those activities in which compe- 
 tition occurs, as in play, games, and athletics. These ac- 
 tivities do not in themselves produce excellent qualities of 
 character or high standards of conduct, but the teacher — 
 whether he be called a coach or a trainer or a professor 
 of hygiene — who sets a good example and who insists 
 that every game played, and every contest, whether it be 
 in a handball court between college chums or on the foot- 
 ball field between college teams, shall be clean and fair, 
 is using in the right way one of the opportunities present 
 in the entire college life of the student, for the formation 
 of fine character. 
 
 SPECIAL EXERCISES FOR SPECIAL GROUPS 
 
 In any given group of college students one will find a 
 number of individuals in need of special or modified physi- 
 cal exercise. These students may be grouped commonly 
 under the following heads: (1) undeveloped, (2) bad pos- 
 ture, (3) awkward, (4) originally weak, (5) deformed. 
 
 Some of these students suffer from defects that are reme- 
 diable. Some of these defects are due to poor physical 
 training in earlier years. Some are the results of disease. 
 All of them call for modified exercise and recreation. The 
 fact that a student may fall into one of these groups in no 
 way justifies the assumption that he is therefore no longer 
 subject to the laws of health or to the need for rational 
 health habits. As a matter of fact, such cases generally 
 call for greater care and attention in the formulation and 
 operation of a rational policy of right living. 
 
 Every student physically able to go to college is physi- 
 cally able to exercise. No student in attendance on recita- 
 tions anywhere can offer a rational plea for exemption from 
 exercise. The individual whose physical condition con- 
 
Physical Education 203 
 
 traindicates all forms of exercise needs careful medical ad- 
 vice and probably needs hospital or sanitarium treatment. 
 College Departments of Physical Training are planning 
 for cases in need of special or modified exercise, through the 
 organization of special classes and through individual at- 
 tention. In the College of the City of New York we at- 
 tempt to group the weak students in a given class, into 
 squads of four such students with a squad leader, a stu- 
 dent. The awkward students are grouped in the same man- 
 ner. The exercise of the cripple and the student with seri- 
 ous organic weakness is individualized. These special in- 
 dividualized cases are under the direct supervision of a 
 physician on the staff. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDENTS FOR PRESCRIBED 
 WORK IN THE COLLEGE COURSES 
 
 In this college, organized, directed physical exercise as 
 outlined above is covered in the division of physical train- 
 ing, the division of recreation, and the division of athletics, 
 all of which are subdivisions of the Department of Hygiene. 
 
 The enrollment in the required classes in the division of 
 Physical Training varies from thirty in the smaller classes 
 to over two hundred in the larger. The total enrollment 
 has been approximately eleven hundred each term for sev- 
 eral years. These courses are required of all students dur- 
 ing the first four collegiate terms. Each of these four 
 courses requires three hours a week, distributed over two or 
 into three periods, and credits the student with one half 
 point toward graduation. This time allowance is, however, 
 inadequate. 
 
 The class organization in the division of the Department 
 of Hygiene is based on a unit composed of five students. 
 Each of these units or squads contains one student who is 
 designated as the " leader " of that unit. 
 
 Persistent effort is made to assign students of like physical 
 development and needs to the same squads. In this man- 
 
204 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 A class 
 period in 
 physical 
 exercise 
 
 ner a single class of a hundred young men will have a 
 graduation on the basis of proficiency which makes it pos- 
 sible for the teacher to come very near to the rational ap- 
 plication of exercise for the individual student. 
 
 These units or squads are organized into divisions, each 
 division being made up of four squads. Each division is 
 under the supervision and instruction of a member of the 
 departmental staff. In any given class, then, there is a 
 regular instructor for each group of twenty students, and 
 a student leader for each group of four students. The 
 aim in this organization is to establish a relationship be- 
 tween the instructor and his twenty students that will se- 
 cure for him an intimate knowledge of each young man, 
 relating to his physical training needs, general and special. 
 
 A typical class period is made up of a short health 
 talk, 10 minutes; a mass drill, 10 minutes; apparatus period, 
 two changes, 20 minutes; and a play period, 15 minutes. 
 If the health talk is not given the play period is lengthened. 
 
 The mass drills referred to above are made up of drill in 
 marching and in gymnastics with and without hand appa- 
 ratus. These drills are graded within the term and from 
 term to term so that a desirable variety is secured. They 
 are devised for disciplinary, postural, developmental, and 
 health purposes. During the progress of the drill the in- 
 structors present inspect the posture and work of the stu- 
 dents in their divisions. 
 
 The apparatus periods referred to include work on the 
 conventional pieces of gymnastic apparatus, with the addi- 
 tion of chest weights, an indoor track, and a swimming 
 pool. The squad organization for this work gives oppor- 
 tunity for the development of student leadership which is 
 often of extraordinary educational value to the individual 
 boy. These periods, because of this squad organization, 
 may be utilized for such special exercise emphasis as may 
 be decided upon for any given group of students. It is 
 here that special conditioning may be given those young 
 men who are planning for liiilitary training or who need 
 selected exercise for neuro-muscular development. 
 
Physical Education 205 
 
 The play period in the regular class program is devoted 
 largely to looser games that contain a predominating ele- 
 ment of big muscle activities. Competition is a fairly 
 constant factor. Here, again, our squad unit permits us 
 to assign selected groups of students to special types of 
 games. It is feasible, in this organization, to satisfy a need 
 for the training that is furnished by highly organized games, 
 fighting games, and by games and out-of-door events that 
 develop special groups of muscles and special coordina- 
 tions. 
 
 A well-organized Collegiate Department of Physical Train- 
 ing could cooperate very effectively with a Collegiate Depart- 
 ment of Military Training. The squad organization in ap- 
 paratus periods and in play periods offers the best pos- 
 sible avenue for a successful emphasis of several of the 
 very important phases of military physical training. 
 
 The division of recreation in the Department of Hygiene Recreation- 
 in the College of the City of New York, takes charge of in addition 
 all recreational and athletic space and all recreational and *°^J®'^ 
 intramural athletic activities in those periods of the day work 
 in which regular class work does not take precedence. Stu- 
 dents of all classes are admitted freely throughout their 
 four collegiate years to these activities, and a studied ef- 
 fort is made to increase their attractiveness as well as to 
 secure from them their full social and character-training 
 values. Such values depend to a very large degree upon the 
 experienced supervision and direction given these activities. 
 It does not follow that the creation of play opportunity is 
 bound to produce good citizenship. The quality of the 
 product depends upon the quality of the man or men in 
 charge of the enterprise. 
 
 The most important mission of the Recreational Division 
 is its purpose to furnish the student lasting habits of play 
 and recreation based upon the physical development he 
 has secured in his earlier experiences in physical training. 
 After all, one's physical training should begin at birth and 
 continue throughout life. 
 
 The Division of Athletic Instruction is concerned with 
 
206 College Teaching 
 
 all plans for intercollegiate athletics, including organization, 
 financing, training, coaching, and scheduling. All these ac- 
 tivities are under the direction of members of the staff 
 of the Department of Hygiene. There is no one employed 
 in this relationship who is not a member of the staff. Con- 
 stant attempts are made, in every reasonable way, to ac- 
 complish the athletic ideals that have been set up by the 
 National Collegiate Athletic Association. Clean play, 
 honorable methods, and sportsmanly standards dominate 
 the theory and practice of this athletic instruction and super- 
 vision. 
 
 The scope and content of physical training which I have 
 attempted to present in these pages is brought out more 
 clearly by the following announcement of the Department 
 of Hygiene of the College of the City of New York: 
 
 HYGIENE (1916-17) 
 
 The Department of Hygiene is made up of the divisions of 
 Physical Training, Physiology, Bacteriology, Health Examination, 
 Recreational Instruction, and Athletics. 
 
 Through these divisions the Department attempts to train young 
 men for the exigencies of life through the establishment of enduring 
 habits of health examination and repair, health information and 
 individual and community protection against the agents that in- 
 jure health and cause disease, and through the establishment of 
 wise habits of daily life. 
 
 This organization gives opportunity for the development of neg- 
 lected organic and neuromuscular growth, coordination and con- 
 trol; for the social, ethical, and moral training (character build- 
 ing influences) inherent in wisely supervised athletic and recrea- 
 tional experiences; and for the special conditioning that accom- 
 panies training for severe physical and physiological competition and 
 other tests. 
 
 Finally, preparation may be secured for life work along certain 
 lines of research, certain medical sciences, various phases of pub- 
 lic health, physical training and social work. 
 
 In addition, this Department is concerned with all those influ- 
 ences within the College which affect the health of the student. 
 Every reasonable eflfort is made to keep the institution safe and 
 attractive to the clean, healthy individual. 
 
Physical Education 207 
 
 Division of Physical Training 
 
 1. Course One, 
 
 (a) Lectures. " Some of the common causes of disease." 
 
 (b) Physical Exercise. 
 i. Graded mass drills. 
 
 (a) Elementary drills are used in order to develop obedien-ce, 
 alertness, and ready response to command, accurate execution, good 
 posture and carriage and facility of control. 
 
 (b) More advanced drills are given in which movements are 
 made in response to commands. Strength, endurance, and coordina- 
 tion are brought into play. 
 
 ii. Apparatus work. Continuation of graded exercises for squads 
 
 of five students each, 
 iii. Selected, graded, recreative indoor and outdoor games and 
 
 play, 
 iv. Swimming. Each student is required to learn to swim with 
 
 more than one variety of stroke. 
 Prescribed. Freshman, first term; three hours a week; counts ^2. 
 
 2. Course Two. 
 
 (a) Lectures. " The carriers of disease." 
 ib) Physical Exercise, 
 i. Graded mass drills. Two-count movements. These drills are 
 continuations of, but more advanced than those given in the 
 preceding term. 
 ii. Apparatus work. Continuation of graded exercises for squads 
 
 of five, 
 iii. Selected, graded, recreative indoor and outdoor games and 
 
 play, 
 iv. Swimming. Each student is required to develop endurance in 
 swimming. 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 1. 
 
 Prescribed. Freshman, second term; three hours a week; 
 counts %. 
 
 3. Course Three. 
 
 (a) Lectures. " The contributory causes and carriers of dis- 
 ease." 
 
 (b) Physical Exercise. 
 
 i. Graded mass drills. Four-count movements. More advanced 
 
 work, 
 ii. Apparatus work. Continuation of graded exercises for squads 
 
 of five, 
 iii. Selected, graded, recreative indoor and outdoor games and 
 
 play. . 
 
208 College Teaching 
 
 iv. Swimming. Diving, rescue and resuscitation of the drowning. 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 2. 
 Prescribed. Sophomore, first term; three hours a week; counts 
 
 1/2. 
 
 4. Course Four. 
 
 (a) Lectures. " Defenses against poor heahh and disease." 
 
 (b) Physical Exercise. 
 
 i. Advanced graded mass drills. Eight-count movements, 
 ii. Advanced graded apparatus work. For squads of five, 
 iii. Selected, graded, recreative indoor and outdoor games and 
 
 play, 
 iv. Swimming. Advanced continuation of requirements outlined 
 for Courses 2 and 3. 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 3. 
 
 Prescribed. Sophomore, second term; three hours a week; 
 counts V2- 
 
 Modified Course. 
 
 In each of the above required courses provision is made for those 
 students whose organic condition may permanently disqualify them 
 for the regular scheduled work. This special work is under the 
 immediate direction of a medical member of the Staff. 
 
 5. Intermediate Physical Training. 
 
 This course is planned to supply the student with such organic 
 development and efficiency as will enable him to demonstrate suc- 
 cessfully as a teacher various type exercises for classes in elemen- 
 tary and intermediate indoor and outdoor gymnastics, aquatics, games, 
 play and athletics. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 4. Three hours a week; counts V2. 
 
 6. Advanced Physical Training. 
 
 This course is a continuation of Course 5, and is designed for 
 the physical equipment of teachers of more advanced physical work. 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 5. Three hours a week; counts %. 
 
 7. Class Management. 
 
 This course supplies the practical instruction and experience 
 needed for the training of special teachers in the management of 
 elementary and intermediate classes in various forms of physical ex- 
 ercise. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 6 and 32. Fall term, three hours a 
 week; counts 1. 
 
 8. Class Management. 
 
 This course is a continuation of Course 7. It is planned to give 
 a training in the management of more advanced classes. 
 
i 
 
 Physical Education 209 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 7. Spring term, three hours a week; 
 counts 1. 
 
 9. Control of Emergencies and First Aid to the Injured. 
 
 This course supplies instruction concerning the management and 
 protective care of common emergencies. The instruction is prac- 
 tical and rational. It covers such emergencies as: sprains, frac- 
 tures, dislocations, wounds, bruises, sudden pain, fainting, epileptic 
 attacks, unconsciousness, drowning, electric shock, and so on. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 32. Fall term, two hours a week; counts 1. 
 
 10. Theory and Practice of Individual Instruction in Hygiene and 
 in Departmental Sanitation. 
 
 Students taking this subject will be given practical first hand 
 experience of special use to teachers; (a) in connection with health 
 examination, inspection, conference, consultation, and follow up serv- 
 ice carried on in the departmental examining room; and (b) in 
 connection with the sanitary supervision carried on by the depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Prerequisites or Co-requisites: Hygiene 32, 41 and 48. Spring 
 term, six hours a week in two periods of three hours each; 
 counts 2. 
 
 Division of Physiology 
 
 32. Elements of Physiology. 
 
 This subject deals with the general concepts of the science of 
 physiology, the chemical and physical conditions which underlie 
 and determine the action of the individual organs, and the integra- 
 tive relationship of the parts of the body. 
 
 One lecture, one recitation and two laboratory hours a week; 
 counts 3. 
 
 33. Special Physiology. 
 
 A study of the fundamental facts of physiology and methods of 
 investigation. The aim is to give a complete study of certain topics: 
 the phenomena of contraction, conduction, sense perception and the 
 various mechanisms of general metabolism. Laboratory work is 
 arranged to show the methods of physiologic experimentation and 
 to emphasize the necessity of using care and accuracy in their ap- 
 plication. 
 
 Spring term, two lectures and three laboratory hours a week; 
 counts 3. 
 
 34. Physiology of Nutrition. 
 
 The aim of this subject is to study broadly the metabolism of the 
 human body. In the development of this plan the following topics 
 
210 College Teaching 
 
 will be considered: the food requirements of man, the nutritive 
 history of the physiologic ingredients, the principles oi dietetics 
 and their application to daily living. 
 
 Fall term, two lectures and three laboratory hours a week; 
 counts 3. 
 
 Division of Bacteriology 
 
 41. General Bacteriology. 
 
 Lectures, recitations and laboratory work introducing the stu- 
 dent to the technique of bacteriology and to the more important 
 facts about the structure and function of bacteria. Special ap- 
 plications of bacteriology to agriculture and the industries are dis- 
 cussed, and brief references are made to the activities of allied 
 microbes, the yeasts and molds. The general relations of bacteria 
 to disease and the principles of immunity and its control are in- 
 cluded. 
 
 One lecture, one recitation and four laboratory hours a week; 
 counts 3. 
 
 42. Bacteriology of Foods. 
 
 This includes the bacteriologic examination of water, sewage, 
 air, milk, the various food products together with the methods 
 used in the standardization of disinfectants, a detailed study of 
 yeast and bacterial fermentation and their application to the in- 
 dustries. Numerous trips to industrial plants will be made. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 41. 
 
 Fall term, one lecture and six laboratory hours a week ; counts 3. 
 
 43. Bacteriology of Pathogenic Micro-organisms. 
 
 This subject is devoted to the laboratory methods of biology 
 as applied in the state and municipal boards of health. Practice 
 will be given in the methods used for the diagnosis of diphtheria, 
 tuberculosis, malaria, rabies, and other diseases caused by micro- 
 organisms, together with a detailed study of the groups to which 
 they belong. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 41. 
 
 Spring term, one lecture and six laboratory hours a week; 
 counts 3. 
 
 44. Potable and Industrial Water. 
 
 Very few industries are independent of a water supply. No 
 one is independent of the source of his drinking water. Water 
 varies in its usefulness for definite purposes. 
 
 This subject differentiates between various waters, takes them 
 up from industrial and hygienic standpoints, considers softening, 
 filtering, purifying and water analysis. 
 
Physical Education 211 
 
 Work is divided into three groups. 
 
 A. Industrial Water ) given in the Chemistry Depart- 
 
 B. Potable Water ) ment. 
 
 C. Water Bacteriology \ given in the Department of 
 (microscopy of water) ) Hygiene. 
 
 Municipal students may elect any or all of the three groups. 
 Prerequisite: Chemistry 4 and Hygiene 41. Chemistry 9 is 
 desirable. 
 Spring term, seven hours a week; counts 3. 
 
 48. Municipal Sanitation. 
 
 Lectures, discussions and visits to public works of special im- 
 portance. The principles which underlie a pure water supply and 
 the means by which the wastes of the city, its sewage and garbage 
 may be successfully disposed of, and the problems of pure milk 
 and pure food supplies, the housing question with its special phase 
 of ventilation and plumbing, and the methods by which a muni- 
 cipal board of health is organized to fight tuberculosis and other 
 specific diseases will be studied. 
 
 Fall term, two lectures and one field trip a week; counts 3. 
 
 49. Municipal Sanitary Inspection. 
 
 Professor B and Bureau of Foods and Drugs, New 
 
 York City Department of Health. 
 The seminar work of this subject is done in the College and 
 the field work in company with and under the direct supervision 
 of an Inspector of the Department of Health of the City. The 
 subject is limited to six students each semester, and is intended 
 for those planning to go into this branch of the City's service. 
 The qualifications will be based upon individuality, personality 
 playing an important part. 
 
 Prerequisite: Hygiene 41 and 48 and Chemistry 19. 
 Spring term, two seminar hours, one recitation and one in- 
 spection tour a week; counts 3. 
 
 50. Research. 
 
 Seniors who have completed satisfactorily a sufficient amount 
 of work in the Department may be assigned some topic to serve 
 as a basis for a thesis which will be submitted as credit for the 
 work at its completion. The student will receive the advice of 
 the instructor in the subject in which the research falls, but as 
 much independent work as possible will be insisted upon. The 
 purpose is to introduce the student into research methods, and 
 also to foster independence. 
 
212 College Teaching 
 
 Division of Health Examination 
 
 I. Individual Instruction in Hygiene. 
 
 This instruction is of a personal confidential character, and 
 is given in the form of advice based upon medical history sup- 
 plied by the individual, and upon medical and hygienic examina- 
 tions and inspections of the individual. 
 
 (a) Medical and hygienic history and examination. 
 
 In this relationship with the student the Department attempts 
 to secure such information concerning environmental and habit 
 influences in the life of the student as may be used as a basis for 
 supplying him with helpful advice concerning the organization 
 of his policy of personal health control. The medical examina- 
 tions are utilized for the purpose of finding remediable physical 
 defects whose proper treatment may be added to the physiological ef- 
 ficiency and therefore to the health possibilities of the student. 
 Prescribed: freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and special stu- 
 dents. Once each term. No credits. 
 
 ib) Hygiene inspections. 
 
 These inspections are applied in the mutual interest of personal, 
 departmental and institutional hygiene. 
 Prescribed: freshman and sophomore. 
 
 (c) Conferences. 
 
 All students who have been given personal hygienic or med- 
 ical advice are required to report in conference by appointment 
 in order that the advice may be followed up. 
 
 All individuals found with communicable diseases are debarred 
 from all classes until it is shown in conference that they are re- 
 ceiving proper medical treatment, and that they may return to class 
 attendance with safety to their comrades. 
 
 All individuals found with remediable physical or hygienic de- 
 fects are required to report in conference with evidence that the 
 abnormal condition has been brought to the serious attention of the 
 parent, guardian or family medical or hygienic adviser. Students 
 failing to report as directed may be denied admission to all classes. 
 
 n. Medical and Sanitary Supervision. 
 
 (a) Sanitary supervision. 
 
 An " Advisory Committee on Hygiene and Sanitation " with 
 the Professor of Hygiene as Chairman, has been appointed by the 
 President. This committee has been instructed to " inquire from 
 time to time into all our institutional influences which are likely 
 to aff"ect the health of the student and instructor, and to make 
 such reports with recommendations to the President as may seem 
 wise and expedient." 
 
 (b) A medical examination is required of all applicants for 
 
Physical Education 213 
 
 admission to the College. Approval of the Medical Examiner must 
 be secured before registration is permitted. 
 
 (c) Medical consultation. 
 
 Open to all students. (Optional.) 
 
 id) Medical examination of Athletes. 
 
 Required of all students before admission to athletic training 
 and repeated at intervals during the training season. 
 
 (e) Treatment. 
 
 Emergency treatment is the only treatment attempted by the 
 Department. Such treatment will be applied only for the purpose 
 of protecting the individual until he can secure the services he 
 selects for that purpose. 
 
 (/) Conferences. 
 
 (See "c" under I.) 
 
 ig) Laboratory: The Department Laboratories are equipped 
 for bacteriological and other analyses. The water in the swim- 
 ming pool is examined daily. The laboratory service is utilized to 
 identify disease carriers, and in every other reasonable way to 
 assist in the protection of student health. 
 
 Division of Recreational Instruction 
 
 Liberal provision is made by the College for voluntary recre- 
 tional activities indoors and outdoors during six days of the 
 week and throughout vacation periods. Emphasis is laid on recre- 
 ation as a health habit and a means of social training. 
 
 Division of Athletics 
 
 (1) Athletic Supervision. 
 
 Three organizations are concerned: 
 
 (a) The Faculty Athletic Committee, which has to do with 
 all athletic activities that involve academic relationships. 
 
 ib) The Athletic Council, a committee of the Department of 
 Hygiene, charged with the supervision of all business activities 
 connected with student athletic enterprises. 
 
 (c) The Athletic Association of the Student Body. 
 
 (2) Athletic Instruction. 
 
 The Department utilizes various intramural and extramural 
 athletic activities for the purpose of securing a further influence 
 on the promotion of health habits, the development of physical 
 power, and the establishment and maintenance of high stand- 
 ards of sportsmanly conduct on part of the individual and the 
 
 group. 
 
 At present the schedule includes the following sports: base- 
 
214 College Teaching 
 
 ball, basket ball, track and field, swimming and water polo, tennis, 
 soccer foot ball, and hand ball. 
 
 Thomas Andrew Storey, M.D. 
 
 College of the City of New York 
 
 [It was hoped that it would be possible to include with Professor 
 Storey's chapter a number of forms and photographs calculated to 
 serve as aids in the organization and conduct of a College Depart- 
 ment of Hygiene. As Professor Storey's work is very distinctive, 
 other institutions which are striving to organize effective depart- 
 ments of physical education would have found his experiences as 
 graphically depicted in these photographs and summed up in these 
 charts extremely helpful. Unfortunately it has proved impossible 
 to print them here on account of limitations of space, but all who 
 are interested in securing further information can obtain these val- 
 uable guides in the introductory stages of the inauguration of a 
 Department of Hygiene by applying to the College of the City of 
 New York. Editor.] 
 
PART THREE 
 
 The Social Sciences 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 X The Teaching of Economics 
 
 Frank A. Fetter 
 
 XI The Teaching of Sociology 
 
 A. J. Todd 
 
 XII The Teaching of History 
 
 A. American History 
 
 H. W. Elson 
 
 B. Modern European History 
 
 Edward Krehbiel 
 
 XIII The Teaching of Political Science 
 
 Charles Grove Haines 
 
 XIV The Teaching of Philosophy 
 
 Frank Thilly 
 
 XV The Teaching of Ethics 
 
 Henry Neumann 
 
 XVI The Teaching of Psychology 
 
 Robert S. Woodworth 
 
 XVII The Teaching of Education 
 
 A. Teaching the History of Education 
 
 Herman H. Home 
 
 B. Teaching Educational Theory 
 
 Frederick E, Bolton 
 
X 
 THE TEACHING OF ECONOMICS 
 
 EVEN though economics be so defined as to exclude a Conception 
 large part oi the tield oi the social sciences, its scope economics 
 is still very broad. Economics is less homogeneous in its 
 content, is far less clearly defined, than is any one of the 
 natural sciences. A very general definition of economics 
 is: The study of men engaged in making a living. More 
 fully expressed, economics is a study of men exercising 
 their own powers and making use of their environment 
 for the purposes of existence, of welfare, and of enjoyment. 
 Within such a broad definition of economics is found room 
 for various narrower conceptions. To mention only the 
 more important of these we may distinguish individual 
 economics, domestic economics, business economics, gov- 
 ernmental economics (public finance), and political (or 
 national) economics. Any one of these subjects may be 
 approached and treated primarily either with regard to its 
 more immediate financial, material, acquisitive aspects, or 
 to its more far-reaching social, psychical, and welfare as- 
 pects. These various ideas appear and reappear most con- 
 fusingly in economic literature. 
 
 The aims that different students and teachers have in the 
 pursuit of economics are as varied as are the conceptions 
 of its nature. The teaching aims are, indeed, largely de- 
 termined by those conceptions. Moreover, the teaching 
 aims are modified by still other conditions, such as the 
 environment of the college and its constituency, and such 
 as the temperament, business experience, and scholarly 
 training of the teacher. We may distinguish broadly 
 three aims: the vocational, the civic, and the cultural. 
 
 The vocational aim is the most elementary and most 
 usual. Xenophon's treatise on domestic " economy " was 
 the nucleus from which have grown all the systematic 
 formulations of economic principles. Vocational econom- 
 
 217 
 
218 College Teaching 
 
 ics is the economics of the craftsman and of the shop. 
 Every practical craft and art has its economic aspect, 
 which concerns the right and best use of labor and 
 valuable materials to attain a certain artistic, mechani- 
 cal, or other technical end in its particular field. 
 Economics is not mere technology, which has to 
 do with the mastery of materials and forces to at- 
 tain any material end. Vocational economics, however, 
 modifies and determines technical practice, which, in the 
 last analysis, is subject to the economic rule. The economic 
 engineer should construct not the best bridge that is pos- 
 sible, mechanically considered, but the best possible or 
 advisable for the purpose and with the means at hand. 
 The economic agriculturist should not produce the largest 
 crop possible, but the crop that gives the largest addi- 
 tional value. The rapidly growing recognition of the im- 
 portance, in all technical training, of cultivating the ability 
 to take the economic view has led to the development of 
 household economics in connection with the teaching of 
 cooking, sewing, decorating, etc.; of the economics of farm 
 management to supplement the older technical courses in 
 natural science, crops, and animal husbandry; of the 
 economics of factory management in connection with 
 mechanical engineering; of the economics of railway loca- 
 tion in connection with certain phases of civil engineer- 
 ing; and many more such special groupings and formula- 
 tions of economic principles with reference to particular 
 vocations and industries. 
 
 The ancient and the medieval crafts and mysteries un- 
 doubtedly had embodied in their maxims, proverbs, tradi- 
 tional methods, and teachings, many economic principles 
 suitable to their comparatively simple and unchanging con- 
 ditions. The rapid changes that have occurred, especially 
 in the last half century, in the natural sciences and in 
 the practical arts have rendered useless much of this 
 wisdom of the fathers. Recently there has been a belated 
 and sudden awakening to the need of studying, consciously 
 and systematically, the economic aspects of the new 
 
The Teaching of Economics 219 
 
 dynamic forces and industrial conditions. Hence the al- 
 most dramatic appearance of vocational, or technical, 
 economics under such names as " scientific management " 
 and the " economics of engineering." Viewed in this per- 
 spective such a development appears to be commendable 
 and valuable in its main purpose. Unfortunately, some, 
 if not all, of the adherents of this new cult of " economy " 
 and " efficiency " fail to appreciate how very restricted and 
 special it is, compared with the whole broad economic 
 field. 
 
 The civic aim in teaching economics is to fit the student 
 to perform the duties of a citizen. We need not attempt 
 to prove here that a large proportion of public questions 
 are economic in nature, and that in a democracy a wise 
 decision on these questions ultimately depends on an in- 
 telligent public opinion and not merely on the knowledge 
 possessed by a small group of specialists. 
 
 The civic conception of economics, seen from one point 
 of view, shows little in common with the vocational con- 
 ception. Yet from another point of view it may be looked 
 upon as the vocational conception " writ large " and is 
 the art of training men to be citizens in a republic. Good 
 citizenship involves an attitude of interest, a capacity to 
 form judgments on public economic issues, and, if need 
 be, to perform efficiently public functions of a legislative, 
 executive or judicial nature. The state-supported colleges 
 usually now recognize very directly their obligation to pro- 
 vide economic training with the civic aim, and, in some 
 cases, even to require it as a part of the work for a college 
 degree. Often also is found the thought that it is the 
 duty of the student while obtaining an education at public 
 expense, to take a minimum of economics with the civic 
 aim even if he regards it as in no way to his individual 
 advantage or if it has in his case no direct vocational bear- 
 ings. In the privately endowed institutions this policy may 
 be less clearly formulated, but it is hardly less actively 
 practiced. Indeed, the privately endowed institutions have 
 been recognizing more and more fully their fiduciary and 
 
220 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Evaluations 
 of aims of 
 teaching 
 economics 
 in college 
 
 public nature. Their public character is involved in their 
 charters, in their endowments, in their exemption from 
 taxation, and in their essential educational functions. The 
 proudest pages in their history are those recording their 
 services to the state. ^ 
 
 The cultural aim in economics is to enable the student 
 to comprehend the industrial world about him. It aims 
 to liberate the mind from ignorance and prejudice, giving 
 him insight into, and appreciation of, the industrial world 
 in which he lives. In this aspect it is a liberal study. 
 Economics produces in some measure this cultural re- 
 sult, even when it is studied primarily with the vocational 
 or with the civic aim. But in vocational economics the 
 choice of materials and the mode of treatment are deliber- 
 ately restricted by the immediate utilitarian purposes; and 
 in economic teaching with a civic purpose there is the con- 
 tinual temptation to arouse the sympathies for an im- 
 mediate social program and to take a view limited by the 
 contemporary popular interest in specific proposals for re- 
 form. Economics at its highest level is the search for truth. 
 It has its place in any system of higher education as has 
 pure natural science, apart from any immediate or, so far 
 as we may know, any possible, utilitarian application. It 
 is a disinterested philosophy of the industrial world. 
 Though it may not demonstrably be a means to other use- 
 ful things, it is itself a worthy end. It helps to enrich the 
 community with the immaterial goods of the spirit, and it 
 yields the psychic income of dignity and joy in the in- 
 dividual and national life. And as a final appeal to any 
 doubting Philistine it may be said that just as the cult 
 of pure science is necessary to the continual and most ef- 
 fective progress in the practical arts, so the study of 
 economics on the philosophical plane surely is necessary to 
 the highest and most lasting results in the application of 
 economics to the arts and to civic life. 
 
 1 See article by Charles E. Persons, on Teaching the Introductory 
 Course in Economics, in Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 
 XXXI, November, 1916, for a strong presentation of this civic 
 ideal in economic study. 
 
The Teaching of Econoimcs 221 
 
 The differences in aims set forth in this paragraph re- 
 sult in much of the futile discussion in recent years re- 
 garding methods of teaching. Enthusiastic innovators have 
 debated at cross purposes about teaching methods as if 
 they were to be measured by some absolute standard of 
 pedagogic values, not recognizing that the chief differences 
 of views as to teaching methods were rooted in the differing 
 aims. This truth will reappear at many points in the fol- 
 lowing discussion. " What will you have," quoth the Gods, 
 " pay the price and take it." 
 
 The place assigned to economics in the college curriculum fcono^ics 
 in respect to the year in which the student is admitted to in the 
 its study is very different in various colleges. In the last currSuium 
 investigation of the subject it appeared that the first 
 economics course might be taken first 
 
 in the freshman year in 14 per cent of cases, 
 
 in the sophomore year in 31 per cent of cases, 
 
 in the junior year in 42 per cent of cases, 
 
 in the senior year in 13 per cent of cases.^ 
 Among those institutions giving an economic course in the 
 freshman year are some small and some large institu- 
 tions (some of the latter being Stanford, New York Uni- 
 versity, Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr, and the state universi- 
 ties of California, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Colorado, 
 Utah). Frequently the elementary course given to fresh- 
 men is in matter and method historical and descriptive, 
 rather than theoretical, and is planned to precede a more 
 rigid course in the principles.^ 
 
 The plan of beginning economics in the sophomore year 
 is the mode among the state universities and larger colleges, 
 including nearly all of the larger institutions that do not 
 begin the subject in the freshman year. This group in- 
 cludes Yale, Hopkins, Chicago, Northwestern, Mount 
 
 1 Compiled by the writer from data in the report of the committee 
 appointed by the conference on the teaching of elementary econom- 
 ics, 1909; Journal of Political Economy, November, 1911, Vol. 19, 
 pages 760-789. 
 
 2 See page 767 of the committee report cited above. 
 
222 College Teaching 
 
 Holyoke, Wellesley, Vassar, and (after 1919) Princeton. 
 
 The group of institutions beginning economics in the 
 junior year is the largest, but consists mostly of small col- 
 leges having some advanced economics courses, but no more 
 than can be given in the senior year. It contains, besides, 
 a few colleges of arts which maintain a more strictly pre- 
 scribed curriculum for underclassmen (freshmen and 
 sophomores), such as Dartmouth, Columbia, Smith, and 
 Simmons. It should be observed also that in a great many 
 institutions where economics may be taken by some students 
 in the first two years, it is in fact scheduled as late as 
 junior or senior year in the prescribed courses of students 
 in special departments such as agriculture, engineering, 
 and law. This statement applies doubtless to many 
 thousands of technical students.^ 
 
 In view of these divergencies in practice we must hesi- 
 tate to declare that the subject should be begun at pre- 
 cisely this or that point in the college course. These 
 differences, to be sure, are in many cases the result of 
 accidental factors in the college curriculum, and often 
 have been determined by illogical departmental rivalries 
 within the faculty rather than by wise and disinterested 
 educators studying the merits of the case. But in large part 
 these differences are the expression of different purposes 
 and practical needs in planning a college curriculum, and 
 are neither quite indefensible nor necessarily contradictory 
 in pedagogic theory. In the sni.all college with a nearly 
 uniform curriculum and with limited means, a general 
 course is perhaps best planned for the senior year, or in 
 the junior year if there is an opportunity given to the 
 
 ^ Evidently it is not possible to draw from these data any definite 
 conclusions as to the proportion of students beginning economics 
 in each of the four years respectively. But probably three-fourths 
 of all, possibly four fifths, take the general course either in the 
 sophomore or the junior year. Most of the institutions giving eco- 
 nomics only in the senior year are small, with a very restricted 
 curriculum, often limited to one general course. But it is a widely 
 observed fact that many students in large institutions postpone the 
 election of the subject till their senior year. 
 
The Teaching of Economics 223 
 
 student to do some more advanced work the year follow- 
 ing. At the other extreme are some larger institutions 
 in which the pressure of new subjects within the arts 
 curriculum has shattered the fixed curriculum into frag- 
 ments. This has made possible specialization along any 
 one of a number of lines. Where this idea is carried out 
 to the full, every general group of subjects eventually must 
 make good its claim to a place in the freshman year for 
 its fundamental course. But inasmuch as, in most institu- 
 tions, the freshman year is still withheld from this free 
 elective plan by the requirement of a small group of gen- 
 eral subjects, economics is first open to students in the 
 sophomore year. The license of the elective system is of 
 course much moderated by the requirement to elect a de- 
 partment, usually at the beginning either of the sophomore 
 or of the junior year, and within each department both 
 a more or less definite sequence of courses and a group 
 of collateral requirements are usually enforced. Where re- 
 sources are very limited it is probably best to give the 
 economics course in the last two years, but where sev- 
 eral more specialized courses in economics are given, it 
 should be introduced as early as the sophomore year. If 
 a freshman course in the subject is given it should be 
 historical, descriptive, or methodical (e. g., statistical 
 methods, graphics, etc.) rather than theoretical. The ex- 
 perience (or lack of experience) and knowledge of the in- 
 dustrial world, past and present, possessed by the average 
 American college student is such that courses of that kind 
 meet a great need.^ 
 
 Teachers of economics today are doubtless attempting the Tune to te 
 impossible in compressing the present "general course" fcoS^mics 
 into three hours for two semesters. No other department J^ ^ *^°^" . 
 of a university attempts to treat in such a brief time so lum 
 broad a subject, including both principles and applications. 
 Such a course was quite long enough in the days when all 
 economic instruction was given by gray-haired theologians, 
 
 1 Of this see further below, page 226. 
 
224 College Teaching 
 
 philosophers, mathematicians, and linguists, dogmatically 
 expounding the pons asinorum of economics, and quiz- 
 zing from a dusty textbook of foreign authorship. But now 
 the growing and vigorous tribe of specialized economic 
 teachers is bursting with information and illustrations. 
 Moreover, the range of economic topics and of economic 
 interests has expanded wonderfully. 
 
 The resulting overcrowded condition of the general course 
 is possibly the main cause of the difficulties increasingly 
 felt by teachers in handling that course satisfactorily. As 
 a part of a general college curriculum " general economics " 
 cannot be satisfactorily treated in less than three hours a 
 week for two years. The additional time should not be 
 spent in narrow specialization but rather in getting a 
 broader understanding of the subject through economic 
 history and geography, through observation and descrip- 
 tion of actual conditions, through a greater use of prob- 
 lems and examples, and through more detailed, less super- 
 ficial study of the fundamental principles. As a part of 
 sixteen years of the whole educational scheme from primary 
 grade to college diploma such a course would claim but 
 21/2 per cent of the student's whole time, while the sub- 
 jects of English, mathematics, and foreign linguistics each 
 gets about 20 per cent, in the case even of students who 
 do not specialize in one of these branches. 
 
 Of the replies ^ from nearly three hundred colleges to 
 the question whether economics was required for gradua- 
 tion, about 55 per cent were in the affirmative. Unfor- 
 tunately the question was ambiguous, and the replies ap- 
 parently were understood to mean generally that it was 
 required in one or more curricula, not of all graduates 
 (though in some cases the question was probably taken 
 in the other sense) . It is noteworthy that more frequently 
 economics is required in the smaller colleges having but one 
 curriculum, that of liberal studies. In the larger institu- 
 tions economics is usually not required of students in the 
 humanities, although of late it has increasingly been made 
 
 ^ Article cited, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 19, page 768. 
 
TJie Teaching of Ecoriortiics 225 
 
 a part of the technical college curricula, especially in 
 engineering and agriculture.^ So we are in a fair way to 
 arrive at the situation where no student except in those 
 " liberal " arts courses can get a college diploma without 
 studying economics; only in a modern course in the 
 humanities may the study of human society be left out. 
 
 The economists have not been active in urging their sub- 
 ject as a requirement. The call for increasing require- 
 ments in economics has come from the public and from the 
 alumni. The steady increase in the number of students 
 electing economic courses without corresponding additions 
 to the teaching forces has made the overworked professors 
 of the subject thankful when nothing more was done to 
 increase by faculty requirements the burden of their class 
 work. It is charged and it is admitted in some institutions 
 that the standards of marking are purposely made more 
 severe in the economics courses than in courses in most 
 other subjects. The purpose avowed is " to cut out the dead 
 timber," so that only the better students will be eligible for 
 enrollment in the advanced economics courses. An un- 
 fortunate result is to discourage some excellent students, 
 ambitious for high marks or honors, from electing courses 
 in economics because thereby their average grades would 
 be reduced. In many cases, for this reason, good students 
 take the subject optionally (without credit), though doing 
 full work in it. 
 
 We have already, in discussing the place of economics, Organiza- 
 necessarily touched upon the organization of the courses. sub'iecMn^ 
 In most colleges this organization is very simple. The *^^ecoUege 
 whole economic curriculum consists of the "general" '""''"^"'" 
 course, or at most of iiat plus one or more somewhat 
 specialized courses given the next year. The most usual 
 year of advanced work consists of one semester each of 
 money and banking and of public finance. A not un- 
 
 iThe Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education has had 
 a standing committee on economics, since 1915. The first commit- 
 tee was composed of three engineers (all of them consulting and 
 m practice and two of them also teachers) and the present writer. 
 
226 College Teaching 
 
 usual plan, well suited to the situation in a small college 
 where economics takes the full time of one teacher, is to 
 give the general course in the sophomore year, and to 
 offer a two-year cycle of advanced work, the two courses 
 being given in alternate years, the class consisting of 
 juniors and seniors. In this plan the additional courses 
 may be in transportation, in labor problems, in trusts and 
 corporations, and frequently of late, in accounting. 
 Ordinarily the " general " course itself involves a logical 
 sequence, the first term dealing with fundamental con- 
 cepts and theories, and the second term covering in a rapid 
 survey a pretty wide range of special problems. The 
 majority of the students take only the general course. 
 Those who go on to more advanced courses retrace the 
 next year some of the ground of the second semester's work, 
 but this is probably for few of them a loss of time. In- 
 deed, in such a subject as economics this opportunity to 
 let first teachings " sink in," and strange concepts become 
 familiar, is for most students of great value. Yet the plan 
 was adopted and is followed as a compromise, using one 
 course as a ready-made fit for the differing needs of two 
 groups of students. We have seen above (page 221) that 
 preceding the general, or systematic, course, there is in a 
 number of colleges a simpler one. In some cases ^ the ex- 
 periment has been undertaken of studying first for a time 
 certain broad institutional features of our existing society, 
 such as property, the wage system, competition, and the 
 amount and distribution of wealth. The need of such a 
 course is said to be especially great in the women's col- 
 leges. If so, it is truly urgent, for most young men come 
 to college with very meager experience in economic lines. 
 Few, if any, teachers would deny that such an introductory 
 
 1 In Amherst, as described in Journal of Political Economy by Pro- 
 fessor W. H. Hamihon, on "The Amherst Program in Economics"; 
 and in Chicago University beginning in 1916. See also, by the 
 same writer, a paper on " The Institutional Approach to Economic 
 Theory," in the American Economic Review, Supplement, page 309, 
 March, 1919. 
 
The Teaching of Economics 227 
 
 course preceding the principles is distinctly of advantage.^ 
 Some would favor it even at the price of shortening ma- 
 terially the more general course. But most teachers would 
 agree that together the introductory course and the general 
 course should take two full years (three hours a week, 
 twelve college credit hours, as usually reckoned), an 
 amount of time which cannot be given by the " floater " 
 electing economics. And to accommodate both those who 
 have had the introductory course and those who have not, 
 the general course would have to be given in two divisions 
 and in two ways. Again we come to the thought, sug- 
 gested above, that probably we are attempting too much 
 in too brief a time in the general course today. A longer 
 time for the study would permit of a sequence that would 
 be more logically defensible. It would begin with histori- 
 cal and descriptive studies, both because they are funda- 
 mentally necessary and because, being of more concrete 
 nature, they may be given in a form easier for the beginner 
 to get. In this period a good deal of the terminology can 
 be gradually familiarized. Then should come the more 
 elementary analytical studies and fundamental principles, 
 followed by a discussion of a number of practical prob- 
 lems. In conclusion should come a more systematic survey 
 of general principles, of which most students now get but 
 a superficial idea. The work in the specialized elective 
 courses would then be built upon much firmer foundations 
 than is the case at present. 
 
 The main methods that have been developed and tested ^©tjpds of 
 in the teaching of undergraduate classes in economics may 
 be designated as the lecture method, the textbook method, 
 the problem method. Any one of these may be used well- 
 
 ^ At the meeting of the American Economic Association in 1897, at 
 which was discussed " The Relation of the Teaching of Economic 
 History to the Teaching of Political Economy," the opinion was 
 expressed by one teacher that economic history should follow the 
 general course. But all the others agreed that such a course should 
 begin the sequence, and this seems to be the almost invariable prac- 
 tice. See Economic Studies, Volume III, pages 88-101, Publica- 
 tions of the American Economic Association, 1898. 
 
228 College Teaching 
 
 nigh exclusively, or, as is more usual, two or more may 
 be combined in varying proportions; e.g., lectures with 
 " supplementary " (or " collateral ") readings, with or with- 
 out an occasional meeting in a quiz section. Along with 
 these main methods often are used such supplementary 
 methods as topical reports requiring individual library 
 work; laboratory exercises, as in statistics, accounting, etc.; 
 individual field work to study some industrial problem; 
 and visits, as a class, and with guidance, to factories and 
 industrial enterprises. 
 
 The choice of these particular methods of teaching is, 
 however, largely conditioned by the teacher's antecedent 
 choice between the deductive or the inductive forms of 
 presentation. This is an old controversy ever recurring. 
 But it should be observed that the question here is not 
 whether induction or deduction is a greater aid in arriv- 
 ing at new truth, but it is whether the inductive or the 
 deductive process is the better for the imparting of in- 
 struction to beginners. In teaching mathematics, the most 
 deductive of the sciences, use may be made of such in- 
 ductive aids as object lessons, physical models, and practi- 
 cal problems; and per contra, in the natural sciences, where 
 induction is the chief instrument of research, elementary 
 instruction is largely given in a deductive manner by the 
 statement of general propositions, the workings of which 
 are then exemplified. The decision of the question which 
 is the better of these two pedagogic methods in a particular 
 case, depends (a) partly on the average maturity and ex- 
 perience of the class; (b) partly on the mental quality of 
 the students; and (c) partly on the interest and qualifica- 
 tions of the teacher. 
 
 (a) The choice of the best method of teaching is of 
 course dependent on the same factors that have been shown 
 above to affect the nature and sequence of the courses. 
 The simpler method leading to more limited results is more 
 suitable for the less mature classes; but the scientific stage 
 in the treatment of any subject is not reached until general 
 principles are discussed. If one is content with a vocational 
 
The Teaching of Economics 229 
 
 result in economic teaching, stopping short of the theoreti- 
 cal, philosophic outlook, more can be accomplished in a 
 short time by the concrete method. But such teachintr 
 would seem to belong in a trade school rather than in a 
 college of higher studies, and in any case should be given 
 by a vocational teacher rather than by a specialist in social, 
 or political, economy. 
 
 (6) Every college class presents a gradation of minds Various 
 capable (whether from nature or training) of attaining ^a\u°te<i 
 different states of comprehension. Of students in the lower 
 half of the classes in American colleges, it may be said 
 broadly that they never can or will develop the capacity of 
 thinking abstractly and that the concrete method of teach- 
 ing would give better results in their cases. Therefore the 
 teacher attempts to compromise, to adopt a method that 
 fits the " mode," the middle third of the class, wasting much 
 of the time of the brighter (or of the more earnest) 
 students, and letting those in the lowest third trail along 
 as best they can. This difficulty may be met with some 
 success where there are several sections of a class by 
 grouping the men in accordance with their previous 
 scholarship records. This grouping is beneficial alike to 
 those lower and to those higher than the average in scholar- 
 ship. 
 
 (c) Quite as important in this connection as this sub- 
 jective quality of the students, is the characteristic quality 
 of the teacher. A particular teacher will succeed better or 
 worse with any particular method according as it fits his 
 aim and is in accord with his endowment and training. 
 If he is himself of the " hard-headed " unimaginative or 
 unphilosophic type, he will of course deem effort wasted 
 that goes beyond concrete facts. He will give little place to 
 the larger aspects and principles of " political " economy, 
 but will deal exhaustively with the details of commercial 
 economy. If the teacher is civic-minded and sympathetic, 
 he will be impelled to trace economic forces, in their ac- 
 tions and interactions, far beyond the particular enterprise, 
 to show how the welfare of others is affected. To do this 
 
230 College Teaching 
 
 rightly, knowledge of the conditions must be combined 
 with a deeper theoretical insight; but the civic aim operates 
 selectively to limit the choice of materials and analysis 
 to those contemporary issues that appeal at the time to 
 the textbook writer, to the teacher, or to the public. Still 
 different is the case of the teacher who finds his greatest 
 joy in the theoretical aspects of economics, possesses a 
 clean-cut economic philosophy (even though it may not be 
 ultimate truth), and has faith in economics as a disciplinary 
 subject. Such a teacher will (other things being equal) 
 have, relatively, his greatest success with the students of 
 greatest ability; he will get better results in teaching the 
 " principles " than in teaching historical and descriptive 
 facts. None will deny that this type of education has an 
 important place. Even in the more descriptive courses ap- 
 peal should be made to the higher intellectual qualities of 
 the class, leaving a lasting disciplinary result rather than 
 a memory stored with merely ephemeral and mostly in- 
 significant information. 
 
 The teacher with colorless personality and without in- 
 terest in, and knowledge of, the world of reality, will 
 fail, whatever be the purpose of his teaching. The higher 
 the teacher's aim, the farther may he fall below its attain- 
 ment. A college teacher whose message is delivered on 
 the mental level of grammar school children should, of 
 course, score a pretty high percentage of success in giving 
 a passing mark to sophomores, juniors, and seniors in 
 American colleges. But is this really a success, or is it 
 rather not evidence of a failure in the whole school curricu- 
 lum, and of woful waste in our system of so-called " higher " 
 education? Are colleges for the training of merely 
 mediocre minds? 
 Aim and at- These questions of aim and of attitude are more funda- 
 fundamenui "cental than is the question of the particular device of in- 
 than method struction to be used, as lecture, textbook, etc. Yet the latter 
 struction question is not without its importance. In general it ap- 
 pears that practice has moved and still moves in a cycle. 
 In the American college world as a whole each particular 
 
The Teaching of Econo7nics 231 
 
 college repeats some or all of the typical phases with the 
 growth of its economic department. 
 
 (1) First is the textbook, with recitations in small 
 classes. (2) Next, the lecture gradually takes a larger 
 place as the classes grow, until, supplemented by required 
 readings, it becomes the main tool of instruction, this be- 
 ing the cheapest and easiest way to take care of the rapidly 
 growing enrollmeiU- (3) Then, when this proves unsatis- 
 factory, the lectures are perhaps cut down to two a week, 
 and the class is divided into quiz sections for one meeting 
 a week under assistants or instructors, the lecture still being 
 the main center of the scheme of teaching. (4) This still 
 being unsatisfactory (partly because it lacks oversight of 
 the students' daily work, and partly because the lecture 
 is unsuited to the development of general principles that 
 require careful and repeated study for their mastery), a 
 textbook is made the basis of section meetings, held 
 usually twice a week, and the lectures are reduced to one 
 a week, given to the combined class, and so changed in 
 character as to be merely supplementary to the class work. 
 The lectures are given either in close connection week by 
 week with the class work or bearing only a general rela- 
 tion with the term's work as a whole. This may be deemed 
 the prevailing mode today in institutions where the in- 
 troductory course has a large enrollment.^ (5) Another 
 change completes the cycle; the lecture is dropped and the 
 class is divided, each section, consisting of twenty to thirty 
 students, meeting with the same teacher regularly for class 
 work. This change was made after mature consideration 
 in "the College" in Columbia University; is in operation 
 in Chicago University, where the meetings are held five 
 times a week; and has been adopted more recently still in 
 New York University. There have been for years evidences 
 of the growing desire to abolish the lecture from the intro- 
 ductory course and also to limit its use in some of the 
 
 1 This plan has at various times been followed at Stanford, Cornell, 
 Harvard, and Princeton, to cite only a few of the numerous ex- 
 amples. 
 
a textbook 
 
 232 College Teaching 
 
 special undergraduate courses. The preceptorial plan 
 adopted in 1905 by Princeton University is the most notable 
 instance of the latter change.^ Even in graduate teaching 
 in economics there has been a growing opinion and prac- 
 tice favorable to the " working " course or " seminar " 
 course to displace lecture courses.^ Thus the lecture seems 
 likely to play a less prominent role, especially in the in- 
 troductory courses, but it is not likely to be displaced en- 
 tirely in the scheme of instruction. 
 Selection of Numerous American textbooks on political economy 
 (thirty, it is said) have been published in the last quarter 
 of a century, a fact which has now and then been deplored 
 by the pessimistic critic.^ Few share this opinion, how- 
 ever. The textbooks have, to be sure, often served, not to 
 unfold a consistent system of thought, but to reveal 
 the lack of one. But they have afforded to the teachers 
 and students, in a period of developing conceptions on the 
 subjects, a wide choice of treatment of the principles much 
 more exactly worked out and carefully expressed than is 
 possible through the medium of lectures as recorded in the 
 students' hastily written notes. 
 
 Questions, exercises, and test problems are widely used 
 as supplementary material for classroom discussion.* 
 
 1 In this plan the sections are small (three to seven students) and 
 the preceptor is expected to give much time to the personal super- 
 vision of the student's reading, reports, and general scholarship. 
 The preceptorial work is rated at more than half of the entire work 
 of the term. The one great difficulty of the preceptorial system is 
 its cost. 
 
 2 A strong plea is made for the " retirement of the lectures " by 
 C. E. Persons, in the Quarterly Journal of Economics^ Vol. XXXI, 
 " Teaching the Introductory Course in Economics," November, 1916, 
 pages 96-98. 
 
 ^ Professor J. H. Hollander, American Economic Review, Vol. VI, 
 No. 1, Supplement (March, 1916), page 135. See dissenting opin- 
 ions in the discussion that followed. 
 
 4 Professor C. E. Persons (art. cited page 86, November, 1916) gives 
 the titles of ten separate books or pamphlets of this kind; since 
 which date have appeared the author's " Manual of References and 
 Exercises," Parts I and II, to accompany Economic Principles, 
 1915, and Modern Economic Problems, 1916, respectively. 
 
The TeUching of Economics 233 
 
 Separately printed collections of such material date back 
 at least to W. G. Sumner's Problems in Political Economy 
 (1884), which in turn acknowledged indebtedness to other 
 personal sources and to Milnes' collection of two thousand 
 questions and problems from English examination papers. 
 With somewhat varying aims, further commented upon be- 
 low, and in varying degrees, all teachers of economics 
 now make use of such questions in their teaching of both 
 general and special courses. Unquestionably there are, in 
 the use of the problem method, possibilities for good which 
 few teachers have fully realized.^ 
 
 The selection and arrangement of materials for supple- 
 mentary readings is guided by various motives, more or 
 less intermingling. It may be chiefly to parallel a syste- 
 matic text by extracts taken largely from the older " clas- 
 sics " of the subject (as in C. J. Bullock's Selected Read- 
 ings in Economics, 1907) ; or to provide additional concrete 
 material bearing mostly upon present economic problems 
 (as in the author's Source Book in Economics, 1912) ; or 
 to supplement a set of exercises and problems (as in F. M. 
 Taylor's Some Readings in Economics, 1907) ; or to con- 
 stitute of itself an almost independent textbook of extracts, 
 carefully edited with original introductions to chapters (as 
 Marshall, Wright, and Field's Materials for the Study of 
 Elementary Economics, 1913, and W. H. Hamilton's Read- 
 ings in Current Economic Problems, 1914). 
 
 Whatever be the particular tool of instruction, whether 
 lecture, textbook with classroom discussion, problem study, 
 or collateral readings, its use may be very different accord- 
 ing as the teacher seeks to develop the subject positively 
 or negatively, to present a single definite and (if he can) 
 
 1 Among those most elaborately developing this method has been 
 Professor F. M. Taylor of the University of Michigan. See his 
 paper on the subject and discussion in the Journal of Political 
 Economy, Vol. VII, pages 688-703 (December, 1909). Marshall, 
 Wright, and Field published the Outline of Economics, developed 
 as a series of problems in 1910, which they used for a time as the 
 main tool of instruction in the introductory course in Chicago 
 University. 
 
234 College Teaching 
 
 coherent body of doctrines, or a variety of opinions that 
 have been held, among which the student is encouraged to 
 choose. Evidently the conditions determining choice in the 
 case of advanced courses are different from those in the 
 introductory course. For the beginner time is required 
 in order that economic principles may sink in, and so he is 
 bewildered if at first he is introduced to a number of theories 
 by different authors. Materials that supplement the gen- 
 eral course of principles should therefore be limited to sub- 
 ject matter that is descriptive, concrete, and illustrative. 
 The beginner, somewhat dazed with the variety of new facts, 
 ideas, terminology, and problems in the field into which 
 he has entered, needs guidance to think clearly step by step 
 about them.^ Not until the pupil has learned to see and 
 apprehend the simpler economic phenomena near him can 
 he be expected to survey the broader fields and to form in- 
 dependent judgments concerning complex situations. He 
 must creep before he can run. In fact, teachers are often 
 self-deceived when they imagine that they are leaving stu- 
 dents to judge for themselves among various opinions or 
 to find their way inductively to their own conclusions. The 
 recitation, in truth, becomes the simple game of " hot and 
 cold." The teacher has in mind what he considers the right 
 answer; the groping student tries to guess it; and as he 
 ventures this or that inexpert or lucky opinion he is either 
 gently chided or encouraged. At length some bright pupil 
 wins the game by agreeing with the teacher's theretofore 
 skilfully concealed opinion. This is called teaching by the 
 inductive method. 
 
 Undoubtedly it is more desirable to develop in the stu- 
 dent the ability to think independently about economic ques- 
 tions than it is to drill him into an acceptance of ready- 
 made opinions on contemporary practical issues. The more 
 fundamental economic theory — the more because its bear- 
 ing on pecuniary and class interests is not close or obvious 
 
 1 A thoughtful discussion of some phases of this problem is given 
 by Persons, art. cited, pages 98 ff., favoring the more positive treat- 
 ment with less distracting multiplicity of detail. 
 
The Teaching of Economics 235 
 
 — is an admirable organ for the development of the stu- 
 dent's power of reasoning. But to give the student this 
 training it is not necessary to keep him in the dark as to 
 what he is to learn. The Socratic method is still unex- 
 celled in the discussion of a text and of lectures in which 
 propositions are clearly laid down and explained. The 
 theorem in geometry is first stated, and then the student is 
 conducted step by step through the reasoning leading to that 
 conclusion. Should not the student of economics have pre- 
 sented to him in a similar way the idea or principle, and 
 then be required to follow the reasoning upon which it 
 is based? Then, through questions and problems, — the 
 more the better, if time permits of their thorough discus- 
 sion and solution, — the student may be exercised in the 
 interpretation of the principles, and by illustrations drawn 
 from history and contemporary conditions may be shown 
 the various applications of the principle to practical prob- 
 lems. To get and hold the student's interest, to fascinate 
 him with the subject, is equal in importance to the method, 
 for without interest good results are impossible.^ 
 
 1 To a former student of mine and now a successful teacher, Dean 
 J. R. Turner of New York University, I am indebted for the sug- 
 gestion of the following practical rules, a few among many possible, 
 which should be helpful to younger teachers: 
 
 ia) Keep the student expecting a surprise, afraid to relax 
 attention for fear of missing something. 
 
 ib) By Socratic method lead him into error, then have him 
 (under cross fire and criticism of class) reason his way out. 
 
 (c) Make fallacious argument, then call for criticism giving 
 distinction to him who renders best judgment. 
 
 id) Set tasks and have members of class compete in intel- 
 lectual contests. 
 
 (e) Make sure that each principle learned is seen in its 
 relationship to practical affairs. 
 
 (/) Enliven each dry principle with an anecdote or illustra- 
 tion to elucidate it, for principles devoid of interesting 
 features cannot secure attention and so will not be re- 
 membered. 
 
 ig) Accompany the discussion with charts and board work to 
 visualize facts and questions to stimulate thought. 
 
 (A) Ask questions and so handle the class discussions that a 
 
236 College Teaching 
 
 Tests of jf must be confessed that no exact objective measure of 
 
 suits the efficiency of teaching methods in economics has been 
 
 found. At best we have certain imperfect indices, among 
 which are the formal examination, the student's own opinion 
 at the close of the course, and the student's revised opinion 
 after leaving college. 
 
 The primary purpose of the traditional examination is 
 not to test the relative merits of the different methods of 
 teaching, but to test the relative merits of the various stu- 
 dents in a class, whatever be the method of teaching. Every 
 teacher knows that high or low average marks in an en- 
 tire class are evidences rather of the standard that he is 
 setting than it is of the merits of his teaching methods, — 
 though in some cases he is able to compare the results ob- 
 tained after using two different methods of exposition for 
 the same subject. But, as was indicated above, such a 
 difference may result from his own temperament and may 
 point only to the method that he can best use, not to the 
 best absolutely considered. Moreover, the teacher may 
 make the average marks high or low merely by varying 
 the form and content of the examination papers or the 
 strictness of his markings. 
 
 Each ideal and method of teaching has its corresponding 
 type of examination. Descriptive and concrete courses 
 lend themselves naturally to memory tests; theoretical 
 courses lend themselves to problems and reasoning. A 
 high type of question is one whose proper answer neces- 
 sitates knowledge of the facts acquired in the course to- 
 gether with an interpretation of the principles and their 
 application to new problems. Memory tests serve to mark 
 off " the sheep from the goats " as regards attention and 
 
 few will not do all the talking, that foreign subject matter 
 is not introduced, that a consistent and logical develop- 
 ment of thought is strictly adhered to. 
 (i) The last few minutes of the period might well be devoted 
 to the assignment for the next meeting. The best manner 
 of assignment must depend upon the nature of task, the ad- 
 vancement of the student, the purpose in view. 
 
The Teaching of Economics 237 
 
 faithful work; reasoning tests serve to give a motive for 
 disciplinary study and to measure its results. It may per- 
 haps seem easier to test the results of the student's work in 
 memory subjects; but even as to that we know that there 
 are various types of memory and how much less signifi- 
 cant are marks obtained by " the cramming process " than 
 are equally good marks obtained as a result of regular at- 
 tention to daily tasks. 
 
 The students' revised and matured judgment of the value 
 of their various college studies generally differ, often 
 greatly, from their judgments while taking or just after 
 completing the courses. Yet even years afterward can man 
 judge rightly in his own case just what has been the rela- 
 tive usefulness to him of the different elements of his com- 
 plex college training, or of the different methods em- 
 ployed? ^ But the evidence that comes from the most 
 successful alumni to the college teacher in economics 
 is increasingly to the effect that the college work they have 
 come to value most is that which " teaches the student to 
 think." Our judgments in this matter are influenced by the 
 larger educational philosophy that we hold. Each will 
 have his standard of spiritual values. 
 
 The moot questions in the teaching of the subject have. Moot ques- 
 
 perhaps, been sufficiently indicated, but we may here add economics 
 
 a word as to the bearings which certain moot questions affecting 
 
 ^ the teach- 
 
 1 An interesting study made by the department of education of Har- gu|ject^^ 
 vard University of the teaching methods and results in the depart- 
 ment of economics was referred to in President Lowell's report. 
 According to the answers of the alumni their work in economics 
 is now valued mainly for its civic and disciplinary results (these 
 do not seem to have been further distinguished) . In the introduc- 
 tory course reading was ranked first, class work next, and lec- 
 tures least, in value. In the advanced courses the lecture was 
 ranked higher and class work lower, but that may be because the 
 lecture plays a more important role there than in the lower classes. 
 Answers regarding such matters are at most significant as indicating 
 the relative importance of the various methods as they have actually 
 been employed in the particular institution, and have little validity 
 
 , in reference to the work and methods of other teachers working 
 under other conditions, and with students having different life aims. 
 
238 College Teaching 
 
 in the theory of the subject may have on the methods of 
 teaching. The fundamental theory of economics has, since 
 the days of Adam Smith, been undergoing a process of 
 continuous transition, but the broader concepts never have 
 been more in dispute than in the last quarter century in 
 America. The possibility of such diversity of opinion in 
 the fundamentals among the leading exponents of the sub- 
 ject argues strongly that economics is still a philosophy — 
 a general attitude of mind and system of opinion — rather 
 than a positive science. At best it is a " becoming sci- 
 ence " which never can cease entirely to have a speculative, 
 or philosophic character. This is not the place to go into 
 details of matters in controversy. Suffice it to say that in 
 rivalry to the older school — which is variously designated 
 Ricardian, Orthodox, English, or classical — newer ideas 
 have been developed, dating from the work of the Aus- 
 trian economists, of Jevons, and of J. B. Clark in the last 
 decades of the nineteenth century. The older school had 
 sought the explanation of value and the theory of distribu- 
 tion in objective factors, — partly in the chemical quali- 
 ties of the soil, partly in labor, partly in the costs (or 
 outlays) of the employing class. The psychological factor 
 in value had been almost eliminated from this older treat- 
 ment of value and price, or at best was imperfectly recog- 
 nized under the name of " utility." The newer school made 
 the psychological element primary in the positive treat- 
 ment of economic principles, and launched a negative criti- 
 cism against the older terms and ideas that effectively ex- 
 posed their unsoundness considered separately and their 
 inconsistency as a system of economic thought. Both the 
 negative criticisms and the proposed amendments taken one 
 by one gained wide acceptance among economists. But 
 when it came to embodying them in a general theory of 
 economics, many economists have balked. -"^ Most of the 
 
 1 The typical attitude of many economists is expressed about as fol- 
 lows: It is one thing to give assent to refinements when they are 
 used in the discussion of some single point of theory, and it is 
 quite another thing to accept them when one sees how, in their 
 
The Teaching of Economics 239 
 
 American texts in economics and much of our teaching show 
 disastrous effects of this confusion and irresolution. The 
 newer concepts, guardedly admitted to have some validity, 
 appear again and again in the troubled discussions of re- 
 cent textbook writers, which usually end with a rejec- 
 tion, " on the whole," of the logical implications of these 
 newer concepts. Many teachers thus have lost their grip 
 on any coordinating theory of distribution. They no 
 longer have any general economic philosophy. The old 
 Ricardian cock-sureness had its pedagogic merits. Without 
 faith, teaching perishes. The complaints of growing diffi- 
 culty in the teaching of the introductory course seem to 
 have come particularly from teachers that are in this un- 
 happy state of mind. They declare that it is impossible 
 longer to interest students successfully in a general theoret- 
 ical course, and they are experimenting with all kinds of 
 substitutes — de-nicotinized tobacco and Kaffee Hag — 
 from which poisonous theory has been extracted. At the 
 same time, economics " with a punch in it," economics 
 " with a back bone," is being taught by strong young 
 teachers of the new faith more successfully, perhaps, than 
 economics has ever been taught in the past. This greater 
 question of the teacher's conception of economics domi- 
 nates all the minor questions of method. Economics can- 
 not be taught as an integrated course in principles by 
 teachers without theoretical training and conceptions; in 
 such hands its treatment is best limited to the descriptive 
 phases of concrete special problems, — valuable, indeed, as 
 a background and basis, but never rising to the plane upon 
 
 combined effect, they would carry us away from " the old familiar 
 moorings." 
 
 Such a view, it need not be urged, reflects an unscientific state 
 of mind. The real cause of the rejection of the ideas probably 
 is the shrinking of over-busy men, in middle life, and absorbed 
 in teaching and in special problems, from the intellectual task of 
 restudying the fundamentals and revising many of their earlier 
 formed opinions — to say nothing of rewriting many of their old 
 lectures and manuscripts. 
 
240 College Teaching 
 
 which alone economics is fully worth the student's while 
 as a college subject. 
 
 Frank Albert Fetter 
 
 Princeton University 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 The literature on the teaching of economics in the secondary 
 schools, its need and its proper scope and method, is somewhat ex- 
 tensive. Another goodly group of articles discusses the teaching of 
 economic history and of other social sciences related to economics, 
 either in high schools or colleges. A somewhat smaller group per- 
 tains to graduate instruction in the universities. The following brief 
 list of titles, arranged chronologically, is most pertinent to our pres- 
 ent purpose: 
 
 " The Relation of the Teaching of Economic History to the Teaching 
 
 of Political Economy" (pages 88-101), and *' Methods of Teach 
 
 ing Economics" (pages 105-111), A. E. A. Economic Studies 
 
 Vol. 3, 1898. 
 Proceedings of a conference on the teaching of elementary economics 
 
 Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 17, December, 1909. 
 Taylor, F. M, " Methods of Teaching Elementary Economics,' 
 
 Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 17, December, 1909, page 688 
 Wolfe, A. B. " Aim and Content of a College Course in Elementary 
 
 Economics," Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 17, December. 
 
 1909, page 673. 
 Symposium by Carver, Clark, Seager, Seligman, Nearing, et al 
 
 Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 18, 1910. 
 Report of the Committee on the Teaching of Economics, Journal of 
 
 Political Economy, Vol. 19, 1911, pages 760-789. 
 Robinson, L. N. " The Seminar in the Colleges," Journal of Politi- 
 cal Economy, Vol. 21, 1913, page 643. 
 Wolfe, A. B. " The Aim and Content of the Undergraduate 
 
 Economics Curriculum," Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 21, 
 
 1913, page 1. 
 Persons, Charles E. " Teaching the Introductory Course in 
 
 Economics," Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1916. 
 
XI 
 THE TEACHING OF SOCIOLOGY 
 
 THE teaching of sociolosry as a definite collesre subject Growth of 
 o J socio lOffV 
 
 in the United States began at Yale nearly forty-five asacoi- 
 
 years ago. Since 1873 it has been introduced into nearly ^®^® subject 
 200 American colleges, universities, normal schools, and 
 seminaries. A study of this teaching in 1910 revealed over 
 700 courses offered to over 8000 undergraduates and 1100 
 graduate students. It is safe to assume a steady growth 
 during the last six years. Hence the problem of teaching 
 is of no little concern to sociologists. The American 
 Sociological Society early recognized this fact and in 1909 
 appointed a Committee of Ten to report on certain aspects 
 of the problem. But that all teachers of sociology have 
 not grasped the bearing of pedagogy upon their work is 
 clear from complaints still heard from students that 
 sociology is vague, indefinite, abstract, dull, or scattered. 
 Not long ago some bright members of a class were over- 
 heard declaring that their professor must have been struck 
 by a gust of wind which scattered his notes every day be- 
 fore getting to his desk. 
 
 Sociology is simply a way of looking at the same world Thepeda- 
 of reality which every other science looks at in its own way. sociology 
 It cannot therefore depart far from the pedagogical prin- f^^g^^^^^^^ 
 ciples tried out in teaching other subjects. It must utilize college sub- 
 the psychology of attention, interest, drill, the problem "'®^*^ 
 method, procedure from the student's known to the new, 
 etc. The universal pitfalls have been charted for all 
 teachers by the educational psychologists. In addition, 
 sociology may offer a few on its own account, partly be- 
 cause it is new, partly because a general agreement as to 
 the content of fundamentals in sociology courses is just 
 beginning to make itself felt, partly because there is so 
 far no really good textbook available as a guide to the 
 
 beginner. 
 
 241 
 
242 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Methods of 
 teaching 
 sociology 
 determined 
 by a com- 
 plex of vital 
 factors 
 
 Guiding 
 principles 
 in the 
 teaching of 
 sociology — 
 The teacher 
 as keen 
 analyst, not 
 revivalist 
 
 Avoiding 
 the formal 
 lecture 
 
 Specific methods of teaching vary according to individual 
 temperament, the "set" of the teacher's mind; according 
 to his bias of class, birth, or training; according to whether 
 he has been formed or deformed by some strong personal- 
 ity whose disciple he has become; according to whether 
 he is a radical or a conservative; according to whether he 
 is the dreamy, idealistic type or whether he hankers after 
 concrete facts; according to whether sociology is a primary 
 interest or only an incidental, more or less unwelcome. 
 
 Hence part of the difficulty, though by no means all, 
 comes from the fact that sociology is frequently expounded 
 by men who have received no specific training themselves 
 in the subject, or who have had the subject thrust upon 
 them as a side issue. In this connection it is interesting 
 to note that in 1910 sociology was " given " in only 20 
 cases by sociology departments, in 63 by combinations of 
 economics, history, and politics, in 11 by philosophy and 
 psychology, in 2 by economics and applied Christianity or 
 theology, in 1 by practical theology! 
 
 Whatever the path which led into fehe sociological field 
 or whatever the bias of temperament, experience justifies 
 several preliminary hints for successful teaching. First, 
 avoid the voice, the yearning manner, and the gesture of 
 the preacher. Sociology needs the cool-headed analyst 
 rather than the social revivalist. Let the sentimentalist 
 and the muck-raker stay with their lecture circuits and the 
 newspapers. The student wants enthusiasm and inspira- 
 tion rather than sentimentality. 
 
 Second, renounce the lecture, particularly with young 
 students. There is no surer method of blighting the in- 
 terest of students, of murdering their minds, and of ossify- 
 ing the instructor than to persist in the pernicious habit 
 of the formal lecture. Some men plead large classes in 
 excuse. If they were honest with themselves they would 
 usually find that they like large classes as a subtle sort of 
 compliment to themselves. Given the opportunity to break 
 up a class of two hundred into small discussion groups 
 they would frequently refuse, on the score that they would 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 243 
 
 lose a fine opportunity to influence a large group. Dodge 
 
 it as you will, the lecture is and will continue to be an 
 
 unsatisfactory, even vicious, way of attempting to teach 
 
 social science. No reputable university tries to teach 
 
 economics or politics nowadays in huge lecture sections. 
 
 Only an abnormal conceit or abysmal poverty will prevent 
 
 sociology departments from doing likewise. Remember 
 
 that education is always an exchange, never a free gift. 
 
 Third, do not be afraid to utilize commonplace facts and Adjusting 
 .„ . . c ^ c r • 1 • instruction 
 
 illustrations. A successiul proiessor oi sociology writes to the 
 
 me that he can remember that what are mere common- capacities 
 
 of your 
 
 places now were revelations to him at twenty-one. Two of students 
 the greatest teachers of the nineteenth century, Faraday 
 and Huxley, attributed their success to the simple maxim, 
 take nothing for granted. It is safe to assume that most 
 students come from homes where business and petty neigh-, 
 borhood doings are the chief concern, and where a broad, 
 well-informed outlook on life is rare. Since so many of 
 my colleagues insist that young Ph.D.'s tend constantly to 
 " shoot over the heads " of their students, the best way of 
 avoiding this particular pitfall seems to lie along the road 
 of simple, elementary, concrete fact. The discussion 
 method in the classroom will soon put the instructor right 
 if he has gone to the other extreme of depreciating his 
 students through kindergarten methods. Likewise he can 
 guard against being oracular and pedantic by letting out 
 his superior stores of information through free discussion 
 in the Socratic fashion. Nothing is more important to 
 good teaching than the knack of apt illustration. While 
 to a certain extent it can be taught, just as the art of tell- 
 ing a humorous story or making a presentation speech can 
 be communicated by teachers of oral English, yet in the 
 long run it is rather a matter of spontaneous upwellings 
 from a well-stored mind. For example, suppose a class 
 is studying the factors of variation and selection in social 
 evolution: the instructor shows how Nature loves averages, 
 not only by statistics and experiments with the standard 
 curve of distribution, but also, if he is a really illuminated 
 
244 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Pedagogical 
 suggestions 
 summarized 
 
 The course 
 of study — 
 (a) Deter- 
 mined by 
 the maturi- 
 ty of the 
 students 
 
 teacher, by reference, say, to the legend of David and 
 Goliath, the fairy tale of Little One-Eye, Little Two-Eye, 
 Little Three-Eye, and Lincoln's famous aphorism to the 
 effect that the Lord must love the common people because 
 he made so many of them. Sad experience advises that it 
 is unsafe for an instructor any longer to assume that college 
 sophomores are familiar with the Old Testament, classic 
 myths, or Greek and Roman history. Hence he must be- 
 ware of using any recondite allusions or illustrations which 
 themselves need so much explanation that their bearing on 
 the immediate problem in hand is obscured. An illustra- 
 tion, like a funny story, loses its pungency if it requires a 
 scholium. 
 
 Fourth, adhere to what a friend calls the 16 to 1 basis 
 — 16 parts fact and 1 part theory. Fifth, eschew the pro- 
 fessor's chair. The blackboard is the teacher's " next 
 friend." Recent time-motion studies lead us to believe that 
 no man can use a blackboard efficiently unless he stands! 
 The most celebrated teaching in history was peripatetic. 
 Sixth, postpone the reconciling of discrepant social 
 theorizings to the tougher-hided seniors or graduate 
 students, and stick to the presentation of " accessible 
 realities." Finally, an occasional friendly meeting with 
 students, say once or twice a semester at an informal 
 supper, will create an atmosphere of cooperative learning, 
 will break down the traditional barriers of hostility between 
 master and pupil, and may incidentally bring to the surface 
 many useful hints for the framing of discussion prob- 
 lems. 
 
 To a certain extent teaching methods are determined by 
 the age of the students. In 1910, of all the institutions 
 reporting, 73 stated that sociology instruction began in the 
 junior year; 23 admitted sophomores, 4 freshmen, 39 
 seniors. But the unmistakable drift is in the direction of in- 
 troducing sociology earlier in the college curriculum, and 
 even into secondary and elementary schools. Hence the 
 cautions voiced above tend to become all the more im- 
 perative. Moreover, while in the past it has been possible 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 245 
 
 to exact history, economics, political science, philosophy, 
 psychology, or education as prerequisite to beginning work 
 in sociology, in view of the downward trend of sociology 
 courses it becomes increasingly more difficult to take things 
 for granted in the student's preparation. Until the dream 
 of offering a semester or year of general social science 
 to all freshmen as the introduction to work in the special- 
 ized branches of social science comes true, the sociologist 
 must communicate to his elementary classes a sense of the 
 relations between his view of social phenomena and the 
 aspects of the same phenomena which the historian, the 
 economist, the political scientist, and the psychologist 
 handle. 
 
 Both the content and methods of sociological instruction (b) Deter- 
 are determined also in part by what its purpose is conceived "^T^^/ 
 to be. A study of the beginnings of teaching this subject 
 in the United States shows that it was prompted primarily 
 by practical ends. For example, the American Social 
 Science Association proposal (1878), in so far as it covered 
 the field of sociology, included only courses on punish- 
 ment and reformation of criminals, public and private 
 charities, and prevention of vice. President White of 
 Cornell in 1871 recommended a course of practical in- 
 struction "calculated to fit young men to discuss intelli- 
 gently such important social questions as the best methods 
 of dealing practically with pauperism, intemperance, crime 
 of various degrees and among persons of different ages, 
 insanity, idiocy, and the like." Columbia University early 
 announced that a university situated in such a city, full 
 of problems at a time when "industrial and social 
 progress is bringing the modern community face to face 
 with social questions of the greatest magnitude, the solu- 
 tion of which will demand the best scientific study and the 
 most honest practical endeavor," must provide facilities for 
 bringing university study into connection with practical 
 work. In 1901 definite practical courses shared honors 
 of first place with the elementary or general course in 
 college announcements. The situation was practically the 
 
246 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 (c) Deter- 
 mined by 
 the social 
 character of 
 the com- 
 munity 
 
 The intro- 
 ductory 
 course the 
 vital point 
 of contact 
 between 
 student and 
 the depart- 
 ment 
 
 same ten years later. Still more recently Professor Black- 
 mar, one of the veterans in sociology teaching, worked 
 out rather an elaborate program of what he called a " rea- 
 sonable department of sociology for colleges and universi- 
 ties." In spite of the fact that theoretical, biological, 
 anthropological, and psychological aspects of the subject 
 were emphasized, his conclusion was that " the whole aim 
 is to ground sociology in general utility and social service. 
 It is a preparation for social efficiency." 
 
 The principle of adaptation to environment comes into 
 play also in the choice of teaching methods. An urban 
 department can send its students directly into the field 
 for first-hand observation of industry, housing, sanitation, 
 congestion, playgrounds, immigration, etc., and may en- 
 courage " supervised field work " as fulfilling course re- 
 quirements. But the country or small town department 
 far removed from large cities must emphasize rural social 
 study, or get its urban data second hand through print, 
 charts, photographs, or lantern slides. A semester ex- 
 cursion to the city or to some state charitable institution 
 adds such a touch of vividness to the routine class work. 
 But " slumming parties " are to be ruthlessly tabooed, 
 particularly when featured in the newspapers. Social 
 science is not called upon to make experimental guinea 
 pigs of the poor simply because of their poverty and in- 
 ability to protect themselves. 
 
 For many reasons the most serious problems of teaching 
 sociology center about the elementary or introductory 
 course. Advanced undergraduate and graduate courses 
 usually stand or fall by the inherent appeal of their con- 
 tent as organized by the peculiar genius of the instructor. 
 If the student has been able to weather the storms of his 
 " Introduction," he will usually have gained enough 
 momentum to carry him along even against the adverse 
 winds of bad pedagogy in the upper academic zones. 
 Since the whole purpose of sociology is the very practical 
 one of giving the student mental tools with which to think 
 straight on societal problems (what Comte called the 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 247 
 
 "social point of view"), and since usually only a com- 
 paratively small number find it possible to specialize in 
 advanced courses, the introductory course assumes what at 
 first sight might seem a disproportionate importance. 
 Only one or two teachers of sociology, so far as I know, 
 discount the value of an elementary course. The rest are 
 persuaded of its fundamental importance, and many, there- 
 fore, consider it a breach of trust to turn over this course 
 to green, untried instructors. Partly as a recruiting de- 
 vice for their advanced courses, partly from this sense of 
 duty, they undertake instruction of beginners. But it is 
 often impossible for the veteran to carry this elementary 
 work: he must commit it to younger men. For that rea- 
 son the remainder of this chapter will be given over to a 
 discussion of teaching methods for such an elementary 
 course, with younger teachers in mind. 
 
 First, two or three general hints. It is unwise, to say the Teaching 
 least, to attempt to cover the social universe in one course, for the ^ 
 Better a few simple concepts, abundantly illustrated, ^^*y°5j^*^*°'y 
 organized clearly and systematically. Perhaps it is danger- 
 ous to suggest a few recurrent catch phrases to serve as 
 guiding threads throughout the course, but that was the 
 secret of the old ballad and the folk tale. Homer and the 
 makers of fairy tales combined art and pedagogy in their 
 use of descriptive epithets. Such a phrase as Ward's 
 " struggle for existence is struggle for structure " might 
 furnish the framework of a whole course. " Like-minded- 
 ness," " interest-groups," " belief -groups," and " folk- 
 ways " are also convenient refrains. 
 
 Nobody but a thoroughgoing pedant will drag his 
 students through two weeks' lectures and a hundred pages 
 of text at the beginning of the course in the effort to define 
 sociology and chart all its affinities and relations with every 
 other science. Twenty minutes at the first class meeting 
 should suffice to develop an understanding of what the 
 scientific attitude is and a tentative definition of sociology. 
 The whole course is its real definition. At the end of the 
 term the very best way of indicating the relation of sociology 
 
 course 
 
248 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 to other sciences is through suggestions about following 
 up the leads obtained in the course by work in biology, 
 economics, psychology, and other fields. This correlation 
 of the student's program gives him an intimate sense of 
 the unity in diversity of the whole range of science. 
 
 If the student is to avoid several weeks of floundering, 
 he should be led directly to observe societal relations in 
 the making. This can perhaps be accomplished best 
 through assigning a series of four problems at the first 
 class meetings. 
 
 Problem I: To show how each student spins a web 
 of social relationship. Let him take a sheet of paper, 
 place a circle representing himself in the middle of it, then 
 add dots and connecting lines for every individual or in- 
 stitution he forms a contact with during the next two or 
 three days. He will get a figure looking something like 
 this: ^, , 
 
 Mother 
 
 Dentist 
 
 5katj 
 
 riend 
 
 Police station 
 
 Florist 
 
 Problem II: To show how neighborhoods are socially 
 bound up. Let the student take a section, say two or 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 249 
 
 three blocks square, in a district he knows well, and map 
 it, — showing all the contacts. Again he will get a web 
 somewhat like this: 
 
 Sewing 
 girl 
 
 Home 
 
 Church 
 
 Rectc 
 
 iiy 
 
 These diagrams are adapted from students' reports. If 
 they seem absurdly simple, it is well to remember that 
 experience reveals the student's amazing lack of ability to 
 vizualize social relationships without some such device. 
 These diagrams, however, should serve merely as the point 
 of departure. Add to them charts showing the sources of 
 milk and other food supplies of a large city, and a sense 
 of the interdependence and reciprocity of city and country 
 will develop. Take a Mercator's projection map of the 
 world and draw the trade routes and immigration streams 
 to indicate international solidarities. Such diagrams as 
 the famous health tract " A Day in the Life of a Fly " or the 
 story of Typhoid Mary are helpful in establishing how 
 closely a community is bound together. 
 
 Problem III: To show the variety and kinds of social 
 activities, i. e., activities that bring two or more people 
 into contact. Have the student note down even the homeli- 
 est sorts of such activities, the butcher, the postman, the 
 messenger boy; insist that he go out and look instead of 
 
250 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 guessing or reading; require him to group these activi- 
 ties under headings which he may work out for himself. 
 He will usually arrive at three or four, such as getting a 
 living, recreation, political. It may be wise to ask him 
 to grade these activities as helpful, harmful, strengthening, 
 or weakening, in order to accustom him to the idea that 
 sociology must treat of good, bad, and indifferent objects. 
 
 Problem IV: To determine what the preponderant 
 social interests and activities are as judged by the amount 
 of time men devote to them. Let the student try a " time 
 budget " for a fortnight. For this purpose Giddings sug- 
 gests a large sheet of paper ruled for a wide left-hand 
 margin and 32 narrow columns: the first 24 columns for 
 hours of the day, the 25th for the word " daily," and the 
 last seven for the seven days of the week. In the margin 
 the student writes the names of every activity of whatever 
 description during the waking hours. This will furnish ex- 
 cellent training in exact habits of observation and record- 
 ing, and inductive generalization. When the summary is 
 made at the end of the fortnight, the student will have 
 worked for himself the habitual " planes of interest " along 
 which social activities lie. 
 
 At this point he ought to have convinced himself that 
 the subject matter of sociology is concrete reality, not 
 moonshine. Moreover, he should be able to lay down 
 certain fundamental marks of a social group, such as a 
 common impulse to get together, common sentiments, ideas, 
 and beliefs, reciprocal service. From the discovery of 
 habitual planes of interest (self -maintenance, self-perpetua- 
 
 ixner urge or inter- 
 est (instinct or 
 disposition) 
 
 Hunger; Wilij-to-Livl 
 Self-MaiBtenance 
 
 Sex : Self -Perpetuation 
 
 motor expression in 
 activity 
 
 The food-quest 
 
 Procreation and parent 
 hood 
 
 RESULTANT GROUP HAB 
 IT OR institution 
 
 Economic technique, 
 property, invention, 
 material arts of life 
 
 The family, ancestor 
 worship, courts of do 
 mestic relations, pa- 
 triarchal government, 
 etc. 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 251 
 
 tion, self-assertion, self-subordination, etc.) it is a simple 
 step to show diagrammatical ly how each interest impels an 
 activity, which tends to precipitate itself into a social habit 
 or institution. 
 
 The way is now clear for the two next steps, the con- To make 
 
 socio lo£rv 
 
 cepts of causation and development. Here again why not real make 
 
 follow the egocentric plan of starting with what the student ^* ®p,* 
 ° . ^ . . ° . centric 
 
 knows? Ask him to write a brief but careful autobiog- 
 raphy answering the questions — How have I come to be 
 what I am? What influences personal or otherwise have 
 played upon me? ^ The student is almost certain to lay 
 hold of the principle of determining or controlling forces, 
 and of evolution or change ; he may even be able to analyze 
 rather clearly the different types of control which have 
 cooperated in his development. 
 
 From this start it is easy to develop the genetic con- 
 cept of social life. The individual grows from simple to 
 complex. Why not the race? Here introduce a compari- 
 son between the social group known to the student, a re- 
 tarded group (such as MacClintock's or Vincent's study of 
 the Kentucky Mountaineers^) or a frontier community, 
 and a contemporary primitive tribe (say, the Hupa or Seri 
 Indians, Negritos, Bontoc Igorot, Bangala, Kafirs, Yakuts, 
 Eskimo, or Andaman Islanders) . Require a detailed com- 
 parison arranged in parallel columns on such points as 
 size, variety of occupation, food supply, security of life, 
 institutions, family life, language, religion, superstitions, 
 and opportunities for culture. 
 
 These two points of departure — the student's interest in 
 his own personality and the community influences that have 
 molded it, and the comparative study of a primitive group 
 — should harmonize the two chief rival views of teaching 
 sociologists; namely, those who urge the approach to 
 sociology through anthropology and those who find the 
 best avenue through the concrete knowledge of the socius. 
 
 ^ In order to secure frank statements, both these autobiographies and 
 
 the time budgets may be handed in anonymously. 
 ^American Journal of Sociology, 4:1-20; 7:1-28, 171-187. 
 
252 College Teaching 
 
 Moreover, it lays a foundation for a discussion of the 
 antiquity of man, his kinship with other living things, and 
 his evolution; that is, the biological presupposition of 
 human society. Here let me testify to the great help which 
 Osborn's photographs ^ of reconstructions of the Pithecan- 
 thropos, Piltdown, Neanderthal, and Cro-Magnon types 
 have rendered in clearing away prejudices and in vivifying 
 the remote past. Religious apprehensions in particular 
 may be allayed also by referring students to articles on 
 race, man, evolution, anthropology, etc., in such compila- 
 tions as the" Catholic Encyclopedia and Hastings' Encyclo- 
 pedia of Religion and Ethics. The opening chapters in 
 Marett's little book on Anthropology are so sanely and ad- 
 mirably written that they also clear away many prejudices 
 and fears. 
 
 With such a concrete body of facts contrasting primitive 
 with modern civilized social life the student will naturally 
 inquire. How did these changes come about? At this point 
 should come normally the answer in terms of what prac- 
 tically all sociologists agree upon; namely, the three great 
 sets of determining forces or phenomena, the three " con- 
 trols": (1) the physical environment (climate, topography, 
 natural resources, etc.) ; (2) man's own nature (psycho- 
 physical factors, the factors in biological evolution, the 
 role of instinct, race, and possibly the concrete problems 
 of immigration and eugenics); (3) social heredity (folk- 
 ways, customs, institutions, the arts of life, the methods 
 of getting a living, significance of tools, distribution of 
 wealth, standards of living, etc.). A blackboard diagram 
 will show how these various factors converge upon any 
 given individual. - 
 
 The amplification of these three points will ordinarily 
 
 make up the body of an introductory course so far as class 
 
 work goes. Ethnography should furnish rich illustrative 
 
 ' material. But to make class discussions really productive 
 
 the student's knowledge of his own community must be 
 
 1 In his Men of the Old Stone Age. 
 
 2 See such a diagram in Todd, Theories of Social Progress, page 240. 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 253 
 
 drawn upon. And the best way of getting this correlation 
 is through community surveys. The student should be re- 
 quired as parallel laboratory work to prepare a series of 
 chapters on his ward or part of his ward or village, cover- 
 ing the three sets of determining factors. The instructor 
 may furnish an outline of the topics to be investigated, 
 or he may pass around copies of such brief survey out- 
 lines as Aronovici's Knowing Ones Own Community or 
 Miss Byington's What Social Workers Should Know about 
 Their Own Communities; he may also refer them to any 
 one of the rapidly growing number of good urban and 
 rural surveys as models. But he should not give too much 
 information as to where materials for student reports may 
 be obtained. The disciplinary value of having to hunt out 
 facts and uncover sources is second only to the value of ac- 
 curate observation and effective presentation. If the aim 
 of a sociology course is social efficiency, experience shows 
 no better way of getting a vivid, sober, first-hand knowledge 
 of community conditions. And there is likewise no surer 
 way of compelling students to substitute facts for vapid 
 wordiness and snap judgments. 
 
 Toward the end of the course many of us have found it 
 profitable to introduce a brief discussion of what may be 
 called the highest term of the series; namely, the evolution 
 of two or three typical institutions, say law and govern- 
 ment, education, religion, and the family. These topics 
 will serve to clinch the earlier discussions and to crystallize 
 a few ideas on social control and perhaps even social 
 progress. 
 
 Normally such a course will close with a fuller defini- 
 tion of the meaning of sociology, its content, its value in 
 the study of other sciences, and, if time permits, a brief 
 historical sketch of the development of sociology as a 
 separate science. 
 
 I have no certified advice to offer on the question of text- The use of a 
 books. But the almost universal cry of sociology teachers study°^ 
 is that so far no really satisfactory text has been produced. 
 Some men still use Spencer, some write their own books, 
 
254 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The social 
 museum 
 
 Field work : 
 values and 
 limitations 
 
 some try to adapt to their particular needs such texts as 
 are issued from time to time, some use none at all but de- 
 pend upon a more or less well-correlated syllabus or set of 
 readings. There -is undoubtedly a profitable demand for 
 a good elementary source book comparable to Thomas's 
 Source Book on Social Origins or Marshall, Wright, and 
 Field's Materials for the Study of Elementary Economics. 
 Nearly any text will need freshening up by collateral read- 
 ing from such periodicals as The Survey or The New Re- 
 public. In order to secure effective and correlated out- 
 side reading, many teachers have found it helpful to re- 
 quire the students to devote the first five or ten minutes of 
 a class meeting once a week or even daily to a written 
 summary of their readings and of class discussions. Such 
 a device keeps readings fresh and enables the teacher to 
 emphasize the points of contact between readings and class 
 work. 
 
 Every university should develop some sort of a social 
 museum, to cover primitive types of men, the evolution of 
 tools, arts of life, manners and customs, and contemporary 
 social conditions. These can be displayed in the form of 
 plaster casts, ethnographic specimens, photographs, lantern 
 slides, models of housing, statistical charts, printed mono- 
 graphs, etc. The massing of a series of these illustra- 
 tions sometimes produces a profound effect. For example, 
 the corridor leading to the sociology rooms at the Univer- 
 sity of Minnesota has been lined with large photographs 
 of tenement conditions, child labor, immigrant types, etc. 
 The student's interest and curiosity have been heightened 
 immensely. Once a semester, during the discussion of the 
 economic factor in social life, we stage what is facetiously 
 called " a display of society's dirty linen." The classroom 
 is decorated with a set of charts showing the distribution 
 of wealth, wages, cost of living, growth of labor unions 
 and other organizations of economic protest. The mass 
 effect is a cumulative challenge. 
 
 Finally, a word about " field work " as a teaching de- 
 vice. Field work usually means some sort of social service 
 
The Teaching of Sociology 255 
 
 practice work under direction of a charitable agency, 
 juvenile court, settlement, or playground. But beginning 
 students are usually more of a liability than an asset to 
 such agencies; they lack the time to supervise students' 
 work, and field work without strict supervision is a farcical 
 waste of time. If such agencies will accept a few students 
 who have the learner's attitude rather than an inflated per- 
 suasion of their social Messiahship, field work can become 
 a very valuable adjunct to class work. In default of such 
 opportunities the very best field work is an open-eyed study 
 of one's own community, in the attempt to find out what 
 actually is rather than to reform a hypothetical evil.^ 
 
 Arthur J. Todd 
 
 University of Minnesota 
 
 ^ While accepting full responsibility for the opinions herein set forth, 
 I wish to express my appreciation of assistance rendered by a large 
 group of colleagues in the American Sociological Society. 
 
XII 
 
 THE TEACHING OF HISTORY 
 
 A. The Teaching of American History 
 
 fiT^t^cher T T^^^^^^ ^^ ^ science attempts to explain the develop- 
 
 H 
 
 of history X X ment of civilization. The investigator of the sources 
 of history must do his part in a truly scientific spirit. He 
 must examine with the utmost scrutiny the many sources 
 on which the history of the past has its foundation. He 
 reveals facts, and through them the truth is established. 
 
 But history is more than a science. It is an art. The 
 investigator is not necessarily a historian, any more than 
 a lumberman is an architect. The historian must use all 
 available material, whether the result of his own researches 
 or that of others. He must weigh all facts and deduct 
 from them the truth. He must analyze, synthesize, organ- 
 ize, and generalize. He must absorb the spirit of the people 
 of whom he writes and color the narrative as little as pos- 
 sible with his oiwn prejudices. But the historian must be 
 more than a narrator; he must be an interpreter. As an 
 interpreter he should never lose sight of the fact that all 
 his deductions should be along scientific lines. Even then 
 he will not escape errors. In pure science error is inad- 
 missible. In history minor errors of fact are unavoidable, 
 but their presence need not seriously affect the general 
 conclusions. In spite of many misstatements of fact, a 
 historical work may be substantially correct in the 
 main things — in presenting and interpreting with true 
 perspective the life and spirit of the people of whom it 
 treats. 
 
 The historian must be more than a chronicler and an 
 interpreter. He must be master of a lucid, virile, at- 
 tractive literary style. The power of expression, indeed, 
 must be one of his chief accomplishments. The old notion, 
 it is true, that history is merely a branch of literature is 
 
 256 
 
The Teaching of History 257 
 
 quite as erroneous as the later theory that history is a pure 
 
 science and must be dissociated from all literary form. 
 
 The pioneer investigator who patiently delves into The teacher 
 
 sources and brings to light new material deserves high asthe*°''^ 
 
 praise, but far rarer is the gift of the man who sees history teacher of 
 •x J. . • 1 1 . , , the evolu- 
 
 m Its true perspective, who can construct the right relation- tion of 
 
 ships and can then reproduce the past in compelling civilization 
 literary form. A historian without literary charm is like 
 an architect who cares only for the utility and nothing for 
 the grace and beauty of his building. 
 
 The history teacher who slavishly follows old Thechrono- 
 chronological methods has not kept pace with modern p°o?n?if 
 progress; but the teacher who has discarded the chronologi- "^^^^ 
 cal method has ventured without a compass on an unknown 
 sea. Chronology, the sequence of events, is as necessary 
 in history as distance and direction in geography. 
 
 A modern school of history teachers would make "^^^ 
 economics the sole background of history, would explain point^f*' 
 all historic events from the economic standpoint — to ^^®^ 
 which school this writer does not belong. Economics has 
 played a great part in the course of human events, but it is 
 only one of many causes that explain history. For ex- 
 ample, the Trojan War (if there was a Trojan War), the 
 conquests of Alexander, the Mohammedan invasions, were 
 due chiefly to other causes. 
 
 Nor would we agree with the school of modern educators "^^^ 
 who would eliminate the culture studies from the curricu- viewpoint 
 lum, retaining only those which make for present-day 
 utilitarianism. A general education imparts power and 
 enlarges life, and such an education should precede all 
 technical and specialized training. If a young man with 
 the solid foundation of a liberal education fail in this or 
 that walk of life, the fault must be sought elsewhere than 
 in his education. The late E. H. Harriman made a wise 
 observation when he said that though a high school 
 graduate may excel the college graduate in the same em- 
 ployment for the first year, the latter would at length over- 
 take and pass him and henceforth remain in the lead. 
 
258 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Aims of 
 history in 
 the college 
 curriculum 
 
 What can 
 the study 
 of Ameri- 
 can history 
 give the 
 college 
 student? 
 
 The uses of the study of history are many, the most im- 
 portant of which perhaps is that it aids us in penetrating 
 the present. Our understanding of every phase of modern 
 life is no doubt strengthened by a knowledge of the past. 
 It is trite but true to say that the study of history is a 
 study of human nature, that a knowledge of the origin and 
 growth of the institutions we enjoy makes for a good citi- 
 zenship, that the study of history is a cultural study and 
 that it ranks with other studies as a means of mental dis- 
 cipline. Finally, the reading of history by one who has 
 learned to love it is an abiding source of entertainment and 
 mental recreation. It is one of the two branches of knowl- 
 edge (the other being literature) which no intelligent per- 
 son, whatever his occupation, can afford to lay aside after 
 quitting school. 
 
 The most important historical study is always that of 
 one's own country. In our American colleges, therefore, 
 the study of American history must take precedence over 
 that of any other, though an exception may be made in case 
 a student is preparing to teach the history of some other 
 country or period. It must not be forgotten, however, by 
 the student of American history that a study of the 
 European background is an essential part of it. 
 
 From its very newness the history of the United States 
 may seem less fascinating than that of the older countries, 
 and, indeed, it is true that the glamour of romance that 
 gathers around the stories of royal dynasties, orders of 
 nobility, and ancient castles is wanting in American history. 
 But there is much to compensate for this. The coming of 
 the early settlers, often because of oppression in their native 
 land, their long struggle with the forest and with the wild 
 men and wild beasts of the forest, the gradual conquest 
 of the soil, the founding of cities, the transplanting of 
 European institutions and their development under new 
 environment — the successful revolt against political op- 
 pression and the fearless grappling with the problem of 
 self-government when nearly all governments in the world 
 were monarchical — these and many other phases of Ameri- 
 
The Teaching of History 259 
 
 can history furnish a most fascinating story as a mere 
 story. 
 
 But to the student of politics and history the most unique To the coi- 
 and interesting thing, perhaps, in American history lies American 
 in the fact that the United States is the first ereat country history 
 
 must Tjg 
 
 in the world's history in which the federal system has been presented as 
 successful — if we assume that our experimental period the**sTccess 
 has passed. Perhaps the greatest of all governmental ofdemoc- 
 problems is just this: How to strike the right balance ^^^^ 
 between these opposing tendencies — liberty and union, 
 democracy and nationality — so that the people may enjoy 
 the benefits of both. The United States has, no doubt, come 
 nearer than any other country to solving this problem, and 
 the fact greatly enhances the interest in our history. This 
 is a question of political science rather than of history, 
 it is true, but the history of any country and its govern- 
 ment are inseparably bound together. 
 
 In the regular college curriculum there should be, in utilitarian 
 my opinion, two courses in American history. -vbIuq 
 
 Course I — about 3 hours for one academic year (6 organiza- 
 semester-hours) in the freshman or sophomore year, cover- *o°"rsesand 
 ing the whole story of the United States. About one third methods of 
 of the year's work should cover the Colonial and Revolu- 
 tionary periods. Of the remaining two thirds of the year 
 I should devote about half to the period since the Civil 
 War. 
 
 This course should be required of all students taking 
 the A.B. degree and in all other liberal arts courses; an 
 exception may be made in the case of those taking certain 
 specialized scientific courses — for these students, the 
 history required in the high school may be deemed sufficient. 
 
 In this course a textbook is necessary, and if the class 
 is large it is desirable that the text be uniform. The text 
 should be written by a true historian with broad and com- 
 prehensive views, by one who knows how to appraise his- 
 toric values, and, if possible, by one who commands an at- 
 tractive literary style. If the textbook is written by Dr. 
 Dry-as-dust, however learned he may be, the whole burden 
 
260 College Teaching 
 
 of keeping the class interested rests with the teacher; and, 
 moreover, many of the students will never become lovers 
 of the subject to such a degree as to make it a lifelong 
 study. 
 
 The exclusive lecture system is intolerable, and the same 
 is true of the quiz. A teacher will do his best work if un- 
 trammeled by rules. He should conduct a class in his own 
 way and according to his own temperament. It is doubtful 
 if the teacher who carefully plans and maps out the work 
 he intends to present to the class is the most successful 
 teacher. A teacher who is free, spontaneous, without a 
 fixed method, ready in passing from the lecture to the quiz 
 and vice versa at any moment, quick in asking unexpected 
 questions, will usually have little trouble in keeping a class 
 alert. Above all, a teacher of college history must explain 
 the meaning of things with far greater fullness than is pos- 
 sible in a condensed textbook, and it is a most excellent 
 practice to ask opinions of members of the class on almost 
 all debatable questions that may arise. The reason for 
 this is obvious. 
 
 The usual method of the writer, in as far as he has a 
 method, is to spend the first fifteen or twenty minutes of 
 the class hour in hearing reports from two or three students 
 on special topics that have been assigned them a week or 
 two before, topics that require library reference work and 
 that could not possibly be developed from the textbook. 
 These topics are not on the subject of the day's lesson, but 
 of some preceding lesson. After commenting on these re- 
 ports and often asking for opinions and comments of the 
 class, we plunge into the day's lesson. 
 
 The use of a current periodical in class should be en- 
 couraged. It brings the learner into direct contact with 
 life and often illuminates the past. 
 
 Current events as presented in the daily papers should 
 often be the subject of comment, but the daily newspaper 
 is not suitable for class use. Even the weekly is, for 
 several reasons, less desirable than the monthly. It must 
 not be forgotten that the basal, fundamental work of the 
 
The Teaching of History 261 
 
 class is, not to keep posted on current affairs, but to study 
 the elements under the guidance of a textbook and an in- 
 spiring teacher to interpret it. The weekly is less accurate 
 than the monthly and less literary in form, and, moreover, 
 it comes too often. It is apt to take too much time from 
 the study of the fundamentals. The use of the periodical 
 in the history class has probably come to stay and it should 
 stay, but it should be only incidental and supplementary. 
 
 Course II should be given in the junior or senior year. 
 It should be elective, should cover at least two year -hours, 
 and should be wholly devoted to the national period of 
 American history. Only those having taken Course I 
 should be eligible to this class. 
 
 Every student who expects to read law, to enter journal- 
 ism or politics, or to teach history or political science 
 should take this course. The class will be smaller than 
 in Course I. Uniform textbooks need not be required, or 
 the class may be conducted without a text. Most of the 
 work must be done from the library. 
 
 It is assumed that the members of this class have a good 
 knowledge of the narrative, and it is needless to follow it 
 closely again. A better plan is to choose an important 
 phase of the history here and there and study intensively. 
 Much use should be made of original sources such as Presi- 
 dents' messages. Congressional Record, speeches and writ- 
 ings of the times, but the class must not ignore the fact 
 that a vast amount of good material may be had from the 
 historians. It must also be remembered that original re- 
 search is for the graduate student and the specialist rather 
 than for the undergraduate. 
 
 In conclusion, I shall explain a method of examination ^g^*i?^ } ^® 
 that I have frequently employed with apparently excellent instruction 
 results. Two or three weeks before the time of the exami- 
 nation I give the class a series of topics, perhaps fifty or 
 more, carefully chosen from the entire subject that has been 
 studied during the semester. Instead of having the usual 
 review of the text, we talk over these subjects in class dur- 
 ing the remainder of the semester. The examination is 
 
262 College Teaching 
 
 oral, not written. The time for examination is divided into 
 three, four, or five minute periods, according to the number 
 in the class. When a student's name is called, he comes 
 forward and draws from a box one of the topics and dilates 
 on it before the class during his allotted time. If he fails 
 on the first topic he may have another draw, but his grade 
 will be reduced. A second failure would mean a "flunk," 
 unless the class marks are very high. 
 
 There are three or four real advantages in this form 
 of examination: (1) It saves the teacher hours of labor in 
 reading examination papers; (2) the teacher, in selecting 
 the topics, omits the unimportant and chooses only the 
 salient, leading subjects such as every student should 
 master and remember; (3) the student, knowing that no 
 new questions will be sprung for the examination, will be 
 almost sure to be prepared on every question. Failures 
 under this system have been much less frequent than under 
 the old system of written examinations; (4) it practically 
 eliminates all chance of cheating in examination. 
 
 Henry W. Elson 
 
 Thiel College 
 
The Teaching of History 203 
 
 B. Modi<:rn European History 
 
 TEACHING European history in coIle£i;es is, in many Hi»toryto 
 ...r r , . II. be taught 
 
 ways, not (JilM;rf;nt Irorn toacriing any other history. aBanevo- 
 
 In each instance it is to he rememhered that history in- pioces?^ 
 eludes all activities of man and not merely his political life, 
 that facts and data are not intrinsically valuahh; hut are 
 merely a means to an end, that the end of history is to 
 inform us where man came from, what experiences he 
 passed through, and chiefly, what were the fundamental 
 forces hehind his experiences. The emphasis should he put 
 on the stimuli — economic, political, religious, or social — 
 that lead man to act, instead of narrating his action. In 
 a word, not what happened or when it happened, but why 
 it happened, is of importance in college history. Stress- 
 ing the stimuli in history will almost inevitably lead to 
 treating history as a continuous or evolutionary process, 
 which of itself greatly increases the interest of the subject. 
 
 It is hiiifhiy desirable that in teaching modern history Because 
 
 hlHtory Ih 
 very much more time be given to recent history than has an evoiu- 
 
 generally been the case. Frederick William 1 showed that *Jj°"/}n"lTJ"* 
 he accepted this when he instructed the tutors of Frederick present 
 (later the Great) to teach the history of the last fifty 
 years to the exactest pitch. So important is this that, even 
 when teaching early periods, constant contrasts or compari- 
 sons with present conditions should be made, and the 
 descent of ideas and institutions to modern times should 
 be sketched, as it shows the student that remote events or 
 institutions have a relationship to current life. 
 
 Certain special aims of history have been advocated. Disciplinary 
 
 V3#lll6H of 
 
 It is held to be of disciplinary value, especially in history 
 strengthening the memory. Though this is true, it is hardly 
 a good reason for studying history, as the memory can be 
 perfected on almost anything, on the dictionary, poetry, 
 formulae, family records, gossip, or cans on grocery shelves, 
 some of which may indeed be of more practical value than 
 dates. In college, at least, history should aim to explain 
 
264 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion of 
 courses in 
 history — 
 What to 
 teach in the 
 beginning 
 course 
 
 Gradation 
 of courses 
 determined 
 by content 
 
 social tendencies and processes in a rational way rather 
 than to develop the memory. The latter method tends to 
 make the student passive and narrow, the former requires 
 cerebration and develops breadth and depth of vision 
 Understanding history, rather than memorizing it, has 
 cultural value. To be* sure, understanding presupposes in- 
 formation; but where there is a desire to understand, the 
 process of seeking and acquiring the information is natural 
 and tends to care for itself. 
 
 History is not a prerequisite to professional careers in 
 the way mathematics is to engineering; still, special 
 periods, chiefly the modern, are highly useful to lawyers, 
 journalists, publicists, statesmen, and others, each of whom 
 selects what he finds most useful to his purposes. 
 
 The point of view in history teaching is more material 
 than the machinery or methods employed. These must and 
 should vary with persons and conditions. Ordinarily, how- 
 ever, it seems preferable to offer some part of European 
 history as the first-year college course, because students 
 have usually had considerable American history in high 
 school, and the change adds new interest. Whether this 
 course be general, medieval, or modern European history 
 is of little importance, though, of course, medieval should 
 precede modern history. In any case, the course should 
 offer the student a good deal more than he may have had 
 in high school, if for no other reason than to justify the 
 profound respect with which he ordinarily comes to college. 
 It should come often enough a week to grip the student, 
 especially the history major. 
 
 Gradation of courses in history on the basis of subject 
 matter is largely arbitrary, and turns upon the method 
 of presentation. General courses naturally precede period 
 courses. A sound principle is to select courses adapted 
 to the stages of the student's development. On this prin- 
 ciple it has already been suggested that the first college 
 course should be, not American but European history. 
 English, ancient, medieval, or modern history immediately 
 suggest themselves, with strong arguments in favor of the 
 
The Teaching of History 265 
 
 first if but one freshman course is offered, as it forms 
 a natural projection of American history into the past. 
 Beyond this, what subject matter is offered in the several 
 years is largely a matter of local convenience, as the college 
 student understands the general history of all nations or 
 periods about equally well. It is now clear, however, that 
 the student should know more modern and contemporary 
 European history than he has been getting, and the sound 
 training of an American of the future should include 
 thorough training in modern European history. 
 
 Gradation based on the method of presentation is more Gradation 
 nearly possible. Graduate courses presuppose training in ^'ay^Srde- 
 the auxiliary sciences, in the necessary languages, in re- terminedby 
 search methods, in the special field of research, as well as Saching°^ 
 a knowledge of general history. This establishes a sort of 
 sequence of the methods to be employed, irrespective of 
 subject matter. 
 
 The lecture method is convenient for the elementary Method of 
 
 courses, especially if, as is so often the case, these have teaching in- 
 , 1 r 1 T 1 troductory 
 
 a large number oi students. It cannot, however, be gain- courses — 
 
 said that convenience or, worse still, economy is a weak ^etho" 
 argument in favor of the lecture course, especially for the 
 first-year student. To him the lecture method is unknown, 
 and he flounders about a good deal if he is left to work 
 out his own salvation; and then, too, just when he needs 
 personal direction and particularly when, as a youth away 
 from home for the first time, he needs some definite and 
 unescapable task that shall teach discipline and duty as 
 well as give information, the lecture system gives him the 
 maximum of liberty with the minimum of aid or direction. 
 These considerations strongly advocate small classes for 
 freshmen, frequent recitations, discussions, tests, papers and 
 maps, library problems — in short, a laboratory system. 
 Every student should always have at least one course in 
 which he is held to rigid and exact performance. These 
 courses should be required, no matter what the special 
 field or period of history, and should form a sequence lead- 
 ing to a degree and providing training for a technical and 
 
266 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Topical 
 method in 
 European 
 history 
 
 A.ssigned 
 reading 
 
 professional career. In addition to these courses, designed 
 to assure personal work and supervision, enough other, pre- 
 sumably lecture, courses should be required to secure a 
 general knowledge of history. Beyond that there are al- 
 ways enough electives to satisfy any personal wish or whim 
 of the student. 
 
 There is much to be said, especially in modern history, 
 for the topical treatment of institutions. In a very 
 specialized course a single institution may be treated; but 
 even in a general course, treating the several human institu- 
 tions as evolutionary organisms seems preferable and is 
 more interesting than a chronological narrative, which 
 grows more inane the more general the course. Courses 
 which come to modern times can trace existing institutions 
 and their immediate antecedents, thus giving an advan- 
 tage that many instructors neglect from the mere tradition 
 that history does not come down to living man. No primi- 
 tive superstition needs to be dispelled more than this, if 
 history is to maintain its hold in the modern college. In- 
 deed, whenever possible — which is always with modern 
 history — a course should start from the present by dwell- 
 ing on the existing conditions the historical antecedents of 
 which are to be traced. If this is done, the student forth- 
 with secures a vital interest and feels that he is trying to 
 understand his own rather than past times. After this 
 preliminary the past can be traced chronologically or 
 topically as preferred, the textbook serving as a quarry 
 for data, the teacher seeing to it that the change or progress 
 toward the present condition is perceived and understood, 
 and furnishing corroborative and analogous materials from 
 the history of other nations and periods. 
 
 It is the general practice of college courses in history 
 to require outside reading. Though this rests on the sound 
 ground that the student ought to get a large background and 
 learn to know books and writers, it is very doubtful whether 
 this aim is, in fact, achieved. The student often has too 
 much work to permit of much outside reading, and often 
 the library is too limited to give him a good choice, or 
 
The Teaching of History 267 
 
 to permit him to keep a desirable book until he has finished 
 reading it. Unguided reading is almost certainly a failure; 
 reading guided only by putting a selected list of books 
 before the student is not sure to be a success. The in- 
 structor ought from time to time to tell his class some- 
 thing about the books he suggests, and about their authors 
 and their careers, viewpoints and merits, as a reader always 
 profits by knowing these things. As the reading of snatches 
 from collateral books is hardly profitable, so the perusal 
 of longer histories is often impossible, and generally con- 
 fines the student for a long time to the minutiae of one 
 period while the class is going forward. In view of these 
 difficulties there is much to be said in favor of putting 
 a large textbook into the hands of a class, and requiring 
 a thorough reading and understanding of it, and corres- 
 pondingly reducing outside readings. If collateral read- 
 ing is demanded, it is a good plan to require students 
 to read a biography or a work on some special institution 
 falling within the scope of the course, — some selected 
 historical novel even, — for in that way the student reads, 
 as he will in later life, something he selects instead of a 
 required number of pages, a specific thing is covered, an 
 author's acquaintance is made, and therefore a significant 
 test can be conducted. Furthermore, as some students will 
 buy special volumes of this kind, the pressure on the library 
 is reduced. Direct access to reference shelves is always 
 recommended. One of our universities has a system of 
 renting preferred books to students. 
 
 Tests on outside reading are always difficult, but they J^^^*^^°° 
 must be employed if the reading is not to become a farce, reading 
 By having weekly reading reports on uniform cards, one 
 can often arrange groups of students who have read the 
 same thing and can therefore be tested by a single question. 
 By extending this over several weeks the majority of 
 students, even in a large class, can be tested with relatively 
 few questions. Some instructors require students to hand 
 in their reading notes, others check up the books the 
 students use in the library, still others have consultation 
 
268 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Miscellane- 
 ous aids in 
 teaching 
 history 
 
 The prob- 
 lem of suit- 
 able exami- 
 nation 
 
 The worth 
 of topical 
 or institu- 
 tional treat- 
 ment 
 
 periods in which they inquire into the student's read- 
 ing. Quiz sections, if there are any, offer a good oppor- 
 tunity to test collateral reading. 
 
 Map making, coordinated with the recitations and so 
 designed as to require more than mere tracing, is desir- 
 able in introductory courses. The imaginative historical 
 theme written by the student is employed — and success- 
 fully, it is declared — in one college. A syllabus is highly 
 useful in the hands of students in lecture courses. It can 
 be mimeographed at comparatively slight expense for each 
 lecture, thus permitting changes in successive years — a 
 distinct advantage over the printed syllabus. 
 
 How to give a fair and telling examination is the 
 college teacher's perennial problem. The less he teaches 
 and insists on facts and details, the greater his quandary. 
 A majority of students incline to parrot what they have 
 heard, to the dismay of the teacher who wants them to 
 make the subject their own. Hence tests calling the 
 memory only into play do not satisfy the true teacher or 
 the thoughtful student. At the least there should be some 
 questions requiring constructive or synthetic thinking by 
 the student. Above all, the instructor of introductory work 
 should form a first-hand personal opinion of the student 
 by requiring him to come to the office for consultation. 
 Nothing can take the place of the personal touch. Quiz 
 masters are better than no touch; but they are a poor sub- 
 stitute for the small class and direct contact, even if the in- 
 structor is not one of the masters of the profession. 
 
 The topical or institutional treatment of history has been 
 mentioned above as being particularly applicable to 
 modern history. H carefully worked out beforehand it 
 can be made to embrace virtually everything — certainly 
 everything significant — that is contained either in the text 
 or in a chronological narrative. To be sure, a topical 
 treatment of this kind places more emphasis on the common 
 experiences of mankind than does national history, and, 
 as some nations or peoples precede others in a given develop- 
 ment, history becomes continuous instead of fragmentary. 
 
The Teaching of History 
 
 269 
 
 Perhaps, too, the way certain matters are introduced into 
 " continuous " history may appear forced, unless it be re- 
 membered that this impression is created merely by its 
 dissimilarity from the usual interpretation, which is just 
 as arbitrary and forced until one gets accustomed to it. 
 It will be serviceable in arranging a topical treatment 
 of any period of history, which shall show a sense of his- 
 torical continuity and keep in mind the fundamental 
 stimuli and causes of human action, to note that virtually 
 all human interests can be classified under one of the fol- 
 lowing six heads: physical, ecomomic, social, religious, 
 political, and intellectual (or cultural). Though these are 
 never wholly isolated and are always interactive, one or the 
 other may be specially significant in a given era, and thus 
 we speak of a religious age, an age of rationalism, or the 
 period of the industrial revolution. 
 
 SUGGESTED TOPICAL OUTLINE OF MODERN 
 EUROPEAN HISTORY 
 
 To apply this more specifically to modern European his- 
 tory, there follows an outline of topics. It is general to 
 about 1789, and more detailed for the period since that time 
 (IV below) , the endeavor being to show how a topical treat- 
 ment of the development of democracy can be made to in- 
 clude practically everything of significance. There are cer- 
 tain cautions necessary here: that the outline is suggestive 
 only, that it does not pretend or aim to be complete, that 
 specific data often found in the sub-heads are to serve as 
 illustrations and not as a complete statement of sub-topics; 
 and that it is in fact merely a skeleton which can be extended 
 and amplified indefinitely by insertions. 
 
 I. Background of the modern period. 
 
 A. Economic and social conditions at the close of 
 the Middle Age. 
 
 B. Political nature of feudalism. 
 
 The governments of the 15th century. 
 
 C. The medieval church. 
 
 Classifica- 
 tion in topi- 
 cal treat- 
 ment 
 
270 College Teaching 
 
 II. The development of religious liberty. 
 
 A. The Reformation. 
 
 B. Varieties of Protestant sects, from state churches 
 to individualistic sects. 
 
 C. The Religious Wars, and toleration. 
 
 III. Absolute monarchy. 
 
 A. Dynastic states. 
 
 B. Dynastic wars and the balance of power. 
 
 IV. The development of democracy. 
 
 A. The dynastic feudal state (Ancien Regime). 
 
 1. Description of the Ancien Regime. 
 
 2. Proponents of the Ancien Regime. 
 Dynasties (divine right monarchs). 
 Feudal landlords. 
 
 Higher clergy and state churches. 
 
 The army command (younger sons of the 
 
 nobility). 
 
 The schools (education for privileged 
 
 classes only). 
 
 B. The revolutionary elements. 
 
 1. The dissatisfied feudal serf. 
 
 2. The intellectuals, rationalists, political the- 
 orists. 
 
 The " social compact." . . Popular sover- 
 eignty. 
 
 3. Religious dissenters. 
 
 4. Industrial elements. 
 
 a. The Industrial Revolution. 
 
 Resulting in exportation, markets, and 
 laissez-faire doctrines. 
 
 b. The bourgeoisie (employers). . The 
 Third Estate. 
 
 c. The proletariat. . Unorganized labor ele- 
 ments. 
 
 C. The Revolutionary Period, 1789-1800. 
 
 1. Triumph of bourgeoisie over feudal aristoc- 
 
The Teaching of History 271 
 
 racy in France, 1789-1791. Limited mon- 
 archy. Mirabeau. 
 
 2. Increasing influence and rise to control of 
 France of the Parisian proletariat. The 
 Republic. . The Terror. <, Robespierre. 
 
 3. Radiation of revolutionary ideas to other 
 nations. 
 
 4. Wars between revolutionary France and 
 monarchical Europe. 
 
 The rise of Napoleon. 
 
 D. The decline of the revolutionary elements, 1800- 
 1815. 
 
 1. France converted from a republic to an 
 empire by Napoleon. 
 
 2. The Napoleonic Wars. 
 
 a. Reveal Napoleon's dynastic ambition. 
 
 b. Lead Europe to combine against him 
 and to blame democratic ideas for the 
 sorrows of the time. 
 
 c. Result in the defeat of Napoleon and the 
 triumph of anti-democratic or reaction- 
 ary elements. 
 
 E. The fruits of the principle of popular sover- 
 eignty during the 19th century (chronologically 
 England and France lead the other countries in 
 most of these developments) .^ 
 
 1. Constitutions, embodying ever-increasing 
 popular rights and powers. 
 
 2. Extension of suffrage. Political parties 
 and party politics. 
 
 3. The spirit of nationality. 
 Independence of Greece and Belgium. 
 Unification of Italy and Germany. 
 
 1 This summary of the consequences of the doctrines of democracy is 
 allowed to break into the topical development of the outline, as it 
 gives a sort of general introduction to tendencies since 1815. It will 
 not escape the teacher that he could treat history since 1815 by tak- 
 ing up in order the topics given under this heading. 
 
272 College Teaching 
 
 National revivals in Poland, Bulgaria, Ser- 
 
 via, Rumania, Bohemia, Finland, Ireland, 
 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Imperial 
 
 Federation. 
 
 4. Class consciousness and strife. 
 
 Feudal aristocratic class — leans toward 
 absolute monarchy. 
 
 Bourgeoisie (employing capitalists) — leans 
 toward limited monarchies or republics. 
 Labor — leans toward socialism. (The 
 other elements in the society are slow in 
 developing a group consciousness.) 
 
 5. Abolition of feudal forms and tenures. 
 Fight on great landlords. Encouragement 
 of independent farmers. 
 Emancipation and protection of peasants: 
 France, 1789; Prussia, 1808; Austria, 1848; 
 Russia, 1861. 
 
 6. Social, socialistic, and humanitarian legis- 
 lation. 
 
 Factory acts, minimum wage laws, indus- 
 trial insurance, old age insurance, labor ex- 
 changes, child labor laws, prison reform 
 acts, revision of penal codes, abolition of 
 slavery and slave trade, government control 
 or ownership of railways, telephones, tele- 
 graph, and mails. 
 
 7. Opposition to state or national churches. 
 Disestablishment agitations. . Separation of 
 church and state. 
 
 8. Demand for free public schools to replace 
 church or other private schools. State lay 
 schools in England. . Suppression of teach- 
 ing orders in France. . Kulturkampf in Ger- 
 many. . Expulsion of Jesuits. . Tendency 
 toward compulsory non-sectarian education. 
 
 9. Imperialism. 
 
 Industrial societies depend on imports, ex- 
 
The Teaching of History 273 
 
 ports, and markets as means of keeping 
 labor employed and people prosperous. 
 This means export of capital, hence, 
 plans for colonies, closed doors, preferen- 
 tial markets, and demands for the protec- 
 tion of citizens abroad and political stabil- 
 ity in backward areas. 
 Partition of Africa, Asia, and Near East. 
 10. Militarism. 
 
 Expansion and colonial acquisition by one 
 country exclude another, thus unsettling the 
 balance of power. Therefore rival nations 
 depend on force and go in for military 
 and naval programs. 
 F. The conflict between reactionary and bourgeois 
 interests, 1815-1848. 
 
 1. Reactionary elements in control — opposed 
 to democracy and revolutionary doctrines. 
 a. Restore Europe as nearly as possible on 
 old lines at Vienna, 1815. 
 Ignore liberal tendencies and national 
 sentiments. 
 h. Seek to maintain status quo. 
 Metternich. . Holy Alliance. 
 Carlsbad Decrees. . Congresses of Trop- 
 pau, Laibach, Verona. . Intervention in 
 Naples, Piedmont, and Spain. 
 Proposal to restore Latin America to 
 Monarchy. 
 
 Opposed by Great Britain in compliance 
 with bourgeois interests. 
 Monroe Doctrine, 
 c. Failed to prevent: 
 
 Greek revolution and independence (na- 
 tional movement). 
 
 Separation of Belgium from the Nether- 
 lands (national). 
 Revival of liberal demands in various 
 
274 College Teaching 
 
 quarters, producing the revolution of 
 1830 in France and elsewhere. 
 2. The ascendancy of the bourgeoisie, 1830- 
 1848. 
 
 a. Industrialism on the continent. 
 
 b. The bourgeois (capitalist employer) se- 
 cures political power to advance his in- 
 terests. 
 
 Revolution of 1830. 
 
 Reform bill of 1832. 
 
 Legislation against labor organizations 
 
 and for tariffs favoring trade. 
 
 c. The development of organized labor and 
 socialism. 
 
 Legislation hostile to labor. Chartism. 
 Labor in France, Germany, and Belgium. 
 Spread of socialist doctrines. 
 
 d. The Revolution of 1848. 
 
 Socialist republican state in France, 
 1848. 
 
 The winning of constitutions in Prus- 
 sia, Austria, and elsewhere — breach in 
 the walls of reaction. 
 G. The broadening base of democracy, 1848-1914. 
 
 1. The organization of labor. 
 
 2. The spread of socialistic views and of class 
 consciousness. Karl Marx. 
 
 3. The resistance of the old aristocratic class 
 and the bourgeoisie, who gradually fuse to 
 form the conservative element in all nations. 
 Napoleon III restores the Empire in France. 
 In Austria and Prussia, Bismarck and 
 Francis Joseph II retrieve losses of 1848, 
 Disraeli and Conservatives in England. 
 
 4. The progress toward universal suffrage 
 after 1865, strengthening political position 
 of lower classes. 
 
 Vindication of democratic government 
 
The Teaching of History 275 
 
 through triumph of the North in the 
 United States gave impetus to democracy 
 abroad. 
 
 Electoral reform bills in Great Britain, 
 1867, 1884, 1885. 
 
 Franco-Prussian War and the Third French 
 Republic. . Universal suffrage. 
 Unification of Germany and universal suf- 
 frage. 
 
 Russian Revolution, 1917. 
 Woman suffrage. 
 5. Popular sovereignty and its consequences. 
 
 a. Triumph of republicans and radicals in 
 France over monarchists and clericals. 
 
 b. Liberal ministries in United Kingdom. 
 Lloyd George Budget. . Parliament Act. 
 Social legislation. 
 
 c. Growth of Social Democratic party in 
 Germany. 
 
 Bismarck and state socialism. 
 
 d. In recent times the many divergent politi- 
 cal parties fall rather instinctively into 
 three groups which have opposing views 
 and policies on almost every question, 
 and which may be called: 
 
 Conservatives (Tories, aristocrats, 
 monarchists, Junkers, clericals, capital- 
 ists, imperialists, militarists) ; peas- 
 ants and farmers, being conservative, 
 are usually politically allied to this 
 group. 
 
 Liberals (progressives, democrats, 
 labor parties. Socialists, social demo- 
 crats. Dissenters, anti-imperialists, 
 anti-militarists). 
 
 Radicals, Bolsheviki or revolutionists 
 seeking change of the economic and 
 social order. 
 
276 College Teaching 
 
 6. Effects of the war. 
 
 a. Extensive nationalization and socializa- 
 tion of industry and human rights in all 
 belligerent countries. 
 
 b. Develops into a " war for democracy," 
 and for moral as opposed to materialistic 
 aims. 
 
 c. Culminates in an attempt to secure a 
 righteous and lasting peace through the 
 instrumentality of a league of nations. 
 
 Edward Krehbiel 
 
 Leland Stanford Junior University 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 TEXTS 
 
 Andrews, C. M. Historical Development of Modern Europe. Two 
 
 vols. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1900. 
 Hayes, Carlton J. H. A Political and Social History of Modern 
 
 Europe. Two vols. The Macmillan Company, 1916. 
 Robinson, J. H., and Beard, C. A. The Development of Modern 
 
 Europe. Two vols. Ginn and Co., 1907, 1908. 
 Schevill, Ferdinand. A Political History of Modern Europe. 
 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, 1907. 
 
 PERIOD HISTORIES 
 
 Bourne, Henry Eldredge. The Revolutionary Period in Europe. 
 The Century Company, 1914. 
 
 Cambridge Modern History. Thirteen vols, and maps. I, the Renais- 
 sance; n. The Reformation; HI, The Wars of Religion; IV, The 
 Thirty Years' War; V, The Age of Louis XIV; VI, The Eigh- 
 teenth Century; VII, The United States; VIII, The French Rev- 
 olution; IX, Napoleon; X, The Restoration; XI, The Growth of 
 Nationalities; XII, The Latest Age; XIII, Genealogical Tables 
 and Lists and General Index; also on atlas, in another volume. 
 Cambridge, the University Press, 1902-1912. 
 
 Hazen, Charles Downer. Europe since 1815. Henry Holt & Co., 
 1910. 
 
 Lindsay, T. M. A History of the Reformation. Two vols. Charles 
 Scribner's Sons, 1906-1907. 
 
 Lowell, E. J. The Eve of the French Revolution. 
 
 ScHAPiRO, Jacob Salwyn. Modern and Contemporary European His- 
 tory. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918. 
 
The Teaching of History 277 
 
 Wakeman, H. O. The Ascendancy of France. The Macmillan Com- 
 pany, 1894. 
 
 SOURCE BOOKS 
 
 Anderson, Frank Maloy. The Constitutions and Other Select Doc- 
 uments Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1901. H. W. 
 Wilson Company, Minneapolis, 1904. 
 
 Fling, Fred Morrow. Source Problems of the French Revolution. 
 Harper and Brothers, 1913. 
 
 Robinson, J. H. Readings in European History. Two vols. Ginn 
 and Co., 1904. 
 
 Readings in European History. Abridged Edition. Ginn and 
 
 Co., 1906. 
 
 Robinson, J. H., and Beard, C. A. Readings in Modern European 
 History. Two vols. Ginn and Co., 1908. 
 
 Readings in Modern European History. Abridged Edition. 
 
 Ginn and Co., 1909. 
 
 ATLASES 
 
 Cambridge Modern History. Volume of Maps. Cambridge, the Uni- 
 versity Press, 1912. 
 
 Dow, Earle W. Atlas of European History. Henry Holt & Co., 
 1909. 
 
 Droysen, Gustav. Allgemeiner historischer Kandatlas. Velhagen 
 und Klasing, Leipzig, 1886. 
 
 Gardiner, Samuel Rawson. A School Atlas of English History. 
 Longmans, Green & Co., 1910. 
 
 Poole, Reginald Lane. Historical Atlas of Modern Europe from the 
 Decline of the Roman Empire. H. Frowde, 1896-1902. 
 
 PuTZGER, Friedrich Wilhelm. Historischer Schul-atlas zur alten, 
 mittleren, und neunen Geschichte. Velhagen und Klasing, Leip- 
 zig, 1910. 
 
 Shepherd, William Robert. Historical Atlas. Henry Holt & Co., 
 1911. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 
 
 Adams, Charles Kendall. A Manual of Historical Literature. 
 
 Harper and Brothers, 1888. 
 Andrews, Gambrill, and Tall. A Bibliography of History for 
 
 Schools and Libraries. Longmans, Green & Co., 1911. 
 
 PEDAGOGICAL 
 
 Committee of Seven, American Historical Association. The Study of 
 
 History in the Schools. The Macmillan Company, 1899. 
 Committee of Five, American Historical Association. The Study of 
 
278 College Teaching 
 
 History in the Secondary Schools. The Macmillan Company, 
 1911. 
 
 Dunn, Arthur William. The Social Studies in Secondary Educa- 
 tion. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Bulletin 
 No. 28, 1916. 
 
 Johnson, H, The Teaching of History in Elementary and Secondary 
 Schools. 1915. 
 
 Robinson, James Harvey. The New History; Essays Illustrating the 
 Modern History Outlook. The Macmillan Company, 1912. 
 
 HISTORICAL FICTION 
 
 Baker, E. A, History in Fiction. Two vols. E. P. Dutton & Co., 
 
 1907. 
 NiELD, Jonathan. A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales. 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons. 
 
 PERIODICALS 
 
 The American Historical Review. Published by the American His- 
 torical Association, Washington, D. C. 
 
 The History Teacher's Magazine. McKinley Publishing Company, 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
 
XIII 
 THE TEACHING OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 
 
 CERTAIN phases of what is known as political science Scope of 
 form to no small degree the content of courses in science 
 other branches of study. The engineering schools in their 
 effort to set forth the regulation of public utilities with 
 respect to engineering problems have begun to offer courses 
 which deal extensively with politics and government. In 
 political and constitutional history, considerable attention 
 is given to the organization and administration of the vari- 
 ous divisions of government. To a greater degree, how- 
 ever, the allied departments of economics and sociology 
 have begun, in the development of their respective fields, 
 to analyze matters which are primarily of a political na- 
 ture. Especially in what is designated as applied eco- 
 nomics and applied sociology there is to be found material 
 a large part of which relates directly to the regulation and 
 administration of governmental affairs. Thus in portions 
 of the courses designated as labor problems, money and 
 banking, public finance, trust problems, public utility regu- 
 lation, problems in social welfare, and immigration, pri- 
 mary consideration is frequently given to government ac- 
 tivities and to the influences and conditions surrounding 
 government control. 
 
 While these courses, then, deal in part with subject matter 
 which belongs primarily to the science of politics and 
 while any comprehensive survey of instruction in political 
 science would include an account of the phases of the sub- 
 ject presented in other departments, for the present pur- 
 pose it has been advisable to limit the consideration of 
 the teaching of political science to the subjects usually 
 offered under that designation.^ Some attention, however, 
 
 1 The courses usually given in departments of political science are : 
 1. American government, (a) National, (b) State and local, (c) 
 Municipal. 
 
 279 
 
280 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Courses 
 usually of- 
 fered in 
 political 
 science 
 
 will be given later to the relation of political science to 
 allied subjects. 
 
 A difference of opinion exists as to the meaning of politi- 
 cal science, some institutions using the term in a broad sense 
 to embody courses offered in history, economics, politics, 
 public law, and sociology, and others giving the word a 
 very narrow meaning to include a few specialized courses 
 in constitutional and administrative law. There is, never- 
 theless, a strong tendency to have the term " political sci- 
 ence " comprise all of the subjects which deal primarily 
 with the organization and the administration of public 
 affairs. 
 
 Through an exhaustive survey made by the Committee 
 on Instruction of the American Political Science Associa- 
 
 2. General political science. 
 
 3. Comparative government. 
 
 4. English government. 
 
 5. International law. 
 
 6. Diplomacy. 
 
 7. Jurisprudence or elements of law. 
 
 8. World politics, 
 
 9. Commercial law. 
 
 10. Roman law. 
 
 11. Administrative law. 
 
 12. Political theories (History of political thought). 
 
 13. Party government. 
 
 14. Colonial government. 
 
 15. Legislative methods and legislative procedure. 
 
 16. Current political problems. 
 
 17. Municipal corporations. 
 
 18. Law of officers and taxation. 
 
 19. Seminar. 
 
 20. Additional courses, such as the government of foreign countries, 
 
 the regulation of public utilities, and the political and legal 
 status of women. 
 Cf. The Teaching of Government, page 137. Published by the 
 Macmillan Company, 1916. With the permission of the publishers 
 some extracts from the report of the committee on instruction have 
 been used. The report should be consulted for the presentation of 
 data and for a further consideration of some questions of instruc- 
 tion which cannot be taken up fully within the compass of this 
 chapter. 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 281 
 
 tion, covering instruction in political science in colleges 
 and universities, the subjects which are usually offered may 
 be indicated in two groups: 
 
 LEADING COURSES FOR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES'^ 
 
 (Given in order of number of instruction hours, with 
 highest ranked first.) 
 
 A. Major Courses. 
 
 1. American government — including national, state, 
 
 and local. 
 
 2. General political science — mainly political theory, 
 
 with some comparative government. 
 
 3. Comparative government — devoted chiefly to a 
 
 study of England, France, Germany, and the 
 United States. 
 
 4. International law. 
 
 5. Commercial law. 
 
 6. Municipal government. 
 
 7. Constitutional law. 
 
 B. Minor Courses. 
 
 1. Jurisprudence, or elements of law. 
 
 2. Political theories. 
 
 3. Diplomacy. 
 
 4. State government. 
 
 5. Political parties. 
 
 6. Government of England. 
 
 7. Legislative methods of procedure. 
 
 8. Roman law. 
 
 9. Regulation of social and industrial affairs. 
 
 While the purposes and objects of instruction in this rather 
 extensive group of subjects vary considerably, it seems de- 
 sirable to analyze the chief objects in accordance with 
 which political science courses are presented to students 
 of collegiate grade. 
 
 ^ Cf. The Teaching of Government, page 182. 
 
282 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Aims of 
 instruction 
 in govern- 
 ment 
 
 1. Training 
 for citizen- 
 ship 
 
 The aims of instruction in government are (1) to train 
 for citizenship; (2) to prepare for professions such as law, 
 teaching, business, and journalism; (3) to train experts and 
 prepare specialists for government positions; (4) to pro- 
 vide facilities and lead students into research material and 
 research methods. Each of these aims affects to a cer- 
 tain extent a different class of students and renders the 
 problem as to methods of instruction correspondingly 
 difficult. 
 
 In a certain sense all instruction may be looked upon 
 as giving training for the duties and responsibilities 
 of citizenship, and undoubtedly a great deal of in- 
 struction in other subjects aids in the process of citizenship 
 training. Nevertheless, a heavy responsibility rests upon 
 departments of political science to lead students into 
 tbe extensive literature on government as well as to in- 
 struct them with respect to the organizations and methods 
 by which the political and social affairs are being 
 conducted. In short, one of the primary aims of govern- 
 ment instruction and one which is kept foremost in the 
 arrangement of courses is elementary training for the 
 average student in the principles, the practices, and the 
 technique of governmental affairs. For such citizenship 
 training, which is usually given in large elementary classes, 
 a special method of instruction and system of procedure 
 are pursued. It is necessary to provide subject matter 
 which is informational in character, as the lack of knowl- 
 edge of the governments of home and foreign countries 
 is ordinarily appalling, and which will open up by way 
 of discussion and comparison many of the leading prob- 
 lems of modern politics. More necessary and indispens- 
 able is a method of study which will aid in pursuing 
 inquiries along the many and varied lines which will de- 
 volve upon the citizen performing his multifarious duties 
 and discharging his many responsibilities. As many of 
 the students will take but a single course, the opening up 
 to them of the vast field of government literature is one of 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 283 
 
 the aims to be constantly kept in mind. Moreover, while 
 all of the above are essential matters in the elementary 
 courses, the most important consideration of all is that 
 the teaching of politics and government will have utterly 
 failed unless there are created a desire and an interest which 
 will lead into many lines of investigation beyond those 
 offered in a single introductory course. The development 
 of this interest and appreciation is the all-important ob- 
 ject. 
 
 Many who enter the introductory courses in govern- 2. Prepara- 
 ment select the subject with the idea of continuing their professions 
 preparation for professional life in their chosen fields. 
 Among the professions which particularly seek instruction 
 in government are chiefly law, teaching, business, and 
 journalism. For these groups of students, many of whom 
 continue the study of the subject for several years, often 
 going on into the advanced courses in graduate depart- 
 ments, it is recognized that beginning work which is too 
 general and discursive may be less useful than a specialized 
 course which may be rounded out by a series of corre- 
 lated courses. Consequently, there is a question whether 
 the professional student, interested in the study of govern- 
 ment, should begin his work under the same conditions 
 and with the same methods as the student who does not 
 expect to continue the subject. The number of those who 
 are preparing for the professions is often so large as to 
 require separate consideration and to affect seriously the 
 determination of the method and content of the introductory 
 course. This difficulty is obviated where professional 
 courses are provided, giving instruction in government and 
 citizenship, as is now the practice in certain law schools, in 
 some departments of journalism, and in a few engineering 
 schools. For each of the major professions in which gov- 
 ernment instruction is particularly sought a different type 
 of course is desired. For the law student comparative 
 public law, jurisprudence, and specialized government 
 courses in various fields are usually demanded. For the 
 journalist, general subjects dealing with specific countries 
 
284 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 3. Training 
 for public 
 service and 
 preparation 
 of special- 
 ists for gov- 
 ernment 
 positions 
 
 and with the political practices of all governments are re- 
 garded of special benefit. For the teaching profession 
 the study of some one line and specialization in a par- 
 ticular field seem to be a necessity. Which is the better, 
 such specialized government courses for professional 
 students, or a general course for all introductory students, 
 is still an undetermined problem. The fact that most of 
 the conditions and problems of citizenship are similar for 
 all these groups and that there is great difficulty in pro- 
 viding separate instruction for each group renders it neces- 
 sary to provide an elementary course which is adapted 
 to the needs and which will serve the purpose of the citi- 
 zen seeking a general introduction in one course and 
 the professional student who seeks entrance to advanced 
 courses. 
 
 Colleges and universities have recently begun to give 
 special instruction for the training of those who desire to 
 enter the government service. A few institutions are offer- 
 ing courses and a considerable number are beginning to 
 adapt instruction which will be of service not only to 
 those who anticipate entrance into some form of public 
 work, but also to those who are engaged in performing pub- 
 lic service in some department of government. As a matter 
 of fact, the training of specialists must in large measure be 
 cared for by professional and technical schools, such as the 
 provision for directors of public health by medical 
 schools, the training of sanitary engineers by the engineer- 
 ing schools, the training of accountants, statisticians, and 
 financial experts by the schools of commerce and finance. 
 Nevertheless, departments offering instruction in general 
 political subjects are expected to give some consideration 
 to and to make special arrangements for advanced courses in 
 the way of preparing those who seek to enter the various 
 divisions of the government service, such as the consular 
 and diplomatic affairs, charitable and social work, and 
 the administrative regulation of public utilities, industrial 
 affairs, and the public welfare. Through the introduction 
 of specialized courses in municipal, state, and national ad- 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 285 
 
 ministration it is possible to prepare more adequately for 
 various branches of public administration. 
 
 Although research methods* and graduate courses of in- 
 struction in political science developed rather slowly, a 
 
 4, Special 
 courses in 
 research 
 
 substantial beginning has been made by the universities in and 
 the offering of advanced courses in which a specialized methods 
 study is made of some of the problems of government and 
 the methods of administration. Through these courses valu- 
 able contributions have been made to the historical and 
 comparative phases of the subject and to some extent to the 
 analytical study of government in operation. The primary 
 aim has been to provide an avenue and an opportunity 
 for those who look forward to teaching or to entering 
 the field of special research work in politics and govern 
 mental affairs. The results of the research work have been 
 rendered available to government officials and departments 
 through bureaus of research and other agencies devised to 
 aid in improving the public service. Only a few universities 
 separate the graduate from the undergraduate students, and 
 as a result the instruction cannot be of strictly graduate 
 character and quality. Much of the present research is 
 done with small groups of students in a seminar where 
 personal direction is given to investigations and where the 
 methods of research are developed under direct super- 
 vision. 
 
 Any determination of the value of a subject in the 
 school curriculum is necessarily based upon the opinions 
 of individuals whose judgment will vary in large measure 
 according to their respective training, influences, and predi- 
 lections. The value of the subject which is usually placed 
 first is its usefulness in imparting information. Much in- 
 struction in government is descriptive and informational in 
 character and is offered primarily to increase the stock 
 of knowledge and to give information with respect to the 
 present and the future interests of the citizen. While 
 this descriptive material has served a useful purpose, it 
 is doubtful whether, as in the formal civics of the public 
 schools, the method of imparting information ha^ not been 
 
 Value of 
 the subject 
 
286 College Teaching 
 
 used so extensively as to have a detrimental effect. Too 
 much attention has been given to the memorization of facts 
 and the temporary accumulation of information more or 
 less useful, and correspondingly too little to thinking on the 
 great political and social issues of the day. 
 
 When governments are engaging in endless activities 
 which affect the welfare of society in its social and 
 aesthetic, as well as political aspects, government instruc- 
 tion becomes increasingly necessary and valuable as a 
 cultural study. The recent development in European po- 
 litical affairs has impressed upon the citizens of this country 
 as never before the results of a profound ignorance with re- 
 spect to conditions in foreign countries. While the knowl- 
 edge of the affairs of the great nations of the world has 
 hitherto appeared advisable, it has now come to be regarded 
 as a necessity. From the standpoint of culture a knowl- 
 edge of the institutions of one's own country and of other 
 countries is one of the cardinal elements of education and 
 provisions for such instruction ought to be placed among the 
 few primary topics in the preparation of all educational pro- 
 grams. If culture involves an understanding of the social 
 and political conditions of the past and present as well 
 as some appreciation of the problems which confront the 
 individual in his activities of life, then the study of both 
 history and government must be given a foremost rank 
 among the subjects now classified as cultural. 
 
 With respect to formal discipline government instruc- 
 tion has been rated lower than that of the more exact sub- 
 jects, the languages and mathematics. While it is true that 
 from the standpoint of formal discipline and exact methods 
 government instruction has not measured up to that of some 
 other subjects, it must be remembered that the standard- 
 ization of instruction, and the methods pursued in other 
 subjects, have developed through a long process of years 
 to the present effectiveness in mental discipline. As the 
 study of government becomes more specialized, the mate- 
 rial in the field worked into more concrete form for pur- 
 poses of instruction, the methods better developed with the 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 287 
 
 formulation of standard plans and principles, the disci- 
 plinary value of the subject will be increased. The develop- 
 ment now in process is bringing about changes which will 
 greatly enhance not only the usefulness but in a large 
 measure the disciplinary value of the subject. 
 
 Instruction in government is usually offered only to Place in col- 
 students who have acquired sophomore standing. A few j-ifuium 
 institutions now give a course in government in the fresh- 
 man year, and the practice seems to be meeting with suc- 
 cess. Sentiment is growing in favor of this plan. The 
 argument presented for this change is that a large per- 
 centage of the freshman class does not continue college 
 work, and consequently many students have no oppor- 
 tunity to become acquainted with the special problems of 
 politics and government. To meet the need of those who 
 spend but one year in college, it is claimed that an intro- 
 duction should be given to the study of government prob- 
 lems. While there are strong reasons in support of this 
 change, the prevailing sentiment for the present favors 
 the requirement of a year's work in college as a prerequi- 
 site. The advocates of this arrangement contend that in 
 view of the fact that most of the high schools are now giving 
 a half of a year or a year to civic instruction on somewhat 
 the same plan as would be necessary in a first-year college 
 course, it seems better from the standpoint of the student 
 as well as of the department to defer the introductory 
 course until better methods of study and greater maturity 
 of mind are acquired. 
 
 Sophomore standing is the only prerequisite for the ele- 
 mentary course except in a few institutions where the selec- 
 tion of a course in history in the freshman year is re- 
 quired. A few colleges are offering to freshmen an in- 
 troductory course in the social sciences, comprising mainly 
 some elementary material from economics, sociology, and 
 political science. While there are some advantages in the 
 effort to give a general introduction to the social sciences, 
 no practicable content or method for such a course has 
 yet been prepared. Moreover, it seems likely now that such 
 
288 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The intro- 
 ductory 
 course 
 
 a general introduction will be attempted either in the 
 junior or in the senior high school. For advanced work 
 in the senior high school and for the introductory college 
 course reason and practice both favor a separation of 
 these subjects, with close correlation and constant consider- 
 ation of the interrelations. 
 
 It is customary to introduce students to the study of 
 government through a general course in American govern- 
 ment, dealing briefly with national, state, and local insti- 
 tutions. Other subjects, such as comparative government, 
 — including a consideration of some representative foreign 
 countries along with American government, — an introduc- 
 tory course in political science, and international law, are 
 sometimes used as basic courses to introduce students to 
 subsequent work. The general practice in the introductory 
 course seems to be approaching a standard in which either 
 American government is made the basis of study, with 
 comparisons from European practices and methods, or Euro- 
 pean governments are studied, with attention by way of 
 comparison to the American system of government. The 
 Committee of Seven of the American Political Science Asso- 
 ciation offered the following suggestions relative to the 
 introductory course, which it seems well to quote in full. 
 The Committee recommended that: 
 
 American government be taken as the basis for the introductory 
 course because it is convinced that there is an imperative need for a 
 more thorough study of American institutions, because the opportunity 
 for this study is not now offered in any but a few of the best sec- 
 ondary schools, and because it is exceedingly important that the 
 attention of an undergraduate be directed early in his course to a 
 vital personal interest in his own government, national, state, and 
 local. Instruction in political science is rarely given until the second 
 or third year of the college work, and thus unless American govern- 
 ment is selected for the first course only a small percentage of stu- 
 dents receive encouragement and direction in the study of political 
 affairs with which they will constantly be expected to deal in their 
 ordinary relations as citizens. But the committee believes that this 
 study of American government can be distinctly vitalized by the intro- 
 duction of such comparisons with European practices and forms as 
 will supply the student with a broader basis of philosophical con- 
 
The Teaching of Politic al Science 289 
 
 elusions as to constitutional development and administrative practices. 
 Ihe Committee is of the opinion that despite the very marked in- 
 crease of courses m American government within the past few years 
 one of the immediate needs is the further extension and enlargement 
 ol these courses. In only a few institutions is enough time given to 
 the subject to permit anything more than the most cursory survey of 
 the various features of the government, and almost invariably state 
 and local government suffer in the cutting process which is necessary. 
 About seventy mstitutions only give courses in which state and local 
 government are the basis of special study. In order that state and 
 local government shall be given more consideration, and in order that 
 judicial procedure and administrative methods shall receive more than 
 passmg notice, it is absolutely necessary that the time allotted to 
 American government be increased. Nothing short of a full year of 
 at Jeast three hours a week gives the necessary time and opportunity to 
 do anythmg like full justice to the national, state, and local units.i 
 
 Because of the fact that only a small percentage of the 
 student body elects this course under present conditions, 
 and because the majority of those who do elect it never 
 have an opportunity to continue the study of government, 
 it is thought that the selection of American government 
 for the beginning subject has the tendency to foster pro- 
 vincialism. When but one course is taken this one, it is 
 contended, should deal with foreign governments, to supply 
 a broader basis for the comparison of political institu- 
 tions. As the study of government is introduced in the 
 grades and thorough and effective instruction is offered 
 in the high school, it will become increasingly practicable 
 to introduce the comparative method in introductory courses. 
 
 One of the difficulties in the instruction in political sci- sequence 
 ence which has received less consideration than it deserves °' ''''^^^^^ 
 • is that of the sequence of courses. In the determination 
 of sequence it is customary to have an introductory course, 
 such as American government, European government, or 
 political theory, and to make this subject a prerequisite for 
 all advanced courses. As the introductory course requires 
 sophomore standing, it renders entrance into advanced 
 courses open only to students of junior rank or above. 
 
 ^ The Teaching of Government, pages 206-207. 
 
290 College Teacliing 
 
 After passing the first course, there are open for election 
 a number of subjects, mainly along specialized lines. This 
 condition is to be found, particularly, in the large univer- 
 sities, where a group of instructors offer specialized work, 
 with either little or no advice to students as to the proper 
 arrangement or sequence of courses. The ordinary classi- 
 fication is into three groups: (1) an elementary course, 
 prerequisite for advanced instruction; (2) courses for 
 graduate and undergraduate students, seldom arranged on 
 a basis of sequence or logical order; — the lack of sequence 
 is due in part to the fact that after taking elementary 
 work the student in government frequently wishes to 
 specialize in the field of federal government, or of state 
 government, or of international law, or possibly of political 
 theory; (3) courses for graduate students, which are in- 
 tended primarily for investigation and research. Students 
 who specialize in government are generally advised by the 
 head of the department or the professor under whom their 
 work is directed, as to the proper arrangement and correla- 
 tion of courses. It is, however, questionable whether some 
 plan of sequence more definitely outlined than that now 
 to be found in most catalogs ought not to be prepared 
 in advance for the consideration of those who look for- 
 ward to specializing in political science. Such an ar- 
 rangement of sequence has been prepared by the depart- 
 ment of political science of the University of Chicago, 
 which divides its work into (1) elementary, (2) inter- 
 mediate, (3) advanced — the advanced courses being sub- 
 divided into (a) theory, ih) constitutional relations, (c). 
 public administration, and id) law. Suggestions are 
 offered as to the principal and secondary sequences for 
 various groups of students. 
 
 The sequence of courses could be better arranged pro- 
 vided a freshman course were offered. A freshman course 
 in American government could be given, with some atten- 
 tion by way of comparison to European methods and 
 practices, and followed by an intermediate course dealing 
 with some select foreign governments, again using the com- 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 291 
 
 parative method and viewpoint. Two courses of this 
 character would offer a greater opportunity to give the in- 
 struction now desired from the standpoint of the average 
 student and citizen, and would serve as a better basis for 
 advanced instruction than the single course now custom- 
 arily offered either in American or comparative govern- 
 ment. After taking the elementary courses the student 
 could then be allowed to select from a group of subjects 
 in one of the various lines, according to the special field 
 in which he is interested. In short, the arrangement of 
 the sequence of courses will necessarily be unsatisfactory 
 as long as the elementary course is offered only to those 
 of at least sophomore rank, a practice which unfortunately 
 necessitates in many cases the beginning of the work in the 
 junior or senior year. It will be necessary to introduce 
 the subject earlier in the curriculum, in order to arrange 
 such a sequence as would seem desirable from the stand- 
 point of thorough and effective instruction. 
 
 Methods of instruction ^ vary according to the size of ^e*iio<\s of 
 
 ■^ ^ o instruction 
 
 the institution and the number in the classes. In the 
 preliminary courses the system of informal lectures is com- 
 bined with recitations, discussions, reports, and quizzes. 
 The students in the advanced courses are obliged to carry 
 on independent work under the supervision of the in- 
 structor. For seniors and graduate students the seminar 
 has been found most satisfactory in developing a keen in- 
 terest in the problems of politics. Unfortunately, where 
 the classes are small and the time is limited, it is custom- 
 ary to rely largely on textbooks and recitations, with a 
 moderate amount of special readings and occasional class 
 reports. But, on the other hand, courses in government 
 have been improved recently by the appearance of good 
 textbooks. American and European governments are now 
 presented in texts which have proved satisfactory and 
 which have aided in the development of standard courses 
 for these elementary subjects. Then, too, interest has 
 
 1 The discussion of methods follows in part the Report of the Com- 
 mittee on Instruction, pages 192-194, 
 
292 College Teaching 
 
 been aroused and better results obtained through the use of 
 texts and manuals dealing with the actual work and the 
 problems of government. The neglected fields of state gov- 
 ernment and administrative practices are just beginning to 
 receive attention. 
 
 One method of government instruction, and a very 
 valuable one, is to encourage the examination of evidence 
 and to consider different viewpoints on public questions, 
 with the purpose of forming judgments based on the facts. 
 For this purpose extensive reading and frequent reports 
 are necessary to check up the work completed. It is pos- 
 sible to keep in constant touch with the amount of work 
 and the methods of study or investigation by means of dis- 
 cussions in small sections for one or two hours each week 
 and by the use of the problem sheet. 
 
 In the courses offered in departments of government in 
 such subjects as constitutional law, international law, com- 
 mercial law, and to some extent in courses in juris- 
 prudence and government regulation of public utilities 
 and social Welfare, the case method has been adopted 
 quite extensively. This method has been sufficiently 
 tried and its effectiveness has been demonstrated in 
 the teaching of law, so that nothing need be said 
 in its defense. The introduction of the case method in 
 political science and public law has undoubtedly im- 
 proved the teaching of certain phases of these subjects. 
 That the use of cases and extracts may be carried to an 
 extreme which is detrimental is becoming apparent, for 
 opinions and data change so rapidly that any collection 
 of cases and materials is out of date before it issues from 
 the press. Moreover, the use of such collections en- 
 courages the reliance on secondary sources and secondary 
 material, a tendency which ought to be discouraged. 
 Every encouragement and advantage should be given to 
 have students and investigators in government deal with 
 original rather than secondary sources. 
 
 There is, in addition to the use of textbooks, lectures, 
 extensive reference reading, case books, and the writing 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 293 
 
 of papers, a tendency to introduce the problem method of 
 instruction and to encourage field work, observation, and, 
 so far as practicable, a first-hand study of government func- 
 tions and activities. 
 
 Another line in which the study of government is under- 
 going considerable modification is the emphasis placed on 
 administration and administrative practices. While special 
 attention heretofore has been given either to the history of 
 politics and political institutions or to political theories and 
 principles, the tendency is now to give import to political 
 practices and the methods pursued in carrying on govern- 
 ment divisions and departments. The introduction of 
 courses in the principles of administration, with the con- 
 sideration of problems in connection with public adminis- 
 tration in national, state, and local affairs, is tending to 
 modify the content as well as the methods of the teach- 
 ing of government. New methods and a new content are 
 changing the emphasis from the formal, theoretical, and 
 historical study of government and turning attention to the 
 practical phases and to the technique of administration. 
 As a result of this change and through the work which is 
 being undertaken by bureaus of reference and research, in- 
 struction is brought much closer to public officers and 
 greater service is rendered in a practical way to govern- 
 ment administration. 
 
 Among the difficulties and unsolved problems in the 
 teaching of political science are, first, the beginning course; 
 second, the relation of courses in government to economics, 
 sociology, history, and law; third, the extent to which field 
 investigation and the problem method can be used to ad- 
 vantage in offering instruction and the development of 
 new standards and of new tests which are applicable to 
 these methods; fourth, the introduction of the scientific 
 method. 
 
 While the elementary course in government is now 
 usually American government and is, as a rule, offered to 
 sophomores, both the content and the present position of 
 the course in the curriculum are matters on which there is 
 
 Some un- 
 solved prob- 
 lems 
 
 1. The intro- 
 ductory 
 course 
 
294 College Teaching 
 
 considerable difference of opinion. Where the subject 
 matter now offered to beginning students is comprised of 
 comparative material selected from a number of modern 
 governments, it is contended that this arrangement is prefer- 
 able to confining attention to American institutions with 
 which there is at least general but often vague familiar- 
 ity. If provision is made in the high school, by which the 
 majority of those who enter the university have had a 
 good course in American government, there seems to be a 
 strong presumption that the beginners' course should be de- 
 voted to comparative government. It is quite probable 
 that the introductory course will cease to be confined to a 
 distinct and separate study of either foreign governments 
 or of American government and that the most satisfactory 
 course will be the development of one in which main 
 emphasis is given to one or the other of these fields and 
 in which constant and frequent comparisons will be made 
 for purposes of emphasis, discussion, and the considera- 
 tion of government issues and problems. In some cases it 
 is undoubtedly true that emphasis should be given to 
 foreign governments, and as the high schools improve their 
 instruction in our local institutions, national and state, it 
 will become increasingly necessary in colleges to turn at- 
 tention to the study of foreign governments in the beginners' 
 course. 
 
 There appears to be a desire to introduce government 
 into the freshman year, and it is likely that provision will 
 be made to begin the study of the subject in the first college 
 year, thereby rendering it possible for those who enter col- 
 lege to profit by a year's work and to give an earlier start 
 to those who wish to specialize. 
 
 Another difficulty in connection with the introductory 
 course which is still not clearly determined is the time 
 and attention which may be given to lectures, to discus- 
 sions, to the writing of papers or theses, to the investigation 
 and report on problems, and the extent to which use may 
 be made of some of the practical devices such as field 
 investigation. There is a general belief that in the ele- 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 295 
 
 mentary course only a slight use may be made of practical 
 methods, but that it is necessary to begin these methods 
 m the elementary years and to render instruction practical 
 and concrete to a larger extent than is now done, by means 
 of problems and the discussion of matters of direct interest 
 to all citizens. No doubt as the problem method and field 
 study are more definitely systematized and the ways of 
 supervision and checking up the work developed, these de- 
 vices will be used much more extensively. The preparation 
 of problem sheets and of guides to the selection of con- 
 crete material gives promise of a more general and ef- 
 fective use of the problem method. 
 
 The proper relationship and correlation of instruction in 2. Relation 
 government with that of other subjects has not yet been JfoiTingov- 
 determmed satisfactorily. The matter of correlation is ernmentto 
 slowly being worked out along certain Tines; for example, JectT '''^" 
 the relationship between courses in history and in gov- 
 ernment is coming to be much better defined. Such sub- 
 jects as constitutional history and the development of 
 modern governments are being treated almost entirely in de- 
 partments of history, and less attention is being given to 
 the historical development of institutions in departments of 
 political science. As long as it is impossible to make 
 certain history courses prerequisites before beginning the 
 study of government, it becomes necessary to give some at- 
 tention in political science to the historical development of 
 political institutions. By correlation and by proper ar- 
 rangement of courses, however, the necessity of introduc- 
 ing government courses with historical introductions ought 
 to be considerably reduced. 
 
 The relation between work in government and in 
 economics and sociology is a more difficult problem and 
 one which has not as yet been satisfactorily adjusted. 
 Some of the courses given in departments of economics 
 and sociology deal to a considerable extent with the regu- 
 lation of public affairs. In these courses, including public 
 finance, the regulation of public utilities, the regulation of 
 trusts, labor organizations, and the administration and regu- 
 
296 College Teaching 
 
 lation of social and industrial affairs, a more definite 
 correlation between political science and so-called applied 
 economics and applied sociology must be made. While it 
 is undoubtedly necessary for the economist and the sociolo- 
 gist to deal with government regulation of economic and 
 social affairs, and while it is very desirable that these de- 
 partments should emphasize the practical and applied 
 phases of their subjects, it is nevertheless true that courses 
 which are, to a large extent, comprised of government in- 
 struction should be given under the direction of the depart- 
 ment of political science, or, at least, in an arrangement 
 of definite cooperation therewith. There is no reason why 
 in such a subject as the regulation of public utilities a por- 
 tion of the course might not be given in the department of 
 economics and a portion in the department of government. 
 Or it may be better, perhaps, for a course to be arranged 
 in the regulation of public utilities, continuing through- 
 out the year, in which the professors of economics, govern- 
 ment, commerce, finance, and engineering participate in the 
 presentation of various phases of the same subject. At all 
 events, the present separation into different departments 
 of the subject matter of government regulation of such 
 affairs as public utilities, taxation, and social welfare regu- 
 lation is, to say the least, not producing the best results. 
 
 The relation of government courses to instruction in law 
 is likewise a partially unsolved problem. A few years ago, 
 when the curricula of law schools dealt with matters of law 
 and procedure in which only the practitioner was interested, 
 it became necessary to introduce the study of public law 
 in departments of government and political science. Thus 
 we find courses in international law, constitutional law, 
 Roman law, and elements of law and jurisprudence being 
 offered in large part in departments of political science. 
 The recent changes in law school curricula, however, by 
 which many of these subjects are now offered in the law 
 school and in some cases are offered to qualified under- 
 graduate students, render the situation somewhat more 
 difficult to adjust. There is a tendency to introduce these 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 297 
 
 courses into the law school for law students and to offer a 
 similar course in the department of government for under- 
 graduates and graduates. The problem has been further 
 complicated by the provision in some of the leading law 
 schools of a fourth year, in which the dominant courses 
 relate to public and international law, legal history and 
 foreign law, jurisprudence and legislative problems.^ As 
 these courses become entirely legal in nature and content 
 and require a background of three years of law, it becomes 
 practically impossible for any but law students to be ad- 
 mitted to them. With the prospect of a permanent ar- 
 rangement for a fourth year of law devoted primarily to 
 subjects formerly given in departments of political science, 
 it seems to be necessary to provide instruction in constitu- 
 tional law and international law, at least, for those ad- 
 vanced students in political science who seek this instruc- 
 tion but who do not expect to take the private law in- 
 struction required to admit them to a fourth-year law class. 
 The preferable arrangement may prove to be one in which 
 a thorough course is offered which will be open to qualified 
 seniors and graduate students and to law students, thus 
 avoiding the duplication which is now characteristic of in- 
 struction in law and the public law phases of government. 
 In this matter, as in the relation of economics and sociology, 
 the most appropriate and effective adjustment for coopera- 
 tion remains to be formulated. 
 
 As the criticism of eminent specialists in government and 3. ProiJiem 
 politics has impressed upon instructors the idea that too Sstruction 
 large a portion of the teaching of the subject is theoreti- 
 cal, treating of what ought to be rather than of what 
 actually occurs, dealing with facts only on a limited 
 scale and with superficial attention to actual conditions, 
 there has developed the necessity of revising the methods 
 of instruction. This revision is being made largely in the 
 introduction of field investigation, observation of govern- 
 
 1 See especially article by Ernst Freund on " Correlation of Work for 
 Higher Degrees in Graduate School and Law School," Vol. XI, Illi- 
 nois Law Review, page 301. 
 
298 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 4. Introduc- 
 tion of the 
 scientific 
 method 
 
 ment activities, and the problem and research methods. 
 The prevailing practice of the teaching of politics, which 
 involves lectures, recitations, and the reading and writing 
 of theses, with a considerable amount of supplementary 
 work, is being revised by means of a research and refer- 
 ence division, by the constant use of field investigation 
 and by the study of governmental problems. The difficulty 
 with all these devices lies in the indefinite and vague way in 
 which so much of this work must be done. For the present, 
 in only a few instances, such as the New York Bureau of 
 Municipal Research, has the technique for field investiga- 
 tion and the research method been effectively developed. 
 One of the chief lines for the improvement of the teaching 
 of government is in the standardization and systematiza- 
 tion of the problem method and its more extensive use in 
 the elementary and advanced government instruction. 
 
 In the past and to a great extent at the present time 
 that part of the study of government which has to do with 
 political theory and with a descriptive and historical ac- 
 count of government has comprised the greater portion of 
 what is usually designated as political science. The na- 
 ture of these studies is such as to render inapplicable 
 the use of the scientific method. If the study of govern- 
 ment is to be developed as a science in the true sense, 
 then the above subjects must be supplemented by exhaustive 
 inductive studies and research in the actual operation of 
 government. Such methods are now being employed in 
 the examination of government records and the comparison 
 of administrative practices. And there is being developed 
 also a science of government based on the practices and 
 the technique of public administration. 
 
 This science now finds its exemplification in some of the 
 exceptional work of the graduate schools. Unfortunately, 
 the connection between these schools and the government 
 departments has not been such as to secure the best re- 
 sults. Moreover, departments of political science are not 
 now doing their part to place the results of scientific in- 
 vestigations at the disposal of government officials. The 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 299 
 
 introduction of courses in extension departments and even- 
 ing classes has in part met this deficiency. But much re- 
 mains to be done to render through the department of 
 political science effective service in the practical operation 
 of government. With the introduction of the problem 
 method and field investigation in the elementary instruc- 
 tion, so far as seems feasible, with the development of 
 standard methods and the technique of research for ad- 
 vanced instruction, the teaching of government will be 
 rendered not only more valuable to the citizen, but colleges 
 and universities may render aid to government officials and 
 citizens interested in social and political affairs. 
 
 A significant development as an aid for research and for 
 rendering more effective public service has come in the 
 establishment of bureaus of government research. The 
 method of investigation and research which has been ap- 
 plied to the problems of government by private organiza- 
 tions has been found applicable to the handling of research 
 material in the universities. Through a bureau of this 
 character recent publications and ephemeral material may 
 be collected for the use of advanced students, digests may 
 be prepared on topics of special interest to legislators and 
 administrators, and publications of particular interest to the 
 citizens may be issued. Such a bureau serves as a gov- 
 ernment laboratory for the university and can be placed 
 at the service of public officials and others who desire to use 
 a reference department in securing reliable data on govern- 
 mental affairs. Thus it is coming to be realized that re- 
 search in government may be encouraged and the resources 
 of higher institutions may be so organized as to render a 
 distinct and much appreciated public service. 
 
 Charles Grove Haines 
 
 University of Texas 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Allix, E. H. Nezard, and Meunier, A. Instruction Civique. Paris, 
 F. Juven, 1910; pages 238, 
 
300 College Teaching 
 
 American Political Science Association. Report of the Committee on 
 Instruction in Political Science in Colleges and Universities. 
 Proceedings, 1913; pages 249-270. 
 
 Report of Committee of Seven on Instruction in Colleges and 
 
 Universities. Political Science Review, Vol. IX, pages 353-374. 
 
 The Teaching of Government. Report to the American Political 
 
 Science Association by the Committee on Instruction. The Mac- 
 millan Company, 1916; pages 135-226. 
 
 Baldwin, Simeon E. The Relations of Education to Citizenship. 
 Yale University Press, 1912; pages 178. 
 
 Beach, W. G. The College and Citizenship. Proceedings of the 
 Washington Educational Association. School Journal Publishing 
 Co., 1908 ; pages 55-57. 
 
 Beard, C. A. The Study and Teaching of Politics. Columbia Uni- 
 versity Press, June, 1912; Vol. XII, pages 268-274. 
 
 Politics, Columbia University Press, 1912; pages 35. 
 
 Training for Efficient Public Service. Annals of the American 
 
 Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1916. 
 
 Boitel, J., and Foiguet, R. Notions elementaires d" instruction civique 
 de droit usuel et d'' economic politique. Paris, Delagrave, 1910; 
 pages 307. 
 
 Bourgueil, E. Instruction civique. Paris: F. Nathan, 1910; pages 
 223. 
 
 Bryce, James. The Hindrances to Good Citizenship. Yale Univer- 
 sity Press, 1910; pages 138. 
 
 Drown, Thomas M. Instruction in Municipal Government in Ameri- 
 can Educational Institutions. National Municipal League: Pro- 
 ceedings, Boston, 1902; pages 268-271. 
 
 Fairlie, John A. Instruction in Municipal Government. National 
 Municipal League: Proceedings, Detroit, 1903; pages 222-230. 
 
 Freund, Ernst. Correlation of Work for Higher Degrees in Gradu- 
 ate School and Law School. Illinois Law Review, Vol. XI, page 
 301. 
 
 Hall, G. Stanley. Civic Education. Educational Problems, New 
 York, 1911, Vol. II, pages 667-682. 
 
 Hill, David J. A Plan for a School of the Political Sciences. 1907, 
 pages 34. 
 
 Hinman, George W. The New Duty of American colleges. 63d 
 Congress, 1st session. Senate Document No. 236, 1913. 
 
 Lowell, A. Lawrence. Administrative Experts in Municipal Govern- 
 ments. National Municipal Review, Vol. IV, pages 26-32. 
 
 The Physiology of Politics, American Political Science Review, 
 
 February, 1910. 
 
 Public Opinion and Popular Government, Chapters 17-19. 
 
 MoREY, William C. American Education and American Citizenship. 
 
 Rochester, N. Y., pages 20. 
 
The Teaching of Political Science 301 
 
 MuNRO, W. B. The Present Status of Instruction in Municipal Gov- 
 ernment in the Universities and Colleges of the United States. 
 National Municipal League: Proceedings. Pittsburgh, 1908, 
 pages 348-366. 
 
 Instruction in Municipal Government in the Universities and 
 
 Colleges of the United States. National Municipal Review, Vol. 
 II, pages 427-438, and Vol. V, pages 565-574. 
 
 National Municipal League. Report of the Committee on Instruction 
 in Municipal Government. Proceedings, Rochester, 1901; pages 
 218-225. 
 
 Report of the Committee on Organized Cooperation between the 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts. Bulletin of the Alumni Association, 1914, No. 3. 
 
 Report of the Committee on Training for Public Service. Columbia 
 University. Charles A. Beard, Chairman. Bulletin, March 27, 
 1915. 
 
 Robinson, Frederick B. The Municipal Courses. City College (N. 
 Y.) Quarterly, Vol. XII, page 18. 
 
 Rowe, L. S. University and Collegiate Research in Municipal Gov- 
 ernment. National Municipal League: Proceedings. Chicago, 
 1904, pages 242-248. 
 
 ScHAPER, W. A. What Do Students Know about American govern- 
 ment before Taking College Courses in Political Science? Jour- 
 nal of Pedagogy, June, 1906. Vol. XVIII, pages 265-288. 
 
 Society for the Promotion of Training for the Public Service. E. A. 
 Fitzpatrick, Director. Madison, Wisconsin. The Public Servant. 
 Issued monthly. 
 
 Universities and Public Service. Proceedings of the First Na- 
 tional Conference. Madison, 1914, pages 289. 
 
 Training for Public Service. New York Bureau of Municipal Re- 
 search, Annual Reports. 
 
 White, A. D. The Provision for Higher Instruction Bearing Directly 
 upon Public Affairs. House Executive Document No. 42, part 2, 
 46th Congress, 3d Session. 
 
 Education in Political Science. Baltimore, pages 51. 
 
 European Schools of History and Politics. Johns Hopkins Uni- 
 versity Studies, Series 5, Vol. XII. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. The Study of Politics. An Old Master and 
 Other Essays. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1893, pages 31-57. 
 
 Wolfe, A. B. Shall We Have an Introductory Course in Social Sci- 
 ences? Journal of Political Economy, Vol. XXII, pages 253-267. 
 
 Young, James T. University Instruction in Municipal Government. 
 National Municipal League: Proceedings. Rochester, 1901; 
 pages 226-234. 
 
XIV 
 THE TEACHING OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 The unified 
 college 
 course in 
 philosophy 
 
 THE study of philosophy covers such a wide range of 
 subjects that it is difficult to generalize in attempting 
 to answer the basal questions which call for considera- 
 tion in a book like this. In the great European universi- 
 ties it includes psychology, logic, ethics, aesthetics, epistem- 
 ology, metaphysics, the history of philosophy, and some- 
 times even the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of 
 history, the philosophy of law, and the philosophy of the 
 State. Although special courses may not be offered in 
 every one of these fields in our American colleges, their 
 philosophical territory is sufficiently extensive and the 
 separate provinces sufficiently unlike to baffle any one seek- 
 ing to describe the educational aims and methods of the 
 domain as a whole. In order, therefore, to do full justice 
 to our task it would be necessary to treat each one of the 
 various philosophical branches separately and to expand 
 the space assigned to us into a fair-sized volume. Since 
 this is not to be thought of, we shall have to confine our- 
 selves to a consideration of the traits common to all the 
 subjects, without forgetting, however, such differences as 
 may call for different educational treatment. 
 
 The difficulty of which we have spoken becomes less 
 formidable when the teacher of the traditional philosophical 
 subjects regards them not as so many independent and dis- 
 connected fields of study, but as parts of a larger whole 
 held together by some central idea. The great systematic 
 thinkers, from Plato down to Herbert Spencer, have aimed 
 at " completely unified knowledge " and have sought to 
 bring order and coherence into what may seem to the cas- 
 ual onlooker as a disunited array of phenomena. Philo- 
 sophical teaching will be the more fruitful, the more it 
 is inspired bv the thought of unity of aim, and the more 
 consciously the teachers of the different disciplines keep 
 
 302 
 
The Teachifig of Philosophy 303 
 
 this idea in riiind. That is the reason why philosophical 
 instruction given in a small college and by one man is, 
 in some respects, often more satisfactory than in the large 
 university with its numberless specialists, in which the 
 beginning student frequently does not see the forest for the 
 trees. It is not essential that the teacher present a 
 thoroughly worked-out and definitive system of thought, but 
 it is important that he constantly keep in mind the inter- 
 relatedness of the various parts of his subject and the 
 notion of unity which binds them together, — at least as an 
 ideal. 
 
 And perhaps this notion of the unity of knowledge ought 
 to be made one of the chief aims of philosophical instruc- 
 tion in the college. The ideal of philosophy in the sense 
 of metaphysics is to see things whole, to understand the 
 interrelations not only of the branches taught in the de- 
 partment of philosophy but of all the diverse subjects 
 studied throughout the university. The student obtains 
 glimpses of various pictures presented by different de- 
 partments and different men, and from different points of 
 view. Each teacher offers him fragments of knowledge, 
 the meaning of which, as parts of an all-inclusive system, 
 the pupil does not comprehend. Indeed, it frequently hap- 
 pens that the different pieces do not fit into one another; and 
 he is mystified and bewildered by the seemingly disparate 
 array of facts and theories crowding his brain which he 
 cannot correlate and generally does not even suspect of 
 being capable of correlation. To be sure, every teacher 
 ought to be philosophical, if not a philosopher, and in- 
 dicate the place of his specialty in the universe of knowl- 
 edge; but that is an ideal which has not yet been realized. 
 In the meanwhile, the study of philosophy ought to make 
 plain that knowledge is not a mere heap of broken frag- 
 ments, that the inorganic, organic, and mental realms are 
 not detached and independent principalities but kingdoms 
 in a larger empire, and that the world in which we live 
 is not a chaos but a cosmos. An introductory course in 
 philosophy, the type of course given in many German uni- 
 
304 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Controlling 
 aims in the 
 teaching of 
 philosophy 
 
 versities under the title " Einleitung in die Philosophic " 
 and attended by students from all sections of the university, 
 will help the young student to find his bearings in the 
 multifarious thought-world unfolded before him and will, 
 at the same time, put him in the way of developing some 
 sort of world-view later on. 
 
 Philosophical instruction that succeeds in the task out- 
 lined above will have accomplished much. Nevertheless, it 
 cannot attain its goal unless the student is introduced to the 
 study of the human-mental world which constitutes a large 
 portion of the field assigned to the philosophical depart- 
 ment: the study of psychology, logic, ethics, and the history 
 of philosophy. These branches deal with things in which 
 the human race has been interested from its early civi- 
 lized beginnings and with which the young persons entering 
 college have had little or no opportunity of becoming 
 acquainted. And they deal with a world which no man can 
 ignore who seeks to understand himself and his relation 
 to the natural and social environment in which his lot is 
 cast. A knowledge of the processes of mind (psychology), 
 of the laws of thought (logic), of the principles of con- 
 duct (ethics), and of the development of man's interpreta- 
 tion of reality (history of philosophy) will supplement 
 the knowledge acquired by the study of physical nature, 
 preventing a one-sided and narrow world-view, and will 
 serve as a preparation for intelligent reflection upon the 
 meaning of reality (philosophy in the sense of meta- 
 physics). 
 
 All these subjects, therefore, have as one of their aims 
 the training of the powers of thought (judgment and rea- 
 soning) ; and philosophical teaching should never lose sight 
 of this. Thinking is a difficult business, — an art which is 
 practiced, to be sure, in every field of study, but one for 
 which the philosophical branches provide unusual oppor- 
 tunity and material. It has become a habit with many 
 of recent years to decry the study of logic as an antiquated 
 discipline, but it still remains, if properly taught, an excel- 
 lent means of cultivating clear thinking; there is no reason 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 305 
 
 why a consciousness of correct ways of thinking and of the 
 methods employed in reaching reliable judgments should 
 not prove useful to every one. 
 
 We should say, therefore, that the study of philosophy 
 has a high cultural value: it encourages the student to re- 
 flect upon himself and his human and natural surroundings 
 (society and nature) and to come to grips with reality; it 
 frees him from the incubus of transmitted opinions and bor- 
 rowed beliefs, and makes him earn his spiritual possessions 
 in the sweat of his face, — mindful of Goethe's warning that 
 " he alone deserves freedom and life who is compelled to 
 battle for them day by day "; — it helps him to see things 
 in their right relations, to acquire the proper intellectual 
 and volitional attitude toward his world through an under- 
 standing of its meaning and an appreciation of its values; 
 in short, it strengthens him in his struggle to win his soul, 
 to become a person. This is its ideal; and in seeking to 
 realize it, philosophy cooperates with the other studies in 
 the task of developing human beings, in preparing men for 
 complete living, and is therefore practical in a noble sense 
 of the term. It has a high disciplinary value in that it 
 trains the powers of analysis and judgment, at least in the 
 fields in which it operates. And the habit acquired there 
 of examining judgments, hypotheses, and beliefs critically 
 and impartially, of testing them in the light of experience 
 and of reason, cannot fail to prove helpful wherever clear 
 thinking is a requisite. 
 
 The teacher should keep all these aims in view in organiz- 
 ing his material and applying his methods. He should 
 not forget that philosophy is above all things a reflection 
 upon life; he should endeavor to train his pupils in the art 
 of interpreting human experience, of grasping its meaning. 
 His chief concern should be to make thinkers of them, not 
 to fasten upon them a final philosophic creed, — not to 
 give them a philosophy, but to teach them how to phi- 
 losophize. If he succeeds in arousing in them a keen in- 
 tellectual interest and a love of truth, and in developing 
 in them the will and the power to think a problem through 
 
306 College Teaching 
 
 to the bitter end, he will have done more for them than 
 would have been possible by furnishing them with ready- 
 made formulas. There is nothing so hopelessly dead as a 
 young man without the spirit of intellectual adventure, with 
 his mind made up, with the master's ideas so deeply driven 
 into his head that his intellectual career is finished. The 
 Germans call such a person vernagelt, a term that fitly de- 
 scribes the case. What should be aimed at is the cultivation 
 of the mind so that it will broaden with enlarging experi- 
 ence, that it will be hospitable to new ideas and yet not be 
 overwhelmed by them, that it will preserve inviolate its in- 
 tellectual integrity and keep fresh the spirit of inquiry. 
 Such a mind may be safely left to work out its own salvation 
 in the quest for a Weltanschauung. 
 
 " Young, all lay in dispute ; I shall know, being old." 
 
 In emphasizing the need of such central aims in in- 
 struction we do not wish to be understood as not appreciat- 
 ing the utilitarian value of the philosophical branches and 
 their importance as a preparation for professional activity. 
 Like all knowledge, these subjects have their worth not 
 merely as means of developing human personality but also 
 as means of equipping the student with such knowledge of 
 facts, methods, and theories as will prove useful to him 
 in his other studies and in the daily affairs of life. The 
 teacher, the physician, the lawyer, the clergyman, the artist, 
 the engineer, the business man, will be benefited by an 
 understanding of the workings of the human mind, of the 
 laws of human thinking, and of the principles of human 
 conduct. It is not absolutely necessary, however, in our 
 opinion, that separate classes specially designed for the dif- 
 ferent professions be formed in the colleges; after all, it 
 is the same human mind that operates in all the fields of 
 human activity, and a knowledge of mental life in gen- 
 eral will serve the purposes of every vocation. Doubtless, 
 courses in psychology, logic, and ethics, for example, might 
 be offered having in view the particular needs of prospective 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 307 
 
 members of the various callings, but such courses would, in 
 order to meet the situation, presuppose an acquaintance with 
 the respective professional fields in question which only 
 students well along in their professional studies could be 
 expected to possess. Courses of this character might profit- 
 ably be given for the benefit of professional students who 
 have already taken the introductory subjects necessary to 
 their proper understanding. 
 
 It is not easy to determine the most favorable period 
 in a student's college career at which philosophical sub- 
 jects should be taught. The more mature the student is, 
 the more successful the instruction is apt to be; but this 
 may be said of many other studies. There is no reason 
 why an intelligent freshman may not begin the study of 
 psychology and logic and perhaps of some* other intro- 
 ductory philosophical branches; but as a rule better re- 
 sults may be obtained by admitting only such persons to 
 these classes as have familiarized themselves with univer- 
 sity methods. 
 
 We should recommend that every student in the college 
 devote at least three hours a week for four terms to the 
 study of psychology, logic, ethics, and the history of 
 philosophy. In case not all these fundamental courses 
 can be taken, the student will most likely derive the greatest 
 benefit by giving a year to the study of the history of 
 philosophy, or one term to the introduction to philosophy, 
 where he has only that much time at his disposal. It seems 
 easier, however, to arouse a philosophical interest in the 
 average student through a study of the basal philosophical 
 questions from the standpoint of contemporaneous thinking 
 than through the study of the history of philosophy. He 
 is generally lacking in the historic sense, and is apt to be 
 wearied and even confused by the endless procession of 
 systems. This is particularly the case when the teacher 
 fails to emphasize sufficiently the progressive nature of 
 philosophical thinking in its history, when he regards this 
 as a mere succession of ideas rather than as a more or 
 less logical unfolding of problems and solutions — as a 
 
 Introduction 
 of philoso- 
 phy in the 
 college 
 course 
 
 Problems 
 of philoso- 
 phy and the 
 development 
 of thought 
 to be empha- 
 sized, rather 
 than the 
 historical 
 sequence 
 
instruction 
 
 308 College Teaching 
 
 continuous effort on the part of the universal mind, so to 
 speak, to understand itself and the world. A course in the 
 introduction to philosophy acquainting the student with the 
 aims of philosophy and its relation to other fields of study, 
 and placing before him an account of the most important 
 problems of metaphysics and epistemology as well as of 
 the solutions which have been offered by the great thinkers, 
 together with such criticisms and suggestions as may stimu- 
 late his thought, will awaken in him a proper appreciation 
 of a deeper study of the great systems and lead him to seek 
 light from the history of philosophy. 
 Methods of The place and relative worth of the various methods of 
 
 instruction in the province of philosophy will, of course, 
 depend, among other things, upon the character of the par- 
 ticular subject taught and the size and quality of the class. 
 In nearly all the introductory philosophical branches in 
 which the classes are large the lecture method will prove 
 a valuable auxiliary. In no case, however, should this 
 method be employed exclusively; and in formal logic it 
 should be used rather sparingly. Ample opportunity 
 should always be given in smaller groups for raising ques- 
 tions and discussing important issues with a view to clear- 
 ing up obscure points, overcoming difficulties, developing 
 the student's powers of thought, and enabling him to exer- 
 cise his powers of expression. It is also essential that the 
 student be trained in the difficult art of reading philosophi- 
 cal works. It is wise as a rule to refer him to a good text- 
 book, which should be carefully studied, to passages or 
 chapters in other standard manuals, and in historical study 
 to the writings of the great masters. And frequent oppor- 
 tunity to express himself in the written word must be af- 
 forded him; to this end written reports giving the thought 
 of an author in the student's own language, occasional 
 critical essays, and written examination^ appealing not only 
 to his memory but to his intelligence should be required 
 during the term. Such exercises keep the student's interest 
 alive, increase his stock of knowledge, develop maturity 
 and independence of thought, and create a sense of grow- 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 309 
 
 ing intellectual power. The written tests encourage mem- 
 bers of the class to review the work gone over and to dis- 
 cuss with one another important phases of it; in the effort 
 to organize their knowledge they obtain a much better grasp 
 of the subject than would have been possible without such 
 an intensive re-appraisal of the material. 
 
 In the course on formal logic a large part of the time 
 should be spent in examining and criticizing examples of 
 the processes of thought studied (definitions, arguments, 
 methods employed in reaching knowledge) and in apply- 
 ing the principles of correct thinking in written discourses. 
 It is a pity that we have no comprehensive work containing 
 the illustrative material needed for the purpose. As it is, 
 the teacher will do well to select his examples from scien- 
 tific works, speeches, and the textbooks used in other classes. 
 As every one knows, nothing is so likely to deaden the in- 
 terest and to make the study of logic seem trivial as the use 
 of the puerile examples found in many of the older treat- 
 ises. With the proper material this subject can be made 
 one of the most interesting and profitable courses in the 
 curriculum, — in spite of what its modern detractors may 
 say. 
 
 In the history of philosophy the lectures and textbook 
 should be supplemented by the reading of the writings of 
 the great philosophers. Wherever it is possible, the learner 
 should be sent to the sources themselves. It will do him 
 good to finger the books and to find the references ; and by 
 and by he may be tempted to read beyond the required as- 
 signment — a thing greatly to be encouraged, and out of 
 the question so long as he limits himself to some one's selec- 
 tions from the writings of the philosophers. 
 
 In the advanced courses the research method may be in- 
 troduced; special problems may be assigned to the student 
 who has acquired a knowledge of the fundamentals, to be 
 worked out under the guidance of the instructor. 
 
 In the lecture intended for beginners the teacher should 
 seek to arouse in his hearers an interest in the subject and 
 the desire to plunge more deeply into it. He should not 
 
 Logic to b^ 
 related to 
 the intellec- 
 tual life 
 of the 
 student 
 
 Students to 
 be familiar- 
 ized with 
 sources and 
 original 
 writings of 
 the leading 
 philoso- 
 phers 
 
310 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Lecture 
 method 
 should 
 arouse 
 dynamic in- 
 terest and a 
 desire to 
 master the 
 problems of 
 philosophy 
 
 How to se- 
 cure active 
 participation 
 by students 
 through 
 lecture 
 method 
 
 bewilder the student with too many details and digressions 
 but present the broad outlines of the field, placing be- 
 fore him the essentials and leaving him to fill in the 
 minutiae by a study of the books of reference. Each lecture 
 ought to constitute an organic whole, as it were, in which 
 the different parts are held together by a central idea; and 
 its connection with the subject matter of the preceding 
 lectures should be kept before the hearer's mind. All this 
 requires careful and conscientious preparation on the part 
 of the teacher, who must understand the intellectual quality 
 of his class and avoid " shooting over their heads " as well 
 as going to the other extreme of aiming below the level of 
 their mental capacities. Lecturing that is more than mere 
 entertainment is an art which young instructors sometimes 
 look upon as an easy acquisition and which older heads, 
 after long years of experience, often despair of ever master- 
 ing. The lecture aims to do what books seldom accom- 
 plish — to infuse life and spirit into the subject; and this 
 ideal a living personality may hope to realize where a 
 dead book fails. 
 
 In order, however, that the philosophical lecture may not 
 fail of its purpose, the hearer must be more than a mere 
 listener; he must bring with him an alert mind that grasps 
 meanings and can follow thought-sequences. And he can- 
 not keep his attention fixed upon the discourse and under- 
 stand the relations of its parts unless other senses co- 
 operate with the sense of hearing and unless the motor 
 centers are called into play also. He should carefully 
 cultivate the art of taking notes, an accomplishment in 
 which the average student is sadly lacking and to acquire 
 which he needs the assistance of the instructor, which he 
 seldom receives. An examination of the student's notebook 
 frequently reveals such a woeful lack of discrimination on 
 the writer's part that one is led to doubt the wisdom of fol- 
 lowing this method at all; wholly unimportant things are 
 set down in faithful detail and essential ones wholly ignored. 
 The hour spent in the lecture room, however, can and 
 should be made a fruitful means of instruction, one that 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 311 
 
 will awaken processes of thought and leave its mark. But 
 in order to get the best result, the student should be urged 
 to study his notes and the books to which he has been 
 referred while the matters discussed in the lecture are still 
 fresh in his mind; he will be able to clear up points he 
 did not fully grasp, see connections that have escaped 
 him, understand the force of arguments which he missed; 
 and he will assume a more independent and critical attitude 
 toward what he has heard than was possible on the spur 
 of the moment, when he was driven on and could not stop 
 and reflect. At home, in the quiet of his study, he can 
 organize the material, see the parts of the discourse in their 
 relations to each other, and re-create the whole as it lived 
 and moved in the mind of the teacher. In doing this work 
 he is called on to exercise his thinking and takes an im- 
 portant step forward. It is for this reason that I am some- 
 what skeptical of the value of the syllabus prepared by the 
 teacher for the use of classes in philosophy, — it does for 
 the student what he should do for himself. Whatever value 
 the syllabus may have in other fields of study, its use in the 
 philosophical branches ought to be discouraged. The great 
 weakness of the lecture method lies in its tendency to relieve 
 the hearer of the necessity of doing his own thinking, to 
 leave him passive, to feed him with predigested food; and 
 this defect is augmented by providing him with "helps" 
 which rob him of the benefit and pleasure of putting the 
 pieces of the puzzle-picture together himself. 
 
 However, even at its best, the lecture method, unless sup- 
 plemented in the ways already indicated, runs the danger 
 of making the student an intellectual sponge, a mere 
 absorber of knowledge, or a kind of receptacle for pro- 
 fessors to shoot ideas into. As was said before, the student 
 must cultivate the art of reading books and of expressing 
 his thoughts by means of the spoken and written word. 
 At the early stages and in some fields of philosophical 
 study, however, the reading of many books may confuse 
 the beginner and leave his mind in a state of bewilderment. 
 It is indispensable that he acquire the working concepts and 
 
312 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion of 
 under- 
 graduate 
 courses in 
 philosophy 
 
 the terminology of the subject, and to this end it is gener- 
 ally wise to limit his reading until he has gained sufficient 
 skill in handling his tools, as it were. In the elementary 
 courses many members of the class will be unable to do 
 more than follow the lectures and study the textbook; the 
 more gifted ones, however, should be encouraged to extend 
 the range of their reading under the guidance of the in- 
 structor. 
 
 An answer to the question concerning the desired se- 
 quence of courses in philosophy will depend upon many 
 considerations, — upon one's conception of philosophy and 
 of the various subjects generally embraced under it, upon 
 one's notion of the aims of philosophical instruction, upon 
 one's estimate of the difficulties encountered by the student 
 in the study of the different branches of it, and so on. 
 There is wide divergence of opinion among thinkers on all 
 these points. Philosophy is variously conceived as meta- 
 physics, as theory of knowledge, as the science of mind 
 (Geisteswissenschaft), as the science of values iWert- 
 theorie), or as all of these together. Logic is conceived 
 by some thinkers as dependent upon psychology, by others 
 as the presupposition of all the sciences, including 
 psychology. Ethics is regarded both as a branch of 
 psychology, or as dependent upon psychology, and as an in- 
 dependent study having nothing whatever to do with 
 psychology. Psychology itself is treated both as a natural 
 science, its connection wdth philosophy being explained as 
 a historical survival, and as the fundamental study upon 
 which all the other subjects of the philosophical depart- 
 ment must rest. Where there is such a lack of agreement, 
 it will not be easy to map out a sequential course of study 
 that will satisfy everybody. Even when philosophy is de- 
 fined in the old historic sense as an attempt to reach a 
 theory of the world and of life, men may differ as to the 
 exact order in which the basal studies should be pursued. 
 By many the history of philosophy is considered the best 
 introduction to the entire field, while others would place 
 it at the end of the series of fundamentals (psychology, 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 313 
 
 logic, ethics), holding that a student who has studied these 
 will be best equipped for a study that includes the history 
 of their development. As a matter of fact, given students 
 of mature mind and the necessary general preparation, 
 either order may be justified. The average underclassman 
 is, however, too immature to plunge at once into the study 
 of the history of philosophy, and the present writer would 
 recommend that it be preceded by courses in general 
 psychology, logic and ethics. The average sophomore will 
 have little difficulty in following courses in psychology and 
 logic; and it is immaterial which of these he takes up first. 
 The course in the theory of ethics should come in the junior 
 or senior year and after the student has gained some 
 knowledge of psychology (preferably from a book like 
 Stout's Manual of Psychology) . And it would be an ad- 
 vantage if the course in ethics could be preceded by a study 
 of the development of moral ideas, of the kind, let us 
 say, presented in Hobhouse's Morals in Evolution. For 
 reasons already stated, the entire course in philosophy 
 should be inaugurated by the Introduction to Philosophy. 
 Advanced courses in metaphysics and the theory of knowl- 
 edge should come at the end and follow the history of 
 philosophy. The ideal sequence would, therefore, be in the 
 view of the present writer: Introduction to Philosophy, 
 Psychology or Logic, the Development of Moral Ideas, The- 
 ory of Ethics, History of Philosophy, Metaphysics, and 
 Theory of Knowledge. It must be admitted, however, that 
 a rigorous insistence upon this scheme in the American col- 
 lege, in which freedom of election is the rule, would impair 
 the usefulness of the department of philosophy. Few stu- 
 dents will be willing to take all these subjects, and there is 
 no reason why an intelligent junior or senior should not be 
 admitted to a course in ethics or the history of philosophy 
 without having first studied the other branches. A person 
 possessing sufficient maturity of mind to pursue these studies 
 will be greatly benefited by them even when he comes to 
 them without previous preparation; and it would be a pity 
 to deprive him of the opportunity to become acquainted with 
 
314 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Moot ques- 
 tions: con- 
 troversy 
 between 
 philosopher 
 and psy- 
 chologist 
 
 a field in which some of the ablest thinkers have exercised 
 their powers. At all events, he should not leave college 
 without having had a course in the history of philosophy, 
 which will open up a new world to him and may perhaps 
 stimulate him to read the best books in the other branches 
 later on. 
 
 It would not be possible, of course, to prescribe all the 
 fundamental philosophical courses, even if it were desir- 
 able, — few faculties would go so far, — but it would be 
 wise to require every candidate for the bachelor's degree 
 to give at least six hours of his time (three hours a term, 
 on the two-term basis) to one or two of the elementary 
 courses, preferably in the sophomore year. Ethics and the 
 history of philosophy could then be chosen as electives 
 and be followed by the more advanced and specialized 
 courses. 
 
 We have already touched upon some of the debatable 
 questions in the sphere of philosophical education. The 
 dispute concerning the place of psychology in the scheme 
 of philosophical instruction has its cause in differences of 
 view concerning the aims, nature, and methods of that sub- 
 ject. Philosophers ask for an introductory course in psy- 
 chology which shall serve as a propaedeutic to the philo- 
 sophical studies, while teachers of education wish to have it 
 treated in a way to throw light upon educational methods 
 and theory. " Some biologists treat mental phenomena as 
 mere correlates of physiological processes. . . . Others, 
 including a number of psychologists also, regard psycho- 
 logical phenomena as fully explicable in terms of behavior, 
 and as constituting therefore a phase of biological science." 
 The Committee of the American Psychological Association 
 on the Academic Status of Psychology recommends " that 
 the Association adopt the principle that the undergraduate 
 psychological curriculum in every college or university, 
 great or small, should be planned from the standpoint of 
 psychology and in accordance with psychological ideals, 
 rather than to fit the needs and meet the demands of some 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 315 
 
 other branch of learning." ^ This declaration of principle 
 might lead to peace between the philosophers and the 
 psychologists if there were agreement concerning the 
 " psychological ideals " in accordance with which the sub- 
 ject is to be studied. The desideratum of the philosophers 
 is a psychology which will give the student an understand- 
 ing of the various phases of mental life; but they do not 
 believe that this can be reached by an exclusive use of the 
 natural-scientific method. The objection of some psy- 
 chologists, that the philosophers wish to inject metaphysics 
 into the study of mental processes, is met by the rejoinder 
 that the natural-scientific psychology is itself based upon an 
 unconscious metaphysics, and a false one at that. What 
 the philosophers desire is psychological courses which will 
 do full justice to the facts of the mental life and not falsify 
 them to meet the demands of a scientific theory or method 
 — courses of the kind given in European universities by 
 men whose reputation as psychologists is beyond suspicion. 
 
 We have likewise alluded, in this chapter, to the con- ^^s^^Tto 
 troversy over the need and nature of an introductory course nature of 
 in philosophy. Of those who favor such a philosophical '^urse^in^'^ 
 propaedeutic some recommend the History of Philosophy, philosophy 
 others an Introduction to Philosophy of the type described 
 in the preceding pages. Some teachers regard as the ideal 
 course a study of the evolving attitudes of the individual 
 toward the world, after the manner of Hegel's Phenomenol- 
 ogy of the Spirit; some the Philosophy of History; some 
 Kulturgeschichtef that is, the study of " the evolution of 
 science, morality, art, religion, and political life, — in short, 
 the history of institutions"; some the study of the great 
 literatures; and some would seek the approach to the sub- 
 ject through the religious interest.^ It is plain that the 
 History of Philosophy will receive help from all these 
 sources; and a wise teacher will make frequent use of 
 them. Nor can the course in the Introduction to Philoso- 
 
 1 The sentences quoted are taken from the Report of this committee, 
 which was published in December, 1914. 
 
 2 See the articles of J. W. Hudson and others in the Bibliography. 
 
316 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The ' ' case 
 method ' ' 
 in the 
 teaching of 
 philosophy 
 
 phy afford to ignore them; it will do well to lay particular 
 stress upon the philosophical attitudes, the embryonic 
 philosophies which are to be found in the great literatures, 
 in the great religions, in science, and in the common sense 
 of mankind. Wherever the human mind is at work, there 
 philosophical conceptions, — world-views, crude or devel- 
 oped, — play their part; and they form the background 
 of the lives of peoples as well as of individuals. In the 
 systems of the great thinkers they are formulated and made 
 more or less consistent; but everywhere they are the result 
 of the mind's yearning to understand the meaning of life 
 in its manifold expressions. When the student comes to 
 see that philosophy is simply an attempt to do what man- 
 kind has always been doing and will always continue to do, 
 in a rough way, that it is " only an unusually obstinate at- 
 tempt to think clearly and consistently," — to continue the 
 process of thinking to the bitter end, — his attitude toward 
 it will be one of intelligent interest and respect. But not 
 one of these subjects taken by itself will serve the purpose 
 of an introductory course. 
 
 Another moot question is concerned with the use of the 
 " case method," employed in law instruction, in ethics. 
 The case method seeks to know what the moral law is by 
 studying the moral judgments of society; or, more 
 definitely, to quote the words of Professor Coxe,^ one of 
 its champions: "to discover, if possible, a law running 
 through the judgments which society has made through its 
 duly appointed officials." " Historical cases, properly at- 
 tested, alone give us the means of objective judgment." 
 There can be no doubt that this method will prove service- 
 able, if judiciously applied; but its exclusive use either as 
 a method of study or as a method of instruction, — even 
 in an introductory course in ethics, — is not to be recom- 
 mended.^ The student v/ill not gain an adequate concep- 
 tion of morality from a study of the varying and often con- 
 tradictory " historical cases," much less from a study of the 
 
 ^ See Bibliography. 
 
 2 See Professor Overstreet's Discussion mentioned in the Bibliography. 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 317 
 
 judgments which society has made "through its duly ap- " 
 pointed officials." The legal "case" literature of our 
 country does indeed furnish valuable and interesting ma- 
 terial for ethical study, but it would require a riper mind 
 than that of a beginner to discover and to evaluate the 
 moral principles which lie embodied in it. 
 
 The problem of testing the effectiveness of one's teach- Testing the 
 ing presents few difficulties in classes which are small and Suction 
 in which individual instruction is possible. Wherever 
 teacher and student come in close personal contact and op- 
 portunity is afforded for full and frequent discussions as 
 well as for written exercises, it is a comparatively easy 
 matter to judge the mental caliber of the members of the 
 class and to determine the extent of their progress. In 
 the case of the large classes, however, which crowd into 
 the lecture halls of the modern university, the task is not 
 so simple. Here every effort should be made to divide 
 such concourses of students into numerous sections, small 
 enough to enable the instructor to become acquainted with 
 those under his charge and to watch their development. 
 The professor who gives the lectures should take one or 
 more of these sections himself in order that he may under- 
 stand the minds to which he is addressing himself, and 
 govern himself accordingly. The tests should consist of 
 discussions, essays, and written and oral examinations; by 
 means of these it is not impossible to determine whether the 
 aims of the subject have been realized in the instruction 
 or not. But the tasks set should be of such a character as 
 to test the student's power of thought, his ability to under- 
 stand what he has read and heard with all its implications, 
 his ability to assume a critical attitude toward what he 
 has assimilated, and his ability to try his intellectual wings 
 in independent flights. A person who devotes himself faith- 
 fully to his work during the entire term, who puts his mind 
 upon it, takes an active part in the discussions, and is en- 
 couraged to express himself frequently by means of the 
 written word, will surely give some indication of the 
 progress he has made, even in a written examination — it 
 
318 College Teaching 
 
 being a fair assumption that one who knows will somehow 
 succeed in revealing his knowledge. Care must be taken, 
 of course, that the test is not a mere appeal to the memory; 
 it is only when the examination makes demands upon the 
 student's intelligence that it can be considered a fair meas- 
 ure of the value of philosophical instruction. It must not 
 be forgotten, however, that the examination may reveal not 
 only the weakness of the learner but the weakness of the 
 teacher. It is possible for a student, even in philosophy, to 
 make a fine showing in a written examination by repeating 
 the words of the master which he does not understand, with- 
 out having derived any real benefit from the course. The 
 teacher may set an examination whi h will hide the de- 
 ficiencies of the instruction, and the temptation to do this 
 in large classes which he knows have not been properly 
 taught is great. 
 
 Frank Thilly 
 
 Cornell JJniveTsity 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 CoxE, G. C. The Case Method in the Study and Teaching of Ethics. 
 
 Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. 
 
 X, 13, page 337. 
 Davies, a. E. Education and Philosophy. Journal of Philosophy, 
 
 Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. VI, 14, page 365. 
 HiNMAN, E, L. The Aims of an Introductory Course in Philosophy. 
 
 Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. 
 
 VII, 21, page 561. 
 HoFLER, A. Zur Propddeutik-Frage. 
 HoFLER, A. Zur Reform der philosophischen Propadeutik. Zeit- 
 
 schrift fiir die Osterreichischen Gymnasien, Vol. L, 3, page 255. 
 Hudson, J, W. Hegel's Conception of an Introduction to Philosophy. 
 
 Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. 
 
 VI, 13, page 337. 
 
 An Introduction to Philosophy through the Philosophy of His- 
 tory. Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, 
 Vol. VII, 21, page 569. 
 
 The Aims and Methods of Introduction Courses: A Question- 
 naire. Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Meth- 
 ods, Vol. IX, 2, page 29. 
 
 Lehmann, R. Der deutsche Unterricht, pages 389-437. 
 
The Teaching of Philosophy 319 
 
 Leuchtenberger, G. Die philosophische Propddeutik auf den hoh- 
 
 eren Schulen. 
 OvERSTREET, H. A. Professor Coxe's " Case Method " in Ethics. 
 
 Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods, Vol. 
 
 X, 17, page 464. 
 Paulsen, F. German Universities and University Studies. English 
 
 translation by Frank Thilly and W. W. Elwang, Book III and 
 
 Book IV. 
 Ueber Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Philosophic im gelehrten 
 
 Unterricht, Central-Organ fiir die Inter essen des Realschulwesens, 
 
 Vol. XIV, 1, page 4. 
 Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts, Conclusion. 
 
 Report of the Committee on the Academic Status of Psychology, pub- 
 lished by the American Psychological Association, December, 
 1914. 
 
 Tufts, J. H. Carman as a Teacher. Journal of Philosophy, Psychol- 
 ogy, and Scientific Methods, Vol. IV, 10, page 263. 
 
 Weissenfels, O. Die Philosophic auf dem Gymnasium. Zeitschrift 
 fiir das Gymnasialwesen, Vol. LIII, 1, page 1. 
 
 Wendt, G. Didaktik und Methodik des deutschen Unterrichts, Hand- 
 buch der Erziehungs- und Unterrichtslehre fiir hohere Schulen. 
 
XV 
 THE TEACHING OF ETHICS 
 
 Interest in 
 the study of 
 ethics deter- 
 mined hy 
 the aim of 
 instruction 
 
 Viewpoint 
 in the 
 past 
 
 The busi- 
 ness of right 
 living the 
 aim of ethics 
 teaching 
 
 NOWHERE does academic tediousness work a more dire 
 mischief than in the teaching of ethics. It is bad to 
 have students forever shun the best books because of poor 
 instruction in literature; the damage is worse when it is 
 the subject of moral obligation which they associate with 
 only the duller hours of their college life. Not that the 
 aim of a course in ethics is to afford a number of enter- 
 taining periods. The object rather is to help our students 
 realize that here is a subject which seeks to interpret for 
 them the most important problems of their own lives present 
 and to come. Where this end is kept in view, the question 
 of interesting them is settled. A sincere interpretation of 
 life always takes the interest when once it is grasped that 
 this is what is really being interpreted. 
 
 The procedure in the past (and still quite common) was 
 to introduce the subject by way of its history. A book 
 like Sidgwick's History of Ethics was studied, with supple- 
 ments in the shape of the students' own reading of the 
 classics, or lectures, with quotations, by the teacher. That 
 this method was frequently of much service is undeniable. 
 Teachers there are with rare gifts of inspiration who can 
 put freshness into any course which ordinary teachers leave 
 hopelessly arid. But this should not blind us to the fact 
 that certain modes of procedure are in general more likely 
 to be fruitful than others. 
 
 These methods depend upon the aim; and the aim, we 
 venture to hold, should be eminently practical. The con- 
 tent of ethics is not primarily a matter of whether Kant's 
 judgments are sounder than Mill's or Spencer's. Its sub- 
 ject is human life and the business of right living: how 
 should people — real people, that is, not textbook illustra- 
 tions — live with one another? This is the essential con- 
 cern of our subject matter, and in it our student is inti- 
 
 320 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 321 
 
 mately and practically involved. Charged with the fact, he 
 may deny the impeachment. He refuses to worry over the 
 merits of hedonism versus rigorism, the distinction between 
 hypothetical and categorical imperatives, or the claim of 
 ethics to be called a science. Ethics, that is, as an in- 
 tellectual discipline through the survey of historic disputa- 
 tions is indeed remote from the concerns that touch his life. 
 But all the time there is no subject of greater interest when 
 approached from the side of its bearing on practical prob- 
 lems. Consider the earnestness with which the student will 
 discuss with his friends such questions as these: What 
 sense is there in a labor strike? Is a conscientious objector 
 justified in refusing military service? Why should any one 
 oppose easy divorce laws? May a lawyer defend a rogue 
 whom he knows to be guilty? Can one change the nature 
 with which he was born? Is violence justified in the name 
 of social reform? If what is right in one age or place is 
 wrong in another, is it fair to object when moral laws are 
 broken? If a practice like prostitution is common, what 
 makes it wrong? 
 
 These do not sound like the questions likely to re- 
 ceive a welcome hearing in the classroom; but it is pre- 
 cisely upon the interest in such topics as these that 
 the course in ethics should build; for its subject is right 
 living, a matter in which the student may indeed be 
 assumed to feel a genuine concern. If the questions 
 that he wants answered are not all as broad in their 
 significance as the foregoing, there are others of a more 
 immediate personal kind which arise in his life as a 
 student, as a friend, as a son and brother, problems 
 in which standards of fair play and " decency " are 
 involved, and upon which it may be taken for granted 
 that he has done some thinking, howsoever crude. 
 These interests are invaluable. Out of them the finer 
 product is to be created in the shape of better stand- 
 ards, higher ideals, and habits of moral thoughtful- 
 ness, leading in turn to still better standards and still 
 worthier conduct. The course in ethics should be practical 
 
322 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Illustrations 
 of the prob- 
 lems of right 
 living 
 
 in the sense that both its starting point and its final object 
 are found in the student's management of his life. 
 
 Consider, for example, how his interest in problems of 
 friendship may be used as the point of departure for an 
 extremely important survey over general questions of right 
 relationship. Just because friendship is so vital a concern 
 of adolescent years, he can be led to read what Aristotle. 
 Kant, Emerson, have to say upon this subject and be intro- 
 duced as well to that larger life of ideal relationships from 
 which these writers regard the dealings of friends. The 
 topic of right attitudes toward a friend broadens out readily 
 into such considerations as treating persons aright for their 
 own sake or regarding them as ends per se, a dead abstrac- 
 tion when approached as it is by Kant, but a living reality 
 when the students get Aristotle's point about magnanimous 
 treatment of friends. They can then proceed by way of 
 contrast to note, for example, how this magnanimity was 
 limited to friends in the upper levels of Athenian society, 
 and went hand in hand with approval of slave labor and 
 other exploitations which a modern conscience forbids. 
 To give sharper edge to the conception of man as deserving 
 right treatment for his own sake, the class might go on 
 to examine other notable violations of personality in past 
 and present; e. g., slavery (read for instance Sparr's 
 History of the African Slave Trade) or the more recent 
 cruelties toward the natives in the rubber regions of the 
 Congo and the Amazon. Reference may also be made 
 (without undue emphasis) to the white-slave traffic of today 
 and the fact be noted that a right sense of chivalry will 
 keep a man from partnership in the degradation which 
 creates both the demand for white slavery and ultimately 
 its supply. We mention this to show how a common prac- 
 tical interest can be employed to introduce the students to so 
 fundamental an ethical conception as the idea of inviolable 
 human worth. It may, no doubt, be highly unconventional 
 for them to begin with a discussion of friendship and after 
 a few periods find themselves absorbed in these other ques- 
 tions; but if care is exercised to sum up and to emphasize 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 323 
 
 the big conceptions underlying the topic, we may be sure 
 that their grasp of the subject will be no less firm than 
 under the older method. Their acquaintance with a study 
 requiring hard, abstract thinking will surely not be hurt, 
 to say the least, by an introduction which is concrete and 
 practical. 
 
 Or take another matter of real concern to the student 
 at this period of his life. He is certain to be giving some 
 thought to the matter of his future vocation;, and here 
 again is a topic which, properly handled, broadens out into 
 the most far-reaching inquiries. It is to be regretted that 
 as yet the vocational-guidance movement has been occupied 
 in the main with external features — comparing jobs, mak- 
 ing objective tests of efficiency, and so on. The central 
 ethical conceptions are usually slighted. That one's voca- 
 tion is a prime influence in the shaping of personality in 
 oneself, in one's fellow workers, in the public served (or 
 disserved) by one's work, in the world of nations in so far 
 as war and peace are connected with commerce and other 
 interchange of vocational products — all this is matter 
 for the teacher who wishes the ethics course to work over 
 into better living.^ Nor again, as will be noted later 
 in the chapter, need the claims of the subject as a scholarly 
 discipline suffer from such treatment. Questions of the 
 nature of moral standards, of the distinction between ex- 
 pedient and right, etc., can be taken up more profitably 
 when, instead of dealing with the academic questions form- 
 ing the stock in trade of most textbooks, the course ex- 
 amines a few vocations, let us say, business, teaching, art, 
 law, medicine, — in the light of such standards as these : 
 A history of the calling; e.g., what has it contributed 
 to the elevation of mankind, to the development of the arts 
 and sciences, and to specific kinds of human betterment? 
 What is the best service it can accomplish today? What 
 traits does it require in those who pursue it? What traits 
 
 1 See Adler: The Present World-Crisis and Its Meaning, chapter 
 on "An Ethical Program of Social Reform"; also An Ethical 
 Philosophy of Life, Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 
 
324 College Teaching 
 
 is it likely to encourage in them for better and for worse? 
 Report on great leaders in the calling, with special refer- 
 ence to what their work made of them. What are the 
 darker sides of the picture? What efforts are being made 
 today to raise the moral code in this vocation? Sum up 
 the ideal rewards. 
 
 We do not mean, of course, that the only problems are 
 those which center around the demands of today for a more 
 just economic and social order. On the contrary, we be- 
 lieve that the movement for social justice is greatly in 
 need of precisely that appreciation of the claims of moral 
 personality which it is the main business of ethical study 
 to promote. But we shall never get our students to profit 
 from their work in social ethics, or in ethical theory, or 
 in any branch of the subject whatever, unless we keep 
 fresh and close the contact with their own experiences 
 and ambitions. 
 
 Indeed, we venture to assert that unless this connection 
 is kept unbroken, the subject is not ethics at all but an 
 abstraction which ought to take some other name. Ethics 
 deals with human volitions; but the latter term is meaning- 
 less to the student save as he interprets it by his own ex- 
 periences in the preference of better ways to lower. He 
 knows the difficulties that arise in his own group-associa- 
 tions, — his home or his class or his club, for example, 
 — the conflicts of ambitions, the readiness to shirk 
 one's share of common responsibility, the discordant prides 
 and appetites of one sort and another which lead to overt 
 injustices. All these should be used to throw light upon 
 the living moral problems of group-life in the vocations, 
 in the civic world, in the international order. 
 
 Temperamentally, to be sure, the teacher may be in- 
 clined to handle his subject in what, he prefers to regard 
 as academic detachment. But where the subject is ethics 
 and not dead print, complete aloofness is out of the 
 question. There would be no textbooks in ethics if the 
 men whose convictions are there recorded had not grappled 
 earnestly with problems of vital moment to their day and 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 325 
 
 generation. The crucial questions raised by a changing 
 Athenian democracy were no matters of air-born specula- 
 tion to Socrates and Plato and Aristotle. Nor is it an 
 accident that the philosopher who so sought to vindicate 
 the worth of man as an end per se should have sent from 
 his apparently isolated study in Konigsberg his glad ac- 
 claim of the French Revolution. The abounding interest 
 of the English Utilitarians in the economics, the politics, 
 the social reform, of the nineteenth century needs no com- 
 ment. There are texts for study today because the men 
 who wrote them were keenly concerned about a nobler 
 mode of life for mankind. To invite the student to share 
 their reflections without expecting worthier conduct is to 
 ignore the essential purpose by which those reflections were 
 prbmpted. 
 
 Hence our first recommendation — that the content of Governing 
 
 7 T. 77 -ITT • ' 7 ' : ^^™ i" ethics 
 
 the etfiics courses be determined by the principal aim of teaching 
 
 so interpreting the experiences and interests of the student 
 as to stimulate worthier behavior through a better under- 
 standing of the general problem of right human relation- 
 ships. 
 
 Our second recommendation as to aims is suggested by 
 certain extremes in the practice of today. Reference to 
 problems of immediate concern does not mean that ultimate 
 considerations are to be shelved. Indeed, it must rather 
 be stressed that such discussions miss their best object, if 
 they fail to lead to searching reflection upon ultimate 
 standards. The temptation to forego such inquiry today 
 is strong. In their desire to be practical and up-to-date, 
 many teachers are altogether too ready to rest the case 
 for moral obligation upon a kind of easy-going hedonism, 
 the fallacy of provisionalism, as Professor Felix Adler calls 
 it. Tangible " goods " like happiness or " social values " 
 are held up as standards, as if these values were ends 
 in themselves and the problem of an ultimate human 
 worth were irrelevant. 
 
 It may very well be a modest attitude to say that we 
 can no longer busy ourselves with the nature of ulti- 
 
326 College Teaching 
 
 mate ends and that we can best employ our energies in 
 trying to define the various goods which contribute now 
 and here to human betterment. Let the effort be made, 
 by all means. But when the last of empirical goods have 
 been examined and appraised (assuming for the moment 
 that we can indeed appraise without possessing ultimate 
 norms) the cardinal question still waits for answer: To 
 what are all these goods instrumental? What kind of life 
 is best? What is it that permits man, with all his faults, 
 his sordid appetites, his meannesses and gross dishonors, 
 to hold his head erect as one yet worthy of the tribute 
 implied in the fact that we have duties toward him? 
 
 An answer satisfying to all may never be reached; but 
 to evade these questions is to abdicate the teacher's func- 
 tion. Many young people are led by the biologic teachings 
 of the day to regard man as the utterly helpless product 
 of his environment. Or they are so impressed with the 
 obvious and immediate needs of whole masses for better 
 food, better homes, greater opportunities for culture, that 
 they do not stop to ask whether these goods are worth 
 while in themselves, or if not, what is the deeper purpose 
 to which they should minister. A conception of person- 
 ality is needed, sufficiently exalted to permit the various 
 immediate utilities to find their due place as tributes to 
 the ideal excellence latent in man; and on the other hand 
 there is need for a view of the spiritual life free from 
 the misuse to which that term is put by the various cults 
 evoked by reaction against modern mechanism. Pains- 
 taking inquiry into the grounds upon which the assurance 
 of human dignity can justify itself, has never been more 
 urgently required.^ 
 
 1 From this point of view the ethical justification for the war on the 
 slum becomes: {a) to make possible for the slum-dweller the bet- 
 ter performance of his various duties as parent, worker, citizen; (6) 
 to drive home to all concerned the meaning of interdependence; (c) 
 to clarify for all of us the ideals to which better living conditions 
 should minister. There is every need today to further the convic- 
 tion that the highest service we can perform for another is not to 
 make him happier, but to help him make himself a better person 
 through the better performance of his duties. 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 327 
 
 Let us beware of surrenderinff to the common but often ideals and 
 pernicious demand of our swift-moving America that in in ethics 
 order to receive consideration a new idea should prove teaching 
 itself capable of yielding immediate dividends. There 
 seems to be a certain hesitancy today among some in our 
 educated classes about speaking of " ideals." Ideals con- 
 note a long look ahead. They imply a sense that there 
 is something perfect even though the steps toward embody- 
 ing or approximating it will be many and arduous, per- 
 haps discouragingly hard. They betoken the likelihood of 
 appearing before men as the victims of ultimately unwork- 
 able dreams. In refreshing contrast is the seeming prac- 
 ticability of encouraging present tendencies. Your ten- 
 dency is no far-off projection of mere thought; it is 
 something solid and " real," here and now, respected at 
 the bank, in the newspaper office, and other meeting places 
 of those whose heads are hard. Tendencies turn elections; 
 ideals carry no such palpable witness of their power. 
 " Hence let us study tendencies." 
 
 This characterization is perhaps extreme, but the danger 
 to which it refers is all too frequent. A strike, for instance, 
 sets most of us to discussing ways by which this particular 
 disturbance can be ended quickly. It is only the few 
 who are willing to hold in mind both terms of the prob- 
 lem, namely the procedure for tomorrow morning and the 
 positive ideal toward which all our vocational life should 
 set its face even if the distant tomorrow is still so far 
 ahead. So of our conceptions of political life. A given 
 election may indeed involve an immediate moral issue; but 
 even the issue of next month can be faced properly only 
 when it is related to an ideal of public life which may have 
 to wait long years for appreciation by the majority. 
 Nothing is more necessary in a democracy than a leader- 
 ship trained in the long forward look, trained in distinguish- 
 ing morally right and morally wrong from expedient, and 
 best from merely better, trained in the courage to cham- 
 pion a distant ideal in the face of clamor to accept some 
 inferior but belligerently present substitute. 
 
328 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Course in 
 ethics pre- 
 scribed, and 
 early in col- 
 lege course 
 
 Sequence 
 determined 
 by develop- 
 ment of the 
 student 
 
 In short, the student should be offered every encourage- 
 ment to thinking out the ultimate obligations of his own life 
 and of his various groups and to reaching the conviction that 
 there is such a reality as a permanent human worth, a fun- 
 damentally right way for men and women to seek, a Tight- 
 ness whose authority is undiminished by the blunders of the 
 human mind in trying to define it. An ever more earnest 
 attempt to find that way, and to find it by practice illumined 
 by all the knowledge that can be brought to bear, should 
 be the leading object. Not a series of definitions and quo- 
 tations, nor yet a little information about the social move- 
 ments of our time, but a truer understanding of life as 
 the result of interpreting it in terms of the obligation to 
 create right human adjustments — such an aim saves college 
 ethics alike from dryness and from superficial attempts 
 to sprinkle interest over a subject of inherent and intense 
 practical importance. 
 
 It is not essential that an introductory course in ethics 
 should enter into the philosophy of religion. This may be 
 left to other agencies, like the church, or to later courses, 
 with every confidence that the outcome will be sound if 
 mind and soul and will (to use the old formula) are first 
 enlisted in behalf of noble conduct. Whatever thinking the 
 student may do along these lines will be the better if its 
 nurture is drawn first from moral thinking and moral 
 practice.^ 
 
 From the foregoing it follows that the ethics course 
 should be taken by all the students. The earlier it can be 
 given the better, inasmuch as its demands upon their con- 
 duct apply to all the years of their life, and because the 
 whole career at college is more likely to benefit from be- 
 ginning early such reflections as this study particularly 
 invites. 
 
 The sequence of courses will perhaps be best deter- 
 mined by remembering the need of following the natural 
 growth of the student. Experiences come first and then 
 
 1 Note the emphasis placed by modern philosophy upon ethical 
 value as the point of approach to the problem of Godhead. 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 
 
 329 
 
 the interpretations. Hence the insistence upon the prac- 
 tical content of the introductory courses. Theory and his- 
 tory should follow, not precede. Nobody is interested in 
 the history or the theory of a thing unless he is interested 
 in the thing itself. Furthermore, we must bear in mind 
 the needs of those students who are not likely to care 
 enough for the more theoretical aspects to continue the sub- 
 ject. If the introductory course is to be all that they take, 
 obviously the more practical we can make it the better. 
 
 As to method, a variety of profitable ways abounds if 
 only the contact with life is kept close and the principles 
 studied are tested by their outcome in the life which the 
 student knows best. In general, the best procedure is to 
 work back from concrete instances to the principles under- 
 lying the problem, formulate the principles and test them 
 in other fields. Our illustrative strike, for instance, can be 
 used to throw light upon the actual and the ideal prin- 
 ciples involved in human relationship in some such manner 
 as the following: 
 
 What do the employers want? What do they mean by 
 liberty? What were the circumstances under which Mill 
 formulated his principle of " liberty within the limits of 
 non-infringement? " What have been the consequences in 
 America of reliance upon this formula? Why does it break 
 down in practice? Compare it with the theory of the 
 balance of power in international relations. What is likely 
 to be the effect of the possession of power upon the posses- 
 sor himself? 
 
 Restate the ideal of liberty in terms of duty, not of privi- 
 lege. What are the obstacles to the fulfillment of such 
 an ideal in industry? In homes? What are the personal 
 obstacles to clear understanding of the meaning of right? 
 
 What do the workers want? Examine each of their de- 
 mands — shorter hours, more pay, recognition of the union, 
 etc. What should the granting of these demands con- 
 tribute to their lives? Give instances to show whether 
 " better off " means better persons or not. 
 
 Compare the working man's use of the word " liberty " 
 
 In teaching 
 ethics fol- 
 low the 
 maxim from 
 the con- 
 crete to the 
 abstract 
 
 Method of 
 procedure il- 
 lustrated 
 
330 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 with that of the employer. Why do workers often become 
 oppressors when they themselves become employers? What 
 is the difference between demanding a redress of your 
 grievance and making a moral demand? What makes the 
 cry of fraternity as uttered by the workers repugnant to 
 those who otherwise would accept fraternity as an ideal? 
 
 How would you formulate the ideal for the vocational 
 life of the factory worker? Apply it to other vocations 
 — journalism, law, teaching. Sum up the ideal rewards 
 of work. 
 
 Make tentative definitions of liberty, rights, duty, justice. 
 
 Place of 
 the text- 
 book in 
 ethics teach- 
 ing 
 
 Each of the questions mentioned above — and many more 
 will occur in the course of the discussion — furnishes occa- 
 sion for extended considerations that call upon the student 
 for scholarly gathering of facts, for close thinking, and — 
 not least — for reflection upon his own experiences and 
 volitions. Other problems will suggest themselves. It is 
 obvious how the interest of the student in prison reform, 
 for example, can be employed in like manner as a motive to 
 searching reflection upon questions of moral responsibility. 
 The principle that punishment should be a means of 
 awaking in the offender the consciousness of a self which 
 can and should hold itself to account despite the magnitude 
 of its temptations is of special usefulness, in the years 
 when a broadening altruism (and we might add, a tendency 
 to self-pity) is likely to lead to loose notions of personal 
 obligation. 
 
 The use of a textbook is a minor matter. To prevent the 
 courses from running off^ into mere talk — and even ethics 
 classes are not averse to " spontaneous " recitation on their 
 own part or to monologues by the teacher — a textbook may 
 be required, with, let us say, monthly reports or examina- 
 tions. So much depends, however, upon the enthusiasm of 
 the instructor that here particularly recommendations can 
 be only of the most general kind. Some of the most effec- 
 tive work in this subject is being done by teachers who 
 forget the textbook for weeks at a time in order to push 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 
 
 331 
 
 home a valuable inquiry suggested by an unforeseen prob- 
 lem raised in the course of the discussion. Others use 
 no textbooks at all. Some outline the year's work in a 
 series of cases or problems with questions to be answered 
 in writing after consulting selected passages in the classics 
 or in current literature or in both.i This method has the 
 advantage of laying out the whole year's work beforehand 
 and of guaranteeing that the student comes to the class- 
 room with something more than a facility in unpremedi- 
 tated utterance. It is generally found to be of greater in- 
 terest because it follows the lines of his own ordinary 
 thinking — first the problem and then the attempt to find 
 the principles that will help to solve it. 
 
 More important than any of these details of technique 
 is the need of helping the student to clarify his thinking by 
 engaging in some practical moral endeavor. The broaden- 
 ing and deepening of the altruistic interests is a familiar 
 feature of adolescent life. The instructor in ethics, in the 
 very interest of his own subject, is the one who should take 
 the lead in encouraging these expressions, not only because 
 of the general obligation of the college to make the most 
 of aptitudes which, neglected in youth, may never again 
 be so vigorous, but also because of the truth in Aristotle's 
 dictum that insight is shaped by conduct. Hence the work 
 in ethics should be linked up wherever possible with student 
 self-government and other participation in the management 
 of the college, and with philanthropies like work in settle- 
 ments or in social reform groups or cosmopolitan societies. 
 For the students of finer grain it is eminently worth the 
 trouble to form clubs to intensify the spirit of the members 
 by activities more pointedly directed to the refining of 
 human relationships. They might engage in activities in 
 which the task of elevating the personality is specially 
 marked, that is, in problems which have to do with mutual 
 
 1 Professor Sharp of Wisconsin has found this method so serviceable 
 that he has interested many teachers in his state and elsewhere in 
 usmg it with high school students for purposes of moral instruction. 
 See "A Course in Moral Instruction for High Schools," by F. C. 
 Sharp; Bulletin, University of Wisconsin. 
 
 Moral con- 
 cepts deep- 
 ened by par- 
 ticipation 
 in social or 
 philan- 
 thropic en- 
 deavors 
 
332 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Peculiar 
 difficulty 
 of applying 
 usual test 
 to courses 
 in ethics 
 
 interpretation — e.g., black folk and white, foreign and 
 native stocks in America, delinquents and the community, 
 immigrant parents and unsympathetic children. They 
 might organize clubs for one or more of these purposes, 
 for discussing intimately the problems of personal life, for 
 public meetings on the ethics of the vocations and on the 
 more distinctly ethical phases of political and international 
 progress. Such organizations can be made to do vastly more 
 good for their members then the average debating society, 
 with its usual premium on mere forensic skill, or the fra- 
 ternity, with its encouragement of snobbishness. The 
 wholesome thing about the spirit of fraternity should be set 
 to work upon some such creative activities as we have men- 
 tioned. Not only does the comradeship strengthen faith in 
 right doing, but these practical endeavors offer a notable 
 help to the deepening, extending, and clarifying of that in- 
 terest in moral progress without which there can be none 
 of the intelligent leadership for which our democracy looks 
 to its colleges. 
 
 To test how far the subject has been of value to the 
 student is unusually difficult. His interest in the discussions 
 is by no means an unfailing index. There are those who 
 may be both eager and skilled in the intellectual combat 
 incidental to the course but whose lives remain untouched 
 for the better. The worthier outcome is hard to trace. 
 It is quite possible for the teacher to take credit for the 
 instilling of an ideal whose generation was due to some 
 agency wholly unknown, perhaps even to the student him- 
 self. On the other hand, the best results may take years 
 for overt appearance. In the nature of the case, their 
 more intimate expressions can never be recorded. 
 
 Moreover, students vary in the force of character which 
 they bring with them to the study. A lad whose home 
 training has been deficient may take more time than the best 
 teacher can give in order to reach the degree of excellence to 
 which others among his classmates ascend more quickly. 
 Or a lad whom the course has moved with a desire to take 
 up some philanthropic endeavor may hesitate to pursue 
 
The Teaching of Ethics 333 
 
 it through lack of the necessary gift or failure in self- 
 confidence. The forces which enter into the making of 
 character are so complex, including as they do not only 
 acquisitions of new moral standards, but temperamental 
 qualities, early training, potent example, physical stamina, 
 dozens of accidental circumstances, that it is unfair to use 
 the tests applicable, let us say, to a course in engineering. 
 Hence we must be beware of testing the value of the work 
 by immediate results. Something may be gathered by hav- 
 ing the students write confidentially what they think the 
 course has done for them and where it could be improved. 
 This they can do both at the end of the course and years 
 later when time has brought perspective. But tests are 
 of minor importance. The ethical shortcomings of our 
 time, the constant need of our students for ever finer 
 standards, convey challenge enough. Even though the ob- 
 vious results fall short of our hopes, we can make the 
 most of our resources with every assurance that they are 
 amply needed. Are young men more likely to be the 
 better for setting time aside to obtain with the help of 
 an earnest student of life a clearer insight into the prin- 
 ciples of the best living? If they are, the courses are 
 justified, even though some who take them can show little 
 immediate profit. 
 
 Henry Neumann, Ph.D. 
 
 Ethical Culture School, New York 
 
XVI 
 THE TEACHING OF PSYCHOLOGY 
 
 Place of psy- 
 chology in 
 the curricu- 
 lum 
 
 The intro- 
 ductory 
 course to 
 he general, 
 not voca- 
 tionally 
 applied psy- 
 chology 
 
 HISTORICALLY, as an offshoot, and rather a re- 
 cent offshoot, from philosophy, psychology has been 
 under the care of the department of philosophy in 
 colleges and universities, foreign as well as Ameri- 
 can, and has been taught by professors concerned 
 in part with the courses in philosophy. Though this 
 state of affairs still obtains to a considerable extent, 
 the tendency is undoubtedly towards allowing psychology 
 an independent position in the organization and curriculum 
 of the college. In recent appointments, indeed, the affili- 
 ation of psychology with education has frequently been 
 emphasized instead of its affiliation with philosophy, for 
 the professional applications of psychology lie more in 
 the field of education than elsewhere. As a required study, 
 our science is more likely to find a place in the college 
 for teachers than in the college of arts. But, on the other 
 hand, the applications to medicine, business, and industry 
 are increasing so rapidly in importance as to make it logi- 
 cal to maintain an independent position for the science. 
 Only in an independent position can the psychologist be 
 free to cultivate the central body of his subject, the 
 "pure" as distinguished from the applied science; and, 
 with the multiplication of practical applications, it is more 
 than ever important to center psychological teaching in 
 the person of some one who is simply and distinctively a 
 psychologist. 
 
 For a similar reason, psychologists are wont to insist that 
 the introductory course in their subject, no matter for what 
 class of students, with general or with professional aims, 
 should be definitely a course in psychology as distinguished 
 from educational or medical or business psychology. 
 Illustrative material may very well be chosen with an eye 
 to the special interests of a class of students, but the gen- 
 
 334 
 
The Teaching of Psychology 335 
 
 eral principles should be the same for all classes, and 
 should not be too superficially treated in the rush for 
 practical applications. Some years ago, a Committee of 
 the American Psychological Association was appointed to 
 make a survey of the teaching of psychology in universities, 
 colleges, and normal schools, and the Report of this Com- 
 mittee (1), still the most important contribution to the 
 pedagogy of the subject, emphasizes the concurrent view 
 of psychologists to the effect just stated, that the study of 
 psychology should begin with a course in the central body 
 of doctrine. The psychological point of view must be 
 acquired before intelligent application can be made, 
 whether to practical pursuits or to other branches of study 
 such as philosophy and the social sciences, to which 
 psychology stands in the relation of an ancillary science. 
 
 During the war, the applications of psychology in the 
 testing and selection of men and training them for specified 
 military and naval work, in rating officers, in morale and 
 intelligence work, and in several other lines, became so 
 important that it was decided to give psychology a place 
 as an " allied subject " in the curriculum of the Students' 
 Army Training Corps; and the report of the committee of 
 psychologists that prepared the outline of a course for this 
 purpose deserves attention as a contribution to the pedagogy 
 of the subject. They proposed a course on " Human 
 Action," to be free from questions of a speculative or 
 theoretical nature and concentrated on matters relevant to 
 military practice and the military uses of psychology. The 
 aim was to enlist the student's practical concern at the very 
 outset, and to give him the psychological point of view as 
 applied to his problems as a member of the Army and a 
 prospective officer. In method, the course was to depend 
 little on lectures, or even on extensive readings, and much 
 on the student's own solution of practical psychological 
 problems. Evidently the psychologists who prepared this 
 plan were driven by the emergency to abandon " academic " 
 prepossessions in favor of a course in pure psychology 
 as the necessary prerequisite to any study of applications; 
 
College Teaching 
 
 The psy- 
 chological 
 point of 
 view must 
 be empha- 
 sized in the 
 introductory 
 course 
 
 Values of 
 the study of 
 psychology 
 — cultural 
 rather than 
 disciplinary 
 
 and it is quite possible that courses in psychology for 
 different groups of students could be prepared that should 
 follow this general plan and be intensely practical from 
 the start. It would still remain true that the thorough 
 psychologist should be the one to plan and conduct such 
 courses. 
 
 The psychological point of view means attentiveness to 
 certain matters that are neglected in the usual objective 
 attitude toward things. It is identified by many with in- 
 trospection, but there is at present considerable dissent 
 from this doctrine, the dissenters holding that an objective 
 type of observation of human behavior is distinctively 
 psychological and probably more significant and fruitful 
 than the introspective attitude. However this may be, both 
 introspection and behavior study require attention to mat- 
 ters that are commonly disreg'arded. Every one is of 
 course interested in what people do, or at least in the out- 
 come of their activities; but psychology is interested in the 
 activities themselves, in how the outcome is reached rather 
 than in the outcome itself. Ordinarily, we are interested 
 in the fact that an inventor has solved a problem, but 
 regard it as rather irrelevant if he proceeds to tell us 
 the mental process by which he reached the solution. We 
 are interested in the fact that a child has learned to speak, 
 but devote little thought to the question as to how he has 
 learned. It is to bring such psychological questions to 
 light and arouse intelligent interest in them, with some 
 knowledge of the answers that have been found, that the 
 psychologist is chiefly concerned when initiating beginners 
 into his science. This primary aim is accomplished in the 
 case of those students who testify, as some do, that the 
 course in psychology has " opened their eyes " and made 
 them see life in a different light than hitherto. 
 
 Whether this primary value of psychology is to be 
 counted among the disciplinary or among the cultural 
 values may be a matter of doubt. Psychologists them- 
 selves have seldom made special claims in behalf of their 
 science as a means of formal discipline, many of them, in 
 
\ 
 
 TJie Teaching of Psychology 337 
 
 fact, taking a very negative position with regard to the 
 whole conception of such discipline. What psychology 
 can give of general value is a point of view, and a habit 
 of attentiveness to the mental factor. The need of some 
 systematic attention to these matters often comes to light 
 in the queer efforts at a psychology made by intelligent but 
 uninstructed persons in the presence of practical problems 
 involving the mental factor. 
 
 Besides this " cultural " value, and besides the special The practi- 
 uses of psychology as a preparation for teaching and cer- 
 tain other professions, there is a very real and practical 
 value to be expected from an understanding of the mental 
 mechanism. Since every one works with this mechanism, 
 every one can make practical use of the science of it. Most 
 persons get on passably well, perhaps, without any expert 
 knowledge of the machinery which they are running; yet 
 the machine is not entirely " fool proof," by any means, 
 but sometimes comes to grief from what is in essence a 
 lack of psychological wisdom either in the person himself 
 or in his close companions. Mental hygiene, in short, de- 
 pends on psychology. The college student, looking for- 
 ward to a life of mental activity, is specially in a position 
 to utilize information regarding the most economical work- 
 ing of the mental machine; and, as a matter of experience, . 
 some students are considerably helped in their methods of 
 mental work by what they learn in the psychology class. 
 Among the results of recent investigation are many bearing 
 on economy and efficiency of mental work. This value 
 of psychology, it will be seen, is practical without being 
 professional — except in so far as all educated men can 
 be said to adopt the profession of mental engineer. Much 
 more emphasis than has been customary might well be laid 
 on this side of the subject in elementary courses. 
 
 The content of the first course in psychology is just now Content of 
 undergoing a certain amount of revision. Traditionally the ductory 
 aim has been, not so much, as in most other subjects, to psychoioW 
 initiate the student into a range of facts lying outside his 
 previous experience, as to bring definitely to his attention 
 
338 College Teaching 
 
 facts lying within the experience of all, and to cause him to 
 classify these so as to refer any given mental process to 
 the class or classes where it belongs. This calls for 
 definition, the making of distinctions, the analysis of com- 
 plex facts, the use of a technical vocabulary, and in general 
 for much more precision of statement than the student has 
 been used to employ in speaking of such matters. Some 
 laws of mental action, verifiable within ordinary experience, 
 are also brought to light in such a course, and some ac- 
 count of the neural mechanisms of mental life is usually 
 included; but its chief accomplishment is in leading the stu- 
 dent to attend to mental processes and gain a point of 
 view that may remain his future possession. 
 
 With the great expansion of psychological knowledge in 
 recent decades, due to research by experimental and other 
 empirical methods, it has become possible to give a course 
 more informational in character and going quite beyond the 
 range of the student's previous experience; and this new 
 material is finding its way into elementary texts and 
 courses. Many of the results of research are not at all be- 
 yond the comprehension of the beginner; indeed, they are 
 often more tangible than the distinctions and analyses that 
 give the stamp to the traditional course. These empirical 
 results also have the advantage, in many cases, of throwing 
 light on the practical problems of mental health and ef- 
 ficiency; and some inclusion of such material is desirable 
 if only to fit the needs of the considerable number of 
 students who cannot become interested in a course of the 
 traditional sort. Practice in this matter is at present quite 
 variable, some teachers basing the introductory course as 
 far as possible on the results of experiment, and others 
 adhering closely to the older plan. 
 Methods of There is certainly some advantage in keeping the first 
 choiogjf— ^" course untechnical. The student can then be set to ob- 
 Practicai serving for himself, instead of depending on books. Many 
 of the facts of psychology are so accessible, at least in a 
 rough form, as to make the subject a good one for appeal- 
 ing to the spirit of independence in the student. Some 
 
 exercises 
 
The Teaching of Psychology 339 
 
 teachers are, in fact, accustomed to introduce each part of 
 the subject by exercises, introspective or other, designed to 
 bring the salient facts home to the student in a direct way, 
 before he has become inoculated with the doctrine of the 
 authorities. " The essential point is that the student be led 
 to observe his own experience, to record his observation 
 accurately — in a word, to psychologize; and to make the 
 observation before, not after, discovering from book or 
 from lecture what answers are expected to these questions. 
 Individual experiments should so far as possible be per- 
 formed in like manner before the class discussion of typical 
 results. In all cases the results of these introspections 
 should be recorded in writing; representative records 
 should be read and commented on in class; and the dis- 
 cussion based on them should form the starting point for 
 textbook study and for lecture." The plan thus highly 
 recommended by Professor Calkins ^ she found not to be 
 widely used at the time of her inquiry; a commoner prac- 
 tice was the assignment of reading for the student's first 
 introduction to a given topic. This alternative plan is a 
 line of less resistance; and it is also true that exercises in 
 original observation by beginners in psychology are likely 
 to be instructive mostly as evidence of the ineptness of the 
 beginner in psychological observation. Moreover, when 
 the content of the course is informational and based on the 
 results of research, preliminary exercises by the student 
 are of rather limited value, though they still could serve 
 a useful purpose in bringing forcibly to his attention the 
 problems to be studied. 
 
 The use of " exercises," somewhat analogous to the ex- 
 amples of algebra or the " originals " of geometry, is quite 
 widespread in introductory courses in psychology, and 
 several much-used textbooks offer sets of exercises with 
 each chapter. Several types are in vogue: (1) some call 
 for introspections, as, for example, " Think of your break- 
 fast table as you sat down to it this morning — do you see 
 it clearly as a scene before your mind's eye? " (2) some 
 
 1 In Report, pages 50-51. 
 
340 College Teaching 
 
 call for a review and generalization of facts presumably 
 already known, as " Find instances of the dependence of 
 character upon habit;" (3) many consist of simple experi- 
 ments demanding no special apparatus and serving to give 
 a direct acquaintance with matters treated in the text, such 
 as after-images or fluctuations of attention; and (4) many 
 call for the application of the principles announced in the 
 text to special cases, the object being to " give the student 
 some very definite thing to do" (Thorndike), in doing 
 which he will secure a firm hold of the principles in- 
 volved. In general, teachers of psychology aim to " keep 
 the student doing things, instead of merely listening, read- 
 ing, or seeing them done" (Seashore, 1, page 83). In a 
 few colleges, laboratory work of a simple character forms 
 part of the introductory course, and in one or two the 
 laboratory part is developed to a degree comparable with 
 what is common in chemistry or biology. As a rule, how- 
 ever, considerations of time and equipment have prevented 
 the introduction of real laboratory work into the first 
 course in psychology. 
 Classroom Of classroom methods, perhaps all that are employed 
 
 The lecture ^^ other subjects find application also in psychology, some 
 teachers preferring one and some another. The lecture 
 method is employed with great success by some of the 
 leaders, who devote much attention to the preparation of 
 discourse and demonstrations. One professor (anonymous) 
 is quoted^ as follows: 
 
 " I must here interject my ideas on the lecture system. 
 The lecture has a twofold advantage over the recitation. 
 (1) It is economical, since one man handles a large num- 
 ber of students; the method of recitation is extravagant. 
 This fact alone will mean the retention of the lecture system, 
 wherever it can possibly be employed with success. (2) 
 It is educationally the better method, for the average stu- 
 dent and the average teacher. For the reconstruction of a 
 lecture from notes means an essay in original work, in 
 
 1 By Sanford, 1, page 66. 
 
The Teaching of Psychology 341 
 
 original thinking; while the recitation lapses all too readily 
 into textbook rote and verbal repetition. 
 
 " It is, nevertheless, true that sophomore students are on 
 the whole inadequate to a lecture course. They cannot 
 take notes; they cannot tear the heart out of a lecture. 
 (They are also, I may add, inadequate to the reading of 
 textbooks or general literature, in much the same way.) 
 Hence one has to supplement the lecture by syllabi, by lists 
 of questions (indexes, so to speak, to the lectures), and by 
 personal interviews. . . . 
 
 " The sum and substance of my recommendations is that 
 you provide a competently trained instructor, and let him 
 teach psychology as he best can. What the student needs 
 is the effect of an individuality, a personality; and the 
 lecture system provides admirably for such effect." 
 
 Though the lecture system is used with great success by The 
 a number of professors, the general practice inclines more 
 to the plan of oral recitations on assigned readings in one 
 or more texts, and large classes are often handled in several 
 divisions in order to make the recitation method successful. 
 Not infrequently a combination of lectures by the pro- 
 fessor and recitations conducted by his assistants is the plan 
 adopted, the lecturer to add impressiveness to the course, 
 and the recitations to hold the student up to his work. Writ- 
 ten exercises, such as those already mentioned, are often 
 combined with the oral recitation; and in some cases themes 
 are to be written by the students. Probably the seminar 
 method, in which the subject is chiefly presented in themes 
 prepared by the students, is never attempted in the intro- 
 ductory course. 
 
 On the other hand, a number of successful teachers re- 
 ject both the lecture and the recitation methods, and rely 
 for the most part upon class discussions, with outside 
 readings in the textbooks, and frequent written recitations 
 as a check on the student's work. A champion of the dis- 
 cussion method writes as follows: ^ 
 
 recitation 
 
 Class 
 discussion 
 
 1 Calkins, 1, pages 47-48. 
 
342 College Teaching 
 
 " A teacher has not the right to spend any considerable 
 part of the time of a class in finding out by oral questions 
 . . . whether or not the student has done the work as- 
 signed to him. The good student does not need the ques- 
 tions and is bored by the stumbling replies which he hears; 
 and even the poor student does not get what he needs, 
 which is either instruction a deux, or else a corrected writ- 
 ten recitation. . . . Not in this futile way should the in- 
 structor squander the short hours spent with his students. 
 The purpose of these hours is twofold: first, to give to the 
 students such necessary information as they cannot gain, or 
 cannot so expediently gain, in some other way; second, and 
 most important, to incite them to ' psychologize ' for them- 
 selves. The first of these purposes is best gained by the 
 lecture, the second by guided discussion. ' Guided dis- 
 cussion ' does not mean a reversal of the recitation proc- 
 ess — an hour in which students ask questions in any 
 order, and of any degree of relevancy and seriousness, 
 which the instructor answers. On the contrary, the in- 
 structor initiates and leads the discussion; he chooses its 
 subject, maps out its field, pulls it back when it threatens 
 to transgress its bonds, and, from time to time, summarizes 
 its results. This he does, however, with the least possible 
 show of his hand. He puts his question and leaves it to 
 the student interested to answer him; he restates the bung- 
 ling answer and the confused question; he leaves one 
 student to answer the difficulties of another. . . . The ad- 
 vantage of the discussion over the lecture is, thus, that it 
 fosters in the student the active attitude of the thinker in 
 place of the passive attitude of the listener. . . . 
 Obviously it is simplest to teach large classes by lecturing 
 to them. Yet a spirited and relevant discussion may be 
 conducted in a class of a hundred or so. Of course no 
 more than eight or twelve, or, at most, twenty of these will 
 take even a small part on a given day; perhaps a half or 
 two thirds will never take part; and some will remain un- 
 interested. But there will be many intelligent listeners as 
 well as active participants; and these gain more, I be- 
 
The Teaching of Psychology 343 
 
 lieve, by the give and take of a good discussion than by 
 constant lectures however effective." 
 
 Brief mention should be made of a form of class ex- Class 
 ercise peculiar to psychology, the "class experiment." ^^p^""^®^*^ 
 This is in some respects like a demonstration, but differs 
 from that in calling for a more active participation on the 
 part of the student. Any psychological experiment is per- 
 formed on a human (or animal) subject, and many ex- 
 periments can be performed on a group of subjects to- 
 gether, each of them being called on to perform a certain 
 task or to make a certain observation. Each of the class 
 having made his individual record, the instructor may 
 gather them together into an average or summary state- 
 ment, and the individual variations as well as the general 
 tendency may thus be brought to light. Very satisfactory 
 and even scientific experiments can thus be performed, with 
 genuine results instructive to the class. 
 
 Of methods of holding the student to his work, mention Checking 
 has already been made of the much-used written recitation, of the 
 The usual plan is to have frequent, very brief written ex- students 
 aminations. Sometimes the practice is to correct and re- 
 turn all the papers; sometimes to place them all on file and 
 correct samples chosen at random for determining the 
 student's " term mark." A plan that has some psycho- 
 logical merit is to follow the examination immediately by 
 a statement of the correct answers, with brief discussion of 
 difficulties that may arise, and to ask each student to esti- 
 mate the value of his own paper in the standard marking 
 system. The papers are then collected and examined, and 
 returned with the instructor's estimate. 
 
 Since an examination is, in effect, a form of psycho- 
 logical test, it is natural that psychologists should have 
 attempted to introduce some of the technique of psycho- 
 logical testing into the work of examining students, in the 
 interest of economy of the student's time as well as that 
 of the examiner. The teacher prepares blanks which the 
 student can quickly fill out if he knows the subject, not 
 •otherwise. To discover how far the student has attained 
 
344 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Place of 
 psychology 
 in the col- 
 lege course 
 
 a psychological point of view, written work or examination 
 questions often demand some independence in the applica- 
 tion to new cases of what has been learned. Far-reaching 
 tests of the later value to the student of a course in 
 psychology have not as yet been attempted. 
 
 No attempt has yet been made to obtain the consensus 
 of opinion among psychologists as to whether the intro- 
 ductory course should be required of all arts students, and 
 probably opinions would differ, without anything definitive 
 to be said on either side. In quite a number of colleges 
 psychology forms part of a required general course in 
 philosophy. Where a separation has occurred between 
 philosophy and psychology, the latter is seldom absolutely 
 required. As a general rule, however, the introductory 
 course, even if not required, is taken by a large share of 
 the arts students. The traditional position for the course in 
 psychology is late in the college curriculum, originally in 
 the senior but more recently in the junior year. In many 
 of the larger colleges it is now open to sophomores or even 
 to freshmen. One motive for pushing the introductory 
 course back into the earlier years is naturally to provide 
 for more advanced courses in the subject; and another is 
 the desire to make psychology prerequisite for courses in 
 philosophy, education, or sociology. Still another motive 
 tending in the same direction is the desire to make the 
 practical benefits of psychological study available for the 
 student in the further conduct of his work as a student in 
 whatever field. If considerable attention is devoted in the 
 introductory course to questions of mental hygiene and 
 efficiency, the advantage of bringing these matters early to 
 the attention of the student outweighs the objection which 
 is often raised by teachers of psychology, as of other sub- 
 jects, to admitting the younger students, on the ground of 
 immaturity. The teachers who get the younger students 
 may have to put up with immaturity in order that the bene- 
 fit of their teaching may be carried over by the students 
 into later parts of the curriculum. 
 
 When the introductory course in psychology forms part 
 
TJie Teacliing of Psychology 345 
 
 Content of 
 advanced 
 courses in 
 psychology 
 
 of a course in philosophy, it is usually restricted to one Length of 
 semester, with three hours of class work per week. When ductory° 
 psychology is an independent subject in the curriculum, a course 
 two-semester course is usually provided, since it is the 
 feeling of psychologists that this amount of time is needed 
 in order to make the student really at home in the subject, 
 and to realize for him the values that are looked for from 
 psychology. Often there is a break between the two 
 semesters of such a course, the second being devoted to 
 advanced or social or applied psychology. Sometimes, on 
 the other hand, the two-semester course is treated as a unit, 
 the various topics being distributed over the year; this 
 latter procedure is probably the one that finds most favor 
 with psychologists. Still, good results can be obtained 
 with the semester course supplemented by other courses. 
 
 The most frequent advanced course is one in experimental 
 psychology. This is taken by only a small fraction of 
 those who have taken the introductory course, partly be- 
 cause the laboratory work attached to the experimental 
 course demands considerable time from the student, partly 
 because students are not encouraged to go into the 
 laboratory unless they have a pretty serious interest in the 
 subject. For a student who has it in him to become some- 
 what of an " insider " in psychology, no course is the equal 
 of the laboratory course, supplemented by judicious read- 
 ings in the original sources or in advanced treatises. Next 
 in frequency to the experimental course stands that in ap- 
 plied psychology, since the recent applications of psy- 
 chology to business, industry, vocational guidance, law, 
 and medicine appeal to a considerable number of college 
 students. Other courses which appear not infrequently in 
 college curricula are those in social, abnormal, and animal 
 psychology. No precise order is necessary in the taking 
 of these courses, and it is not customary to make any be- 
 yond the introductory course prerequisite for the others. 
 
 Robert S. Woodworth 
 
 Columbia University 
 
346 College Teaching 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Many of the textbooks contain, in their prefaces, important sug- 
 gestions toward the teaching of the subject. There are also fre- 
 quent articles in the psychological journals on apparatus for 
 demonstrations and class or laboratory experiments, 
 
 1. Report of the Committee of the American Psychological Associa- 
 
 tion on the Teaching of Psychology. Psychological Monographs, 
 No. 51, 1910. 
 
 2. American Psychological Association, Report of the Committee on 
 
 the Academic Status of Psychology, 1915 : " The Academic 
 Status of Psychology in the Normal Schools." 
 
 3. Same Committee, 1916: "A Survey of Psychological Investiga- 
 
 tions with Reference to Differentiations between Psychological 
 Experiments and Mental Tests." Concerned with the availability 
 of mental tests as material for the experimental course. 
 
 4. Courses in Psychology for the Students' Army Training Corps. 
 
 Psychological Bulletin, 1918, 15, 129-136. See also the Outlines 
 of parts of the course in the same journal, pages 137-167, 
 177-206; and a note on the success of the courses by Edgar S. 
 Brightman, in the Bulletin for 1919, pages 24-26. 
 
XVII 
 
 THE TEACHING OF EDUCATION 
 
 A. Teaching the History of Education in 
 College 
 
 THERE are three main kinds of educational value; viz., 
 practical, cultural, and disciplinary. These three 
 types of educational value probably originated in the order 
 in which they are here mentioned. In early educational 
 periods, all values are practical, or utilitarian. With the 
 growth of social classes, some values become cultural ; viz., 
 those pursued by the upper classes. The disciplinary values 
 are recognized when studies cease to have the practical 
 and cultural values. 
 
 By the " educational value " of a subject we mean, of 
 course, the service which the pursuit of that subject ren- 
 ders. Any one subject will naturally have all three values, 
 but no two subjects will have the same values mixed in the 
 same proportion. The practical value of a subject depends 
 on the use in life to which it can be put, especially its use 
 in making a living. The cultural value of a subject depends 
 largely on the enjoyment it contributes to life. While cul- 
 ture does not make a living, it makes it worth while that 
 a living should be made. The disciplinary value of a 
 subject depends on the amount of mental training that 
 subject affords. Such mental training is available in fur- 
 ther pursuit of the same, or a similar, subject. It is the 
 fashion of educational thinking in our day to put greatest 
 stress on the practical values, less on the cultural, and least 
 on the disciplinary. There is no denying the reality of 
 each type of value. 
 
 Now, what is the value of the history of education? 
 There are no experimental studies as yet, nor scientific 
 measurements, upon which to base an answer. The poor 
 best we can do is to express an opinion. This opinion is 
 
 347 
 
 Kinds of 
 
 educational 
 
 values 
 
 Meaning of 
 educational 
 values 
 
 Value of the 
 history of 
 education 
 
348 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Its cultural 
 value 
 
 Its prac- 
 tical value 
 
 based on the views of others and on the writer's experience 
 in teaching the history of education ten years in a liberal 
 college (Dartmouth) and ten years in a professional gradu- 
 ate school (New York University). On this basis I should 
 say that the aim of the history of education, at least as 
 recorded in existing texts, is first cultural, then practical, 
 and last disciplinary. Texts yet to be written for the use 
 of teachers in training may shift the places of the cultural 
 and the practical. This new type of text will give the 
 history, not of educational epochs in chronological suc- 
 cession, but of modern educational problems in their origin 
 and development.^ 
 
 As cultural, the history of education is the record of the 
 efforts of society to project its own ideals into the future 
 through shaping the young and plastic generation. There 
 comes into this purview the successive social organizations, 
 their ideals, and the methods utilized in embodying these 
 ideals in young lives. Interpretations of the nature of social 
 progress, the contribution of education to such progress, 
 and the goal of human progress, naturally arise for dis- 
 cussion, and the history of education well taught as the 
 effort of man to improve himself is both informing and in- 
 spiring. This is the cultural value of the history of edu- 
 cation. The sense of the meaning and value of human life 
 is enhanced. As President Faunce says,^ " A college of 
 arts and sciences which has no place for the study of student 
 life past and present, no serious consideration of the great 
 schools which have largely created civilization, is a curi- 
 ously one-sided and illiberal institution." 
 
 As practical, the history of education, even when taught 
 
 ^ " A New Method in the History of Education," School Review Mon- 
 ographs, No. 3, H. H. Home. 
 ~ Quoted in School and Society, Vol. 5, page 23, from President 
 Faunae's annual report. Recent articles on the cultural value of 
 courses in education are: 
 
 J, M. Mecklin, " The Problem of the Training of the Secondary 
 Teacher," School and Society, Vol. 4, pages 64-67. 
 
 H. E. Townsend, " The Cultural Value of Courses in Education," 
 School and Society, Vol. 4, pages 175-176. 
 
The Teaching of Education 349 
 
 from the customary general texts, throws some light on such 
 everyday school matters as educational organization, the best 
 methods of teaching, the right principles of education for 
 women, how to manage classes, and the art of administering 
 education. History cannot give the final answer to such 
 questions, but it makes a contribution to the final an- 
 swer in reporting the results of racial experience and in 
 assisting students to understand present problems in the 
 light of their past. The history of education has a prac- 
 tical value, but it is not alone the source of guidance. 
 
 As disciplinary, the history of education shows the value its disci- 
 of all historical study. The appeal is mainly to the mem- JaiuT^ 
 ory and the judgment. The teaching is inadequate, if the 
 appeal is only to the memory. The judgment must also 
 be requisitioned in comparing, estimating, generalizing, and 
 applying. Memory is indispensable in retaining the knowl- 
 edge of the historical facts, and judgment is utilized in 
 seeing the meaning of these facts. With all studies in 
 general, history shares in training perceptive, associative, 
 and effortful activities. Training in history is commonly 
 supposed also to make one conservative, in contrast with 
 training in science, which is supposed to make one progres- 
 sive. But this result is not necessary, being dependent upon 
 one's attitude toward the past. If past events are viewed 
 as a lapse from an ideal, the study of history makes one 
 conservative and skeptical about progress. If, on the other 
 hand, the past is viewed as progress toward an ideal, the 
 study of history makes one progressive, and expectant of 
 the best that is yet to be. But, even so, familiarity with the 
 past breeds criticism of quick expedients whereby humanity 
 is at last to arrive. On the whole, the disciplinary value 
 of the history of education is attained as an incident of 
 its cultural and practical values. We are no longer trying 
 to discipline the mind by memorizing lists of names and 
 dates, though they be such euphonious names as those of 
 the native American Indian tribes, but we are striving to 
 understand man's past and present efforts at conscious 
 self-improvement. 
 
350 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The various 
 aims of 
 students 
 
 A student's 
 reaction 
 
 College students will elect a course in the history of edu- 
 cation with many different motives. They may like the 
 teacher, they may tike history in any form, they may like 
 the hours at which the class is scheduled, some person who 
 had the course recommended it, or they have an idea they 
 may teach for a while after graduating. A few know they 
 are going into teaching as a vocation in life, and appre- 
 ciate in a measure the increasing exactitudes of professional 
 training. Thus, from the student standpoint, the aims are 
 eclectic. The results with them will be that as human be- 
 ings they have a wider view of life; as citizens, perhaps as 
 members of school boards, they are more intelligent in 
 school matters; and as teachers they make a start in their 
 progressive equipment. The general course in the history of 
 education is pursued by a group of students with varying 
 but undifferentiated motives. 
 
 Once I asked a group of college students to write a 
 frank reaction on a sixty-hour course they had just com- 
 pleted in the general history of education. One wrote as 
 follows: "The history of education makes me feel that a 
 number of what we call innovations today are a renaissance 
 of something as ' old as the hills.' We hear a lot about 
 pupil self-government, and we find it back in the seven- 
 teenth century. The trade school also is not a modern 
 tendency. 
 
 " I also feel that maybe we are not giving our boys and 
 girls a liberal education; maybe we are too utilitarian (I 
 was very much inclined that way myself before I took this 
 course) . 
 
 " That when we wish to try something new, let's go back 
 and see if it has not been tried before, study the circum- 
 stances, the mistakes made, the results attained, and see 
 whether we can't profit by the experience given us by the 
 past. 
 
 " I was also very much surprised to learn the close con- 
 nection that there is between civilization and education. 
 
 " I feel that we are laying too much stress on the think- 
 ing side of training rather than on the volitional side: not 
 
The Teaching of Education 351 
 
 doing in the sense of utility alone, but as a means of expres- 
 sion." 
 
 It is easy to see the parts of the course that particularly 
 gripped him. Another wrote as follows: 
 
 " The history of education makes me feel as follows about Another re- 
 . 1 • action 
 
 teachmg : 
 
 (1) It shows the knowledge of method to be obtained 
 from the experiences of others. 
 
 (2) It makes me feel the importance of the teacher. 
 
 (3) It shows a great field and encourages us to try to 
 improve our own methods. 
 
 (4) It shows us the great responsibility of the profession 
 in connection with the nation, for the school teacher to a 
 marked degree determines the destiny of a nation. 
 
 (5) It shows the importance of free-thinking. (Illustra- 
 tion omitted.) 
 
 (6) It shows us the great importance of individuality 
 along the line of teaching, for, as soon as we begin to 
 adopt the methods of others exactly without examining 
 them carefully, progress stops, and we are like the teachers 
 of the Middle Ages. 
 
 (7) It shows that every teacher should have a heartfelt 
 interest in his pupil. 
 
 (8) It makes us feel that discipline is unnecessary, if 
 we utilize the right methods. 
 
 (9) It tells us and makes us feel above everything else 
 that a good education is worth as much as riches and that, 
 since we are all brothers, we ought to try to teach every- 
 body." 
 
 An analysis of these two answers would show a combina- 
 tion of the cultural and practical values and, by implica- 
 tion at least, since they were able to say these things, a 
 disciplinary value. 
 
 Should the history of education be a required or an elec- History of 
 tive course in the college curriculum? In a school of should be 
 education offering a bachelor's degree, it might well be an elective 
 required, for both cultural and professional reasons, but 
 in the usual department of education in a college it will 
 
352 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 A forty-five- 
 hour course 
 
 First term 
 senior year 
 
 be offered as an elective course. Its cultural and dis- 
 ciplinary values are not such as to make its pursuit a re- 
 quisite for a liberal education, and its practical value for 
 prospective teachers, as it has been commonly taught, is 
 not such as to warrant its prescription. Besides, the pros- 
 pective teacher is animated by the vocational motive and 
 will elect the history of education anyway, unless there 
 are more practical courses to be had. Students in all the 
 college courses should have the privilege of electing the 
 history of education in view of their future citizenship. 
 
 A three-hour-per-week elective course for a half year, 
 about forty-five classroom hours, will meet the needs of the 
 average undergraduate in this subject. This amount of 
 time is adequate for a bird's eye view of the general field, 
 affording a unit of accomplishment in itself preparing the 
 way for more specialized study later, though it is only about 
 half the time requisite for presenting the details of the 
 subject. 
 
 In my judgment the study of the history of education 
 would best fall between principles and methods. The study 
 of the principles of education should come first, as it is 
 closely related to preceding work in the natural and mental 
 sciences, especially biology, physiology, sociology, and psy- 
 chology; it also gives a point of view from which to continue 
 the study of education, some standard of judgment. The 
 study of educational methods, such as general method in 
 teaching, special method for different subjects, the tech- 
 nique of instruction, class management, organization and 
 administration of schools, should come last in the course, 
 because it will be soonest used. These practical matters 
 should be fresh in the mind of any young college gradu- 
 ate beginning to teach. The history of education is a 
 good transition in study from the theory of the first princi- 
 ples to the practice of school matters, affording a panorama 
 of facts to be judged by principles and racial experiments 
 in educational practice. This means that the choice time 
 for the course in the history of education is the first semes- 
 There is something to 
 
 ter of the senior year in college. 
 
The Teaching of Education 353 
 
 be said for making this course the introductory one in the 
 study of education, connecting with preceding courses in 
 history and being objective in character. There is also 
 something to be said for giving only a practical course 
 dealing with the history of educational problems to college 
 undergraduates and reserving the general history of edu- 
 cation as a complex social study for the graduate school. 
 There is no unanimity of opinion or practice concerning 
 the history of education.^ 
 
 What should be the content of the one-semester general Texts and 
 course? Three modern available texts are Monroe, A Brief 
 Course in the History of Education (The Macmillan Com- 
 pany) ; Graves, A Student's History of Education (The Mac- 
 millan Company) ; and Duggan, A Student's Textbook in 
 the History of Education (D. Appleton & Co.). Of these 
 Monroe's book is the first (1907), and it has greatly in- 
 fluenced every later text in the field. There is a general 
 agreement in these three texts as to the content of such a 
 course; viz., a general survey of education in the successive 
 periods of history, including primitive, oriental, Greek, 
 Roman, Early Christian and medieval, renaissance, reforma- 
 tion, realism, Locke and the disciplinary tendency, Rous- 
 seau, the psychologists, and the scientific, sociological, and 
 eclectic tendencies. All are written from the standpoint 
 of the conflict between the interests of society and the in- 
 dividual. The pages of the three books number respec- 
 tively 409, 453, and 397. Graves pays most attention to 
 the development of American education. Duggan omits 
 the treatment of primitive and oriental education (except 
 Jewish), "which did not contribute directly to Western 
 culture and education." All are illustrated. All have 
 good summaries, which Graves and Duggan, following 
 S. C. Parker, who derived the suggestion from Herbart, 
 place at the beginning of the chapter. All have biblio- 
 graphical references, and Duggan adds lists of questions 
 also. Perhaps in order of ease for students the books 
 
 1 Cf. Thomas M. Balliet, " Normal School Curricula," School and So- 
 ciety, Vol. IV, page 340. 
 
354 College Teaching 
 
 would be Duggan, Graves, and Monroe, though teachers 
 would not all agree in this. Users of Monroe have a valu- 
 able aid in his epoch-making Textbook in the History of 
 Education (The Macmillan Company), 772 pages, 1905, 
 and users of Graves likewise have his three volumes as 
 supplementary material (The Macmillan Company). 
 
 The same general ground is covered by P. J. McCormick, 
 History of Education (The Catholic Educational Press), 
 1915, 401 pages, with especial attention given to the Middle 
 Ages and the religious organizations of the seventeenth 
 century. This work contains references and summaries 
 also. 
 
 Duggan is right in omitting the treatment of primitive 
 and oriental education on the principle of strict historical 
 continuity, but for purposes of comparison the chapters 
 on primitive and oriental education in the other texts serve 
 a useful purpose, 
 classics^" ^ -^ more intensive elective course in the history of edu- 
 cation intended especially for those expecting to teach 
 might well be offered in a college with sufficient instruc- 
 tors. These courses might be in educational classics, the 
 history of modern elementary education, or the history 
 of the high school. Texts are now available in these 
 fields. Monroe's Source Book for the History of Educa- 
 tion (The Macmillan Company), 1901, is a most useful 
 book in studying the ancient educational classics, in which, 
 however, the Anacharsis of Lucian does not appear, though 
 it can be found in the Report of the United States Com- 
 missioner of Education, 1897-1898, Vol. I, pages 571-589. 
 The renaissance classics may be studied in the works of 
 Woodward and Laurie. The realists may be studied in the 
 various editions of Comenius, Locke, Spencer, and Hux- 
 ley. Likewise the modern naturalistic movement may be 
 followed in the writings of Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Herbart, 
 and Froebel. These four courses are available in edu- 
 cational classics: the ancient, the renaissance or humanistic, 
 the realistic and the naturalistic. 
 
 The History of Modern Elementary Education (Ginn and 
 
The Teaching of Education 
 
 355 
 
 Co.) by S. C. Parker and The High School (The Macmillan 
 Company) by F. W. Smith may be profitably used as texts 
 in the courses on these topics. Parker's has but little on 
 the organization of the elementary school, is weak on the 
 philosophical side of the theorists treated, has nothing on 
 Montessori, draws no lessons from history, is very brief 
 on the present tendencies, and is somewhat heavy, prosaic, 
 and unimaginative in style; but it is painstaking, covers 
 all the main points well and has uncovered some valuable 
 new material, and on the whole is the best history in 
 English on its problem. Dr. Smith's book is really a his- 
 tory of education written around the origin and tendencies 
 of the high school as central. It is a scholarly work, 
 based on access to original Latin and other sources, though 
 diffuse. 
 
 An elective course in the history of American education 
 is highly desirable. Chancellor E. E. Brown's scholarly 
 book on The Making of Our Middle Schools, or E. G. 
 Dexter's encyclopedic book on History of Education in the 
 United States, may profitably serve as texts. This course 
 should show the European influences on American schools, 
 the development of the American system, and the role of 
 education in a democratic society. There is great oppor- 
 tunity for research in this field. 
 
 There is room for yet another course for college under- 
 graduates expecting to teach, — a history of educational 
 problems. The idea is to trace the intimate history of a 
 dozen or more of the present most urgent educational 
 questions, with a view to understanding them better and 
 solving them more wisely, thus enabling the study of the 
 history of education to function more in the practice of 
 teachers. Such a text has not yet been written. The point 
 of view is expressed by Professor Joseph K. Hart as fol- 
 lows : " The large problem of education is the making of 
 new educational history. The real reason for studying the 
 history of education is that one may learn how to become 
 a maker of history. For this purpose, history must awaken 
 the mind of the student to the problems, forces, and condi- 
 
 History of 
 elementary 
 and high 
 schools 
 
 American 
 education 
 
 History of 
 
 educational 
 
 problems 
 
356 College Teaching 
 
 tions of the present; and its outlook must be toward the 
 
 future." 1 
 
 Methods of What should be the method of teachinar the history of 
 
 tfGRCxiins 
 
 education in college? One of the texts will be used as a 
 
 basis for assignments and study. Not less than two hours 
 of preparation on each assignment will be expected. The 
 general account in the text will be supplemented by the 
 reading of source and parallel material, concerning which 
 very definite directions will have to be given by the teacher. 
 Each student will keep a notebook as one of the require- 
 ments of the course, which is examined by the instructor at 
 the end. A profitable way to make a notebook is for each 
 student to select a different modern problem and trace its 
 origin and growth as he goes through the general history of 
 education and its source material. In this way each student 
 becomes a crude historian of a problem. The examination 
 will test judgment and reason as well as memory. In the 
 classroom the instructor will at times question the class, 
 will at times be questioned by the class, will lecture on 
 supplementary material, will use some half-dozen stereop- 
 ticon lectures in close conjunction with the text, will have 
 debates between chosen students, seeking variety in method 
 without loss of unity in result. Some questions for debate 
 might be, the superiority of the Athenian to the modern 
 school product, the necessity of Latin and Greek for a 
 liberal education, religious instruction in the public schools, 
 formal discipline, whether the aim of education is cultural 
 or vocational, whether private philanthropy is a benefit to 
 public education, etc. It is very important in teaching so 
 remote a subject as the history of education that the teacher 
 have imagination, be constantly pointing modern parallels, 
 communicate the sense that the past has made a difference 
 in the present, and be himself kindled and quickened by 
 man's aspirations for self -improvement. Unless our sub- 
 ject first inspires us, it cannot inspire our pupils. Who- 
 ever teaches the history of education because he has to 
 
 ^ " Can a College Department of Education Become Scientific? " The 
 Scientific Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 4, page 381. 
 
results 
 
 The Teaching of Education 357 
 
 instead of because he wants to must expect thin results. 
 
 In addition to the formal indication of the results of the Testing 
 course in the examination paper, teachers can test their 
 results by asking for frank unsigned statements as to what 
 the course has meant to each student, by securing suggestions 
 from the class for the future conduct of the course, by noting 
 whether education as a means of social evolution has been 
 appreciated, by observing whether the attitude of individual 
 students toward education as a life-work or as a human en- 
 terprise deserving adequate support from all intelligent 
 citizens has developed. As future citizens, has the motive 
 to improve schools been awakened? Particularly do 
 more men want to teach, despite small pay and slight 
 male companionship? The history of education does not 
 really grip the class until its members want to rise up and 
 do something by educational means to help set the world 
 right. 
 
 The limits of this paper exclude the treatment of the 
 subject in the professional training of teachers in normal 
 schools, high schools, and graduate schools, as well as in 
 extension courses for teachers or in their private reading. 
 
 Herman H. Horne 
 
 New York University. 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 BuissoN, F. Dictionnaire de la Pedagogie, Histoire de I'Education. 
 BuRNHAM, W. H. Education as a University Subject. Educational 
 
 Review, Vol. 26, pages 236-245. 
 BuRNHAM and Suzzalo, The History of Education as a Professional 
 
 Subject. Teachers College, New York, 1908. 
 Cook, H. M. History of the History of Education as a Professional 
 
 Study in the United States. Unpublished thesis. 
 Hinsdale, B. A. The Study of Education in American Colleges and 
 
 Universities. Educational Review, Vol. 19, pages 105-120. 
 Horne, H. H. A New Method in the History of Education. The 
 
 School Review Monographs, No. 3, Chicago, 1913; pages 31-35. 
 
 Discussion of same in School Review, May, 1913. 
 KiEHLE, D. L. The History of Education: What It Stands For. 
 
 School Review, Vol. 9, pages 310-315. 
 Monroe, P., and Others. History of Education; in Monroe's Cyclo- 
 pedia of Education, Vol. 3, New York, 1912. 
 
358 College Teaching 
 
 Monroe, P. Opportunity and Need for Research Work in the His- 
 tory of Education, Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. 17, pages 54-62. 
 
 Moore, E. C. The History of Education. School Review, Vol. XI, 
 pages 350-360. 
 
 Norton, A. O. Scope and Aims of the History of Education, Edu- 
 cational Review, Vol. 27. 
 
 Payne, W. H. Practical Value of the History of Education. Pro- 
 ceedings National Education Association, 1889, pages 218-223. 
 
 Rein, W. Encyclopadisches Handbuch der Padagogik. Historische 
 Pddagogik. 
 
 RoBBiNS, C. L. History of Education in State Normal Schools, Ped- 
 agogical Seminary, Vol, 22, No, 3, pages 377-390. 
 
 Ross, D, Education as a University Subject: Its History, Present 
 Position, and Prospects. Glasgow, 1883. 
 
 Sutton, W. L., and Bolton, F. E. The Relation of the Department 
 of Education to other Departments in Colleges and Universities. 
 Journal of Pedagogy, Vol. 19, Nos. 2-3. 
 
 Williams, S. G. Value of the History of Education to Teachers. 
 Proceedings National Education Association, 1889, pages 223-231. 
 
 Wilson, G. M. Titles of College Courses in Education. Educational 
 Monographsy No. 8, 1919, pages 12-30. 
 
The Teaching of Education 359 
 
 B. Teaching Educational Theory in College 
 AND University Departments of Education 
 
 COURSES in education in a college or university de- introduc- 
 partment may be roughly classified into {a) the theo- 
 retical phases of education, (6) the historical phases, and 
 (c) the applied phases. Under the historical phases may 
 properly be included courses in the general history of 
 education as well as those in the history of education in 
 special countries. The applied courses may include gen- 
 eral and special method, organization, administration, ob- 
 servation, and practice. Educational theory is discussed 
 below. 
 
 A couple of decades ago the terms " philosophy of edu- 
 cation," " science of education," and " general pedagogy," 
 or just " pedagogy," were most generally employed. At 
 that time most of the work in education was given in 
 the departments of philosophy or psychology. Gradually 
 departments of education came to have an independent 
 status. Among the earliest were those at Michigan, under . 
 Dr. Joseph Payne, and the one at Iowa, under Dr. Stephen 
 Fellows. Previous to the vigorous development of depart- 
 ments of education, the departments of psychology and 
 philosophy gave no special attention to the educational 
 bearings of psychology. But as soon as departments of 
 education began to introduce courses in educational psy- 
 chology and child study, the occupants of the departments 
 of psychology rubbed their eyes, became aware of unutil- 
 ized opportunities, and then began to assert claims. 
 
 Ordinarily the courses in educational theory are given in gj^^® ^^qj^^j 
 the junior year of college. In a few places, elementary or theory in 
 introductory courses are open to freshmen. There is a ri®„5"J^ 
 distinct advantage in giving courses to freshmen, if they can 
 be made sufficiently concrete and grow out of their pre- 
 vious experiences. The college of education in the Uni- 
 versity of Washington, for example, is so organized that 
 the student shall begin to think of the profession of teach- 
 
360 College Teaching 
 
 ing immediately upon entering the University. While the 
 main work in education courses does not come until the 
 junior and senior years, the student receives guidance and 
 counsel from the outset in selecting his courses and is helped 
 to get in touch with the professional atmosphere that should 
 surround a teacher's college. The foundation work in zo- 
 ology and psychology is given as far as possible with the 
 teaching profession in mind. It is planned to give some 
 work of a general nature in education during the first two 
 years, that will serve as vocational guidance and will assist 
 the student to arrange his work most advantageously and to 
 accomplish it most economically. By the more prolonged 
 individual acquaintance between students and faculty of the 
 college of education, it is hoped that the students will receive 
 greater professional help and the faculty will be better 
 able to judge of the teaching abilities of the students. The 
 work in education and allied courses has been so extended 
 that adequate professional preparation may be secured. 
 The courses in zoology, psychology, and sociology are all 
 directly contributory to a knowledge of, and to an inter- 
 pretation of, the courses in education. 
 
 The great majority of undergraduate students taking edu- 
 cation are preparing to teach, and more and more they plan 
 to teach in the high schools. However, not a few students 
 of medicine, law, engineering, and other technical subjects 
 take courses in education as a means of general information. 
 It would be exceedingly desirable if all citizens would 
 take general courses in education, and would come to 
 understand the meaning of educational processes and past 
 and present practices in educational procedure. If all 
 parents and members of school boards could have a few 
 modern courses in educational theory and organization, 
 the work of school teachers would be very much simpli- 
 fied. 
 
 So far as is known, no college or university makes edu- 
 cation an absolute requirement such as is made with respect 
 to foreign languages, science, mathematics, or philosophy. 
 In a large majority of states, some work in education is re- 
 
Tlie Teaching of Education 361 
 
 quired for teacher's certification. The number of states 
 making such requirements is rapidly increasing. Before 
 long it will be impossible for persons to engage in teach- 
 ing without either attending a normal school or taking pro- 
 fessional courses in education in college. 
 
 The theory of education as considered in this chapter will The scope 
 
 include all those courses which have for their purpose the °^*^°"6S« 
 .,.„,. iT f courses m 
 
 consideration oi the lundamental meaning of education and educational 
 the underlying laws or principles governing the education *^®°^y 
 process. Educational theory is given in different institu- 
 tions under a great variety of titles. The following are the 
 most frequently offered : Principles of education, philoso- 
 phy of education, theory of education, educational psychol- 
 ogy, genetic psychology, experimental education, child study, 
 adolescence, moral education, educational sociology, social 
 aspects of education. Educational theory may be divided 
 into courses which are elementary in character, and those 
 which are advanced. The purpose of the former is to pre- 
 sent to beginning students the fundamentals of reasonably 
 well-tested principles and laws, and to indicate to them 
 something of the various phases of education. 
 
 The purpose of advanced courses, especially in experi- 
 mental education, is to reach out into new fields and by 
 study and experiment to test and develop new theories. 
 The experimental phases of education seek to blaze new 
 trails and to discover new methods of reaching more eco- 
 nomically and efficiently the goals which education seeks. 
 Both of these phases should be given in a college course 
 in the theory of education. Enough of the experimental 
 work should be given in the elementary course to enable 
 students to distinguish between mere opinion and well- 
 established theory, to understand how the theories have been 
 derived, to know how to subject them to crucial tests, and 
 to give them some knowledge of methods of experimenta- 
 tion. 
 
 Education as a science is constantly confronted by the 
 questions, "What are the ends and aims of education?" 
 and " What are the means of accomplishing these ends? " 
 
362 College' Teaching 
 
 These mean that there must be a study of the ends of edu- 
 cation as necessitated by the demands of society and the 
 needs of the individual himself. In determining the ends of 
 education, adult society, of which the individual is to be a 
 part, must be surveyed, as must also the social group of 
 which the child is now an integral part. In addition to 
 these the laws of growth and development must be studied, 
 to understand what will contribute effectively to the child's 
 normal unfoldment. 
 
 The interpretation of the ends and means of education 
 will determine the field of the theory of education. This 
 interpretation has been so splendidly stated by Dewey that 
 I venture to quote him at length. He says [My Pedagogic 
 Creed) : " I believe that this educational process has two 
 sides — one psychological and one sociological: and that 
 neither can be subordinated to the other or neglected with- 
 out evil results following. Of these two sides, the psycho- 
 logical is the basis. The child's own instincts and powers 
 furnish the material and give the starting point for all edu- 
 cation. Save as the efforts of the educator connect with 
 some activity which the child is carrying on of his own in- 
 itiative independent of the educator, education becomes 
 reduced to a pressure from without. It may, indeed, give 
 certain external results, but cannot truly be called edu- 
 cative. Without insight into the psychological structure 
 and activities of the individual, the educative processes will, 
 therefore, be haphazard and arbitrary. If it chances to 
 coincide with the child's activity, it will get a leverage; if 
 it does not, it will result in friction, or disintegration, or 
 arrest of the child nature. 
 
 " I believe that knowledge of social conditions, of the 
 present state of civilization, is necessary in order properly 
 to interpret the child's powers. The child has his own 
 instincts and tendencies, but we do not know what these 
 mean until we can translate them into their social equiva- 
 lents. We must be able to carry them back into a social 
 past and see them as the inheritance of previous race ac- 
 tivities. We must be able to project them into the future 
 
The Teaching of Education 363 
 
 to see what their outcome and end will be. In the illustra- 
 tion just used, it is the ability to see in the child's babblings 
 the promise and potency of the future social intercourse and 
 conversation which enables one to deal in the proper way 
 with that instinct. 
 
 " 1 believe that the psychological and social sides are 
 organically related, and that education cannot be regarded 
 as a compromise between the two, or a superimposition 
 of one upon the other. We are told that the psychological 
 definition of education is barren and formal — that it gives 
 us only the idea of a development of all the mental powers 
 without giving us an idea of the use to which these powers 
 are put. On the other hand, it is urged that the social 
 definition of education, as getting adjusted to civilization, 
 makes a forced and external process, and results in sub- 
 ordinating the freedom of the individual to a preconceived 
 social and political status. 
 
 " I believe each of these objections is true when urged 
 against one side isolated from the other. In order to know 
 what a power really is we must know what its end, use, 
 or function is; and this we cannot know, save as we con- 
 ceive of the individual as active in social relationships. 
 But, on the other hand, the only possible adjustment which 
 we can give to the child under existing conditions is that 
 which arises through putting him in complete possession 
 of all of his powers. With the advent of democracy and 
 modern industrial conditions, it is impossible to foretell 
 definitely just what civilization will be twenty years from 
 now. Hence it is impossible to prepare the child for any 
 precise set of conditions. To prepare him for the future 
 life means to give him command of himself; it means so to 
 train him that he will have the full and ready use of all 
 his capacities, that his eye and ear and hand may be tools 
 ready to command, that his judgment may be capable of 
 grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the 
 executive forces be trained to act economically and effi- 
 ciently. It is impossible to reach this sort of adjustment 
 save as constant regard is had to the individual's own 
 
364 College Teaching 
 
 powers, tastes, and interests; say, that is, as education is 
 continually converted into psychological terms. 
 
 " In sum, I believe that the individual who is to be edu- 
 cated is a social individual, and that society is an organic 
 union of individuals. If we eliminate the social factor 
 from the child, we are left only with an abstraction; if we 
 eliminate the individual factor from society, we are left 
 only with an inert and lifeless mass. Education, there- 
 fore, must begin with a psychological insight into the child's 
 capacities, interests, and habits. It must be controlled at 
 every point by reference to these same considerations. 
 These powers, interests, and habits must be continually 
 interpreted — we must know what they mean. They must 
 be translated into terms of their social equivalents — into 
 terms of what they are capable of in the way of social 
 service." 
 
 Therefore, the fundamental course in educational theory 
 must include (1) the biological principles of education, 
 (2) the psychological principles of education, and (3) the 
 social principles of education. This does not mean that 
 the sequence must be as enumerated here. In some places 
 that is the sequence followed, in some other places the 
 social principles are studied first. As a matter of fact, all 
 three phases must be studied together to a considerable 
 extent. Probably a purely logical arrangement would 
 place the social phases first, but it is almost futile to at- 
 tempt to present them effectively until something of the 
 biological and psychological laws are first established. 
 Again, the student in beginning the formal study of edu- 
 cation is already in possession of a vast body of facts 
 concerning society and the relation of education to it, so 
 that reference can be advantageously made in connection 
 with the study of biological and psychological laws of 
 education. Then the social principles and applications can 
 be more thoroughly and scientifically considered in the 
 light of the other phases. 
 
 In administering a college course in the theory of edu- 
 cation the great desideratum is to try to formulate a body 
 
The Teaching of Education 365 
 
 of knowledge which will give the undergraduate students 
 an idea of the meaning of education and its problems and 
 processes. In so far as possible it is desirable to present 
 material which in a certain sense will be practical. Inas- 
 much as the majority of undergraduates who study educa- 
 tion in a college department intend to go into the practical 
 work of teaching, it is important to fortify them, as well as 
 possible in the brief time which they devote to the subject, 
 concerning the best means of securing definite results in 
 education. The majority are not so much interested in the 
 abstract science or the philosophy of education as they are 
 in its practical problems. All courses in education should 
 seek to deal with fundamental principles and not dole out 
 dogmatic statements of practical means and devices, but at 
 the same time no principles should be considered with which 
 the student cannot see some relation to the educative proc- 
 esses. They are not primarily concerned with the place of 
 education among the sciences or with ontological and teleo- 
 logical meanings of education or of its laws. 
 
 The course in elementary educational theory should be Academic 
 on a par with a course in principles of physics, one in oftfrin-'' 
 principles of biology, principles of psychology, principles troductory 
 of political science, etc. A course in the principles of any ''°''"® 
 of these subjects attempts to set forth the main problems 
 with which the science deals. Elementary courses attempt 
 to select those principles which have frequent application 
 in everyday life. The course in the principles of physics 
 deals with the elementary notions of matter, motion, and 
 force, and everyday illustrations and problems are sought. 
 It would seem that in a similar manner the college course 
 in the foundations of education should seek elementary 
 principles which will enable the student to accomplish the 
 purpose of education; namely, to. produce modifications in 
 individuals and in society in harmony with the ideals and 
 ends of education. Education is a process of adjusting in- 
 dividuals to their environment, natural and accidental, and 
 the environment which is created through ideals held by 
 society and by individuals themselves. All education has 
 
366 College Teaching 
 
 to do with the development of the individual in accordance 
 with his potentialities and the ideals of education which 
 are set up. It is a practical science, an applied science, 
 in the same way that engineering is an applied science. 
 Engineering does not deal with ultimate theories of matter, 
 force, and motion, except as they are important in con- 
 sidering practical ends to be secured through the appli- 
 cation of forces. An elementary course in educational 
 theory should seek to include the foundations rather than 
 to encompass all knowledge about education. It is rather 
 an introduction than an encyclopedia. 
 
 Although a complete and logical treatise on the theory 
 of education might include a consideration of the course of 
 study and the methods of instruction, the making of a course 
 of study, the problem of the arrangement of the course of 
 study, the various studies as instruments of experience, the 
 organization and administration of education, etc., it is 
 questionable from a practical point of view whether they 
 should be given consideration in the undergraduate course. 
 Mere passing notice would at any rate seem sufficient. Each 
 topic of the scope of the foregoing is sufficient to form a 
 course in itself, and the introductory course should do 
 no more than define their relation to the general prob- 
 lem. In the principles of psychology the fields of ab- 
 normal psychology, comparative psychology, child psy- 
 chology, adolescent psychology, etc., are defined and drawn 
 upon for illustration, yet no separate chapters are devoted 
 to them. In departments of political economy there are 
 usually elemental courses designed as an introduction to 
 the leading principles of economic science, but there are 
 special courses in currency and banking, public finance, 
 taxation, transportation, distribution of wealth, etc. 
 
 Similarly in the college course in the theory of education, 
 the work should be concentrated upon fundamentals de- 
 signed to introduce the student to the many special prob- 
 lems. For example, the course of study and the organi- 
 zation and administration of education should be regarded 
 as accessory rather than as fundamental. The laws under- 
 
The Teaching of Education 367 
 
 lying processes of development and modification are what 
 should occupy the attention of the student in this elemental 
 survey. A study of the special means and agencies of edu- 
 cation and forms of social organization should be given 
 in other courses by special names. Secondary education, 
 the kindergarten, administration and supervision, methods 
 in special subjects, etc., each deserve attention as a distinct 
 and separate course. 
 
 As shown by two surveys made by the writer, one in 
 1909 and the last in 1916, the theory of education is most 
 frequently given under the terms "Principles of Educa- 
 tion," " Educational Psychology," " Social Phases of Edu- 
 cation," "Educational Sociology," and "Child Study." 
 Therefore, a brief special discussion of each of these fields 
 may be desirable. 
 
 Under various names courses in principles of education Principles 
 are given in most departments of education. The term l^o^"""^' 
 " Principles of Education " does not appear in all, being 
 replaced by "Principles of Teaching," "Philosophy of 
 Education," "Fundamentals of Teaching," "Introduction 
 to Education," " Science of Education," " Principles of 
 Method," " Theory of Education," etc. In some institutions 
 the terms " Educational Psychology " and " Child Study " 
 stand for essentially the same thing as the foregoing. In 
 most institutions it is recognized that the teacher must 
 understand (a) the meaning and aim of education, (6) the 
 nature of the child considered biologically, psychologically, 
 socially, and morally, (c) the foundations of society and 
 the industries, (J) how to adapt and utilize educational 
 means so as to develop the potentialities of the child's 
 nature and cause him to achieve the aims of education. 
 
 In this section there should be an attempt first to enlarge Biological 
 the notion of education, aiming to have it regarded as P'^"^"^^®^ 
 practically coincident with life and experience. Of course 
 there is the ideal side to which individuals will strive, but 
 the student should be impressed with the fact that every 
 experience leaves its ineffaceable effect upon all organisms. 
 In order to convey this idea we may begin with a discussion 
 
368 College Teaching 
 
 of the effects of experience upon simple animal and plant 
 life and the general modifications produced in the adjust- 
 ment of such life to surroundings. Some familiar, non- 
 technical facts in the evolution of plant and animal life 
 may be considered in their relation to the question of 
 adaptation and adjustment. Due notice should be taken 
 of the facts of adjustment as manifested in such illustra- 
 tions as the change of the eyes of cave animals, gradual 
 modifications of plant and animal life, the change of 
 animals from sea life to land life, some of the retrogres- 
 sions, etc. A general study of the gradual evolution of 
 sense organs and the nervous system should be made, be- 
 cause these illustrate in an excellent way the gradual modi- 
 fications produced by experience in the race. After this 
 general survey, the subject of innate tendencies may be 
 considered through the discussion of such chapters as Drum- 
 mond's " The ascent of the body," " The scaffolding left 
 in the body," " The arrest of the body," " The dawn of 
 mind," " The evolution of language," etc. These discus- 
 sions naturally lead to a consideration of the lengthening 
 period of human infancy, and the importance of infancy 
 in education. This in turn leads to a brief consideration 
 of the periods of childhood, adolescence, and maturity, 
 largely from a biological point of view. These should be 
 followed by a discussion of such topics as instinct, heredity, 
 from fundamental to accessory, the brain as an organ of 
 mind, some of the facts of psycho-physical correlation, and 
 the reciprocal influence of mind and body upon each other. 
 Before leaving this general field, thorough and designedly 
 practical discussions of the importance of physical devel- 
 opment and culture for education in general and for mental 
 development, fatigue, habit, physical and mental hygiene, 
 and play should be considered. 
 Educational J^e next section should include what some authors term 
 educational psychology, and others call the psychological 
 aspects of education. In this section the first topic natur- 
 ally considered is that of memory. It grows out of the 
 biological discussion of instinct, heredity, etc. Included 
 
 psychology 
 
The Teaching of Education 369 
 
 in the subject of memory is that of association. Follow- 
 ing this come imagination, imitation, training of the senses, 
 apperception, formal discipline, feeling, volition, motor 
 training, induction, etc. Periods of mental development 
 and the specific topics of childhood and adolescence should 
 receive definite consideration, though more exhaustive treat- 
 ment should be reserved for a distinct course in child study. 
 The genetic point of view should be emphasized throughout. 
 
 While the number of students registered for educational 
 psychology is not large, .the numbers that are in reality pur- 
 suing this branch are increasing. Fortunately, the 
 " psychology for teachers " and " applied psychology " of 
 a score of years ago are giving way to a kind of educational 
 psychology that is much more vital. Men like Judd and 
 Thorndike are formulating a psychology of the diff'erent 
 branches of study and of the teaching processes involved 
 that will enable the teacher to see the connection between 
 the psychological laws and the processes to be learned. 
 This sort of work has been made possible by the work of 
 Hall and his followers in studying the child and the 
 adolescent from the standpoint of growth periods and the 
 types of activity suited to each period. Educational 
 psychology is therefore represented richly in principles of 
 education, genetic psychology, mental development, child 
 study, and adolescence, as well as in the courses labeled 
 " Educational Psychology." 
 
 Twelve vears asro courses on social phases of education Social as- 
 
 111 rr 1 1 1 . T * 1 P®<^^S Of edu- 
 
 were probably not onered anywhere, as they are not listed cation 
 in my tabulation at that time. Today they appear in some 
 form or other in almost every department of education. 
 In Columbia the work is given as " Educational Sociology." 
 The departments of sociology also emphasize various phases 
 of educational problems. Courses on vocational education, 
 industrial education, and vocational guidance all emphasize 
 the same idea. The introduction of these courses means 
 that the merely disciplinary aim of education is fast giving 
 way to that of adjustment and utility. Educational means 
 are (1) to enable the child to live happily and to develop 
 
370 College Teaching 
 
 normally, and (2) to furnish a kind of training which will 
 enable him to serve society to the utmost advantage. In 
 the courses on educational sociology, there should be an 
 attempt to help the student feel that the highest aim of 
 education is not individualistic, but social. The purpose 
 is to fit the individual for cooperation, developing agencies 
 of life that shall be mutually advantageous, for democratic 
 society seeks the highest welfare of all its members through 
 the cooperation and contribution of each of its members. 
 It teaches us not only the rights and privileges of society 
 but also its duties and obligations. 
 
 The best individual development also comes only through 
 the social interaction of minds, and consequently various 
 phases of social psychology must receive consideration. 
 Various forms of cooperative effort which enlist the interest 
 of children at various stages of development should be 
 studied. Inasmuch as educators should link school and 
 home, typical illustrations of the manifold means of relat- 
 ing the school and society should be studied, so that the 
 teacher will not be without knowledge of their possibilities. 
 The child Throughout the country there is evidence that the 
 
 curricula in education departments have for their central 
 object a scientific knowledge of the child and the better 
 adaptation of educational means to the development of 
 the potentialities possessed by the child. This idea is evi- 
 denced by the fact that the foundation courses are psy- 
 chology, principles of education, child study, educational 
 psychology. The fact that the history of education is still 
 so largely given as a relatively beginning course shows that 
 the new idea has not gained complete acceptance. Many 
 specialized courses in child study are offered, among them 
 being such courses as the " Psychology of Childhood," 
 " Childhood and Adolescence," " Psychopathic, Retarded, 
 and Mentally Deficient Children," " Genetic Psychology," 
 " The Anthropological Study of Children," " The Physical 
 Nature of the Child." At the University of Pittsburgh a 
 school of childhood has been established which will com- 
 bine in theory and practice the best ideals in the kinder- 
 
 the center 
 
The Teaching of Education 371 
 
 garten, the modern primary school, and the Montessori 
 system. Clark University has had for some years its 
 Children's Institute, which attempts to assemble the best 
 literature on childhood and the best materials of instruction 
 in childhood. Many of the courses in educational tests and 
 measurements center around the study of the child. 
 
 Naturally, methods of teaching the subject vary exceed- 
 ingly in the different institutions. Each instructor to a 
 large extent follows his own individual inclinations. Prob- 
 ably the great majority pursue the lecture method to a con- 
 siderable extent. The lectures are generally accompanied 
 by readings either from some textbook or from collateral 
 readings. 
 
 The writer has personally pursued the combination 
 method. For years before his own book on Principles of 
 Education was completed the subject was presented in 
 lecture form, and accompanied by library readings. Even 
 now, with a textbook at hand, each new topic is outlined 
 in an informal development lecture. Definite assignments 
 are made from the text, and from collateral readings, which 
 include additional texts, periodical literature, and selected 
 chapters from various educational books. After students 
 have had an opportunity to read copiously and to think 
 out special problems, an attempt is made to discuss the 
 entire topic orally. That is possible and very fruitful in 
 classes of the right size, — not over thirty. In large classes 
 numbering from sixty to one hundred or more, the oral 
 discussion is not profitable unless the instructor is very 
 skilled in conducting the discussion. The questions should 
 never be for the purpose of merely securing answers per- 
 fectly obvious to all in the class. The questions should seek 
 to unfold new phases of the subject. Difficult points should 
 be considered, new contributions should be made by the 
 students and the instructor, and all should feel that it is 
 really an enlargement, a broadening, and a deepening of 
 ideas gained through the lectures and the assigned readings. 
 Very frequently individual students should be assigned 
 special topics for report. A good deal of care must be 
 
 Methods of 
 teaching 
 the subject 
 
372 College Teaching 
 
 exercised in this connection, for unless the material is a 
 real contribution and is presented effectively, the rest of the 
 students become wearied. If possible, the instructor should 
 know exactly what points are to be brought out, and the 
 approximate amount of time to be occupied. 
 
 Throughout, an attempt is made to make the work as con- 
 crete as possible, and to show its relation to matters per- 
 taining to the schoolroom, the home, and the everyday 
 conduct of the students themselves. Each topic is treated 
 with considerable thoroughness and detail. No endeavor is 
 made to secure an absolutely systematic and ultra-logical 
 system. The charge of being logically unsystematic and 
 incomplete would not be resented. There is no desire for 
 a system. As in the elementary stages of any subject, the 
 first requisite is a body of fundamental facts. There is 
 time enough later to evolve an all-inclusive and all-ex- 
 clusive system. I am not aware that even the " doctors " 
 have yet fully settled this question. The psychological 
 order is the one sought. What is intelligible, full of living 
 interest, and of largest probable importance in the life and 
 work of the student teacher are the criteria applied in the 
 selection of materials. The student verdict is given much 
 weight in deciding. 
 
 A rather successful plan of providing an adequate number 
 of duplicates of books much used has been developed by 
 the writer at the State University of Iowa and at the Uni- 
 versity of Washington. In all courses in which no single 
 suitable text is found the students are asked to contribute 
 a small sum, from twenty-five to fifty cents, for the purpose 
 of purchasing duplicates. These books are placed on the 
 reserve shelf, and this makes it possible for large classes 
 to be accommodated with a relatively small number of 
 books. Ordinarily there should be one book for every four 
 or five students, if all are expected to read the same as- 
 signment. If options are allowed, the proportion of books 
 may be reduced. The books become the property of the 
 institution, and a fine library of duplicate sets rapidly ac- 
 cumulates. In about five years about fifteen hundred vol- 
 
The Teaching of Education 373 
 
 umes have been secured in this way at the University of 
 Washington. Valuable pamphlet material and reprints of 
 important articles also are collected and kept in filing boxes. 
 
 Frederick E. Bolton 
 
 University of Washington 
 
 Bibliography 
 1. articles on teaching of educational theory 
 
 Bolton, Frederick E. The Relation of the Department of Education 
 to Other Departments in Colleges and Universities. Journal of 
 Pedagogy, Vol. XIX, Nos. 2, 3, December, 1906, March, 1907. 
 
 Curricula in University Departments of Education. School and 
 
 Society, December 11, 1915, pages 829-841. 
 
 JuDD, Charles H. The Department of Education in American Uni- 
 versities. School Review, Vol. 17, November, 1909. 
 
 HoLLiSTER, Horace A. Courses in Education Best Adapted to the 
 Needs of High School Teachers and High School Principals. 
 School and Home Education, April, 1917. 
 
 2. BOOKS ON THE GENERAL, BIOLOGICAL, AND 
 PSYCHOLOGICAL PHASES OF EDUCATION 
 
 Bagley, Willtam C. The Educative Process. The Macmillan Com- 
 pany, 1907. 358 pages. 
 — — Educational Values. The Macmillan Company, 1911. 267 
 
 pages. 
 Bolton, Frederick E. Principles of Education. Charles Scribner's 
 
 Sons, 1910. 790 pages. 
 Butler, Nicholas Murray. The Meaning of Education, and Other 
 
 Essays. The Macmillan Company, 1915. 386 pages. Revised 
 
 Edition. 
 Cubberley, Ellwood p. Changing Conceptions of Education. 
 
 Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909. 70 pages. 
 Davenport, Eugene. Education for Efficiency. D. C. Heath & 
 
 Company, 1909. 184 pages. 
 Dewey, John. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the 
 
 Philosophy of Education. Macmillan, 1916. 434 pages. 
 Freeman, Frank N. Experimental Education. Houghton Mifflin 
 
 Company, 1916. 220 pages. 
 
 Psychology of the Common Branches. Houghton Mifflin Com- 
 pany, 1916. 275 pages. 
 
 How Children Learn. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. 322 
 
 pages. 
 
374 College Teaching 
 
 Gordon, Kate. Educational Psychology. Henry Holt & Co., 1917. 
 
 294 pages. 
 Groszmann, M. p. E, Some Fundamental Verities in Education. 
 
 Richard Badger, 1916. 118 pages. 
 GuYER, Michael. Being Weil-Born. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1916. 
 
 374 pages. 
 Hall, G. S. Educational Problems. D. Appleton & Co., 1911. 2 
 
 volumes, 710 pages and 714 pages. 
 Heck, W. H. Mental Discipline and Educational Values. John Lane 
 
 & Co., 1911. 208 pages. 
 Henderson, Charles H. Education and the Larger Life. Houghton 
 
 Mifflin Company, 1912. 386 pages. 
 
 What Is It to be Educated? Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914. 
 
 462 pages. 
 
 Henderson, Ernest N. A Textbook on the Principles of Education. 
 
 The Macmillan Company, 1910. 593 pages. 
 Horne, Herman H. The Philosophy of Education. The Macmillan 
 
 Company, 1904. 295 pages. 
 
 The Psychological Principles of Education. The Macmillan 
 
 Company, 1906. 435 pages. 
 
 Klapper, Paul. Principles of Educational Practice. D. Appleton & 
 Co., 1912. 485 pages. 
 
 Moore, Ernest C. What Is Education? Ginn and Co., 1915. 357 
 pages. 
 
 O'Shea, M. Vincent. Dynamic Factors in Education. The Macmil- 
 lan Company, 1906. 321 pages. 
 
 Education as Adjustment. Longmans, Green & Co., 1903. 348 
 
 pages. 
 
 — — Linguistic Development and Education. The Macmillan Coin- 
 
 pany, 1907. 347 pages. 
 Pyle, William H. The Science of Human Nature. Silver, Burdett & 
 
 Co., 1917. 229 pages. 
 
 The Outlines of Educational Psychology. Warwick & York, 
 
 1911. 276 pages. 
 
 RuEDiGER, William C. Principles of Education. Houghton Mifflin 
 
 Company, 1910. 305 pages. 
 Spencer, Herbert. Education, Intellectual, Moral, and Physical. D. 
 
 Appleton & Co., 1900. 301 pages. 
 Thorndike, Edward L. Principles of Teaching. A. G. Seller, 1906. 
 
 293 pages. 
 
 Education: A First Book. The Macmillan Company, 1912. 292 
 
 pages. 
 
 Individuality. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1911. 56 pages. 
 
 Educational Psychology. Teachers College, 1913. Vol. I. The 
 
 Original Nature of Man. 327 pages. 
 
TJie Teaching of Education 375 
 
 3. BOOKS ON THE SOCIAL PHASES OF EDUCATION 
 
 Betts, George H. Social Principles of Education. Charles Scrib- 
 
 ner's Sons, 1912. 313 pages. 
 Cabot, Ella L. Volunteer Help to the Schools. Houghton Mifflin 
 
 Company, 1914. 141 pages. 
 Dewey, John. The School and Society. University of Chicago Press, 
 
 1907. 129 pages. 
 
 The Schools of Tomorrow. E. P. Button & Co., 1915. 316 
 
 pages. 
 
 Democracy and Education. The Macmillan Company, 1916. 
 
 434 pages. 
 
 Dewey, John, and Small, Albion W. My Educational Creed. E. 
 L. Kellogg & Co., 1897. 36 pages. 
 
 DuTTON, Samuel T. Social Phases of Education in the School and 
 the Home. The Macmillan Company, 1900. 259 pages. 
 
 Gillette, John M. Constructive Rural Sociology. Sturgis & Wal- 
 ton, 1913. 301 pages. 
 
 King, Irving. Education for Social Efficiency. D. Appleton & Co., 
 1913. 371 pages. 
 
 Social Aspects of Education. A Book of Sources and Original 
 
 Discussions, with Annotated Bibliographies. The Macmillan 
 Company, 1912. 
 
 McDouGALL, William. An Introduction to Social Psychology. John 
 W. Luce, 1914. 355 pages. 
 
 O'Shea, M. Vincent. Social Development and Education. Hough- 
 ton Mifflin Company, 1909. 561 pages. 
 
 Scott, Colin A. Social Education. Ginn and Co., 1908. 300 pages. 
 
 Smith, Walter R. An Introduction to Educational Sociology. 
 Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917. 412 pages. 
 
 4. BOOKS ON CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE 
 
 Drummond, William B. An Introduction to Child Study. Long- 
 mans, Green & Co., 1907. 347 pages. 
 
 Gesell, Beatrice C. and Arnold. The Normal Child and Primary 
 Education. Ginn and Co., 1912. 342 pages. 
 
 Groszmann, M. p. E. The Career of the Child. Richard Badger, 
 1911. 335 pages. 
 
 Hall, G. Stanley. Youth, Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene. 
 D. Appleton & Co., 1907. 379 pages. 
 
 Aspects of Child Life and Education. Ginn and Co., 1907. 326 
 
 pages. 
 
 Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, 
 
 Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion, and Education. 
 D. Appleton & Co., 1904. 2 vols., 589 and 784 pages. 
 
376 College Teaching 
 
 King, Irving. The High School Age. Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1914. 
 288 pages. 
 
 KiRKPATRiCK, Edwin A. Fundamentals of Child Study. The Mac- 
 millan Company, 1903. 384 pages. 
 
 Genetic Psychology: An Introduction to an objective and genetic 
 
 view of intelligence. The Macmillan Company, 1909. 373 pages. 
 
 Oppenheim, Nathan. The Development of the Child. The Macmil- 
 lan Company, 1898, 296 pages. 
 
 Sully, James. Studies of Childhood. D. Appleton & Co., 1910. 527 
 pages. 
 
 Swift, Edgar J. Youth and the Race. Charles Scribner's Sons, 
 1912. 342 pages. 
 
 Tanner, Amy E. The Child: His Thinking^ Feeling, and Doing. 
 1904. 430 pages. 
 
 Terman, Lewis M. The Hygiene of the School Child. Houghton 
 Mifflin Company, 1914. 417 pages. 
 
 Tracy, Frederick, and Stimpfl, James. The Psychology of Child- 
 hood. D. C. Heath & Co., 1909. 231 pages. 
 
 Tyler, John Mason. Growth and Education. Houghton Mifflin 
 Company, 1907. 294 pages. 
 
 Waddle, Charles W. Introduction to Child Psychology. Houghton 
 Mifflin Company, 1918. 307 pages. 
 
PART FOUR 
 
 The Languages and Literatures 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XVIII The Teaching of English Literature 
 
 Caleb T. Winchester 
 
 XIX The Teaching of English Composition 
 
 Henry Seidel Canhy 
 
 XX The Teaching of the Classics 
 
 William K. Prentice 
 
 XXI The Teaching of the Romance Languages 
 
 William A. Nitze 
 
 XXII The Teaching of German 
 
 E. Prokosch 
 
XVIII 
 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LITERATURE 
 
 IT should be understood at the outset that this paper is Scope of 
 concerned with the study of literature, not in the uni- English 
 versity or graduate school, but in the college, by the under- literature 
 graduate candidate for the bachelor's degree; and, further- ^^^ ®^® 
 more, that the object of study is not the history, biography, 
 bibliography, or criticism of literature, but the literature 
 itself. Perhaps also the term " literature " may need defini- 
 tion. As commonly — and correctly — used, the word 
 " literature " denotes all writing which has sufficient emo- 
 tional interest, whether primary or incidental, to give it 
 permanence. As thus defined, literature would include, for 
 example, history and much philosophical writing, and 
 would exclude only writing of purely scientific or technical 
 character. But in the following pages the word will be 
 used in a narrower sense, as indicating those books that 
 are read for their own sake, not solely or primarily for their 
 intellectual content. This definition is elastic enough to 
 comprise not only poetry, drama, and fiction, but the essay, 
 oratory, and much political and satirical prose. It should 
 be further understood that for the purpose of this paper, 
 English literature may be considered to begin about the 
 middle of the fourteenth century. Earlier and Anglo- 
 Saxon writings are by no means without great literary 
 value, and it may at once be granted that no college teacher 
 of English literature is thoroughly equipped for his work 
 who is ignorant of them; but they can be read appreciatively 
 only after considerable study of the language, the method 
 and motives of which are linguistic rather than literary. 
 
 Perhaps it may be asked just here whether English litera- Aims gov- 
 ture, as thus defined, need be studied in college at all. teaching of 
 Until quite recently that question seems generally to have ^j^^^^^^^J^.^ 
 been answered in the negative. Fifty years ago, few if any 
 of our American colleges gave any study to texts of English 
 
 379 ■ 
 
380 College Teaching 
 
 classics. There were, indeed, in most colleges professors 
 of rhetoric and belles-lettres, whose lectures upon the 
 history and criticism of our literature were often of great 
 value as an inspiration to literary study; but it was only 
 in the decade from 1865 to 1875 that in most of our colleges 
 the literature itself, with hesitating caution, began to be 
 read and studied in the classroom. 
 Can literary Nor was this hesitation without some reasons, at least 
 be^devd[-^°" plausible. The chief object of college training, it was said, 
 oped? is to discipline and strengthen the . intellect, to give the 
 
 student that grasp and power of thought which he may 
 apply to all the work of later life. The college should 
 not be expected to pay much attention to the cultivation 
 of the imagination and the emotions. These faculties, to 
 which literature makes appeal, are not, it was said, under 
 the control of the will, and you cannot cultivate or 
 strengthen them by sheer resolve or strenuous exertion. 
 The first condition of any real appreciation of literature, 
 so ran the argument, is spontaneous enjoyment of it; and 
 you cannot command a right feeling for literature or for 
 anything else. But a normal development of the imagina- 
 tion and the emotions does usually accompany the vigorous 
 development of the intellect, so that the advancing student 
 will be found to turn spontaneously to art and literature. 
 And his appreciation of all the highest and deepest mean- 
 ings in literature will be quickened because he brings to 
 his reading a mind trained to accurate and vigorous think- 
 ing. Moreover, all substantial advantages from the study 
 of modern vernacular literature can be better obtained 
 from the Greek and Latin classics. They afford the same 
 richness of thought and charm of form as our modern writ- 
 ing; but they demand for their appreciation that careful 
 attention and study which modern literature too often dis- 
 courages. The survivors of a former generation sometimes 
 ask us today, with a touch of sarcasm, " Do you think 
 the average New England college student of fifty to seventy- 
 five years ago, when the Emersons and Longfellows and 
 Lowells were young men, the days of the old North Ameri- 
 
The Teaching of Engl ish Literature 381 
 
 can Revieiv and the new Atlantic Monthly, had any less ap- 
 preciation and enjoyment of whatever is good in literature, 
 or any less power to produce it, than the young fellows 
 who are coming out of college today after more than a 
 quarter century of literary instruction? " And they occa- 
 sionally suggest that, at all events, it is difficult to find any 
 evidences of the result of such instruction in the quality 
 of the literature produced or demanded today. 
 
 On the other hand, the study of English literature often 
 fares little better with the advocates of the modern practical 
 tendency in education. They have but scanty allowance 
 for a study assumed to be of so little use in the actual 
 work of life. An acquaintance with well-known English 
 books, especially if they be modern books, is, they admit, 
 a desirable accomplishment if it can be gained without too 
 much cost, but not to be allowed the place of more valuable 
 knowledge. A typical modern father, writing not long ago 
 to a modern educator, after giving with equal positiveness 
 the subjects that his boy must have and must not have 
 included in his course of study, added by way of conces- 
 sion, " The boy might, if he has time, take English litera- 
 ture." 
 
 Now in answer to this second class of objectors, it may be 
 frankly admitted that the study of English literature is 
 primarily, if not entirely, cultural. A boy may not make 
 a better engineer or practical chemist for having studied 
 in college the plays of Shakespeare or the prose of Ruskin. 
 And to the older objectors, who urge that literary study 
 can ever give that severe intellectual discipline afforded by 
 the older, narrower college course, we reply that it is not 
 merely the intellectual powers that need culture and dis- 
 cipline. The ideal college training will surely not neglect 
 the imagination and emotions, the faculties which so largely 
 determine the conduct of life. And at no period in the 
 educational process is the need of wide moral training 
 so urgent as in those years when the young man is form- 
 ing independent judgments and his tastes are taking their 
 final set. The study of English literature finds its warrant 
 
 Conflict of 
 utilitarian 
 and cultural 
 standards 
 
 Cultural 
 and utili- 
 tarian 
 standards 
 harmonized 
 
382 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Appreciation 
 the ultimate 
 aim in the 
 teaching of 
 literature 
 
 Apprecia- 
 tive study 
 of literary 
 master- 
 pieces in- 
 volves vigor- 
 ous mental 
 exercise 
 
 for a place in the college curriculum principally because, 
 better than any other subject, it is fitted to cultivate both the 
 emotional and the intellectual sides of our nature. For 
 in all genuine literature those two elements, the intellectual 
 and the emotional, are united; you cannot get either one 
 fully without getting the other. In some forms of liter- 
 ature, as in poetry, the emotional appeal is the main pur- 
 pose of the writing; but even here no really profound 
 or sublime emotion is possible without a solid basis of 
 thought. 
 
 This, then, let us understand, is the primary object of all 
 college teaching in this department. It affords the student 
 opportunity and incitement to read, during his four years, 
 a considerable number of our best classics, representative 
 of different periods and different forms of literature, and 
 to read them with such intelligence and appreciation as to 
 receive from them that discipline of thought and feeling 
 which literature better than anything else is fitted to im- 
 part. If the student would or could do this reading by 
 himself, without formal requirement or assistance, there 
 might be little need of undergraduate teaching of litera- 
 ture; but every one who knows much of American college 
 conditions knows that the average undergraduate has neither 
 time, inclination, nor ability for such voluntary reading. 
 
 Just here lies a difficulty peculiar to the college teacher 
 in this department. All studies that appeal primarily to 
 the intellect and call only for careful attention and vigor- 
 ous thinking can be prescribed, and mastery of them rigidly 
 enforced. Indeed, the ambitious student is often stimulated 
 to more vigorous effort by the very difficulty of his sub- 
 ject. But the appreciative reading of any work of litera- 
 ture cannot thus be prescribed. Of course the instructor 
 may do much to help the student to such appreciation — 
 that, indeed, is his chief duty; but he will not try to ex- 
 pound or enjoin emotional effects. Recognizing these 
 limitations upon his work, he often finds it difficult to avoid 
 one or the other of two dangers that beset all efforts to 
 teach a vernacular literature: the student must not think 
 
The Teaching of English Literature 383 
 
 his reading an idle pastime, nor, on the other hand, must 
 he think it a repellent task. In the first case, he is likely 
 never to read anything well; in the second case, the things 
 best worth reading he will probably never read at all. 
 Of the two dangers, the first is the more serious. The 
 student ought early to learn that no really good reading 
 is "light reading." And it may be remarked that this 
 lesson was never more needed than today. There was never 
 a time when people of all classes read more and thought 
 less. We have what might almost be called a plague of 
 reading, and an astonishing amount of what is called 
 "reading matter" rolling out of our presses every year; 
 while, significantly, we are producing very few books of 
 permanent literary value. If the college study of litera- 
 ture is to encourage this indolent receptive temper, and 
 relax the intellectual fiber of the student, then we might 
 better drop it from the curriculum. The student must some- 
 how learn that the book that is worth while will tax his 
 thought, his imagination, his sympathies. He cannot be 
 content merely to leave the door of his mind lazily open 
 to it. Every teacher knows the difficulty in any attempt 
 to inspire or direct such a pupil. And the simpler the 
 subject assigned him, the greater the difficulty. Give him, 
 for example, a group of the best lyrics in the language, 
 in which the thought is simple and the sentiment homely 
 or familiar. He will glance over them in half an hour, 
 and then wonder what more you want of him. And you 
 may not find it so easy to tell him. For he does not per- 
 ceive nice shades of feeling, he has little sense of poetic 
 form, he has not read the poems aloud to get the charm 
 of their melody, and he will not let them linger in his mind 
 long enough to feel that the simplest sentiments are often 
 the most profound and moving. He simply tries to con- 
 jecture what sort of questions he is likely to meet on 
 examination. Doubtless from this type of pupil better re- 
 sults can be obtained by the reading of prose not too 
 familiar, that suggests more questions for reflection and dis- 
 cussion. 
 
384 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Suggestions 
 for teaching 
 of English 
 literature 
 — Emotion- 
 al apprecia- 
 tion to have 
 an intellec- 
 tual hasis 
 
 Al)undant 
 oral read- 
 ing by teach- 
 er an aid to 
 apprecia- 
 tion 
 
 It is perhaps impossible to lay down a detailed method 
 for the teaching of English literature. Much depends upon 
 the nature of the literature read, the temperament of the 
 teacher, the aptitude of the pupil. Every teacher will, 
 in great measure, discover his own methods. At all events, 
 no attempts will be made here to give more than a few 
 suggestions. In the first place, the teacher will remember 
 that every work of literature — except purely " imagist " 
 poetry, which it is hardly worth while to teach — is based 
 upon some thought or truth; in most varieties of prose 
 literature this forms the main purpose of the writing. 
 The first object of the student's reading, therefore, must be 
 to understand thoroughly the intellectual element in what 
 he reads; and here the instructor can often be of direct 
 assistance. And after such careful reading, the higher 
 emotional values of what he has read will often disclose 
 themselves spontaneously, so that the reader will need little 
 further help. 
 
 Just here it is worth while to note the great value of 
 reading aloud, both by the teacher as a means of instruc- 
 tion, and by the pupil as a test of appreciation. All good 
 writing gains vastly when read thus. Mentally, at all 
 events, we must image its sound if we are to get its full 
 value. As to poetry, that goes without saying; for the 
 essential, defining element in poetry is music. You may 
 have truth, beauty, imagination, emotion, but without music 
 you have not yet got poetry. But it is hardly less true 
 that prose should be read aloud. " The best test of good 
 writing," said Hazlitt — and no man in his generation wrote 
 better prose than he — "is, does it read well aloud." The. 
 sympathetic oral reading of a passage from any prose 
 master, a reading that naturally indicates points of 
 emphasis, shades of thought, nuances of feeling, is often 
 better than any formal explanation, for it reproduces the 
 living voice of the writer. The wise teacher will avoid the 
 mannerisms of the professed elocutionist or dramatic reader, 
 but he will not neglect the value of truthful oral interpreta- 
 tion for many passages of beautiful, or subtle, or power- 
 
The Teaching of English Literature 385 
 
 ful writing. And the student will often give a better proof 
 of intelligent appreciation by reading aloud, " with good 
 accent and discretion," than by any more elaborate form 
 of examination. 
 
 Some varieties of literature can best be approached in- 
 directly, through a study of the life of the author, or of the 
 age in which he lived. As any great work of pure litera- 
 ture must come out of the author's deepest life, it is evident 
 that any knowledge of that life gained from other sources 
 may be an important aid in the appreciation of his work. 
 It is true that in the case of a writer of supreme and almost 
 impartial dramatic genius, such knowledge may be of com- 
 paratively little value; though few of us will admit that 
 it is merely an idle curiosity that would be gratified by a 
 fuller knowledge even of the man William Shakespeare. 
 But all the more subjective forms of literature, such as the 
 lyric and the essay, can hardly be studied intelligently 
 without some biographical introduction. Still more 
 obvious is the need in many instances of some accurate 
 knowledge of the period in which a given work is produced. 
 For all such writing as grows directly out of political or 
 social conditions, as oratory, or political satire, or various 
 forms of the essay, this is clearly necessary. It would be 
 folly to attempt to read the speeches of Edmund Burke or 
 the political writings of Swift without historical introduc- 
 tion and comment. But the historical setting is hardly less 
 important in many other forms of literature. For the 
 whole cast of an author's mind, the habitual tone of his 
 feeling on most important matters, is often largely decided 
 by his environment. It is only a very inadequate apprecia- 
 tion, for example, of the work not only of Carlyle and 
 Ruskin but of Tennyson, Browning, and Matthew Arnold, 
 that is possible without some correct knowledge of the 
 varying attitude of these men toward important movements 
 in English thought, social, economic, religious, between 
 1830 and 1880. It must always be an important part of 
 the duty of the college teacher, of literature to provide 
 such biographical and historical information. 
 
 Knowledge ' 
 of author's 
 life and art 
 and of ideals 
 of the times 
 necessary 
 for compre- 
 hension and 
 appreciation 
 
386 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Knowledge 
 of an 
 author's 
 style to be 
 result of 
 apprecia- 
 tive study 
 of Ms works 
 and not 
 gathered 
 from texts 
 on literary 
 criticism 
 
 Careful at- 
 tention to 
 critical 
 analysis 
 
 Content of 
 college 
 course in 
 literature 
 
 All careful study of literature must involve some atten- 
 tion to manner or style — not so much, however, for its 
 own sake, as a means for the fuller appreciation of what 
 is read. In strictness, style has only one virtue, clear- 
 ness; only one vice, obscurity. A perfect style is a trans- 
 parent medium through which we plainly see the thought 
 and feeling of the writer. Such a style may, indeed, often 
 have striking peculiarities, but these are really the marks 
 of the writer's personality, which his style reveals without 
 exaggerating. All rhetorical study ought, therefore, to ac- 
 company or follow, not to precede, the careful reading for 
 appreciation. No good book ought ever to be considered 
 a mere corpus vile for rhetorical praxis. 
 
 Of much greater value is that distinctively critical 
 analysis which endeavors to discover the different elements, 
 intellectual, imaginative, emotional, that enter into any work 
 of literature, and to determine their relative amount and. 
 importance. Such analysis may well form the subject of 
 classroom discussion, and advanced students should often 
 be required to put the conclusions they have drawn from 
 such discussion into the form of a finished critical essay. 
 All exercises of this kind presuppose, of course, that the 
 work criticized has been read with interest and intelligence; 
 but no form of literary study is more stimulating or tends 
 more directly to the formation of original and accurate 
 critical judgments. It affords the best test of real literary 
 appreciation. 
 
 Obviously it is impossible with this method of study to 
 cover the entire field of English literature in the four 
 college years. It is wiser to read a few great books 
 well than to read many smaller ones hurriedly. It be- 
 comes, therefore, an important question on what prin^ 
 ciple these books should be selected and grouped in 
 courses. In the opinion of the present writer, it is well 
 to begin with a brief outline sketch of the history of the 
 literature given either in a textbook or by lectures, and 
 illustrated by a few representative works, read carefully 
 but without much detailed or intensive study. Such an 
 
The Teaching of English Literature 387 
 
 introductory course may have little cultural value; but it 
 furnishes that knowledge of the chronological succession 
 of English writers, and the varieties of literature dominant 
 in each period, that is necessary for further intelligent 
 study. This knowledge should, indeed, be given in the 
 preparatory schools, but unfortunately it usually is not. 
 When given in college, the course should, if possible, be 
 assigned to the freshman year. In the later years, the 
 works selected for study will best be grouped either by 
 period or by subject. Both plans have their advantages, 
 but in most instances the first will be found the better. 
 The study of a group of contemporary writers always gains 
 in interest as we see how they all, with striking individual 
 differences in temper and subject, yet reflect the social and 
 moral life of their age. Sometimes the two plans may be 
 united; a particular form of literature may be studied 
 as the best representative of a period, as the political 
 pamphlet for the age of Queen Anne or the extended essay 
 for the first quarter of the nineteenth century. And in some 
 rare instances a single writer is at once the highest repre- 
 sentative of the age in which he lived and the supreme 
 master of the form in which he wrote — as Shakespeare 
 for the drama and Milton for the epic. 
 
 These courses should all — in the judgment of the 
 present writer — be elective, but should be arranged in 
 some natural sequence, those assigned to a lower year 
 being preparatory to those of a higher. This sequence 
 need not always be historical; the simpler course may well 
 precede those which for any reason are more difficult. 
 Methods of instruction will also naturally change, becom- 
 ing less narrowly didactic with the advancement of the 
 student. In the senior year the teacher will usually prefer 
 to meet his classes in small sections, on the seminar plan, 
 for informal discussion and the criticism of papers written 
 by his pupils on questions suggested by their reading. Of 
 such questions, students who for four years have been read- 
 ing the masterpieces of English literature will surely find 
 no lack. 
 
 Gradation 
 of courses 
 and adapta- 
 tion of 
 methods to 
 growing ca- 
 pacities of 
 students 
 
388 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 TJnder- 
 
 The number of courses that can be offered in the depart- 
 ment will depend in some cases upon the relative size of 
 the faculty and the student body. For in no other subject 
 is it more important, especially in the later years, that 
 the classes or sections should be small enough to allow 
 some intimate personal touch between professor and 
 student. It may be safely said that no college department 
 of English literature is well officered or equipped that 
 does not furnish at least four or five year-long courses of 
 instruction. And certainly no student can maintain for 
 four years such an acquaintance with the best specimens 
 of a great literature without gaining something of that 
 broad intelligence, heightened imagination, and just ap- 
 preciation of whatever is best in nature and in human life, 
 which combine in what we call culture. 
 
 Throughout this paper it has been assumed that what has 
 vs. graduate been termed appreciation — that is, the ability to under- 
 teaching of stand and enjoy the best things in literature — is the one 
 
 English lit- j j o 
 
 erature central purpose to which all efforts must be subservient, 
 
 in the teaching of English literature. But it should be re- 
 membered, as stated at the outset, that this paper has to 
 do with the college undergraduate only, the candidate 
 for the bachelor's degree. In the university, and to some 
 extent in the graduate courses of the college leading to the 
 master's degree, the subjects and methods of teaching may 
 well be very different. Studies in comparative literature, 
 studies of literary origins, the investigation of perplexed 
 or controverted questions in the life or work of an author, 
 the study and elucidation of the work of an unknown or 
 little-known writer — all these and many other similar 
 matters may very properly be the subjects of specialized 
 graduate study. But they will rarely be found of most 
 profit to undergraduate classes. 
 
 Caleb T. Winchester 
 
 Wesleyan University 
 
XIX 
 
 THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH COMPOSITION ^ 
 
 ^^•TAEEDS, not words," is a platitude — a flat statement Language an 
 
 I J which reduces the facts of the case to an average, menS°de- 
 and calls that truth. It is absurd to imply, as does this veiopment 
 old truism, that we may never judge a man by his words. 
 Words are often the most convenient indices of education, 
 of cultivation, and of intellectual power. And what is 
 more, a man's speech, a man's writing, when properly 
 interpreted, may sometimes measure the potentialities of 
 the mind more thoroughly, more accurately, than the deeds 
 which environment, opportunity, or luck permit. It is hard 
 enough to take the intellectual measure even of the makers 
 of history by their acts, so rapidly does the apparent value 
 of their accomplishments vary with changing conceptions 
 of what is and what is not worth doing. It is infinitely 
 more difficult to judge in advance of youths just going 
 out into the world by what they do. Their words, which 
 reveal what they are thinking and how they are thinking, 
 give almost the only vision of their minds ; and " by their 
 words ye shall know them " becomes not a perversion, but 
 an adaptation of the old text. Would you judge of a boy 
 just graduated entirely by the acts he had performed in 
 college? If you did, you would make some profound and 
 illuminating mistakes. 
 
 This explains, I think, why parents, and teachers, and 
 college presidents, and even undergraduates, are exercised 
 over the study of writing English — which is, after all, 
 just the study of the proper putting together of words. 
 They may believe, all of them, that their concern is merely 
 for the results of the power to write well — the ability 
 to compose a good letter, to speak forcibly on occasion, 
 to offer the amount of literacy required for most " jobs." 
 
 ^ Reprinted in revised form from College Sons and College Fathers, 
 Harper and Brothers. 
 
 389 
 
390 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Disappoint- 
 ing results 
 from teach- 
 ing of com- 
 position 
 
 Fixing re- 
 sponsibility 
 for alleged 
 failure of 
 composition 
 teaching 
 
 But I wonder if the quite surprising keenness of their in- 
 terest is not due to another cause. I wonder if they do 
 not feel — perhaps unconsciously — that words indicate the 
 man, that the power to write well shows intellect, and 
 measures, if not its profundity, at least the stage of its 
 development. We fasten on the defects of the letters 
 written by undergraduates, on their faltering speeches, on 
 their confused examination papers, as something significant, 
 ominous, worthy even of comment in the press. And we 
 are, I believe, perfectly right. Speech and writing, if 
 you get them in fair samples, indicate the extent and the 
 value of a college education far better than a degree. 
 
 It is this conviction which, pressing upon the schools 
 and colleges, has caused such a flood of courses and text- 
 books, such an expenditure of time, energy, and money in 
 the teaching of composition, so many ardent hopes of ac- 
 complishment, so much bitter disappointment at relative 
 failure. I do not know how many are directly or in- 
 directly teaching the writing of English in America — per- 
 haps some tens of thousands; the imagination falters at 
 the thought of how many are trying to learn it. Thus 
 the parent, conscious of this enormous endeavor and the 
 convictions which inspire it, is somewhat appalled to hear 
 the critics without the colleges maintaining that we are not 
 teaching good writing, and the critics within protesting that 
 good writing cannot be taught. 
 
 It is with the teachers, the administrators, the theorists 
 on education, but most of all the teachers, that the re- 
 sponsibility for the alleged failure of this great project — 
 to endow the college graduate with adequate powers of 
 expression — must be sought. But these guardians of ex- 
 pression are divided into many groups, of which four are 
 chief. 
 
 There is first the great party of the Know-Nothings, who 
 plan and teach with no opinion whatsoever as to the ends of 
 their teaching. Under the conditions of human nature and 
 current financial rewards for the work, this party is in- 
 evitably large; but it counts for nothing except inertia. 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 391 
 
 There is next the respectable and efficient cohort of the 
 Do-Nothings, who believe that good writing and speaking 
 are natural emanations from culture, as health from exer- 
 cise or clouds from the sea. They would cultivate the mind 
 of the undergraduate, and let expression take care of it- 
 self. They do not believe in teaching English composition. 
 Next are the Formalists, who hold up a dictionary in one 
 hand, the rules of rhetoric in the other, and say, " Learn 
 these, and good writing and good speaking shall be added 
 unto you." The Formalists have weakened in late years. 
 There have been desertions to the Do-Nothings, for the work 
 of grinding rules into unwilling minds is hard, and it is 
 far easier to adopt a policy of laissez-faire. But there have 
 been far more desertions into a party which I shall call, 
 for want of a better name, the Optimists. The Optimists 
 believe that in teaching to write and speak the American 
 college is accepting its most significant if not its greatest 
 duty. They believe that we must understand what causes 
 good writing, in order to teach it; and that for the average 
 undergraduate writing must be taught. 
 
 The best way to approach this grand battleground of Divergent 
 educational policies is by the very practical fashion of pre- teaching of 
 tending (if pretense is necessary) that you have a son composition 
 (or a daughter) ready for college. What does he need, 
 what must he have in a writing way, in a speaking way, 
 when he has passed through all the education you see fit to 
 give him? What should he possess of such ability in order 
 to satisfy the world and himself? Facts, ideas and imagina- 
 tion, to put it roughly, make up the substance of expres- 
 sion. Facts he must be able to present clearly and faith- 
 fully; ideas he must be able to present clearly and com- 
 prehensively; his imagination he will need to express when 
 his nature demands it. And for all these needs he must 
 be able to use knowingly the words which study and ex- 
 perience will feed to him. He must be able to combine 
 these words effectively in order to express the thoughts 
 of which he is capable. And these thoughts he must work 
 out along lines of logical, reasonable developments, so that 
 
392 College Teaching 
 
 what he says or writes will have an end and attain it. 
 In addition, if he is imaginative — and who is not? — he 
 should know the color and fire of words, the power of 
 rhythm and harmony over the emotions, the qualities of 
 speech whose secret will enable him to mold language 
 to his personality and perhaps achieve a style. This he 
 should know; the other powers he must have, or stop short 
 of his full efficiency. 
 
 Alas, we all know that the undergraduate, in the mass, 
 fails often to attain even to the power of logical, accurate 
 statement, whether of facts or ideas. It is true that most 
 of the charges against him are to a greater or less degree 
 irrelevant. Weighty indictments of his powers of expres- 
 sion are based upon bad spelling: a sign, it is true, of 
 slovenliness, an indication of a lack of thoroughness which 
 goes deeper than the misplacing of letters, but not in it- 
 self a proof of inability to express. Great writers have 
 often misspelled ; and the letters which some of our capable 
 business men write when the stenographer fails to come 
 back after lunch are by no means impeccable. Other ac- 
 cusations refer to a childish vagueness of expression — due 
 to the fact that the American undergraduate is often a child 
 intellectually rather than to any defects in composition 
 per se. But it is a waste of time to deny that he writes, 
 if not badly, at least not so clearly, so correctly, so in- 
 telligently, as we expect. The question is, why? 
 
 It would be a comfort to place the blame upon the 
 schools; and indeed they must take some blame, not only 
 because they deserve it, but also to enlighten those critics 
 of the college who never consider the kind of grain which 
 comes into our hoppers. The readers of college entrance 
 papers could tell a mournful story of how the candidates 
 for our freshman classes write. Here, for an instance, is a 
 paragraph intended to prove that the writer had a com- 
 mand of simple English, correct in sentence structure, spell- 
 ing, capitalization, and punctuation. The subject is "The 
 Value of Organized Athletics in Schools " — not an abstruse 
 one, or too academic: 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 393 
 
 If fellows are out in the open and take athletics say at a certain 
 time every-day; These fellows are in good health and allert in their 
 lessons, while those who take no exercise are logy and soft. Organ- 
 ized athletics in a school bring the former, while if a school has no 
 athletics every-thing goes more or less slipshod, and the fellows are 
 more liable to get into trouble, because they are nervious from having 
 nothing to do. 
 
 This is a little below the average of the papers rejected 
 for entrance to college. It is not a fair sample of what 
 the schools can do, but it is a very fair sample of what 
 they often do not do. It was not written by a foreigner, 
 nor, I judge, by a son of illiterate parents, since it came 
 from an expensive Eastern preparatory school. The reader, 
 marking with some heat a failure for the essay from which 
 this paragraph is extracted, would not complain of the 
 writer's paucity of ideas. His ideas are not below the 
 average of his age. He would keep his wrath for the 
 broken, distorted sentences, the silly spelling, the lack 
 (which would appear in the whole composition) of even a 
 rudimentary construction to carry the thought. Spelling, 
 the fundamentals of punctuation, and the compacting of a 
 sentence must be taught in the schools, for it is too late to 
 cure diseases of these members in college. They can be 
 abated; but again and again they will break out. It is 
 the school's business to teach them; and the weary reader 
 sees in this unhappy specimen but a dark and definite 
 manifestation of a widespread slovenliness in secondary 
 education, a lack of thoroughness which appears not only in 
 the failures, but also, though in less measure, among the 
 better writers, whose work is too good in other respects 
 not to be reluctantly passed. 
 
 Again, it would be easy to place much of the blame for 
 the slipshod writings of the undergraduate upon the stand- 
 ards set by his elders outside the colleges. Editors can 
 tell of the endless editing which contributions, even from 
 writers supposed to be professional, will sometimes re- 
 quire. And when such a sentence as the following slips 
 through, and begins an article in a well-known, highly re- 
 
394 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Democratiz- 
 ing educa- 
 tion and im- 
 migration 
 the cause of 
 poor quality 
 of expres- 
 sion 
 
 spectable magazine, we can only say, " If gold rust, what 
 will iron do? " 
 
 Yes the Rot — and witli a very big R — in sport : for that, thanks to 
 an overdone and too belauded a Professionalism by a large section of 
 the pandering press, is what it has got to. 
 
 Again, any business man could produce from his files 
 a collection of letters full of phrasing so vague and incon- 
 sequential that only his business instincts and knowledge 
 of the situation enable him to interpret it. Any lawyer 
 could give numberless instances where an inability to write 
 clear and simple English has caused litigation without end. 
 Indeed, the bar is largely supported by errors in English 
 composition ! And as for conversation conducted — I will 
 not say with pedantical correctness, for that is not an ideal, 
 but with accuracy and transparency of thought — listen to 
 the talk about you ! 
 
 However, it is the business of the colleges to improve 
 all that; and though it is not easy to develop in youth 
 virtues which are more admired than practiced by maturity, 
 let us assume that they should succeed in turning out writers 
 of satisfactory ability, even with these handicaps, and look 
 deeper for the cause of their relative failure. 
 
 The chief cause of the prevalent inadequacy of expres- 
 sion among our undergraduates is patent, and its effects 
 are by no means limited to America, as complaints from 
 France and from England prove. The mob — the many- 
 headed, the many-mouthed, figured in the past by poets as 
 dumb, or, at best, an incoherent thing of brutish noises 
 signifying speech — is acquiring education and learning 
 how to express it. Hundreds of thousands whose an- 
 cestors never read, and seldom talked except of the simpler 
 needs of life, are doing the talking and the writing which 
 their large share in the transaction of the world's business 
 demands. Indeed, democracy requires not only that the 
 illiterate shall learn to read and write in the narrower 
 sense of the words, but also that the relatively literate must 
 seek with their growing intellectuality a more perfect power 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 395 
 
 of expression. And it is precisely from the classes only 
 relatively literate — those for whom in the past there has 
 been no opportunity, and no need, to become highly 
 educated — that the bulk of our college students today are 
 coming, the bulk of the students in the endowed institutions 
 of the East as well as in the newer State universities of 
 the West. The typical undergraduate is no longer the son 
 of a lawyer or a clergyman, with an intellectual background 
 behind him. 
 
 There is plenty of grumbling among college faculties, 
 and in certain newspapers, over this state of affairs. In 
 reality, of course, it is the opportunity of the American 
 colleges. Let the motives be what they may, the simple 
 fact that so many American parents wish to give their 
 children more education than they themselves were blessed 
 with is a condition so favorable for those who believe 
 that in the long run only intelligence can keep our civiliza- 
 tion on the path of real progress, that one expects to hear 
 congratulations instead of wails from the college campuses. 
 
 Nevertheless, we pay for our opportunity, and we must 
 expect to pay. The thousands of intellectual immigrants, 
 ill-supplied with means of progress, indefinite of aim, un- 
 aware of their opportunities, who land every September 
 at the college gates, constitute a weighty burden, a terrible 
 responsibility. And the burden rests upon no one with 
 more crushing weight than upon the unfortunate teacher 
 of composition. That these entering immigrants cannot 
 write well is a symptom of their mental rawness. It is to 
 be expected. But thanks to the methods of slipshod, am- 
 bitious America, the schools have passed them on still shaky 
 in the first steps of accurate writing — spelling, punctua- 
 tion, sentence structure, and the use of words. Thanks to 
 the failure of America to demand thoroughness in anything 
 but athletics and business, they are blind to the need of 
 thoroughness in expression. And thanks to the inescapable 
 difficulty of accurate writing, they resist the attempt to make 
 them thorough, with the youthful mind's instinctive re- 
 bellion against work. Nevertheless, whatever the cost, they 
 
396 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Solutions 
 proposed by 
 four types 
 of instruct- 
 ors 
 
 must learn if they are to become educated in any practical 
 and efficient sense; the immigrants especially must learn, 
 since they come from environments where accurate expres' 
 sion has not been practiced — often has not been needed — 
 and go to a future where it will be required of them. Not 
 even the Do-Nothing school denies the necessity that the 
 undergraduate should learn to write well. But how? 
 
 The Know-Nothing school proposes no ultimate solution 
 and knows none, unless faithfully teaching what they are 
 told to teach, and accepting the sweat and burden of the 
 day, with few of its rewards, be not in its blind way a better 
 solution than to dodge the responsibility altogether. 
 
 The Formalists labor over precept and principle — dis- 
 ciplining, commanding, threatening — feeling more grief 
 over one letter lost, or one comma mishandled, than joy 
 over the most spirited of incorrect effusions. They turn 
 out sulky youths who nevertheless have learned some- 
 thing. 
 
 The Do-Nothings propose a solution which is engaging, 
 logical — and insufficient. They are the philosophers and 
 the aesthetes among teachers, who see, what the Formalists 
 miss, that he who thinks well will in the long run write as 
 he should. Their special horror is of the compulsory 
 theme, extracted from unwilling and idealess minds. Their 
 remedy for all ills of speech and pen is: teach, not writ- 
 ing and speaking, but thinking; give, not rules and prin- 
 ciples, but materials for thought. And above all, do not 
 force college students to study composition. The Do- 
 Nothing school has almost enough truth on its side to be 
 right. It has more truth, in fact, than its principles per- 
 mit it to make use of. 
 
 The umpire in this contest — who is the parent with a 
 son ready for college — should note, however, two pervad- 
 ing fallacies in this laissez-faire theory of writing English. 
 The first belongs to the party of the right among the Do- 
 Nothings — the older teachers who come from the genera- 
 tion which sent only picked men to college; the second, 
 to the party of the left — the younger men who are dis- 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 397 
 
 tressed by the toil, the waste, the stupidity which accom- 
 pany so much work in composition. 
 
 The older men attack the attempt to teach the making 
 of literature. Their hatred of the cheap, the banal, and the 
 false in literature that has been machine-made by men 
 who have learned to express finely what is not worth ex- 
 pressing at all, leads them to distrust the teaching of English 
 composition. They condemn, however, a method of teach- 
 ing that long since withered under their scorn. The aim 
 of the college course in composition today is not the mak- 
 ing of literature, but writing; not the production of 
 imaginative masterpieces, but the orderly arrangement of 
 thought in words. Through no foresight of our own, but 
 thanks to the pressure of our immigrants upon us, we have 
 ceased teaching " eloquence " and " rhetoric," and have 
 taken upon ourselves the humbler task of helping the 
 thinking mind to find words and a form of expression 
 as quickly and as easily as possible. The old teacher of 
 rhetoric aspired to make Burkes, Popes, or De Quinceys. 
 We are content if our students become the masters rather 
 than the servants of their prose. 
 
 The party of the left presents a more frontal attack upon 
 the teaching of the writing of English. Show the under- 
 graduate how to think, they say; fill his mind with knowl- 
 edge, and his pen will find the way. Ah, but there is the 
 fallacy ! Why not help him to find the way — as in Latin, 
 or surveying, or English literature? The way in composi- 
 tion can be taught, as in these other subjects. Writing, 
 like skating, or sailing a boat, has its special methods, its 
 special technique, even as it has its special medium, words, 
 and the larger unities of expression. The laws which 
 govern it are simple. They are always in intimate con- 
 nection with the thought behind, and worthless without it; 
 but they can be taught. Ask any effective teacher of com- 
 position to show you what he has done time and again 
 for the freshman whose sprawling thought he has helped 
 to form into coherent and unified expression. And do not 
 be deceived by analogies drawn from our colleges of the 
 
398 College Teaching 
 
 mid-nineteenth century, where composition was not taught, 
 and men wrote well ; or from the English universities, where 
 the same conditions are said (with dissenting voices) to 
 exist. In the first place, they had no immigrant problem 
 in the mid-century, nor have they in Oxford and Cambridge. 
 In the second, the rigorous translation back and forward 
 between the classics and the mother tongue, now obsolete 
 in America, but still a requisite for an English university 
 training, provides a drill in accuracy of language whose 
 efficiency is not to be despised. 
 
 The student must express his intellectual gains even as 
 he absorbs them, or the crystallization of knowledge into 
 personal thought will be checked at the beginning. The 
 boy must be able to say what he knows, or write what he 
 knows, or he does not know it. And it is as important 
 to help him express as to help him absorb. The teachers 
 in other departments must aid in this task or we fail; but 
 where the whole duty of making expression keep pace with 
 thought and with life is given to them, they will be forced 
 either to overload, or to neglect all but the little arcs that 
 bound their subjects. And since they are specialists in 
 other fields, and so may neglect that technique of writing 
 which in itself is a special study, their task, when they ac- 
 cept it, is hard, and their labor, when it is forced upon 
 them, too often inefl!"ective. Composition must be taught 
 where college education proceeds — that is the truth of the 
 matter ; and if not taught directly, then indirectly, with pain 
 and with waste. 
 
 The school of the Optimists approaches this question of 
 writing English with self-criticism and with a full realiza- 
 tion of the difficulties, and of the tentative nature of the 
 methods now in use, but with confidence as to the possibility 
 of ultimate success. In order to be an Optimist in com- 
 position you must have some stirrings of democracy in your 
 veins. You must be interested in the need of the average 
 man to shape his writing into a useful tool that will serve 
 his purposes, whether in the ministry or the soap business. 
 This is the utilitarian end of writing English. And you 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 399 
 
 must be interested in developing his powers of self-expres- 
 sion, even when convinced that no great soul is longing for 
 utterance, but only a commonplace human mind — like 
 your own — that will be eased by powers of writing and of 
 speech. It is here that composition is of service to the 
 imagination, and incidentally to culture; and I should speak 
 more largely of this service if there were space in this 
 chapter to bring forward all the aspects of college com- 
 position. It is the personal end of writing English. If 
 the average man turns out to be a superman with mighty 
 purposes ahead, or if he has a great soul seeking utter- 
 ance, he will have far less need of your assistance; but you 
 can aid him, nevertheless, and your aid will count as never 
 before, and will be your greatest personal reward, though 
 no greater service to the community than the countless 
 hours spent upon the minds of the multitude. 
 
 In order to be an Optimist it is still more important to 
 understand that writing English well depends first upon 
 intellectual grasp, and second upon technical skill, and 
 always upon both. As for the first, your boy, if you are 
 the parent of an undergraduate, is undergoing a curious ex- 
 perience in college. Against his head a dozen teachers are 
 discharging round after round of information. Sometimes 
 they miss; sometimes the shots glance off; sometimes the 
 charge sinks in. And his brain is undergoing less obvious 
 assaults. He is like the core of soft iron in an electro-mag- 
 net upon which invisible influences are constantly beating. 
 His teachers are harassing his mind with methods of think- 
 ing: the historical method; the experimental method of sci- 
 ence; the interpretative method of literature. Unfortu- 
 nately, the charges of information too often lodge higgledy- 
 piggledy, like bird-shot in a signboard ; and the waves of in- 
 fluence make an impression which is too often incoherent and 
 confused. If the historians really taught the youth to think 
 historically from the beginning, and the scientists really 
 taught him to think scientifically from the beginning, and 
 he could apply his new methods of thought to the expres- 
 sion of his own emotions, experiences, life, then the teacher 
 
400 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Ho'w teach 
 college stu- 
 dents the 
 art of self- 
 expression? 
 
 of composition might confine himself to the second of his 
 duties, and teach only that technique which makes writing 
 to uncoil itself as easily and as vividly as a necklace of 
 matched and harmonious stones. In the University of 
 Utopia we shall leave the organization of thought to the 
 other departments, and have plenty left to do; but we are 
 not yet in Utopia. 
 
 At present, the teacher of composition stands like a 
 sentry at the gates of knowledge, challenging all who come 
 out speaking random words and thoughts; asking, "Have 
 you thought it out? " " Have you thought it out clearly? " 
 " Can you put your conclusions into adequate words? " 
 And if the answers are unsatisfactory, he must proceed to 
 teach that orderly, logical development of thought from 
 cause to effect which underlies all provinces of knowledge, 
 and reaches well into the unmapped territories of the 
 imagination. But even in Utopia composition must remain 
 the testing ground of education, though we shall hope for 
 more satisfactory answers to our challenges. And even in 
 Utopia, where the undergraduate perfects his thinking 
 while acquiring his facts, it will be the duty of the teacher 
 of writing to help him to apply his intellectual powers to 
 his experiences, his emotions, his imagination, in short, to 
 self-expression. And there will still remain the technique 
 of writing. 
 
 Theoretically, when the undergraduate has assembled his 
 thoughts he is ready and competent to write them, but prac- 
 tically he is neither entirely ready nor usually entirely com- 
 petent. It is one thing to assemble an automobile; it is 
 another thing to run it. The technique of writing is not 
 nearly as interesting as the subject and the thought of writ- 
 ing; just as the method of riding a horse is not nearly as 
 interesting as the ride itself. And yet when you consider 
 it as a means to an end, as a subtle, elastic, and infinitely 
 useful craft, the method of writing is not uninteresting even 
 to those who have to learn and not to teach it. The tech- 
 nique of composition has to do with words. We are most 
 of us inapt with words; even when ideas begin to come 
 
The Teaching of English Comjjosition 401 
 
 plentifully they too often remain vague, shapeless, ineffec- 
 tive, for want of words to name them. And words can be 
 taught — not merely the words themselves, but their power, 
 their suggestiveness, their Tightness or wrongness for the 
 meaning sought. The technique of writing has to do with 
 sentences. Good thinking makes good sentences, but the 
 sentence must be flexible if it is to ease the thought. We 
 can learn its elasticity, we can practice the flow of clauses, 
 until the wooden declaration which leaves half unexpressed 
 gives place to a fluent and accurate transcript of the mind, 
 form fitting substance as the vase the water within it. This 
 technique has to do with paragraphs. . The critic knows how 
 few even among our professional writers master their para- 
 graphs. It is not a dead, fixed form that is to be sought. 
 It is rather a flexible development, which grows beneath 
 the reader's eye until the thought is opened with vigor 
 and with truth. It is interesting to search in the para- 
 graph of an ineffective editorial, an article, or theme, for the 
 sentence that embodies the thought; to find it dropped 
 like a turkey's egg where the first opportunity offers, or 
 hidden by the rank growth of comment and reflection about 
 it. Such research is illuminating for those who do not 
 believe in the teaching of composition; and if it begins at 
 home, so much the better. And finally, the technique of 
 writing has to do with the whole, whether sonnet, or business 
 letter, or report to a board of directors. How to lead one 
 thought into another; how to exclude the irrelevant; how 
 to weigh upon that which is important; how to hold to- 
 gether the whole structure so that the subject, all the sub- 
 ject, and nothing but the subject shall be laid before the 
 reader: this requires good thinking, but good thinking with- 
 out technical skill is like a strong arm in tennis without 
 facility in the strokes. 
 
 The program I have outlined is simpler in theory than 
 in practice. In practice, it is easier to discover the dis- 
 order than the thought which it confuses; in practice, tech- 
 nical skill must be forced upon undergraduates unaccus- 
 tomed to thoroughness, in a country that in no department 
 
402 College Teaching 
 
 of life, except perhaps business, has hitherto been com- 
 pelled to value technique. Even the optimist grows pessi- 
 mistic sometimes in teaching composition. 
 
 And yet in the teaching of English the results are per- 
 haps more evident than elsewhere in the whole range of col- 
 lege work. It is wonderful to see what can be accom- 
 plished by an enthusiast in the sport of transmuting brains 
 into words. When the teacher seeks for his material in the 
 active interests of the student — whether athletics or engi- 
 neering or literature or catching trout — when he stirs up 
 the finer interests, drawing off, as it were, the cream into 
 words, the results are convincing. Writing is one of the 
 most fascinating, most engaging of pursuits for the man 
 with a craving to grasp the reality about him and name it 
 in words. And even for the undergraduate, whose imagina- 
 tion is just developing, and whose brain protests against 
 logical thought, it can be made as interesting as it is use- 
 ful. 
 
 The teaching of English composition in this country is a 
 vast industry in which thousands of workmen are employed 
 and in which a million or so of young minds are invested. 
 I do not wish to take it too seriously. There are many 
 accomplishments more important for the welfare of the 
 race. And yet, if it be true that maturity of intellect is 
 never attained without that clearness and accuracy of think- 
 ing which can be made to show itself in good writing, then 
 the failure of the undergraduate to write well is serious, and 
 the struggle to make him write better worthy of the atten- 
 tion of those who have children to be educated. I do not 
 think that success in this struggle will come through the 
 policy of laissez-faire. All undergraduates profit by organ- 
 ized help in their writing; many require it. I do not 
 think that success will come by a pedantical insistence upon 
 correctness in form without regard to the sense. Squeezing 
 unwilling words from indifferent minds may be discipline; 
 it certainly is not teaching. I think that success will come 
 only to the teacher who is a middleman between thought and 
 expression, valuing both. When we succeed in making the 
 
The Teaching of English Composition 403 
 
 bulk of the undergraduates really think; when we can in- 
 spire them with a modicum of that passion for truth in 
 words which is the moving force of the good writer; when 
 the schools help us and the outside world demands and 
 supports efficiency in diction; then we shall carry through 
 the program of the Optimists. 
 
 Henry SeIidel Canby 
 
 Yale University 
 
XX 
 
 THE TEACHING OF THE CLASSICS 
 
 Significance 
 of recent 
 criticisms 
 of the 
 teaching of 
 the classics 
 
 METHODS of teaching are determined to a large ex- 
 tent by appreciation of the objects to be attained. 
 . f teachers make clear to themselves just what they wish to 
 accomplish, they will more easily develop the means. The 
 storm of objection now rising against the study of the 
 Classics indicates clearly that there is a general dissatis- 
 faction with the result of this study. There is a striking 
 unanimity on this subject among persons of widely different 
 talent and experience, of whom some are still students, 
 while others are looking back upon their training in school 
 and college after years of mature life. Their adverse criti- 
 cism is all the more significant because often expressed with 
 obvious regret. Some, who have had unusual opportunities 
 for observation, state their opinion in no uncertain lan- 
 guage. For example, Mr. Abraham Flexner, in his pam- 
 phlet "A Modern School," on page 18 says: "Neither 
 Latin nor Greek would be contained in the curriculum of 
 the Modern School — not, of course, because their liter- 
 atures are less wonderful than they are reputed to be, but 
 because their present position in the curriculum rests upon 
 tradition and assumption. A positive case can be made 
 out for neither." The president of Columbia University, in 
 his Annual Report for 1915-1916, page 15, speaking of the 
 " teachers of the ancient classics," says: " They have here- 
 tofore been all too successful in concealing from their pupils 
 the real significance and importance of Greek and Latin 
 studies." Such criticisms, however, do not prove that the 
 study of the Classics cannot accomplish all that its advo- 
 cates claim for it, but only that it is not now accomplishing 
 satisfactory results. 
 
 Undoubtedly there are various causes for a depreciation 
 of classical studies at the present time. Other subjects, 
 
 404 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 405 
 
 such as mathematics, are suffering from a similar disparage- 
 ment. In recent years interest has centered more and more 
 in studies designed to develop powers of observation, give 
 knowledge of certain facts, or provide equipment for some 
 particular vocation, to the neglect of those which discipline 
 the mind or impart a general culture. It is certainly im- 
 portant, therefore, to consider the relative values of these 
 various studies. To do so it is desirable to examine the 
 aims of classical teaching and the methods by which these 
 aims may be realized; for it is at least possible that the 
 widespread dissatisfaction with this teaching is due not 
 so much to the subject itself as to defects and insufficiency 
 in the methods employed. 
 
 Not all teachers of the Classics agree in all respects as The present 
 to the aims of their teaching. Certain aims, however, are classical 
 common to all the classical departments in American col- teaching 
 leges. These are: 
 
 1. To train students, through the acquisition and use of 
 the ancient languages, in memory, accuracy, analysis and 
 logic, clearness and fluency of expression, and style. 
 
 2. To enable certain students to read with profit and en- 
 joyment the masterpieces of Greek and Latin literature. 
 
 3. To impart to certain students a knowledge, as com- 
 plete as possible, of the classical civilization as a whole. 
 To a complete knowledge of this civilization belongs all 
 that the ancients possessed or did, all that they thought or 
 wrote, whether or not any particular part of it had an 
 influence upon later times or is, in itself, interesting or 
 valuable now. All parts alike are phenomena of the life 
 of these ancient peoples and so of the life of the human 
 race.' 
 
 4. To impart a knowledge and understanding of the 
 thoughts and ideas, the forms of expression, the institu- 
 tions, and the experiences of the ancients, in so far as these 
 are either actually valuable in themselves to the modern 
 world or have influenced the development of modern civili- 
 zation. 
 
 Besides these aims which are common to all, there are 
 
406 College Teaching 
 
 certain others less generally pursued by classical teachers 
 in this country. Among these are: 
 
 5. To make students familiar with "the Greek (and 
 Latin) in English," i.e. with the etymology and history of 
 words in our own language which had their origin in or 
 through Greek or Latin.^ 
 
 6. To trace the influences of the classic literature upon 
 modern literature and thought.^ 
 
 7. To train those who expect to teach the Classics in 
 pedagogical methods, and to familiarize them with modern 
 pedagogical appliances.^ 
 
 8. To teach the language of the New Testament and of the 
 Church Fathers.* 
 
 The classical departments of some colleges also give 
 courses in Modern Greek ^ : such courses, however, belong 
 properly to the field of Modern Languages. 
 
 Now it is by no means certain that all of these aims 
 properly concern all classes of students. On the contrary, 
 every one would doubtless agree that those described under 
 Nos. 7 and 8 do not concern the average student of the 
 Classics. It is also a debatable question whether it should 
 be the aim of classical teaching to give all classical students 
 some knowledge of the classic civilization as a whole; 
 whether, for example, Aristophanes and Plautus, however 
 important these authors may be for a complete understand- 
 ing of the ancient life and literature, are worth while for all 
 classical students alike. It is far more important, how- 
 
 1 For example, at the University of Kansas. 
 
 2 Leland Stanford, Michigan, Princeton. 
 
 ^ California, North Dakota, Harvard, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Leland 
 Stanford, Michigan, Oberlin, Otterbein, Pennsylvania, Vermont, 
 Wisconsin, Yale, etc. Some of these courses are offered only to 
 graduate students, and some are given by the Departments of Peda- 
 gogics. 
 
 ^ In New Testament or Patristic Greek at Austin, Bucknell, Cali- 
 fornia, Cornell, Harvard, Illinois, Lafayette, Michigan, Millsaps, 
 Trinity, Wesleyan. In Patristic Latin, Bucknell and elsewhere. 
 
 ^' Brown, Cornell, Leland Stanford. 
 N. B. These lists are by no means complete. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 407 
 
 ever, to determine whether, in that which seems to many 
 
 persons the chief business of a classical department, all who 
 
 study the masterpieces of the ancient literatures should be 
 
 taught to study them in the original language. 
 
 No one doubts that classical departments should provide Teaching 
 
 .1 • T -1 . . , , , from the 
 
 courses on the ancient literature in the original, or that the originals 
 
 aesthetic qualities of a literature can be fully appreciated °^^^ 
 only in the original language. Some people, however, main- 
 tain that every literary production is primarily a work 
 of art, and consequently that its aesthetic qualities are its 
 most essential qualities: that to teach the classical liter- 
 ature through the medium of translations would be aiming 
 at an imperfect appreciation of its most essential qualities, 
 and would also divert students from the study of its 
 original form. Yet in most colleges courses on painting and 
 sculpture are given through the medium of photographs, 
 casts and copies, and no one questions the value and effec- 
 tiveness of such courses, or doubts that they tend to in- 
 crease the desire of the students to know the originals 
 themselves. Similarly courses on Greek literature in 
 translations are given at many American colleges, for ex- 
 ample at Bucknell, California, Colorado, Harvard,^ Idaho, 
 Illinois, Kansas, Lafayette, Leland Stanford, Michigan, 
 Missouri, New York University, North Dakota, Pennsyl- 
 vania, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington University, 
 Wesleyan, and Wisconsin: courses in Latin literature in 
 translations at California, Colorado, Kansas, Leland Stan- 
 ford, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Washington University. 
 Besides these there are courses at some colleges on Greek 
 or Roman Life and Thought,^ or Life and Letters,^ or 
 Civilization,^ most of which do not involve the use of the 
 
 ^ History of Greek Tragedy. Lectures with reading and study of the 
 plays of ^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Requires no knowl- 
 edge of the Greek language. 
 
 2 E. g., Columbia, Lafayette.' 
 
 2 California, Washington University. 
 
 * Colorado, Idaho, Syracuse, Vermont, Washington University, Wes- 
 leyan, Wisconsin. 
 
408 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Teaching 
 only from 
 classical 
 texts 
 
 ancient languages on the part of the students. For ex- 
 ample, at Brown courses which require no knowledge of the 
 ancient languages are given in both Greek and Roman 
 " Civilization as Illustrated by the Literature, History and 
 Monuments of Art." ^ Harvard also offers courses en- 
 titled " A Survey of Greek Civilization " and " A Sur- 
 vey of Roman Civilization, Illustrated from the Monuments 
 and Literature," in which a knowledge of the ancient lan- 
 guages is not required. 
 
 In deciding the question here at issue it is essential 
 to distinguish between the different kinds of literature. 
 The value of certain literary productions undoubtedly con- 
 sists chiefly in the aesthetic qualities of their form; that 
 is, the excellence and influence of these productions depends 
 upon the particular language actually used by the author. 
 Such works of literature lose very much in translation, 
 and it may be asserted with some reason that they lose 
 their most essential qualities. It may well be doubted, 
 therefore, whether any one can derive great pleasure or 
 benefit from the study of the poems of Sappho or the odes 
 of Horace, for example, unless these are studied in the 
 original. The value of other literary productions, on the 
 other hand, lies partly in their form and partly in their con- 
 tent, or in their content alone. It is quite a different ques- 
 tion, therefore, whether one may derive a satisfactory 
 pleasure and benefit from a translation of the Agamemnon 
 of ^schylus or Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian 
 War, of Lucretius or Tacitus, to say nothing of such books 
 as Aristotle's Constitution of Athens. 
 
 There is another and still more important question con- 
 nected with the theory of classical teaching, namely whether 
 all classical courses should be based upon or begin with 
 the study of some classical text. Some are of the opinion 
 that it is the business of classical teachers to teach the 
 Greek and Latin languages, and the literatures in these 
 
 1 It should be noted that at Brown the titles of the classical depart- 
 ments are " The Department of Greek Literature and History " and 
 " The Department of Roman Literature and History." 
 
The Tcachirifj of the Classics 409 
 
 languages, and that anything which cannot be taught best 
 through the study of some portion of the classical litera- 
 ture in the original should be taught by some other depart- 
 ment of the college. Consequently in some institutions 
 courses on ancient literature in English translations are 
 given by the English Department,^ courses on Greek and 
 Roman History, Archaeology, and Philosophy by the De- 
 partments of History, Archaeology, and Philosophy, respec- 
 tively, courses on the Methods and Equipment of Teaching 
 the Classics by the Department of Pedagogy. 
 
 Others, less extreme in their views, hold (a) that any 
 study of the Greek or Roman civilization apart from the 
 original ancient literature would be vague, discoursive, and 
 unprofitable, and in particular that a discussion of a litera- 
 ture or of literary forms without an immediate, personal 
 acquaintance with this literature or these literary forms in 
 the original would not be useful, and (6) that such courses 
 would have little permanent value for the students because 
 it would not be possible to compel the students to make 
 much effort for themselves. 
 
 Quite the opposite opinion on this most important ques- 
 tion is held by those who believe (a) that the study of 
 the Classics should not be confined to those who are now 
 able, or may in the future be expected, to read the ancient 
 literature in the original, (b) that there are some things even 
 about the ancient literature and civilization which can be 
 taught more effectively without the loss of time and the di- 
 vision of attention involved in reading the ancient authors 
 in the original, and (c) that in courses such as those deal- 
 ing with ancient history ancient books on these subjects, 
 either in the original or in translations, cannot properly be 
 used as textbooks for the reason that, quite apart from 
 their errors and misconceptions, these books do not con- 
 tain, except incidentally, those phases of the ancient life 
 which are the most interesting and valuable to the modern 
 world. Such persons consider that the attempt to convey 
 an appreciation of the ancient literature through those lim- 
 
 1 At Cornell and Oberlin, for example. 
 
410 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Courses in 
 the ancient 
 languages 
 
 ited portions of it which can be read by the students in 
 the original is necessarily ineffective. They hold that to 
 appreciate any literature one must study it as literature, — 
 i.e., as English literature should be studied by English stu- 
 dents, French literature by French students, — and that lit- 
 erary study of this sort properly begins where translation 
 and exegesis leave off. And finally, they maintain that the 
 effort to give students a lively knowledge of ancient life or 
 ancient history through the ancient texts is precisely like the 
 effort to illustrate ancient life by ancient works of art; e.g., 
 to give a student an idea of an ancient soldier by showing 
 him an ancient picture of a soldier. Such illustrations con- 
 vey instead the impression that ancient life was both un- 
 attractive and unreal, that the study of it is childish and 
 unpractical.^ 
 
 Many classical courses are designed primarily to teach 
 the classical languages themselves, or to give mental train- 
 ing through the study and use of these languages. Until 
 recently most American colleges required for admission an 
 elementary knowledge of these languages involving com- 
 monly at least three years of preparatory training in Greek 
 and from three to five years of preparatory Latin. Now, 
 however, many colleges provide courses for beginners in 
 Greek, some also for beginners in Latin. For example, 
 courses for beginners in Greek are given at Bryn Mawr, 
 University of California, Chicago, Colorado, Columbia, 
 University of North Dakota, Dartmouth, Harvard, Idaho, 
 Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Kansas, Lafayette, Leland Stanford, 
 Michigan, New York University, Northwestern, Univer- 
 sity of Pennsylvania, University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt, 
 Vermont, Washington University, Wesleyan, Williams, Wis- 
 consin, Yale, and elsewhere. Courses for beginners in 
 Latin are given, for example, at the Universities of Idaho, 
 Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Ordinarily these courses 
 resemble in general plan and method the corresponding 
 courses in secondary schools; but inasmuch as the students 
 are more mature, the progress is much more rapid. 
 
 1 See especially Clarence P. Bill, " The Business of a College Greek 
 Department," Classical Journal, IX (1913-14), pp. 111-121. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 411 
 
 In some institutions the attempt is made in teaching "j^^^ 
 ancient Greek and Latin to employ methods used by the Method" 
 teachers of modern languages. Some classical teachers have 
 even adopted to some extent the so-called " natural " or 
 "direct" method of language teaching^: commonly such 
 attempts have not been very successful, and where some 
 degree of success has been attained the success seems 
 due to the personality and enthusiasm of the individual 
 teacher. Others have contented themselves with devot- 
 ing a part of certain courses to exercises designed 
 to show the students that the classical languages were 
 at one time in daily use among living people and were 
 the media of ordinary conversation.'^ Students in such 
 courses commonly memorize certain colloquial phrases 
 and take part in simple conversations in which these 
 phrases can be used. Such methods, skillfully employed, 
 undoubtedly relieve the tedium of the familiar drill in 
 grammar and " prose composition," and may help materi- 
 ally in imparting both a knowledge of the ancient lan- 
 guages and a facility in reading the ancient authors. 
 
 An interesting experiment is now being tried at the 
 University of California in a course in Greek for beginners, 
 given by Professor James T. Allen. The description of the 
 course in the university catalogue is as follows: "An In- 
 troduction to the Greek Language based upon graded selec- 
 tions from the works of Menander, Euclid, Aristophanes, 
 Plato, Herodotus, and the New Testament. The method of 
 presentation emphasizes the living phrase, and has as its 
 chief object the acquiring of reading power. Mastery of 
 essential forms; memorizing of quotations; practice in read- 
 ing at sight." This course has had considerable success. 
 
 1 See the article by Mr. Theodosius S. Tyng in Classical Weekly, VII 1 
 (1915), Nos. 24 and 25. Also M. J. Russell: "The Direct Method 
 of Teaching Latin," in the Classical Journal, XII (1916), pages 209 
 211, and other articles on this subject in the Classical Journal and 
 the Classical Weekly in recent years. 
 
 2 For example, "Latin Conversation," at Columbia; "Oral Latin," at 
 Leland Stanford ; " Sight Reading and Latin Speaking," at New 
 York University. 
 
412 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Use of 
 modern 
 literature 
 in ancient 
 Greek or 
 Latin 
 
 More than three hundred students have been enrolled thus 
 far in a period of six or seven years, and some of these have 
 testified that it was one of the most valuable courses they 
 have had in any subject. One of the chief advantages 
 has been that the students, while learning forms and vo- 
 cabulary, are reading some real Greek, and that of first- 
 rate quality.^ 
 
 Various attempts have been made, especially in recent 
 years, to provide for classical students modern stories 
 in ancient Latin, in the belief that modern students will 
 acquire a practical knowledge of the language more readily 
 from such textbooks than from any parts of the ancient 
 literature." The story of Robinson Crusoe was translated 
 into Latin by G. F. Goffeaux, and this version has been 
 edited and republished by Dr. Arcadius Avellanus, Phila- 
 delphia, 1900 (173 pages). An abridgement of the orig- 
 inal edition was edited by P. A. Barnett, under the title 
 The Story of Robinson Crusoe in Latin, adapted from 
 Defoe by Goffeaux, Longmans, Green and Co., 1907. 
 Among original compositions in ancient Latin for students 
 may be mentioned '(1) Ritchie's Fabulae Faciles, A First 
 Latin Reader, edited by John Copeland Kirtland, Jr., of 
 Phillips Exeter Academy, Longmans, Green & Co., 1903 
 (134 pages) . (2) The Fables of Orbilius by A. D. Godley, 
 
 1 See Professor Allen's article, " The First Year of Greek," in the 
 Classical Journal, X (1915), pages 262-266. 
 
 2 As early as the seventeenth century books were produced which may 
 be regarded as the forerunners of this sort of modern composition in 
 the ancient language. One of these was published in 1604 under the 
 title : " locorum atque seriorum turn novorum tum selectorum atque 
 memorabilium libri duo, recensente Othone Melandro." Another is 
 the " Terentius Christianus sen Comoediae Sacrae — Terentiano stylo 
 a Corn. Schonaeo Goudono conscriptae, editio nova Amstelodami 
 1646": this includes dramas such as Naaman (princeps Syrus), 
 Tobaeus (senex) , Saulus, luditha, Susanna, Ananias, etc. Still an- 
 other is the " Poesis Dramatica Nicolai Amancini S. J.," in two 
 parts, published in 1674 and 1675. A century later there appeared 
 a story which, judging from its title, was designed primarily for stud- 
 ents: " Joachimi Henrici Campe Robinson Secundus Tironum causa 
 latine vertit Philippus Julius Lieberkiihn," Zullich, 1785. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 413 
 
 London, Edward Arnold, two small pamphlets, illustrated, 
 containing short and witty stories for beginners. (3) Ora 
 Maritima, A Latin Story for Beginners, by E. A. Sonnen- 
 schein, seventh edition, 1908, London, Kegan, Paul and 
 Co.; New York, The Macmillan Company (157 pages). 
 This is the account of the experiences of some boys during 
 a summer in Kent. (4) Pro Patria, A Latin Story for Be- 
 ginners by Professor E. A. Sonnenschein, London, Swan, 
 Sonnenschein and Co. ; New York, The Macmillan Company, 
 1910 (188 pages). (5) Rex Aurei Rivi, auctore Johanne 
 Ruskin, Latine inter pretatus est Arcadius Avellanus, Neo- 
 ehoraci, 1914 (Published by E. P. Prentice). (6) F. G. 
 Moore: Porta Latina, Fables of La Fontaine in a Latin 
 Version, Ginn and Co., 1915. 
 
 A series of translations of modern fiction is now being 
 produced under the title of The Mount Hope Classics, pub- 
 lished by Mr. E. P. Prentice, 37 Wall Street, New York 
 City. The translator is Dr. Arcadius Avellanus. The first 
 of these appeared in 1914 under the title Pericla Navarci 
 Magonis, this being a translation of The Adventures of 
 Captain Mago, or With a Phoenician Expedition, B. c. 1000, 
 by Leon Cahun, Scribner's, 1889. The second volume, 
 Mons Spes et Fahulae Aliae, a collection of short stories, 
 was published in 1918. The third, Mysterium Arcae Boule, 
 published in 1916, is the well-known Mystery of the Boule 
 Cabinet by Mr. Burton Egbert Stevenson. The fourth, 
 Fabulae Divales, published in 1918, is a collection of fairy 
 stories for young readers to which is added a version of 
 Ovid's Amor et Psyche. 
 
 Over these books a lively controversy has arisen be- 
 tween Dr. Avellanus and Mr. Charles H. Forbes, of Phillips 
 Academy, Andover.^ Undoubtedly the translator's style and 
 vocabulary are far from being strictly in accord with the 
 present canons of classical Latin. He employs a multitude 
 of words and idioms unfamiliar to those whose reading has 
 
 ^ See the Classical Journal, XI (1914), pages 25-32; Classical 
 Weekly, IX (1915-16), pages 149-151; X (1916), pages 38 f.; Clas- 
 sical Weekly, X (1916), pages 37 f. 
 
414 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Courses in 
 ' ' Prose 
 Composi- 
 tion ' ' 
 
 been confined to the masterpieces of the ancient literature 
 which are most commonly studied. On the other hand, the 
 ancient language is made in these books a medium of modern 
 thought. The stories presented hold the attention, the 
 vividness of the narrative captivates the reader and carries 
 him through the obscurities of diction and of style to a 
 wholly unexpected realization that Latin is a real language 
 after all. 
 
 It is a serious question whether students can ever ac- 
 quire a mastery of a language, or even a sufficient knowledge 
 of it really to appreciate its literature, unless they learn to 
 use this language to express their own thoughts. But 
 it is evident that it is impossible adequately to express 
 modern ideas in the language of Caesar and Cicero. Those 
 who would exclude the Latin of comparatively recent 
 authors such as Erasmus from the canon of the Latin 
 which may be taught, as well as those who confine their" 
 teaching to the translation and parsing of certain texts, 
 are raising the question whether the Latin language should 
 be taught at all in modern times. 
 
 Naturally less effort has been made to provide for students 
 modern literature in ancient Greek. At least one such 
 book, however, is available. The Greek War of Independ- 
 ence, 1821-27, told in classical Greek for the use of be- 
 ginners (with notes and exercises) by C. D, Chambers: 
 published by Swan, Sonnenschein and Co. 
 
 In nearly all American colleges courses in Greek and 
 Latin composition are given, either as a means of mental 
 training or in order to give a more complete mastery of 
 these languages and a greater facility in reading the litera- 
 ture. In some places, for example at the University of 
 California, a series of courses is given in both Greek and 
 Latin composition culminating in original compositions, 
 translations of selections from modern literature, and con- 
 versation in the ancient languages. Courses in Latin con- 
 versation ^ are given in other places also, and courses in 
 the pronunciation of ancient Greek and Latin. ^ 
 
 1 See note 2, page 411. - Columbia. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 415 
 
 All such courses belong to the general field of the study 
 of the classical languages as distinguished from the study 
 of the literature, history, or any other phase of the classi- 
 cal civilization. This branch of language study, of course, 
 includes such purely linguistic courses as those in Com- 
 parative Philology, Comparative Grammar, the Morphology 
 of the Ancient Languages, Syntax, Dialects, etc. 
 
 The bulk of classical teaching in American colleges is Courses in 
 devoted to the literature. The great majority of all col- 
 lege courses in Latin and Greek have the same general 
 characteristics.^ A certain limited portion of text is as- 
 signed for preparation. This text is then translated by 
 the students in class, and the translation corrected. Gram- 
 matical and exegetical questions and the content of the 
 passage are discussed. Most of the time at each meeting 
 of the class is consumed in such exercises. Generally lec- 
 tures or informal talks are given by the instructor upon the 
 life and personality of each author whose work is read, 
 upon the life and thought of his times, upon the literary ac- 
 tivity, as a whole, and upon the value of those selections 
 from his works which are the subject of the course. Some- 
 times the students are required to read more of the original 
 literature than can be translated in class. Generally some 
 collateral reading in English is assigned. Often the in- 
 structor reads to the class, usually from the original, other 
 portions of the ancient literature. 
 
 The number and extent of such courses in the different 
 institutions vary according to the strength of the faculty, 
 the plan of the curriculum, and the number and demands 
 of the students in each. In the main, however, the list of 
 selections from the ancient literature presented in such 
 courses in all the colleges is much the same. Many of 
 these courses deal with one particular author and his works, 
 such as Sophocles, Plato, Plautus, or Horace. Others deal 
 with some particular kind of literature, such as Greek 
 
 1 This is true of the courses in secondary schools and graduate courses 
 in universities also; but in the secondary and graduate schools the 
 proportion of translation courses to the others is smaller. 
 
416 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Methods 
 
 commonly 
 
 pursued 
 
 Value of 
 sucli courses 
 
 tragedy or oratory, Latin comedy, etc., or with a group of 
 authors of different types combined for the sake of variety.^ 
 
 The methods as well as the aims of such courses are well 
 exemplified in the following passages contained in the 
 Circular of Information for 1915-1916 of the University of 
 Chicago, page 211: "Ability to read Greek with 
 accuracy and ease, and intelligent enjoyment of the master- 
 pieces of Greek literature are the indispensable prere- 
 quisites of all higher Greek scholarship. All other inter- 
 ests that may attach to the study are subordinate to these, 
 and their pursuit is positively harmful if it prematurely 
 distracts the student's attention from his main purpose." 
 
 It is not immediately apparent what distinction is made 
 here, if there is any, between the " prerequisites " and the 
 " main purpose " of classical scholarship. What the chief 
 aim of classical teaching is according to this view, however, 
 is made clear by the two paragraphs which follow, as well 
 as by the descriptions of the individual courses offered by 
 the Chicago faculty. 
 
 " In the work of the Junior Colleges the Department will 
 keep this principle steadily in view, and will endeavor to 
 teach a practical knowledge of Greek vocabulary and idiom, 
 and to impart literary and historic culture by means of 
 rapid viva voce translation and interpretation of the simpler 
 masterpieces of the literature. ... In the Senior Colleges 
 the chief stress will be laid on reading and exegesis, but the 
 range of authors presented to the student's choice will be 
 enlarged." 
 
 The advantage of such courses is that they make the 
 students who take them familiar with at least some limited 
 portions of the best of the ancient literature in its original 
 form, and most people are agreed that this is the only way 
 in which students can be taught to appreciate that part of 
 this literature, the value of which lies chiefly or wholly in 
 its form. But people are not agreed upon two most serious 
 
 1 For example, at Harvard one course includes Plato, Lysias, Lyric 
 Poetry, and Euripides, with lectures on the history of Greek litera- 
 ture; another Livy, Terence, Horace and other Latin Poets. 
 
these 
 courses 
 
 The Teaching of the Classics 417 
 
 questions which arise in this connection. The first is 
 whether all students are capable of appreciating at all litera- 
 ture of this sort, especially when it is conveyed in an ancient 
 and difficult language. The other question is how much 
 of the classical literature really depends for its values 
 chiefly upon its form. To say that the Psalms and the 
 Gospels have no value or little value for the world apart 
 from the original form and language in which they were 
 written would, of course, be absurd. Is it any less absurd 
 to say that the study of the Homeric poems, the Attic trage- 
 dies, the works of Thucydides and Plato would have little 
 value for students unless this literature were studied in 
 the original language? These questions cannot properly 
 be ignored any longer by teachers of the Classics. 
 
 The defects of such courses are manifest to most per- Defects oi 
 sons. Students who pursue these courses through most of 
 the years of secondary school and college fail to acquire 
 either such a knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages 
 as would enable them to read with pleasure and profit 
 a Greek or Latin book, or such a knowledge of the Greek 
 and Roman literature and civilization as would enable them 
 to appreciate the value of classical studies. Many of them 
 graduate from college without even knowing that there 
 is anything really worthy of their attention in the classical 
 literatures. The fact stares the teachers of the Classics 
 grimly in the face that they are not accomplishing the aims 
 which they profess. 
 
 One explanation of this fact suggests itself. In the clas- 
 sical courses commonly given in American colleges the 
 attention paid to the content of the literature, to the author 
 and his times — the lectures and readings by the instruc- 
 tor, the discussion of archaeological, historical, literary, and 
 philosophical matters introduced into the course, — distract 
 attention from the study of the language itself, and check 
 this study before a real mastery of the language has been 
 secured. On the other hand, the time and still more the 
 attention devoted in these courses to the mere process of 
 translation detracts from the appreciation of the literature 
 
418 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Courses not 
 
 requiring 
 
 knowledge 
 
 of the 
 
 ancient 
 
 languages 
 
 and obstructs the study of the life and thought. In attempt- 
 ing to accomplish both purposes in these courses the 
 teachers fail to accomplish either, and the result is chiefly 
 a certain mental training, the practical value of which de- 
 pends largely upon the mental capacity and skill of each 
 individual teacher, and is not readily appreciated. 
 
 To obviate some of these defects, and also to provide 
 courses on Greek and Roman culture for those unfamiliar 
 with the ancient languages, courses which require no use 
 of these languages are now given at various colleges on 
 Classical Literature or Civilization.^ A course on the 
 " Greek Epic " at the University of California is described 
 as follows: " A study chiefly of the Iliad and the Odyssey; 
 their form, origin, and content; Homeric and pre-Homeric 
 Aegean civilizations; relative merits of modern transla- 
 tions; influence of the Homeric poems on the later Greek, 
 Roman, and modern literature. Lectures (partly illus- 
 trated), assigned readings, discussions, and reports." The 
 course at Harvard entitled " Survey of Greek Civilization " 
 is " A lecture course, with written tests on a large body of 
 private reading (mostly in English). No knowledge of 
 Greek is required beyond the terms which must necessarily 
 be learned to understand the subject." "The prescribed 
 reading includes translations of Greek authors as well as 
 rnodern books on Greek life and thought." The lecturer 
 frequently reads and comments upon selections from the 
 ancient literature. At Brown University a course is given 
 on Greek Civilization, including the following topics: 
 I Topography of Greece, II Prehistoric Greece, III The 
 Language, IV Early Greece (The Makers of Homer, Expan- 
 sion of Greece, Tyrannies, The New Poetry, etc.), V The 
 Transition Century, 600-500 B.C. ((a) Government and 
 Political Life, {h) Literature, (c) art), VI The Classical 
 Epoch, 500-338 B.C. {{a) Political and Military History, 
 (6) Literature, (c) The Fine Arts), VII The Hellenistic 
 and Graeco-Roman Periods, {{a) History, [b) Literature, 
 (c) Philosophy, {d) Learning and Science, (e) Art), VIII 
 ^ See above, page 407 f. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 419 
 
 The Sequel of Greek History (The Byzantine Empire, the 
 Italian Renaissance, Mediaeval and Modern Greece). This 
 is described as "Wholly a lecture course, with frequent 
 written tests, examination of the notebooks, and a final ex- 
 amination on the whole. Definite selections of the most 
 conspicuous authors are required in English translations." 
 The lecturer also reads selections from Homer, the Greek 
 drama, Pindar, etc. Similar courses on Roman civiliza- 
 tion are given at both Brown and Harvard. There is also 
 a course of fifteen lectures on " Greek Civilization " at 
 Vermont ; " The Culture History of Rome, lectures with 
 supplementary reading in English," at Washington Uni- 
 versity; "Greek Civilization, lectures and collateral read- 
 ing on the political institutions, the art, religion, and scien- 
 tific thought of ancient Greece in relation to modern civili- 
 zation," at Wesleyan; "The Role of the Greeks in Civili- 
 zation " at Wisconsin.^ 
 
 Whatever success such courses may have, they are open 
 to one criticism. Most, if not all of them, appear to be 
 primarily lecture courses, with more or less collateral 
 reading controlled by tests and examinations. The experi- 
 ence of many, however, justifies to some extent the belief that 
 college students derive little benefit from collateral reading 
 controlled only in this way, because such reading is com- 
 monly most superficial. Little mental training, therefore, 
 is involved in courses such as those just described, and the 
 ideas which the students acquire in them are chiefly those 
 given to them by others. And it may reasonably be doubted 
 whether the value to the students of ideas received in this 
 way is comparable to the value of those which they are led 
 to discover for themselves. So far, then, as such courses 
 fail to accomplish the purposes for which they were de- 
 signed, their failure may be due wholly to this cause. 
 
 It is entirely possible to conceive of courses in which 
 no use of the ancient languages would be required, but in 
 which the students would acquire by their own efforts a 
 
 ^ For a fuller list of institutions where classical courses not requiring 
 a knowledge of the ancient languages are given see above, page 407. 
 
 Defects of 
 the lecture 
 system 
 
 The study 
 of litera- 
 ture apart 
 from its 
 original 
 language 
 
420 College Teaching 
 
 knowledge of the classical literature and civilization far 
 more extensive and more satisfying than in courses largely 
 devoted to translating from Greek and Latin. Such courses 
 would not merely substitute English translations for the 
 originals, and treat these translations as the originals are 
 treated in courses of the traditional type; the ancient litera- 
 ture would be studied in the same way as English litera- 
 ture is studied. For example, in a course of this kind on 
 Greek literature, in dealing with the Odyssey the students 
 would discuss in class, or present written reports upon, the 
 composition of the poem as a whole, and the relation to 
 the main plot of different episodes such as the quest of 
 Telemachus, his visit to Pylos and Lacedaemon, the scene in 
 Calypso's cave, the building of the raft, the arrival of 
 Odysseus among the Phaeacians, his account of his own ad- 
 ventures, his return to Ithaca, the slaying of the wooers, 
 etc.; also the characters of the poem, their individual ex- 
 periences and behavior in various circumstances, and the 
 ideas which they express, comparing these characters and 
 ideas with those of modern times. In dealing with the 
 drama, the students would study the composition of each 
 play, present its plot in narrative form, and criticize it 
 from the dramatic as well as from the literary standpoint; 
 they would discuss the characters and situations, and the 
 ideas embodied in each.^ In dealing with Thucydides they 
 would discuss the plan of his book and the artistic ele- 
 ments in its composition; also the critical standards of 
 the author, his methods, his objectivity, and his personal 
 bias. They would study the debates in which the arguments 
 on both sides of great issues are presented, expressing 
 their own opinions on the questions involved. They would 
 study the great descriptions, such as the account of the 
 siege of Plataea, the plague at Athens, the last fight in the 
 harbor of Syracuse, making a summary in their own lan- 
 
 ^ " Die hochste Aufgabe bei der Lektiire des griechischen Dramas sei 
 das Stiick Leben, das uns der Dichter vor Augen fiihrt, in seinem 
 vollen Inhalt miterleben zu lassen." C. Wunderer, in Blatter fiir 
 das Gymnasial-Schulwesen, Vol. LII (1916), 1. 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 421 
 
 guage of the most essential or effective details. Lastly they 
 would discuss such figures as Pericles, Nicias and Alcibi- 
 ades, Archidamus, Brasidas and Hermocrates, their charac- 
 ters, principles, and motives. In dealing with Plato they 
 would study the character of Socrates and those ideas con- 
 tained in the Platonic dialogues which can be most readily 
 comprehended by college students. 
 
 The study of "The Classics" is not properly confined 
 to the Greek and Latin literatures: it includes the military, 
 political, social, and economic history of the ancient Greeks 
 and Romans, their institutions, their religion, morals, phi- 
 losophy, science, art, and private life. The geography and 
 topography of ancient lands, anthropology and ethnology, 
 archaeology and epigraphy contribute to its material. It 
 is not necessary that all these subjects be taught by mem- 
 bers of a classical department. In particular it is the 
 common practice in this country to relegate the study of 
 ancient philosophy to the Department of Philosophy, where- 
 as in England and on the Continent such distinctions between 
 departments are not recognized. But certainly these 
 branches of the study of the classical civilization should 
 be taught best by those most familiar with the classical 
 civilization in all its phases, and most thoroughly trained 
 in the interpretation and criticism of its literature. It is 
 also obvious that the teaching of the classical literature 
 would be emasculated if it were separated from these other 
 subjects mentioned. Only, such subjects as history should 
 not be taught from the literary point of view. History 
 should be an account of what actually took place, derived 
 from every available source and not from a synthesis of a 
 literary tradition. In this respect the teachers of the Clas- 
 sics have from the earliest times made the most serious 
 mistakes. To some extent the same charges may be brought 
 against the methods and traditions of the teachers of mod- 
 ern history. The teaching of Greek and Roman history, 
 however, is affected in a peculiar degree by the traditions 
 of classical scholarship. The historical courses given by 
 most classical teachers are based upon the translation and 
 
 Classical 
 studies not 
 confined to 
 the ancient 
 authors 
 
422 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Summary of 
 objects to be 
 sought in 
 the teaching 
 of the 
 classics 
 
 discussion of the works of certain ancient authors, whose 
 accounts are not only false and misleading in many re- 
 spects, but characteristically omit those factors in the 
 ancient life which are the most significant and interesting 
 to the modern world. Such courses begin by implanting 
 false impressions which no amount of explanation can 
 eradicate. The ancient world, therefore, is made to appear 
 to modern students unreal and unworthy of serious attention : 
 it is not strange that they are dissatisfied with such teach- 
 ing, and that it seems to many practically worthless. A 
 true picture of the life and experience of the ancient Greeks 
 and Romans would appear both interesting and profitable 
 to a normal college student. 
 
 The aims of the teaching of the Classics in American 
 colleges should be to give, in addition to a training of the 
 mind : 
 
 1. An appreciation of the best of the classical literature. 
 For this is, in many respects, the best literature which we 
 have at all, even when without any allowances it is com- 
 pared with the best of modern literatures. Much of it is 
 universal in character. It is also the foundation of the 
 modern literatures. By learning to appreciate it, students 
 would learn to judge and appreciate all literature. 
 
 2. A familiarity with the characters and narratives of 
 the ancient literature. The knowledge of these characters, 
 their behavior under various vicissitudes of fortune, and 
 their experiences, would of itself be a valuable possession 
 and equipment for life. 
 
 3. A knowledge of the ideas of the ancient Greeks and 
 Romans, revealed and developed in their literature, and 
 tested in the realities of their life. Many of these ideas are 
 of the utmost value today, and are in danger of being 
 overlooked and forgotten in this materialistic age of ours, 
 unless they are constantly recalled to our minds by such 
 studies. 
 
 4. A knowledge of the actual experiences of the ancients, 
 as individuals and as nations, their experiments in democ- 
 racy and other forms of government, in imperialism, arbi- 
 
The Teaching of the Classics 423 
 
 tration, and the like, their solutions of the moral, social, 
 and economic problems which were as prominent in their 
 world as in ours. 
 
 To realize these aims old methods should be revised 
 and improved, new methods developed. For there can 
 hardly be a study more valuable and practical than this. 
 
 William K. Prentice 
 
 Princeton University 
 
XXI 
 
 The college 
 course must 
 emphasize 
 power, not 
 facts 
 
 The college 
 can attain 
 its aim only 
 when the 
 student 
 brings 
 necessary 
 facts from 
 secondary 
 schools 
 
 THE TEACHING OF THE ROMANCE 
 LANGUAGES 
 
 IT is well at times to emphasize old truths, mainly be- 
 cause they are old and are consecrated by experience. 
 One of these, frequently combated nowadays, is that any 
 college course — worthy of the name — has other than 
 utilitarian ends. I therefore declare my belief that the 
 student does not go to college primarily to acquire facts. 
 These he can learn from books or from private instruction. 
 Me judice — he goes to college primarily to learn how to 
 interpret facts, and to arrive through this experience at 
 their practical as well as their theoretic value: as respects 
 himself, as respects others, and in an ever widening circle 
 as regards humanity in general. The first object, thus, 
 of a college course is to humanize the individual, to eman- 
 cipate him intellectually and emotionally from his pre- 
 judices and conventions by giving him a wider horizon, a 
 sounder judgment, a firmer and yet a more tolerant point 
 of view. " Our proclivity to details," said Emerson, " can- 
 not quite degrade our life and divest it of poetry." The 
 college seizes upon the liberating instinct of youth and 
 utilizes it for all it is worth. We summarize by saying 
 that . the college prepares not merely for " life " but for 
 " living " ; so that the society whom the individual serves 
 will be served by him loyally, intelligently, and broad- 
 mindedly, with an increasing understanding of its aims and 
 purposes. 
 
 This, let us assume, is the somewhat lofty ideal. What 
 about its concrete realization? Especially when the sub- 
 ject is a language, which, considering that it consists of 
 parts of speech, inflections, phonetics, etc., is a very prac- 
 tical matter and apparently far removed from the ideal in 
 question. Every language teacher is familiar with this 
 stock objection. How often has he not been told that his 
 
 424 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 425 
 
 business is not to teach French culture or Spanish life, 
 but French and Spanish? And as everybody knows, French 
 and Spanish are not learned in a day, nor, indeed,, if we 
 judge by the average graduate of our colleges, in four years 
 of classroom work. It is not my purpose to combat the 
 contention that college French or Spanish or Italian could 
 be taught better, and that from a utilitarian point of view 
 the subject is capable of a great deal of improvement. As 
 Professor Grandgent has trenchantly said : " I do not be- 
 lieve there is or ever was a language more difficult to acquire 
 than French; most of us can name worthy persons who 
 have been assiduously struggling with it from childhood 
 to mature age, and who do not know it now: yet it is 
 treated as something any one can pick up offhand. . . . 
 French staggers under the fearful burden of apparent easi- 
 ness." I do not think these words overstate the case. All 
 the more reason, then, to bear in mind that the burden 
 of this accomplishment should not fall on the college course 
 alone, or, I should even say, on the college course at all. 
 For the fact is that a thorough knowledge of the Romance 
 tongues cannot be acquired in any college course, and to 
 attack the problem from that angle alone is to attempt the 
 impossible. It is on the school, and not on the college, that 
 the obligation of the practical language problem rests. 
 If our students are to become proficient in French — in 
 the sense that they can not only read it but write and 
 speak it with passable success — the language must be begun 
 early, in the grade school (when memory and apperception 
 are still fresh), and then carried forward systematically over 
 a period of from six to seven years. But this will require 
 on the part of our schools: (1) a longer time allotment 
 to the subject than it now generally has, (2) a closer articu- 
 lation between the grade-school, high-school, and college 
 courses, and (3) the appointment of better and higher-paid 
 teachers of the subject. An encouraging move is being 
 made in many parts of the country to carry out this plan, 
 though of course we are still a long way from its reali- 
 zation ; and when it is realized we shall not yet have reached 
 
426 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Limitations 
 of elementa- 
 ry and inter- 
 mediate 
 courses as 
 college 
 courses 
 
 Aim of the 
 teaching of 
 Romance 
 languages in 
 the college 
 
 the millennium. But at least we shall have given the prac- 
 tical teaching of the subject a chance, comparable to the 
 opportunity it has in Europe; and the complaint against 
 the French and Spanish teacher — if there still be a chronic 
 complaint — will have other grounds than the one we so 
 commonly hear at present. 
 
 In the meantime, let us remember that the college has 
 other, and more pressing, things to do than to attempt to 
 supply the shortcomings of the school. It is certainly es- 
 sential that the college should continue and develop the 
 practical work of the school in various ways, such as ad- 
 vanced exercises and lectures in the foreign idiom, special 
 conversation classes, and the like — if only for the simple 
 reason that a language that is not uBed soon falls into desue- 
 tude and is forgotten. But assuredly the so-called elemen- 
 tary, intermediate, and advanced courses in French and 
 Spanish (as given in college) do not fall under that head. 
 They exist in the college by tolerance rather than by sound 
 pedagogical theory, and the effort now being made to force 
 all such courses back into the school by reducing the college 
 " credits " they give is worthy of undivided support. Not 
 only are they out of place in the college program, but the 
 burden of numerous and often large " sections " in these 
 courses has seriously impeded the college in its proper 
 language work. The college in its true function is the 
 clarifier of ideas, the correlator of facts, the molder of 
 personalities; and the student of modern languages should 
 enter college prepared to study his subject from the college 
 point' of view. Much of the apparent " silliness " of the 
 French class which our more virile undergraduates object 
 to would be obviated if a larger percentage of them could 
 at once enter upon the more advanced phases of the subject. 
 It is, then, to their interest, to the interest of the subject, 
 and to the advantage of the college concerned, that this 
 reform be brought about. 
 
 In any case, the function of a college subject can be 
 stated, as President Meiklejohn has stated it, in terms of 
 two principles. He says: "The first is shared by both 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 427 
 
 liberal and technical teaching. The second applies to 
 liberal education alone. The principles are these: (1) 
 that activity guided by ideas is on the whole more success- 
 ful than the same activity without the control of ideas, and 
 (2) that in the activities common to all men the guidance 
 of ideas is quite as essential as in the case of those which 
 different groups of men carry on in differentiation from 
 one another." As applied to the Romance languages, this 
 means that while the college must of course give " techni- 
 cal " instruction in language, the emphasis of that instruc- 
 tion should be upon the " ideas " which the language ex- 
 presses, in itself and in its literature. It is not enough 
 that the college student should gain fluency in French or 
 Spanish, he must also and primarily be made conscious 
 of the processes of language, its logical and aesthetic values, 
 the civilization it expresses, and the thoughts it has to 
 convey. While it may be said that all thorough language 
 instruction accomplishes this incidentally, the college 
 makes this the aim of its teaching. The college should 
 furnish an objective appraisal of the fundamental elements 
 of the foreign idiom, not merely a subjective (and often 
 superficial) mastery of details. For the old statement re- 
 mains true that — when properly studied — " proverbs, 
 words, and grammar inflections convey the public sense 
 with more purity and precision than the wisest in- 
 dividual "; ^ and what shall we say when "literature" is 
 added to this list? 
 
 From these preliminary observations let us now turn to status of 
 r Tt 1 • c Romance 
 
 the present status of Romance languages in some of our languages 
 
 representative colleges." One gratifying fact may be g^ntat^i^^ 
 
 noted at once. Whereas a quarter of a century ago Greek colleges — 
 
 and Latin were still considered the sine qua non of a 
 
 liberal education, today French and German, and to a 
 
 lesser extent Spanish and Italian, have their legitimate 
 
 share in this distinction. Indeed, to judge merely by the 
 
 ^ The quotation is from Emerson, Nominalist and Realist. 
 ~ I make no attempt in this article, written before 1917, to treat 
 actual teaching conditions: the premises are too uncertain. 
 
428 College Teaching 
 
 number of students, they would seem to have replaced 
 Latin and Greek. To be sure, several colleges, as for in- 
 stance Amherst and Chicago, alarmed by this swing of the 
 pendulum, have reserved the B.A. degree for the traditional 
 classical discipline. But in the first case the entire cur- 
 riculum includes "two years of Greek or Latin," and in 
 the second the B.A. students comprise but a very small 
 percentage of the college body; and while in both cases 
 Latin and Greek are required subjects, Romance is ad- 
 mitted as an elective, in which — to mention only Am- 
 herst — six consecutive semester courses, covering the main 
 phases of modern French literature, can be chosen. As 
 noted, the recognition of modern languages as cultural 
 subjects is relatively recent. As late as 1884 a commis- 
 sion, appointed by the Modern Language Association, 
 found that " few colleges have a modern language re- 
 quirement for admission to the course in arts; ... of 
 the fifty reported, three require French, two offer an elec- 
 tion between French and German, and two require both 
 French and German." And of these same colleges, 
 " eighteen require no foreign language, twenty-nine re- 
 quire either French or German, and eighteen require both 
 French and German, for graduation in the arts." 
 
 Obviously, few (at most seven) of the colleges ex- 
 amined admitted students prepared to take advanced 
 courses in French; and only eighteen, or 36 per cent, al- 
 lowed students to begin French in the freshman year, 
 over one half of the entire number postponing the be- 
 ginners' French until the sophomore, junior, or even senior 
 year. It is clear, therefore, that as late as 1864, and in 
 spite of such illustrious examples as that set by Harvard 
 in the appointment of Ticknor to the Smith professor- 
 ship in 1816, the Romance languages could hardly be 
 classed as a recognized college subject. At best, they 
 were taught on the principles that " it is never too late to 
 learn," and although this teaching failed from the 
 " practical " point of view, it yet had little or no op- 
 portunity to concern itself with the cultural aspects of the 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 429 
 
 subject. No wonder the commission reported ^ that in 
 the circumstances " a mastery of language, as well as a 
 comprehensive study of the literature, is impossible." 
 With the part played by our Greek and Latin col- 
 leagues in keeping the modern languages out of the cur- 
 riculum we need not deal in detail here. It is enough, 
 in order to explain their attitude, to observe that previous 
 to 1884 the teaching of modern languages was generally 
 poor: it was intrusted for the most part to foreigners, who, 
 being usually ignorant of the finer shades of English and 
 woefully ignorant of American students, could not have 
 been expected to succeed, or to native Americans, who 
 for various and often excellent reasons lacked the proper 
 training, and therefore succeeded — when in rare cases 
 they did succeed — in spite of their qualifications rather 
 than because of them. Add to all this the conviction 
 natural to every classicist, that Latin and Greek are the 
 keys to all Western civilization and that without them 
 Romance literatures (not to say " languages ") are incom- 
 prehensible, and the situation up to the 90's is amply clear. 
 
 Today, then, conditions are chanared, and for better or Contempo- 
 V Ti .11 rary status 
 
 worse the Komance tongues are on a par with other of Romance 
 
 collegiate subjects. A glance at the latest statistics is in- ^n"o2ef^^ 
 structive. In 1910, out of 340 colleges and universities curricula 
 in the United States, 328 taught French; 112 (the universi- 
 ties) offered more than four years' instruction, 50 offered 
 four years, 90 three years, 68 two years, and only 8 one 
 year. The present status can easily be divined: the in- 
 terest in Spanish has certainly not waned, while the inter- 
 est in French has grown by leaps and bounds. Some 
 curtailment there has been, owing to the adoption of the 
 " group system " of studies on the part of most of the 
 colleges, and as the colleges are relieved of more and more 
 of the elementary work there doubtless will be more. But, 
 in any case, it is safe to say that French, Spanish, and 
 
 1 The above statistics are from C. H. Handschin, The Teaching of 
 Modern Languages in the United States, Washington, 1913, pages 
 40fiF. 
 
430 College Teaching 
 
 Italian are now firmly installed as liberal studies in the 
 curricula of most of our colleges. Now, how do they ful- 
 fill this function? What changes will be necessary in 
 order that they may fulfill it better? What particular 
 advantages have they to offer as a college subject? A 
 brief consideration of each of these points follows. 
 
 In general, our colleges require fifteen units of entrance 
 credit and about twenty collegiate units for the college 
 degree.^ Of the entrance units, a maximum of four in 
 French and two in Spanish is allowed; and of the college 
 units, an average of five, or about one fourth of the en- 
 tire college work,^ must be taken consecutively in one 
 department of study or in not more than two departments. 
 This last group of approximately five units thus con- 
 stitutes, so to speak, the backbone of the student's work. 
 It is his so-called "principal sequence" (Chicago) or his 
 " two majors " (Amherst) or his " major subject " (Wis- 
 consin and Colorado) ; and while in the case of Amherst 
 it cannot be begun " until after the freshman year," in 
 general it must be begun by the junior year. Consider- 
 able variety prevails, of course, in carrying out this idea; 
 for example, Johns Hopkins requires " at least two courses 
 in the major and at least two in some cognate subject." 
 Harvard states that " every student shall take at least six 
 of his courses in some one department, or in one of the 
 
 ^I cite the following figures: {a) Entrance: Harvard 16^, Amherst 
 14; Wisconsin 14, Columbia 14%, Colorado 15, Illinois 15, Chicago 
 15; ib) Collegiate Degree: Harvard 17% "courses," Amherst 20 
 " courses," Wisconsin 120 " credits," Columbia 124 " points," Col- 
 orado 120 " hours of scholastic work," Chicago 36 " trimester ma- 
 jors." It is certainly desirable that our colleges adopt some uniform 
 system for the notation of their courses. Johns Hopkins, at least, is 
 specific in explaining the relationship of its " 125 points " to its 
 "courses"; see page 262 of the University Register , 1916. 
 
 2 At Chicago exactly ^^4 or " at least 9 coherent and progressive 
 majors " must be taken in " one department or in a group of depart- 
 ments." But Chicago also requires a secondary sequence of at least 
 6 majors ; Columbia requires three years of " sequential study — in 
 each of two departments." Illinois, " a major subject (20 hours) " 
 and "an allied minor subject (20 hours)." 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 431 
 
 recognized fields of distinction." Princeton demands of 
 " every junior and senior ... at least two 3-hour courses 
 in some one department." But almost all representative col- 
 leges now recognize four general groups of study: 
 Philosophy (including history), language, science, and 
 mathematics; and the student's work must be so arranged 
 that while it is fairly evenly distributed over three of the 
 groups it is at the same time definitely concentrated in one 
 of them. 
 
 In answer to our first question, it follows that the student Normal pre- 
 entering with the maximum of French should be able, be- a Romance 
 fore graduation, to get enough advanced courses to give language 
 him an intelligent grasp of the literature as well as the 
 language. In our better-equipped colleges this is undoubt- 
 edly the case. Harvard, for instance, would admit him 
 to a course (French 2) in French Prose and Poetry, 
 which includes some " composition," to be followed by 
 (6) a General View of French Literature, (8) French 
 Literature in the Eighteenth Century, (9) French Litera- 
 ture in the Seventeenth Century, (16) Comedy of 
 Manners in France, (17) Literary Criticism in France; 
 and in some of these courses the linguistic aspects would 
 be considered in the form of " themes," " reports," etc., 
 while the student could choose (5) Advanced French Com- 
 position for that special purpose. Other colleges (e. g., 
 Johns Hopkins, Chicago, Stanford) offer the same or 
 similar opportunities. So that, although titles of courses 
 are often deceptive, the general plan of offering (1) an 
 introductory course in which both the language and the 
 literature are treated, (2) a survey-course in literature, 
 leading to (3) various courses in literature after 1600, 
 and supported by (4) at least one specific course in 
 language, now constitutes the normal collegiate " major " 
 in French; and, on the whole, it w^ould be difficult in the 
 present circumstances to devise a better plan. 
 
 It is obvious that the success of any plan depends on the 
 thoroughness with which it is carried out, and this in turn 
 depends on the qualifications and energy of those who have 
 
432 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Changes in 
 current 
 practice 
 that will 
 enhance ef- 
 fectiveness 
 of teaching 
 of Bromance 
 Languages 
 — Danger 
 of minimiz- 
 ing the 
 language 
 phase 
 
 the matter in hand. That contingency does not concern us 
 here. But what is worth noting is that the fourth point 
 mentioned above, — the specific language part of the 
 " major " — might be strengthened, especially since some ex- 
 cellent institutions omit this consideration entirely. The 
 danger of falling between two stools is never greater, it 
 seems, than in treating both language and literature. An 
 instructor who is bent on elucidating the range of Anatole 
 France's thought naturally has little time to deal 
 adequately with his rich vocabulary, his deft use of tense, 
 the subtle structure of his phrase — and yet who can be 
 said really to " know " such an author if he be ignorant 
 of either side of his work? "Thought expands but 
 lames," said Goethe — unless it is constantly controlled by 
 fact. In order to give the undergraduate that control, 
 it is essential that he should be placed in the position 
 everywhere to verify his author's thought. How difficult 
 it is to bring even the best of our undergraduates to this 
 point I need not discuss. But at least once in the process 
 of his work he might be held to a stricter account than 
 elsewhere. And if we ask ourselves by what method this 
 can best be accomplished, I believe the answer is hy some 
 special course in which the language of several representa- 
 tive writers is treated as such.^ The point could be 
 elaborated, particularly in view of the present-day tendency 
 to dwell unduly on so-called realia, French daily life, and 
 the like — all legitimate enough in their proper time and 
 place. But enough has been said to show that excellent 
 as the present plan is, it could without detriment enlarge 
 the place given to linguistics. In this bewildered age of 
 ours we are forever hearing the cry of " literature," more 
 " literature " : not only our students but our teachers — and 
 the connection is obvious — find language study dull and 
 uninspiring, oblivious to the fact that the fault is theirs 
 
 ^ An excellent manner of procedure is that outlined by Professor 
 Terracher in his interesting article i] the Compte rendu du Congres 
 de Langue et de Litterature Frangaise, New York (Federation de 
 TAlliance Frangaise), 1913. 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 433 
 
 and not the subject's. Yet, as we observed above, French 
 is " hard," and its grammatical structure, apparently so 
 simple, is in truth very complicated. Manifestly, to under- 
 stand a foreign literature we must understand the language 
 in which it is written. How few of our students really do! 
 Moreover, language and literature are ultimately only parts 
 of one indivisible entity: Philology — though the fact 
 often escapes us. " The most effective work," said Gilder- 
 sleeve,^ " is done by those who see all in the one as well 
 as one in the all." And strange as it appears to the laity, 
 a linguistic fact may convey a universal lesson. I hesitate 
 to generalize, but I believe most of our colleges need to 
 emphasize the language side of the French " major " more. 
 
 As for Italian and Spanish, few of the colleges as yet i^eiftive 
 grant these subjects the importance given to French. For French, 
 
 one reason, entrance credit in Italian is extremely rare, ^f^^^^^' ^"^ 
 
 -' ' Italian in a 
 
 and neither there nor in Spanish, in which it is now rather college 
 common, owing to the teaching of Spanish in the high *^°"^^® 
 schools, does it exceed two units. Some work of an ele- 
 mentary nature must therefore be done in the college; in- 
 deed, at Amherst neither language can be begun until the 
 sophomore year — though fortunately this is an isolated 
 case. Further, even when the college is prepared to teach 
 these subjects adequately, it is still a debatable question 
 whether they are entitled to precisely the same considera- 
 tion as their more venerable sister. It is unnecessary to 
 point out that such great names as Dante, Petrarch, Boccac- 
 cio, Alfieri, Leopardi, Carducci, Cervantes, Calderon, Lope 
 de Vega, Benavente, e tutti quanti, are abundant evidence of 
 the value of Italian and Spanish culture. They unquestion- 
 ably are. Where the emphasis is cultural, it would cer- 
 tainly be unwise to neglect Italian, since the Renaissance 
 is Italian and underlies modern European culture in gen- 
 eral. On the other hand, Spanish is, so to speak, at our 
 very doors because of our island possessions: it is the one 
 foreign language which' calls for no argument to make 
 the undergraduate willing to learn to speak, and Spanish 
 
 ^ From Johns Hopkins University Circular, No. 151. 
 
434 College Teaching 
 
 literature, especially in the drama, has the same romantic 
 freedom as English literature and is thus readily ac- 
 cessible to the American type of mind. Pedagogically, 
 thus, the question is far from simple. But while it is im- 
 possible to lay down any fixed precept, it seems worth 
 while to remember: that the French genius is preeminently 
 the vehicle of definite and clear ideas, that in a very real 
 sense France has been and is the intellectual clearing- 
 house of the world, and that potentially, at least, her civili- 
 zation is of the greatest value to our intellectually dull and 
 undiscriminating youth. From French, better than from 
 Italian and Spanish, he can learn the discipline of accurate 
 expression, of clear articulation, and the enlightenment 
 that springs from contact with " general ideas." More- 
 over, we must not forget that the undergraduate's time is 
 limited and that under the " group system " some discrim- 
 ination must necessarily be made. Granted, then, that, all 
 things considered, the first place will doubtless be left to 
 French, the question remains whether the attention given 
 to Spanish and Italian is at least adequate. And do the 
 colleges extract from them the values they should? 
 
 As a general proposition, we may take it for granted 
 that the college should offer at least four units in each of 
 these subjects. For Spanish, certainly, the tendency will 
 be to make the proportion larger. But two units devoted to 
 learning the language and two devoted to the literature 
 may be regarded as essential, and are as a matter of fact 
 the common practice. Several illustrations will make this 
 clear. Johns Hopkins offers: in Italian, 1. Grammar, 
 Short Stories, etc., 2. Grammar, Written Exercises, Selec- 
 tions from classic authors. Lectures on Italian Literature; 
 in Spanish, 1. Grammar, Oral and written exercises, Read- 
 ing from Alarcon, Valdes, etc., 2. Contemporary Novel 
 and Drama, Oral practice. Grammar and Composition, 3. 
 The Classic Drama and Cervantes, oral practice, etc., 
 History of Spanish Literature, lilinois: in Italian, la-lb 
 Elementary Course, 2a-2b Italian Literature, nineteenth 
 century; in Spanish, la-lb Elementary Course, 2a-2b 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 435 
 
 Modern Spanish, 3a-3b Introduction to Spanish Literature, 
 4a-4b Business Correspondence and Conversation, 5a-5b 
 Business Practice in Spanish, lla-llb The Spanish Drama 
 of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, 17a-17b The 
 Spanish Drama of the Nineteenth Century. Harvard: in 
 Italian, 1. Italian Grammar, reading and composition, 4. 
 General View of Italian Literature, 5. Modern Italian 
 Literature, 2. Italian Literature of the Fifteenth and Six- 
 teenth Centuries, 10. The Works of Dante; in Spanish, 
 1. Spanish Grammar, reading and composition, 7. Spanish 
 Composition, 8. Spanish Composition and Conversation 
 (advanced course), 4. General View of Spanish Literature, 
 5. Spanish Prose and Poetry of the Eighteenth and Nine- 
 teenth Centuries, 2. Spanish Literature of the Sixteenth and 
 Seventeenth Centuries.^ 
 
 Since Spanish and Italian fall into the department of 
 Romance languages, in order to make up his " major " 
 the student is at present compelled to combine them with 
 French. On the whole, this arrangement appears to me 
 wise. To be sure, the deans of our colleges of commerce 
 and administration will say that, granting the greater cul- 
 tural value of French, the business interests of the country 
 will force us nevertheless to give Spanish the same place 
 in the curriculum as French. And the more radical edu- 
 cators will affirm with Mr. Flexner : ^ " Languages have 
 no value in themselves; they exist solely for the purpose 
 of communicating ideas and abbreviating our thought and 
 action processes. If studied, they are valuable only in so far 
 as they are practically mastered — not otherwise." I have 
 taken a stand against this matter-of-fact conception of edu- 
 cation throughout this chapter. I may now return to the 
 
 1 It will be noted that throughout the amount offered in Spanish ex- 
 ceeds that in Italian. This is to be expected in view of the boom 
 in Spanish studies. Moreover, most colleges now allow two units 
 of entrance credit in Spanish, and 7 and 8 above, under Harvard, 
 are half courses, Columbia is, I believe, the only college accepting 
 2 units of entrance credit in Italian; but I have not examined the 
 catalogues of all our colleges. 
 
 2 Publications of the General Education Board, 3, 1916, page 13. 
 
436 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Training 
 teachers of 
 Romance 
 Languages 
 
 charge by adding that the banality of our college students' 
 thinking stares us in the face; if we wish to quicken it, 
 to refine it, we should have them study other media of ex- 
 pression qua expression besides their own (that is what 
 Europe did in the Renaissance, and the example of the 
 Renaissance is still pertinent) ; that if Mr. Flexner's reason- 
 ing were valid the French might without detriment convey 
 their "ideas" in Volapiik or Ido (I suggest that Mr. Flex- 
 ner subject Anatole France to this test) ; and that in- 
 stead of being valueless in themselves, on the contrary, 
 languages are the repositories of the ages: "We infer," 
 said Emerson, " the spirit of the nation in great measure 
 from the language, which is a sort of monument in which 
 each forcible individual in the course of many hundred 
 years has contributed a stone." In other words, however 
 great the claim of Spanish as " a practical subject " may 
 be and whatever concessions our schools and colleges 
 may make to this fact, I still believe that Spanish should be 
 subordinated as a college subject to the study of French. 
 In principle we may admit the Spanish "major," as in 
 fact we do at present with the Italian "major"; but some 
 knowledge of French on the part of the student should be 
 presupposed, or if not, it should be a required part of the 
 Spanish sequence. This may seem extreme, but in reality 
 few students would wish to proceed far in Spanish with- 
 out some French, and, practically, the knowledge of one 
 Romance tongue is always a great aid in the study of 
 another. 
 
 Thus we see that, with the addition here and there of 
 an extra course (where the college is not up to the standard 
 as we have outlined it), and an added stress on the ad- 
 vanced linguistics, the present curriculum in Romance ap- 
 parently provides an excellent working basis. If properly 
 carried out — and the success of all teaching depends 
 of course ultimately on the teacher — it ought to fulfill all 
 legitimate needs, so far as the strictly collegiate aims are 
 concerned. 
 
 A word is now in order as to its fitness for those students 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 437 
 
 who are planning to take Romance as a profession. Nor- 
 mally these students would coincide with those who are tak- 
 ing up " special honors " in Romance languages ; and for the 
 latter group most of our colleges now make special pro- 
 vision — in the form of " independent work done outside 
 the regular courses in the major subject and at least one 
 other department during the junior and senior year (Wis- 
 consin)," or as Amherst states it, "special work involving 
 collateral reading or investigation under special condi- 
 tions." In general, this gives the candidate certain profes- 
 sional options among the courses listed (in cases where the 
 college is part of the university) as " primarily for gradu- 
 ates." In this way the student is able to add to his 
 "major" such subjects as Old French (Chicago), Intro- 
 duction to Romance Philology (Columbia), Practical 
 Phonetics (Chicago), a Teachers' Course (Wisconsin), 
 etc. Personally I am of the opinion that the day has 
 passed when any of our graduates who has not at least 
 a Master's degree in Romance should be recommended to a 
 teaching position. But evidently any such hard and fast 
 rule is bound to be unfair, especially since a large per- 
 centage of our students is compelled to earn a living im- 
 mediately upon graduation. Thus here again — as in the 
 elementary courses as now given in the colleges — we are 
 confronted with a makeshift which only time and continued 
 effort can correct. In the meantime the value of such pro- 
 fessional courses depends to a very marked degree upon 
 the success with which they can be carried out: where they 
 are counted toward a higher degree (M.A. or Ph.D.) the 
 difficulty is not so great, since their introductory nature is 
 self-evident; but where they conclude, so to speak, the 
 student's formal training the difficulty of making them " fit 
 in " is often sadly apparent. At any rate, in this border- 
 land between cultural and professional studies, where the 
 college is merging with the university or professional 
 school, the necessity for the able teacher is a paramount 
 issue. If the transition is to be successful, the obligation 
 rests upon the teacher so to develop his subject that the 
 
438 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Final con- 
 tributions 
 of Eomance 
 Languages 
 to the 
 American 
 college 
 student 
 
 specializing will not drown out the general interest but 
 will inform it with those values which only the specialist 
 can impart. 
 
 And now as to our final consideration: What partic- 
 ular advantages have the Romance tongues to offer as a 
 college subject? An obvious advantage is: an understand- 
 ing of foreign peoples. The Romance languages are 
 modern. They are spoken today over a large part of the 
 habitable globe. We stand in direct relations with those 
 who speak them and write them. Above all, a large share 
 of the world's best thought is being expressed in them. 
 The point requires no arguing, that translations cannot take 
 the place of originals: traduttore traditore, says an ex- 
 cellent Italian proverb. If we are really to know what 
 other nations think, — whether we accept or reject their 
 thought makes little or no difference here, — we can do so 
 only by knowing their language. And the better we know 
 it, the greater our insight will be. To speak at least one 
 foreign language is not only a parlor accomplishment: 
 it is for whoever is to be a citizen-of-the-world a necessity. 
 There is a Turkish proverb that he who knows two lan- 
 guages, his own and another, has two souls. Certainly 
 there is no better way to approach a nation's soul than 
 through its language. But, in the second place, the Ro- 
 mance tongues have certain artistic qualities which English 
 in a great measure lacks. The student who has intelli- 
 gently mastered one of them has a better sense of form, 
 of delicate shades of expression, and — if the language be 
 French — of clarity of phrase: what Pater termed nettete 
 d^ expression. He learns to respect language (as few 
 Americans now do), to study its possibilities in a way 
 which a mere knowledge of English might never have 
 suggested, and to appreciate its moral as well as its social 
 power: for French forces him to curb his thought, to weigh 
 his contention, to be simple and clear in the most abstruse 
 matters. In a famous essay on the Universality of French, 
 Rivarol said: " Une traduction frangaise est toujours une 
 ex plication J'^ 
 
 And lastly, in themselves and in the civilizations they 
 
Teaching of the Romance Languages 439 
 
 stand for, the Romance tongues are the bridge between 
 ourselves and antiquity. Since the decline in the study of 
 Greek and Latin, this is a factor to be seriously considered. 
 It* is the fashion today to berate the past, to speak of the 
 dead hand of tradition, and to flatter ourselves with the 
 delusion of self-sufficiency. To be sure, the aim of edu- 
 cation is never to pile up information but to " fit your 
 mind for any sort of exertion, to make it keen and flexible." 
 But the best way to encompass this is to feed the mind on 
 ideas, and ideas are not produced every day, nor for that 
 matter every year, and luckily all ideas have not the same 
 value. There are the ideas of Taine, of Rousseau, of 
 Voltaire, of Descartes, of Montaigne, of Ficino, of 
 Petrarch, of Dante, of Cicero, of Aristotle, of Plato; and in 
 a moment I have run the gamut of all the centuries of our 
 Western civilization. Who will tell me which ideas we 
 shall need most tomorrow? Evidently, we cannot know 
 them all. But we can at least make the attempt to know 
 the best. And incidentally let it be said that he who pro- 
 fesses the Romance tongues can no more dispense with the 
 Classics than the Classics can today aff"ord to dispense 
 with Romance: French Italian, and Spanish are the Latin 
 — and one might add the Greek — of today. But to return 
 to our theme: to deny our interest in the past is to throw 
 away our heritage, to sell our mess of pottage to the 
 lowest bidder. If the Romance languages have one func- 
 tion in our American colleges, it is this: To keep alive 
 the old humanistic lesson: nihil humani a me alienum 
 puto; to the end that the modern college graduate may con- 
 tinue to say with Montaigne: "All moral philosophy is 
 applied as well to a private life as to one of the greatest 
 employment. Every man carries the entire form of the 
 human condition. Authors have thitherto communicated 
 themselves to the people by some particular and foreign 
 mark; I ... by my universal being, not as a grammarian, 
 a poet, or a lawyer." The college course in the Romance 
 languages skould prepare for a profession, but it must 
 first help to prepare thinking men and women. 
 
 William A. Nitze 
 
 University of Chicago 
 
XXII 
 THE TEACHING OF GERMAN 
 
 Our aim rTlHE mechanical achievements of the nineteenth and 
 _|_ twentieth centuries have obliterated geographical 
 distances. The contact between nations, intermittent in 
 former ages, has become a continuous one. It is no longer 
 possible to ignore great cultural forces in foreign nations 
 even temporarily — we may repudiate or appreciate them, 
 as we see fit, but we should do so in a spirit of fairness 
 and understanding, and not in ignorance. 
 
 This, however, is not possible unless those who are to 
 become leaders of the people are intimately familiar with 
 those treasure chests of the nations that contain the true 
 gems of racial spirit more abundantly than even art or 
 literature, history, law or religion, stored up in the course 
 of hundreds and thousands of years — the nations' lan- 
 guages. It is the clear duty of the college to instill, 
 through the right way of teaching foreign languages, a 
 cosmopolitan spirit of this character into the growing 
 minds of our young men and women, after the secondary 
 school has given them the first rudiments of knowledge and 
 cultural training. 
 
 According to one's point of view, there is as much to 
 be said in favor of the classical as the modern languages. 
 Without doubt, their growing neglect in our institutions 
 of learning is deeply to be regretted; however, its causes 
 do not concern us here directly. The study of modern 
 languages is, relatively speaking, so manifestly in the 
 ascendency, that a return to the emphasis that was formerly 
 laid upon Latin and Greek is hardly imaginable. The 
 choice between several modern languages must very largely 
 be determined by personal preferences and purposes. So 
 much, however, can safely be said, that an intelligent read- 
 ing knowledge of German and French is the least that 
 should be expected of a college graduate. For, while in 
 
 440 
 
Tlie Teaching of German 
 
 441 
 
 Place of 
 German in 
 
 theory the humanistic importance of modern language study 
 is the same for all languages, it rises, in practice, proportion- 
 ately with the cultural level of the foreign nation — 
 German and French obviously taking the lead in this regard. 
 I am optimistic enough to assume it to be generally 
 granted that the study of a foreign language ought to be the college 
 started early in life — say, at the age of twelve. While <^^"*<^"i"™ 
 hardly challenged in theory, this desirable condition is 
 far from being carried out in practice. Probably the time 
 will never come when colleges will be able to dispense 
 with elementary courses in modern foreign languages — 
 not only for those who enter without any linguistic prepa- 
 ration, but also, and perhaps preeminently, for students 
 who are taking up a second foreign language in addition 
 to the one (or two) started in the preparatory school. 
 Thus, the starting point of the modern language course in 
 college is easily fixed: it must begin at the very rudiments 
 of the language. Nor is it difficult to state, in general 
 terms, the purpose of the most advanced work of the un- 
 dergraduate curriculum: it must consist in adequate lin- 
 guistic skill, literary knowledge and feeling, and cultural 
 understanding to such an extent that the college graduate 
 who has specialized in German may safely be intrusted with 
 the teaching of German in secondary schools. At least, 
 this holds good for the majority of institutions; a small 
 number of colleges devote their whole effort to cultural 
 training, and some of the larger institutions, particularly 
 in the East, find it possible to postpone most of the pro- 
 fessional preparation to a period of graduate work. But 
 on the whole the average well-equipped college includes the 
 training of teachers as one end of its foreign-language work. 
 Ordinarily, such mastery of the subject as would prepare 
 for teaching cannot be gained within the four years' col- 
 lege course. Rather, it might be said to require the aver- 
 age equivalent of something like six college years, with the 
 understanding that not much more than one fourth of the 
 student's time be devoted to German. This implies that 
 only under uncommonly favorable conditions should 
 
442 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion of the 
 German 
 course 
 
 students be encouraged to specialize in a foreign language 
 that they begin on entering college. 
 
 Thus, the peculiar conditions of modern language in- 
 struction bring it about that a discussion of its organi- 
 zation in college must deal with a six years' course: ele- 
 mentary instruction must be offered to those entering with- 
 out any knowledge of German; courses of a sufficiently ad- 
 vanced character must be provided for those who enter 
 with three or four years of high-school German; and there 
 must be advanced work for students who intend to make 
 the study and teaching of German their life's work. 
 
 In this six years' college course three divisions are clearly 
 distinguishable: an elementary division devoted to such lin- 
 guistic training as will enable a student to read with fair 
 ease texts of moderate difficulty; an intermediate group 
 during which literary and cultural appreciation should be 
 developed, and an advanced group intended for the pro- 
 fessional preparation of prospective teachers of German. 
 These three divisions may be approximately equal, so that 
 each of them covers about two years, with four or five hours 
 a week. For graduation, all students should be required 
 to present the equivalent of the first period for two lan- 
 guages (either classical or modern), one or both of which 
 might with advantage be absolved in high school. The 
 second division should be required of all students for at 
 least one foreign language. Colleges of high standing may 
 find it possible to exceed these requirements; no college 
 should remain below them. 
 
 The first or elementary division should, at least for one 
 foreign language, be finished before the student is admitted 
 to the college. All that can reasonably be expected from 
 this part of the work is a study of the elements of grammar, 
 the development of a good pronunciation, a fair working 
 vocabulary, and some ability to read, speak, understand, 
 and write German. 
 
 The second group should include, in the main, reading 
 courses to introduce the student to what is best in German 
 literature, but no general theoretical study of the history 
 
The Teaching of German 443 
 
 of literature need be contemplated. Besides, it must offer 
 such work in speaking and writing as will develop and 
 establish more firmly the results gained in the first two 
 years, and an appropriate study of German history and 
 institutions. Each of the three aims might be given about 
 one third of the time available, but they may overlap to 
 some extent. Thus, writing and speaking can be connected 
 with each of them, and historical readings and reports 
 may furnish a part of language practice. 
 
 The third group, intended for the training of teachers, 
 must contain a course in the method of modern language 
 teaching (connected with observation and practice), an ad- 
 vanced grammar course, and courses in the phonetics and 
 historical development of the German language. These 
 courses are indispensable for teachers, but will also be of 
 advantage to students not intending to teach. 
 
 The first group is frankly of high school character. It ^^^ ®i®- 
 is best to admit this fully and freely, and to teach these group 
 courses accordingly. Through greater intensity of study 
 (more home work and longer class periods), the work of 
 three or even four high school years may be concentrated 
 into two college years, but the method cannot differ essen- 
 tially. The way of learning a new language is the same, 
 in principle, for a child of twelve years and a man of fifty 
 years; in the latter case, there is merely the difficulty to be 
 overcome that older persons are less easily inclined to sub- 
 mit to that drill which is necessary for the establishment 
 of those new habits that constitute Sprachgefuhl. It is a 
 fallacy that the maturer mind of the college student re- 
 quires a more synthetic-deductive study of the language 
 than that of the high school student. 
 
 It is sad but true that many college teachers are more 
 reactionary in questions of method than the better class of 
 high school teachers. The claim that elementary work in 
 college requires a method different from that used in the 
 high school is one symptom of this, and another symptom 
 of the same tendency is the motto of so many college 
 teachers that there is no " best method," and that a good 
 
444 College Teaching 
 
 teacher will secure good results with any method. At the 
 bottom of such phrases there is usually not much more than 
 indifference and unwillingness to look for information on 
 the real character of the method at which they are generally 
 aimed: the direct method. The regrettable superficiality 
 appearing in the frequent confusion of the " direct " with 
 the " natural " method is characteristic of this. I am, of 
 course, willing to admit that what nowadays is termed the 
 " direct method " is not the best way possible, but that it 
 may and will be improved upon. However, it is not one 
 of many methods that, according to circumstances, might 
 be equally good, but it represents the application of 
 the present results of psychological and linguistic research 
 to the teaching of languages and distinctly deserves the 
 preference over older ways. 
 
 The first demand of the direct method is the development 
 not only of a fair but of a perfect pronunciation — not 
 so much as the independent aim, but as an indispensable 
 condition for the development of Sprachgefuhl. It is 
 immeasurably easier to obtain good pronunciation from 
 the start than to improve bad pronunciation by later efforts. 
 In the teaching of pronunciation a slight difference in the 
 treatment of children of twelve years and of college students 
 might be granted: young children are generally able to 
 learn the sounds of a foreign language by imitation ; students 
 of college age can hardly ever do this well, and careful 
 phonetic instruction is absolutely necessary with them. 
 Whoever wishes to keep aloof from phonetic terms may do 
 so; but not to know or not to apply phonetic principles is 
 bad teaching pure and simple. The use of phonetic tran- 
 scription, however, is a moot question. Its advantages are 
 obvious enough: it insures a clear consciousness of correct 
 pronunciation; it takes up the difficulties one by one: first 
 pronunciation, then spelling; it safeguards greater care in 
 matters of pronunciation in general. The objections are 
 chiefly two: economy of time, and the fear of confusion 
 between the two ways of spelling. The writer admits that 
 until a few years ago he was skeptical as to the value of 
 
The Teaching of German 445 
 
 phonetic transcription in the teaching of German. But the 
 nearly general recognition of its value by the foremost 
 educators of European countries and the good results 
 achieved with it by teachers of French in this country 
 caused him to give it a trial, under conditions that afforded 
 not more than an average chance of success. The result 
 was greatly beyond his expectations. Neither he nor, as 
 far as he knows, any of his colleagues would contemplate 
 abandoning phonetic script again. Without wishing to be 
 dogmatic, I believe that this at least can be asserted with 
 safety: on purely theoretical grounds, no teacher has a right 
 to condemn phonetic transcription; those who doubt its 
 value should try it before they judge. 
 
 In the writer's opinion it is best not to use any histor- 
 ical spelling at all during the first six or eight weeks of 
 college German. If the confusing features of traditional 
 orthography are eliminated during this period, it will be 
 found that there results not a loss, but an actual gain in 
 time from the use of phonetic script. Nor does the tran- 
 sition to common spelling cause any confusion. The less 
 ado made about it, the better. It is a fact of experience, 
 that students who have been trained in the use of phonetic 
 script turn out to be better spellers than those who have not 
 — simply because this training has made them more careful 
 and has given them a clearer conception of the discrep- 
 ancy between sound and letter. 
 
 That elementary grammar should be taught inductively 
 is true to an extent, but often overstated. It is true for the 
 more abstract principles, such as the. formation of the com- 
 pound tenses, the formation and the use of the passive 
 voice, and so on. But attempts at inductive teaching of 
 concrete elements of mechanical memory, such as the gen- 
 der and plural of nouns, or the principal parts of strong 
 verbs, are a misunderstanding of the principles of induc- 
 tion. It goes without saying that thorough drill is much 
 more valuable than the most explicit explanation. It holds 
 good for college as well as for high schools that there is 
 but very little to " explain " about the grammar of any 
 
English 
 
 446 College Teaching 
 
 language. Unnecessary explanations rather increase than 
 remove difficulties. 
 The use of Xhe use of English is another debated question. As 
 
 far as the teaching of grammar is concerned, it is unessen- 
 tial. If inductive drill takes the place of explanations and 
 abstract rules, the question is very largely eliminated from 
 practical consideration. In those very rare cases when 
 theoretical discussions might seem desirable, it does not 
 make much difference whether a few minutes a week are 
 devoted to English or not. The question assumes greater 
 importance when the development of the vocabulary is con- 
 sidered. In this, there are three fairly well-defined ele- 
 ments to be distinguished. The first vocabulary, say, of 
 the first two or three months should be developed by con- 
 crete associations with objects and actions in the class- 
 room; the use of the vernacular has no justification what- 
 ever during that time — not on account of any objection 
 to an occasional English word or phrase, but simply because 
 there is no need of it, and every minute devoted to Ger- 
 man is a clear gain. After this, the vocabulary should be 
 further developed through the thorough practice of con- 
 nected texts. If they are well constructed, the context 
 will explain a considerable portion of the words occur- 
 ring; those that are not made clear through the context 
 form the third division of the vocabulary and can with- 
 out hesitation be explained by English equivalents. In 
 general, the principle will go rather far that the use of an 
 occasional English word is entirely harmless, but that 
 English sentences should as much as possible be avoided 
 in elementary work. Connected translation, both from and 
 into English, must absolutely be excluded from the first 
 year's work, for the chief purpose of this year is not only 
 the study of grammar and the development of an elemen- 
 tary vocabulary, but, even more than that, the cultivation 
 of the right attitude toward language study. Reading 
 should be our chief aim, and speaking a means to that end, 
 but the student must be trained, from the very beginning, to 
 understand what he is reading rather through an intelli- 
 
The Teaching of Ger^man 447 
 
 gent grasp of the contents than by fingering the dictionary. 
 In this way he will become accustomed to associating the 
 German sentences directly with the thought expressed in 
 them, instead of indirectly through the medium of his na- 
 tive tongue. 
 
 A great deal of misunderstanding is frequently involved 
 in the emphasis laid upon speaking. There can hardly be 
 a more absurd misinterpretation of the principles of the 
 direct method than for college teachers to try to " con- 
 verse " with the students in German — to have with them 
 German chats about the weather, the games, the political 
 situation. This procedure is splendidly fit to develop in the 
 students a habit of guessing at random at what they hear 
 and read — a slovenly contentedness with an approximate 
 understanding. Both teacher and students should speak 
 and hear German practically all the time. But this should 
 be distinctly in the service of reading and grammar work, 
 containing almost exclusively words and forms that the stu- 
 dent must know, not guess at. 
 
 At the end of the first year a college student ought to 
 have mastered the elements of grammar and possess good 
 pronunciation and an active vocabulary of about six hun- 
 dred or eight hundred words. If the second year is de- 
 voted to further drill on grammatical elements and to care- 
 ful reading, its result ought to be the ability to read authors 
 of average difficulty at a fair speed. During the first year 
 all reading material should be practiced so intensively 
 that an average of a little more than a page a week is not 
 exceeded materially; but toward the end of the second year 
 a limit of six or eight pages an hour may well be reached. 
 By this time, translation into good English begins to be a 
 valuable factor in the achievement of conscious accuracy; 
 but it must under no circumstances be resorted to until 
 the students have clearly obtained the habitual attitude of 
 direct association between thought and sentence. 
 
 It is little short of a misfortune that there exists no 
 adequate German-German dictionary (such as La Rousse's 
 French dictionary) . It would not be very difficult to write 
 
448 College Teaching 
 
 such a book, but until we possess it the irritating use of 
 German -English dictionaries and vocabularies will be a 
 necessary evil. 
 
 The hardest problem of the second year — and this is 
 progressively true of more advanced work — is the uneven 
 preparation of the students. In large colleges it will often 
 be feasible to have as many sections as possible at the same 
 hour, distributing the students in accordance with their 
 preparation. Where this is not possible, special help for 
 poorly prepared students is generally indispensable. 
 ^J® The literature group is as distinctly of college character 
 
 group as the elementary group is admittedly high school work. 
 
 It is here, in fact, that the best ideals of the American col- 
 lege find the fullest opportunity. This is true both for the 
 teacher and for the student. In the elementary group, 
 pedagogical skill and a fair mastery of the language are 
 the chief prerequisites of a successful teacher. In the sec- 
 ond group, other qualities are of greater importance. 
 While a certain degree of pedagogical skill is just as nec- 
 essary here as there, it is now no longer a question of the 
 systematic development of habits, but of the ability to 
 create sympathetic understanding, idealism, depth of knowl- 
 edge, and literary taste — in short, to strive for humanistic 
 education in the fullest sense of the word. This is true 
 not only for colleges with a professedly humanistic ten- 
 dency; the broadening and deepening influence of foreign 
 language study is nowhere needed more urgently than in 
 technical and other professional colleges. 
 
 Speaking and writing must no longer stand in the center 
 of instruction in the courses of the second group, but their 
 importance should not be underrated, as is done so fre- 
 quently (it is a fact that students often know less Ger- 
 man at the end of the third year in college than at the end 
 of the second year). At least during the first year of this 
 group, a practice course in advanced grammar, connected 
 with composition, is absolutely necessary. The grammat- 
 ical work should consist in review and observation, sup- 
 ported by the study of a larger reference grammar (e.g., 
 
The Teaching of German 449 
 
 chapters from Curme's grammar, to introduce the students 
 to the consistent use of this marvelous work). In compo- 
 sition, free reproduction should still be the main thing, but 
 independent themes and translation from English into Ger- 
 man — which would be distinctly harmful in elementary 
 work — are now valuable exercises in the study of German 
 style. It would be wholly wrong, however, to make linguis- 
 tic drill the Alpha and Omega of this part of the college 
 course. The preparatory years should have laid a sound 
 basis, which during the college work proper should not 
 be allowed to disintegrate, but the fact should not be lost 
 sight of that the cultural aim must be stressed most in 
 the second group. 
 
 To reach this aim, a familiarity with the best works 
 of German literature is the foremost means. German litera- 
 ture affords a scant choice of good and easy reading for the 
 elementary stage: Storm, Ebner-Eschenbach, Seidel, and 
 Wildenbruch are justly favorites, but absurdities like Baum- 
 bach's Schwiegersohn are, unfortunately, still found in the 
 curriculum of many colleges. In contrast with the small 
 number of good elementary texts, there exists an abundance 
 of excellent material for the second group. Aside from 
 the classical poets, the novelists Keller, Meyer, Fontane, 
 Raabe; the dramatists Hebbel, Grillparzer, Kleist, Haupt- 
 mann; poems collected in the Balladenbuch or the Ernte 
 present an inexhaustible wealth, without our having to re- 
 sort to the literary rubbish of Benedix or Moser or the 
 sneering pretentiousness of Heine's Harzreise. 
 
 The details of organization will vary greatly for this 
 group, according to special conditions. But in general 
 it may be said that during the first year of this period 
 about two hours a week should be devoted to the continu- 
 ation of systematic language practice as outlined above, and 
 three hours to the reading of German authors for literary 
 purposes. Nor should this consist in "reading" alone. 
 Reading as such should no longer present any difficulty, if 
 the work of the elementary group has been done well. 
 Special courses should be devoted to the study of the mod- 
 
450 College Teaching 
 
 ern German novel, the drama, and the lyrics, and to in- 
 dividual authors like those mentioned. In these detached 
 literature courses the principal endeavor must be to help 
 the students to understand and feel, not so much the lin- 
 guistic side of the texts read, as the soul of the author, and 
 through him the soul of the German nation. Reading 
 must become more and more independent, the major part 
 of the time in class being devoted to the cultural and aes- 
 thetic interpretation of what has been read at home. It is 
 evident that in this, the most important part of the Ger- 
 man college work, all depends upon the personality of the 
 instructor: literary and human understanding cannot be in- 
 stilled into the student's mind by one who does not possess 
 them himself, together with a love for teaching and the 
 power to create enthusiasm. 
 
 All other requirements must be subordinate to this — 
 even the instructor's mastery of the language. No doubt, 
 in theory it would be most desirable that German be the 
 exclusive language of instruction throughout; but in liter- 
 ary courses practical considerations will so often speak 
 against this, that no sweeping answer to this question seems 
 possible. For the chief aim must not be overshadowed by 
 any other. If poor preparation on the part of the students 
 or a deficient command of the language on the part of the 
 instructor makes it doubtful whether the cultural aim can 
 be attained, if German is the language of instruction, 
 English should be used unhesitatingly. This implies that 
 for this part of the work an instructor with a strong per- 
 sonality and an artistic understanding, although lacking in 
 speaking knowledge, is far preferable to one who speaks 
 German fluently but cannot introduce his students to the 
 greatness of German literature and the spirit of the German 
 people. 
 
 On the other hand, written reports in literary courses 
 should always be required to be in German; it is also a 
 good plan to devote a few minutes of each period to pre- 
 pared oral reports, in German, on the part of the individual 
 students. 'Where systematic practice in the colloquial use of 
 
The Teaching of German 451 
 
 the language is desirable for special reasons, a conversation 
 course may be established in addition to the main work, but 
 literary courses are not the place for starting conversational 
 practice with classes that have been neglected in this re- 
 spect during their preparatory work. 
 
 The second year of the literary group should offer a 
 choice between two directions of further literary develop- 
 ment: about three hours of each week should be devoted 
 either to a course on the general history of German litera- 
 ture, or to the intensive study of one of the greatest fac- 
 tors in German literature — such as Goethe's Faust. In 
 large institutions both courses can probably be given side 
 by side, the students taking their choice according to their 
 preference, but in most colleges an alternation of two 
 courses of this kind will be preferable. 
 
 The method of instruction is determined by the students' 
 preparation and the teacher's personality, in literature 
 courses more than anything else. Obviously, lectures (in 
 German, where circumstances permit), extensive, systematic 
 reading, written reports, and class discussion are the domi- 
 nating features of such courses. 
 
 Some knowledge of German history and institutions is 
 an indispensable adjunct of any serious work in German 
 literature. Probably in all colleges such instruction will 
 be incumbent upon the German departments, and it is 
 rarely possible to combine it with the course on the gen- 
 eral history of German literature. Therefore, a special 
 course in German history and institutions should be offered 
 during the second year of the literature group. 
 
 The work of this group may overlap that of the second ^^^^Jl^^®^' 
 group to a considerable extent, in the sense that courses 
 in both groups may be taken at the same time. The pro- 
 fessional preparation of a teacher of German should in- 
 clude: a thorough knowledge of the structure of the Ger- 
 man language, an appreciative familiarity with German 
 literature, and a fair amount of specialized pedagogical 
 training. The study of literature cannot be different for 
 prospective teachers from that for all other types of col- 
 
 sional group 
 
452 College Teaching 
 
 lege students, and, therefore, belongs to the second group. 
 But their knowledge of language structure, though not 
 necessarily of a specialistic philological character, must in- 
 clude a more detailed knowledge of German grammar, a 
 familiarity with technical German phonetics, and at least an 
 elementary insight into the historical development of the lan- 
 guage. In addition to suitable courses in these three sub- 
 jects, a pedagogical course, dealing with the methods of 
 modern language teaching, and connected with observation 
 and practice teaching, must be provided for. Where the 
 previous training has been neglected, a course in German 
 conversation may be added; but, generally speaking, this 
 should no longer be necessary with students in their fifth 
 or sixth year of German instruction. Wherever this need 
 exists, the system of instruction is at fault. 
 Conclusion Incomplete though this brief outline must necessarily be, 
 
 the writer has attempted to touch upon the most important 
 phases of the students' development of linguistic, cultural, 
 and, where demanded, professional command of German. 
 Little has so far been said concerning the college teacher. 
 The strong emphasis placed upon the direct method in this 
 article should not be misinterpreted as meaning that a fluent 
 command of the spoken language is a conditio sine qua non. 
 Nothing could be farther from the truth. First of all, the 
 necessity of the exclusive use of the direct method exists 
 obviously only in the elementary group. In this group, 
 however, " conversation " in the generally accepted sense 
 of the word should not be attempted — it will do more harm 
 than good. The constant practice in speaking and hearing 
 should be so rigidly subservient to the interpretation and 
 practice of the texts being read and to grammatical drill, 
 that only a minimum of " speaking knowledge " on the part 
 of the teacher is unavoidably necessary; his pronunciation, 
 of course, must be perfect. However desirable it may be 
 that a teacher should know intimately well the language 
 he is teaching in college, there are other requirements even 
 higher than this; they are, in the first group, energy, 
 thoroughness, and pedagogical skill, coupled with an in- 
 
The Teaching of German 453 
 
 telligent understanding of the basic principles of the direct 
 method; in the second group, literary appreciation and a 
 sympathetic understanding of German thought, history, and 
 civilization; and, for the third group, elementary philologi- 
 cal training, theoretical as well as practical acquaintance 
 with the needs of the classroom, and a long and varied ex- 
 perience in teaching. Rarely will all three qualifications 
 be combined in one person, nor are such fortunate combina- 
 tions necessary in most colleges. A wise distribution of 
 courses among the members of the department can in most 
 cases be effected in such a way that each teacher's talents are 
 utilized in their proper places. 
 
 E. Prokosch 
 
PART FIVE 
 The Arts 
 
 CHAPTBB 
 
 XXIII The Teaching of Music Edward Dickinson 
 
 XXIV The Teaching of Art Holmes Smith 
 
recent 
 
 XXIII 
 THE TEACHING OF MUSIC 
 
 THERE is perhaps no more direct way of throwing a sort Music a 
 of flashlight upon the musical activity in the colleges tivTrece. 
 ot America than the statement that a volume of this kind addition to 
 if prepared a dozen years ago, would either have contained TnrSm 
 no chapter upon music, or, if music were given a place at 
 all, the argument would have been occupied with hopes 
 rather than achievements. Not that it would be literally 
 true to say that music was wholly a negligible quantity 
 in the homes of higher education until the twentieth cen- 
 tury, but the seat assigned to it in the few institutions where 
 it was found was an obscure and lowly one, and the influ- 
 ence radiating therefrom reached so small a fragment of the 
 academic community that no one who was not engaged in a 
 careful, sympathizing search could have been aware of its 
 existence. It was less than twenty years ago that a promi- 
 nent ^musical journal printed the very moderate statement 
 that " the youth who is graduated at Yale, Harvard, Johns 
 Hopkins, Brown, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Amherst, Cornell, 
 or Columbia has not even a smattering of music beyond 
 the music of the college glee and mandolin club; and of 
 course to cultivate that is the easiest road to musical per- 
 dition." One who looks at those institutions now, and 
 attempts to measure the power and reach of their depart- 
 ments of music, will not deny the right to the satisfaction 
 which their directors — men of national influence — must 
 feel, and would almost expect them to echo the words of 
 ancient Simeon. The contrast is indeed extraordinary, and, 
 I believe, unparalleled. The work of these men, and of 
 others who could be named with them, has not been merely 
 development, but might even be called creation. Any one 
 who attempts to keep track of the growth of musical edu- 
 cation in our colleges, universities, and also in the second- 
 ary schools of the present day, will find that the bare sta- 
 
 457 
 
458 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 History of 
 the subject 
 of music in 
 the Ameri- 
 can college 
 curriculum 
 
 tistics of this increase, to say nothing of a study of the 
 problems involved, will engage much more than his hours 
 of leisure. Music, which not long ago held tolerance only 
 as an outside interest, confined to the sphere of influence 
 of the glee club and the chapel choir, is now, in hundreds 
 of educational institutions, accorded the privileges due to 
 those arts and sciences whose function in historic civiliza- 
 tion, and potency in scholarly discipline and liberal cul- 
 ture, give them domicile by obvious and inalienable right. 
 
 The first university professorships in music were founded 
 at Harvard in 1876, and at the University of Pennsylvania 
 at about the same time. Vassar College established musical 
 courses in 1867, Oberlin in 1869. Harvard took the lead in 
 granting credit for certain courses in music toward the de- 
 gree of A.B. in 1870.^ Progress thereafter for many years 
 was slow; but in 1907 investigation showed that "approxi- 
 mately one half the colleges in the country recognize the 
 value of instruction in music sufficiently to grant credit 
 in this subject." ^ Since this date college after college and 
 university after university have fallen into line, only a few 
 resisting the current that sets toward the universal accept- 
 ance of music as a legitimate and necessary element in 
 higher education. The problem with the musical educators 
 of the country is no longer how to crowd their subject into 
 the college preserve, but how to organize its forces there, 
 how to develop its methods on a basis of scholarly efficiency, 
 how to harmonize its courses with the ideals of the old es- 
 tablished departments, and now, last of all, how to bring 
 the universities and colleges into cooperation with the rapid 
 extension of musical practice, education, and taste which 
 has, in recent days, become a conspicuous factor in our 
 national progress. 
 
 An investigation into the causes of this great change 
 
 1 Arthur L. Manchester: "Music Education in the United States; 
 Schools and Departments of Music." United States Bureau of Edu- 
 cation Bulletin, 1908, No. 4. 
 
 2 Papers and Proceedings of the Music Teachers' National Associa- 
 tion, 1907; report by Leonard B. McWhood. 
 
The Teaching of Music 
 
 459 
 
 would be fully as interesting as a critical examination of 
 its results. The limits of this chapter require that consider- 
 ation be given to the present and future of this movement 
 rather than to its past; but it is especially instructive, I think, 
 to those who are called upon to deal practically with it, 
 to observe that the welcome now accorded to music in our 
 higher institutions of learning is due to changes in both 
 the college and its environment. In view of the constitu- 
 tion and relationships of our higher schools (unlike those 
 of the universities of Europe) , any alteration in the ideals, 
 the practical activities, and the living conditions of the 
 people of the democracy will sooner or later affect those 
 institutions whose aim is fundamentally to equip young 
 men and women for social leadership. It is unnecessary 
 to remind the readers of such a book as this of the marked 
 enlargement of the interests of the intelligent people of 
 America in recent years, or of the prominent place which 
 aesthetic considerations hold among these interests. The 
 ancient thinker, to whom nothing of human concern was 
 alien, would find the type he represented enormously in- 
 creased in these latter days. The passion for the release of 
 all the latent energies and the acquisition of every material 
 good, which characterizes the American people to a degree 
 hitherto unknown in the world since the outburst of the 
 Renaissance, issues, as in the Renaissance, in an enormous 
 multiplication of the machinery by which the enjoyment of 
 life and its outward embellishment are promoted. But 
 more than this and far better — the eager pursuit of the 
 means fo"r enhancing physical and mental gratification has 
 coincided with a growing desire for the general welfare; — 
 hence the aesthetic movement of recent years, and the zeal for 
 social betterment which excludes no section or class or occu- 
 pation, tend to unite, and at the same time to work inward 
 and develop a type of character which seeks joy not 
 only in beauty but also in the desire to give beauty a home 
 in the low as well as in the high places. Whatever may be 
 one's view of the final value of the recent American produc- 
 tions in literature and the fine arts, the social, democratic 
 
 Changing 
 social ideals 
 responsible 
 for the new 
 attitude to- 
 ward the 
 study of 
 music in 
 colleges 
 
460 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The educa- 
 tive function 
 of music 
 
 tendency in them is unmistakable. The company of enthu- 
 siastic men and women who are preaching the gospel of 
 beauty as a common human birthright is neither small nor 
 feeble. The fine arts are emerging from the studios, pro- 
 fessional schools, and coteries; they are no longer con- 
 ceived as the special prerogative of privileged classes; 
 not even is the creation of masterpieces as objects of national 
 pride the pervading motive; — but they are seen to be 
 potential factors in national education, ministering to the 
 happiness and mental and moral health of the community 
 at large. It was impossible that the most enlightened di- 
 rectors of our colleges, universities, and public schools 
 should not perceive the nature and possibilities of this 
 movement, hasten to ally themselves with it, and in many 
 cases assume a leadership in it to which their position and 
 advantages entitled them. 
 
 The commanding claims which the arts of design, music, 
 and the drama are asserting for an organized share in the 
 higher education is also, I think, a consequence of the 
 change that has come about in recent years in the constitu- 
 tion of the curriculum, the methods of instruction, the per- 
 sonnel of the student body, the multiplication of their sanc- 
 tioned activities, and especially in the attitude of the under- 
 graduates toward the traditional idea of scholarship. The 
 old college was a place where strict, inherited conceptions 
 of scholarship and mental discipline were piously main- 
 tained. The curriculum rested for its main support upon a 
 basis of the classics and mathematics, which imparted a clas- 
 sic and mathematical rigidity to the whole structure. The 
 professor was an oracle, backed by oracular textbooks; 
 the student's activity was restricted by a traditional asso- 
 ciation of learning with self-restraint and outward severity 
 of life. The revolutionary change came with the marvelous 
 development of the natural sciences, compelling radical 
 readjustments of thought both within and without the col- 
 lege, the quickening of the social life about the campus, 
 and the sharp division of interest, together with a multi- 
 plication of courses which made the elective system inevi- 
 
The Teaching of Music 461 
 
 table. The consequence was, as President Wilson states it, 
 that a " disintegration was brought about which destroyed 
 the old college with its fixed disciplines and ordered life, 
 and gave us our present problem of reorganization and re- 
 covery. It centered in the break-up of the old curriculum 
 and the introduction of the principle that the student was 
 to select his own studies from a great variety of courses. 
 But the change could not, in the nature of things, stop 
 with the plan of study. It held in its heart a tremendous 
 implication; — the implication of full manhood on the part 
 of the pupil, and all the untrammeled choice of manhood. 
 The pupil who was mature and well-informed enough to 
 study what he chose, was also by necessary implication 
 mature enough to be left free to do what he pleased, to 
 choose his own associations and ways of life outside the 
 curriculum without restraint or suggestion; and the varied, 
 absorbing life of our day sprang up as the natural off- 
 spring of the free election of studies." ^ 
 
 Into an academic life so constituted, art, music, and the Thede- 
 1 , r 11- 1 . r 1 . velopment 
 
 drama inust pertorce make their way by virtue oi their of emotions 
 
 appeal to those instincts, always latent, which were now set ff well as 
 m action. Those agencies by which the emotional life has a vital con- 
 always been expressed and stimulated found a welcome coiSge^eur- 
 prepared for them in the hearts of college youths, stirred ricuium 
 with new zests and a more lively self-consciousness. But 
 for a time they met resistance in the supremacy of the 
 exact sciences, erroneously set in opposition to the forces 
 which move the emotions and the imagination, and the 
 stern grip, still jealously maintained, of the old conception 
 of " mental discipline " and the communication of infor- 
 mation as the prime purpose of college teaching. The re- 
 laxation came with the recognition of aesthetic pursuits as 
 " outside interests," and organization and endowment soon 
 followed. But a college art museum logically involves lec- 
 tures upon art, a theater an authoritative regulation of the 
 
 '^ The Spirit of Learning, Woodrow Wilson; in Representative Phi 
 Beta Kappa Orations, edited by Northup, Lane and Schwab. Bos- 
 ton, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1915. 
 
462 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Problems in 
 teaching of 
 music in 
 the college 
 
 things offered therein, a concert hall and concert courses 
 instruction in the history and appreciation of music. And 
 so, with surprising celerity, the colleges began to readjust 
 their schemes to admit those agencies that act upon the emo- 
 tion as well as the understanding, and the problem how to 
 bring aesthetic culture into a working union with the tra- 
 ditional aims and the larger social opportunities of the 
 college faced the college educator, and disturbed his re- 
 pose with its peremptory insistence upon a practical solu- 
 tion. 
 
 Although the question of purpose, method, and adapta- 
 tion presents general difficulties of similar character in re- 
 spect to the college administration of all the fine arts, 
 music is undoubtedly the most embarrassing item in the 
 list. In this department of our colleges there is no common 
 conviction as to methods, no standardized system; but 
 rather a bewildering disagreement in regard to the subjects 
 to be taught, the extent and nature of their recognition, 
 the character of the response to be expected of the student 
 mind, and the kind of gauge by which that response shall be 
 measured by teachers, deans, and registrars. In the matter 
 of literature and the arts of design, where there is like- 
 wise an implicit intention of enriching aesthetic appreciation, 
 an agreement is more easily reached, by reason of their 
 closer relationship to outer life, to action, and the more 
 familiar processes of thought. Few would maintain that 
 the purpose of college courses in English literature is to 
 train professional novelists and poets; the college leaves to 
 the special art schools and to private studios the develop- 
 ment of painters, sculptors, and architects. What remains 
 to the college is reasonably clear. But in music, on the con- 
 trary, the function of the college is by no means so evident 
 as to induce anything like general agreement. Should the 
 musical courses be exclusively cultural, or should they be 
 so shaped as to provide training for professional work in 
 composition or performance? Should they be " practical " 
 (that is, playing and singing), or simply theoretical (har- 
 mony, counterpoint, etc.), or entirely confined to musical 
 
The Teaching of Music 463 
 
 history and appreciation? Should credits leading to the 
 A.B. degree be given for musical work, and if so, ought they 
 to include performance, or only theory and composition? 
 Should musical degrees be granted, and if so, for what 
 measure of knowledge or proficiency? One or two Western 
 colleges give credit for work done under the direction of 
 private teachers in no way connected with the institution: 
 — is this procedure to be commended, and if so, under what 
 safeguards? Should a college maintain a musical " con- 
 servatory " working under a separate administrative and 
 financial system, many or all of whose teachers are not 
 college graduates; or should its musical department be 
 necessarily an organic part of the college of arts and 
 sciences, exactly like the department of Latin or chemistry? 
 If the former, as is the case with many Western institu- 
 tions, to what extent should the work in the music school 
 be supervised by the college president and general faculty; 
 under what limitations may candidates for the A.B. de- 
 gree be allowed to take . accredited work in the music 
 school? What should be the relation of the college to 
 the university in respect to the musical courses? Is it 
 possible to establish a systematic progress from step to 
 step similar to that which exists in many of the old es- 
 tablished lines? What should be the relation between the 
 college and the secondary schools? Should the effort be 
 to establish a continuity of study and promotion, such 
 as that which exists in such subjects as Latin and 
 mathematics? Should the college give entrance credits 
 for musical work? If so, should it be on examination or 
 certificate, for practical or theoretical work, or both? 
 Should the courses in the history and appreciation of 
 music be thrown open to all students, or only to those 
 who have some preliminary technical knowledge? 
 
 These are some of the questions that face a college gov- 
 erning board when music is under discussion — questions 
 that are dealt with on widely divergent principles by col- 
 leges of equal rank. Some institutions in the West per- 
 mit to music a freedom and variety in respect to grades, 
 
464 College Teaching 
 
 subjects, and methods which they allow to no other sub- 
 ject. The University of Kansas undertakes musical ex- 
 tension work throughout the state. Brown University re- 
 stricts its musical instruction to lecture courses on the his- 
 tory and appreciation of music. Between these extremes 
 there is every diversity of opinion and procedure that can 
 be conceived. The problem, as I have said, is two-fold, 
 and so long as disagreement exists as to the object of 
 collegiate musical work, there can be no uniformity in ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 In a university the problem is or should be somewhat 
 more simple, just as there is a more general accord con- 
 cerning the precise object of university training. In place 
 of the confusion of views in regard to ideals and systems 
 and methods which exist in the present-day college, we 
 find in the university a calmness of conviction touching 
 essentials that results from the comparative simplicity of its 
 functions and aims. A conspicuous tendency in our uni- 
 versities is toward specialization; their spirit and methods 
 are largely derived from the professional and graduate 
 schools which give them their tone and prestige. They 
 look toward research and the advancement of learning as 
 their particular raison d'etre, and also toward the practical 
 application of knowledge to actual life and the disciplining 
 of special faculties for definite vocational ends.^ Since 
 our universities, unlike those of Europe, consist of a union 
 of graduate and undergraduate departments, any single 
 problem, like that of music, is simplified by the opportunity 
 afforded by the direct passage from undergraduate to 
 graduate work, and the greater encouragement to speciali- 
 zation in the earlier courses. A graduate school which 
 admits music will naturally do so on a vocational basis, 
 
 1 1 wish to safeguard this statement by saying that I have in mind 
 not the more conservative universities of the East, but the state insti- 
 tutions of the Middle and Western commonwealths. In speaking of 
 universities as compared with colleges I am also considering the 
 graduate and professional departments. It is difficult to make gen- 
 eral assertions on such a subject that do not meet with exceptions. 
 
The Teaching of Music 465 
 
 and the question is not of the aim to be sought, but the 
 much easier one of the means of its attainment, since there 
 IS no more of a puzzle in teaching an embryo composer or 
 music teacher than there is in teaching an incipient physi- 
 cian or engineer. 
 
 It seems to me that the opportunity before the univer- 
 sity has been stated in a very clear and suggestive manner 
 by Professor Albert A. Stanley of the University of Michi- 
 gan: "If in the future the line of demarcation between 
 the college and the university shall cease to be as sinuous 
 and shadowy as at present, the university will offer well- 
 defined courses in research, in creative work, possibly in 
 interpretation — by which I do not mean criticism, but 
 rather that which is criticized. [Professor Stanley evi- 
 dently refers to musical performance.] The college 
 courses will then be so broadened that the preparatory 
 work will of necessity be relegated to the secondary schools. 
 This will impose on the colleges and universities still an- 
 other duty — the fitting of competent teachers. Logically 
 music will then be placed on the list of entrance studies, 
 and the circle will be complete. The fitting of teachers 
 who can satisfy the conditions of such work as will then 
 be demanded will be by no means the least function of the 
 higher institutions. There will be more and more demand 
 for the broadly trained teacher, and there will be an even 
 greater demand for the specialist. By this I mean the 
 specialist who has been developed in a normal manner, 
 and who appreciates the greater relations of knowledsre and 
 life." ^ 
 
 There is no question that the future of music in the Problems in 
 
 colleges will greatly depend upon the developments in the musfcif °^ 
 
 secondary schools. If the time ever comes when the admin- secondary 
 
 istrators of our public school system accept and act upon inteiii|en«y 
 
 the assertion of Dr. Claxton, United States Commissioner of attacked 
 Education, that " after the beginnings of reading, writing, 
 and mathematics music has greater practical value than any 
 
 1 Papers and Proceedings of the Music Teachers' National Associa- 
 tion, 1906. 
 
466 College Teaching 
 
 other subject taught in the schools," the college will find 
 its determination of musical courses an easier matter than 
 it is now. Students will in that event come prepared to 
 take advantage of the more advanced instruction offered 
 by the college, as they do at present in the standard sub- 
 jects, and the musical pathway through the college, and then 
 through the university, will be direct and unimpeded. Al- 
 though such a prospect may seem to many only a roseate 
 dream, it is a safer prophecy than it would have appeared 
 a half-dozen years ago. The number of grammar and 
 high schools is rapidly increasing in which the pupils are 
 given solid instruction in chorus singing, ensemble playing, 
 musical theory, and the history and appreciation of music; 
 and in many places pupils are also permitted to carry on 
 private study in vocal and instrumental music at the hands 
 of approved teachers, and school credit given therefor. 
 So apparent is the need of this latter privilege, and so full 
 of fine possibilities, that the question of licensing private 
 teachers with a view to an official recognition of the fittest 
 has begun to receive the attention of state associations and 
 legislatures. It is impossible that the colleges should re- 
 main indifferent to these tendencies in the preparatory 
 schools, for their duty and their advantage are found in 
 cooperating with them. The opportunity has been most 
 clearly seen by those colleges which have established de- 
 partments for the training of supervisors of public school 
 music. Such service comes eminently within the role of 
 the college, for a disciplined understanding, a liberal cul- 
 ture, an acquaintance with subjects once unrecognized as 
 related to music teaching, are coming to be demanded in the 
 music supervisor. The day of the old country-school sing- 
 ing master transferred to the public school is past; the day 
 of the trained supervisor, who measures up to the intellec- 
 tual stature of his colleagues, is at hand. So clearly is 
 this perceived that college courses in public school music, 
 which at first occupied one year at the most, are being ex- 
 tended to two years and three years, and in at least one 
 or two instances occupying four years. And the benefit 
 
The Teaching of Music 
 
 467 
 
 is not confined to the schoolroom, for an educated man, 
 conscious of his peculiar powers, will see and use oppor- 
 tunities afforded him not merely as a salaried preceptor but 
 also as a citizen. 
 
 To revert to the difficulties which the college faces in 
 adjusting musical courses to the general scheme of academic 
 instruction: it is clear that these difficulties lie partly in 
 the very nature of musical art. For music is not only an 
 art but a science. It is the product of constructive inge- 
 nuity as well as of "inspiration"; its technique is of ex- 
 quisite refinement and appalling difficulty; it appeals to the 
 intellect as well as to the emotion. And yet the intellec- 
 tual element is but tributary, and if the consciousness will- 
 fully shuts its gates against the tide of rapture rushing to 
 flood the sense and the emotion, then in reality music is 
 not, for its spirit is dead. What shall be done with an 
 agency so fierce and absorbing as this? Can it be tamed 
 and fettered by the old conceptions of mental discipline 
 and scholastic routine? Only by falsifying its nature and 
 denying its essential appeal. Some colleges attempt so to 
 evade the difficulty, and lend favor, so far at least as 
 credit is concerned, only to the theoretical studies in which 
 the training is as severe, and almost as unimaginative, as 
 it is in mathematics. But to many this appears too much 
 like a reversion to the viewpoint of the mediaeval con- 
 vent schools which classed music in the quadrivium along 
 with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. Neither the cre- 
 ative power nor the aesthetic receptivity is considered in 
 such courses as these, and the spirit of music revolts 
 against this confinement and gives its pedantic jailers no 
 peace. 
 
 Shall practical courses in playing and singing be ac- 
 cepted? Now the objection arises that any proficiency 
 with which a student — at least a talented one — would be 
 satisfied, entails hours each day of purely technical prac- 
 tice, involving little of the kind of mental activity that is 
 presupposed in the tradition of college training. Those 
 institutions that have no practical courses are logical, at all 
 
 Vital 
 
 function of 
 music in 
 college cur- 
 riculum is 
 emotional 
 and aesthetic 
 
 The practi- 
 cal course 
 as dis'cipli- 
 nary as the 
 theoretical 
 
468 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Lack of col- 
 lege-trained 
 teachers 
 adds to dif- 
 ficulty of 
 recognizing 
 music as 
 a college 
 subject 
 
 events, and seem to follow the line of least resistance. But 
 the opposition against the purely theoretical side of musical 
 culture will not down, and the " practical '" element makes 
 steady headway as the truth shines more clearly upon the 
 administrative mind that musical performance is not a 
 matter of mechanical technique alone, but of scholarship, 
 imaginative insight, keen emotional reaction, and interpre- 
 tation which involves a sympathetic understanding of the 
 creative mind. The objection to practical exercise dwindles 
 as the conception of its nature and goal enlarges. 
 
 Another hindrance presents itself — not so inherent in the 
 nature of the case as those just mentioned — and that is the 
 lack of teachers of music whose educational equipment 
 corresponds in all particulars to the standard which the 
 colleges have always maintained as a condition of election 
 to their corps of instructors. That one who is not a col- 
 lege graduate should be appointed to a professorship or 
 instructorship in a college or university might seem to a 
 college man of the old school very near an absurdity. 
 Yet as matters now stand it would be impossible to fill the 
 collegiate musical departments with holders of the A.B. 
 degree. The large and increasing number of college gradu- 
 ates who are entering the musical profession, especially 
 with a view to finding a home in higher educational insti- 
 tutions, is an encouraging phase of present tendencies, and 
 seems to hold out an assurance that this aspect of the col- 
 lege dilemma will eventually disappear.^ It is possible, 
 however, that the colleges may be willing to agree to a 
 compromise, making a distinction between the teachers of 
 the history and criticism of music and those engaged in the 
 departments of musical theory and performance. Certainly 
 no man should be given a college position who is not in 
 sympathy with the largest purposes of the institution and 
 able to contribute to their realization; but it must be re- 
 membered that broad intelligence and elevated character 
 
 ^ There is an interesting statistical article on the college graduate in 
 the musical profession by W. J. Baltzell in the Musical Quarterly,- 
 October, 1915. 
 
ation 0* 
 music 
 
 The Teaching of Music 469 
 
 are to be found outside the ranks of college alumni, and 
 
 are not guaranteed by a college diploma. 
 
 Amid the iansrle of conflictino; opinions in regard to ?®^^^^"^°^ 
 J ° Til the history 
 
 courses and methods and credits and degrees, etc., etc., andappreci- 
 
 one subject enjoys the distinction of unanimous consent, 
 and that is the history and appreciation of music. This 
 department may stand alone, as it does at Brown University, 
 or it may supplement theoretical and practical courses; but 
 there seems to be a universal conviction that if the colleges 
 accept music in any guise, they must use it as a means of 
 enlarging comprehension and taste on the part of their 
 young people, and of bringing them to sympathetic accept- 
 ance of its finest manifestations. It seems incredible that a 
 college should employ literature and the fine arts except 
 with the fixed intention of bringing them to bear upon the 
 mind of youth according to the purpose of those who made 
 them what they are in the spiritual development of human- 
 ity. Even from the most rigid theoretical and technical 
 drill the cultural aim must not be excluded if the college 
 would be true to itself; how much more urgent is the duty 
 of providing courses in which the larger vision of art, with 
 the resultant spiritual: quickening, is the prime intention! 
 President Nicholas Murray Butler, in his address of welcome 
 to the Music Teachers' National Association at their meet- 
 ing in New York in 1907, struck a note that must find re- 
 sponse in the minds of all who are called upon to deal 
 officially with this question, when he recognized as a de- 
 partment of music worthy of the college dignity "one which 
 is not to deal merely with the technique of musical expres- 
 sion or musical processes, but one which is to interpret the 
 underlying principles of musical art and the various sci- 
 ences on which it rests, and to set out and to illustrate to 
 men and women who are seeking education what those prin- 
 ciples signify, how they may be brought helpfully and in- 
 spiringly into intellectual life, and what part they should 
 play in the public consciousness of a cultivated and civ- 
 ilized nation." 
 
 The first step in understanding the part which the prin- 
 
470 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Emphasis 
 on apprecia- 
 tion rather 
 than tech- 
 nicLue 
 
 The prop- 
 erly trained 
 college 
 teacher 
 of music 
 
 ciples of music should play in the consciousness of a civi- 
 lized nation is to learn the part they have played in history. 
 A survey of this history shows that all the phenomena of 
 musical development, even those apparently transient and 
 superficial, testify to a necessity of human nature, an un- 
 appeasable thirst for self-expression. In view of the re- 
 lationship of musical art to the individual and the collec- 
 tive need, it is plain that musical history and musical ap- 
 preciation must be taught together as a supplementary phase 
 of one great theme. And, furthermore, this phase is one 
 that is not only necessary in a complete scheme of musical 
 culture, but is also one that is conveyed in a language 
 which all can understand. It is significant of the broad 
 democratic outlook of our American institutions of learn- 
 ing, in contrast to the universities of Europe, that the needs 
 of the unprepared students are considered as well as the 
 benefit of those who have had musical preparation, and the 
 mysteries of musical art are submitted to all who desire 
 initiation. Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon this 
 wise and generous attitude toward the fine arts which is 
 maturing in our American colleges; by which they demon- 
 strate their belief in the power of adaptation of all mani- 
 festations of beauty to the condition of every one of in- 
 telligence, however slight the experience or limited the 
 talent. There are, unquestionably, certain puzzling diffi- 
 culties in imparting an understanding of musical structure 
 and principles to those who have not even a preliminary 
 smattering of the musical speech, but the experiment has 
 gone far enough to prove that music, with all its abstruse- 
 ness, complexity, and remoteness from the world of ordi- 
 nary experience, has still a message so direct, so pene- 
 trating, so human and humanizing, that no one can be 
 wholly indifferent to its eloquence when it comes through 
 the ministry of a qualified interpreter. 
 
 A qualified interpreter! — yes, there's the rub. Only a 
 few years ago men competent to teach the history and 
 philosophy of music in a manner which a college or univer- 
 sity could consistently tolerate, were almost non=existent, 
 
The Teaching of Music 471 
 
 and even today many colleges are out of sheer necessity 
 giving over this department to men of very scanty qualifica- 
 tions. Few men have faith enough to prepare for work that 
 is not yet in sight. Then with the sudden breaking out of 
 musical history and appreciation courses all over the 
 country, the demand appeared instantly far in excess of the 
 supply. The few men who had prepared themselves for 
 scholarly critical work were, as a rule, in the employ of 
 daily newspapers, and the colleges were compelled to dele- 
 gate the historical and interpretative lectures to those whose 
 training had been almost wholly in other lines of musical 
 interest. No reputable college would think for a moment 
 of offering chairs of political science, or general history, or 
 English literature to men with so meager an equipment. 
 There is no doubt that the disfavor with which the musical 
 courses are still regarded by professors of the old school 
 is largely due to the feeling that their musical colleagues 
 as a rule have undergone an education so narrow and special 
 that it keeps them apart from the full life of the institu- 
 tion. That this is the tendency of an education that is 
 exclusively special, no one can deny. It is equally undeni- 
 able that such an education is quite inadequate in the case 
 of one who assumes to teach the history and appreciation of 
 music. This subject, by reason of the multifarious relations 
 between music and individual and social life, demands not 
 only a complete technical knowledge, but also a familiarity 
 with languages, general history, literature, and art not less 
 than that required by any other subject that could be men- 
 tioned. The suggestion by a French critic that a lecturer on 
 art must be an artist, a historian, a philosopher, and a poet, 
 applies with equal relevance to a lecturer on music. 
 
 It is only fair to the musical profession to say that its 
 members are as eager to meet these requirements as the 
 colleges are to make them. If music still holds an inferior 
 place in many colleges, both in fact and in esteem, the fault 
 lies in no small measure in the ignorance on the part of 
 trustees, presidents, and faculties of the nature of music, 
 its demands, its social values, and its mission in the de- 
 
472 College Teaching 
 
 velopment of civilization. With the enlightenment of the 
 powers that control the college machinery, encouragement 
 will be given to men of liberal culture and scholarly habit 
 to prepare themselves directly for college work. The hun- 
 dreds of college graduates now in the musical profession 
 will be followed by other hundreds still more amply 
 equipped as critics and expounders. The natural place 
 for the majority of them, I maintain, is not in the private 
 studio or newspaper office, but in the college and university 
 classroom. 
 
 There is no reason in the nature of things why our col- 
 leges and universities should not also be the centers of a 
 concentrated and intensive activity, directed upon research 
 and philosophic generalization in the things of music as in 
 other fields of inquiry. For this they must provide libra- 
 ries, endowments, and fellowships. Such works as Mr. 
 Elson's History of American Music, Mr. Krehbiel's Afro- 
 American Folksongs, and Mr. Kelly's Chopin as a Com- 
 poser should properly emanate from the organized insti- 
 tutions of learning which are able to give leisure and facility 
 to men of scholarly ambition. The French musical histo- 
 rian, Jules Combarieu,. enumerates as the domains constantly 
 open to musical scholarship: acoustics, physiology, mathe- 
 matics, psychology, aesthetics, history, philology, palaeog- 
 raphy, and sociology.^ Every one of these topics has 
 already an indispensable place in the college and univer- 
 sity system — it is for trained scholarship to draw from 
 them the contributions that will relate music explicitly to 
 the active life of the intellect. 
 
 But not for the intellect only. Here the colleges are still 
 in danger of error, due to their long-confirmed emphasis 
 upon concepts, demonstrations, scientific methods, and 
 " positive " results, to the neglect of the imagination, the 
 emotions, the intuitions, and the things spiritually discerned. 
 " The sovereign of the arts," says Edmund Clarence Sted- 
 man, " is the imagination, by whose aid man makes every 
 
 ^ Music; Its Laws and Evolution: Introduction. Translation in Ap- 
 pleton's hiternational Scientific Series. 
 
The Teaching of Music 473 
 
 leap forward; and emotion is its twin, through which 
 come all fine experiences, and all great deeds are achieved. 
 Youth demands its share in every study that can engender 
 a power or a delight. Universities must enhance the use, 
 the joy, the worth of existence. They are institutions both 
 human and humane." ^ 
 
 Institutions which exclude the agencies which act directly The test of 
 to enhance "the joy and the worth of existence" are uni- teaching of 
 versities only in name. Equally imperfect are they if, music in the 
 while nominally accepting these agencies, they recognize Does it en- 
 only those elements in them which are susceptible to scien- rich the life 
 tific analysis, whose effects upon the student can be tested student 
 by examinations and be marked and graded — elements incuSicm 
 
 which are only means, and not final ends. The college for- of an 
 
 1 .1 1 . • . -,. . p . , aesthetic 
 
 ever needs the numanizmg, socializmg power oi music, the interest? 
 
 drama, the arts of design, and it must use them not as con- 
 fined to the classroom or to any single section of the insti- 
 tution, but as the effluence of spiritual life, permeating and 
 invigorating the whole. In the mental life of the college 
 there have always ruled investigation, comparison, analysis, 
 and the temper fostered is that of reflection and didac- 
 ticism. Into this world of deliberation, routine, mechanical 
 calculation, there has come the warm breath of music, art, 
 and poetry, stirring a new fire of rapture amid the em- 
 bers of speculation. The instincts of youth spring to in« 
 hale it; youth feels affiliation with it, for art and poesy, 
 like nature, are ever self-renewing and never grow old. 
 It works to unify the life of the college whose tendency 
 is to divide into sealed compartments of special intellectual 
 interests. It introduces a life that all may share, because 
 men divide when led by their intellects, they unite when led 
 by their emotions. Among the fine arts music is perhaps 
 supreme in its power to refine the sense of beauty, to soften 
 the heart at the touch of high thought and tender senti- 
 ment, to bring the individual soul into sympathy with the 
 over-soul of humanity. It is this that gives music its su- 
 
 ^ The Nature and Elements of Poetry, page 5. 
 
474 College Teaching 
 
 preme claim to an honored place in the halls of learning, 
 as it is its crowning glory. 
 
 The whole argument, then, is reduced to this: that with 
 all the scientific aspects of the art with respect to material, 
 structure, psychological action, historical origins and de- 
 velopments and relations, of which the college, as an insti- 
 tution of exact learning, may take cognizance, music must 
 be accepted and taught just because it is beautiful and pro- 
 motes the joy of life, and the development of the higher 
 sense of beauty and the spiritual quickening that issues 
 therefrom must be the final reason for its use. At the same 
 time it must be so cultivated and taught that it will unite 
 its forces for a common end with all those factors which, 
 within the college and without the college, are now working 
 with an energy never known before in American history for 
 a social life animated by a zeal for ideal rather than 
 material ends, and inspired by nobler visions of the true 
 meaning of national progress. 
 
 Among the worthy functions of our colleges there is none 
 more needful than that of inspiring ardent young crusaders 
 who shall go forth to contend against the hosts of medioc- 
 rity, ugliness, and vulgarity. One encouragement to this 
 warfare is in the fact that these hosts, although legion, are 
 dull as well as gross, and may easily be bewildered and put 
 to rout by the organized assaults of the children of light. 
 So may it be said of our institutions of culture, as Matthew 
 Arnold said of Oxford, that they " keep ever calling us 
 nearer to the true goal of all of us, to the ideal, to per- 
 fection — to beauty, in a word, which is only truth seen 
 from another side." 
 
 Edward Dickinson 
 
 Oberlin College 
 
XXIV 
 THE TEACHING OF ART 
 
 IN this chapter an attempt is made to set forth the aims, Artinstruc- 
 1 iir • ..1 11 tion defined 
 
 content, and methods oi art mstruction m the college. 
 
 In this discussion the word " college " will be regarded in 
 the usual sense of the College of Liberal Arts, and art in- 
 struction as one of the courses which lead to the degree 
 of bachelor of arts. 
 
 There is no term that is used more freely and with less 
 precision than the word " art." In some usages it is given 
 a very broad and comprehensive meaning, in others a very 
 narrow and exclusive one. The term is sometimes ap- 
 plied to a human activity, at other times to the products 
 of but a small part of that activity — for example, paintings 
 and statuary. 
 
 In this chapter the term will be used in accordance with 
 the definition evolved by Tolstoi, who says: "Art is a 
 human activity, consisting in this, that one man consciously, 
 by means of external signs, hands on to others feelings he 
 has lived through, and that other people are affected by 
 these feelings, and also experience them." ^ The external 
 signs by which the feelings are handed on are movements, 
 as in dancing and pantomime; lines, masses, colors, as in 
 architecture, painting and sculpture; sounds, as in music; or 
 forms expressed in words, as in poetry and other forms of 
 literature. The external signs with which art instruction 
 in the college deals are lines, masses, and colors. This 
 discussion, therefore, treats of instruction in the formative 
 or visual arts, which include architecture, painting, sculp- 
 ture, decoration, and the various crafts, in so far as they 
 come within the meaning of the definition given above. 
 
 Concerning the nature of art and the purpose of art 
 instruction in the college, there is so much misunderstanding 
 
 1 Tolstoi, L. N., What Is Art? Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1899. 
 Chapter V, page 43. 
 
 475 
 
476 
 
 College TeacJiing 
 
 Instruction 
 in art 
 should be 
 an integral 
 part of a 
 liberal edu- 
 cation 
 
 Art a social 
 activity 
 
 that it will be well to make an attempt at clarification. 
 Art is too commonly regarded as a luxury — a superfluity 
 that may serve to occupy the leisure of the well-to-do — a 
 kind of embroidery upon the edge of life that' may be 
 affixed or discarded at will. Whereas, art is a factor that 
 is fundamental in human life and development, a factor 
 that has entered into the being of the race from the dawn 
 of reason. Its products, which antedate written history 
 by thousands of years, form the most reliable source of 
 information we possess of the habits and thoughts of pre- 
 historic man. It has been the medium of expression of 
 many of the choicest products of human thought through- 
 out the ages. These products have been embodied in forms 
 other than that of writing. Its functions are limited neither 
 to the citizen, the community, nor the country; they extend 
 beyond national bounds to the world at large. Art belongs 
 to the brotherhood of man. It is no respecter of national- 
 ities. It is obvious that in a general college course, a study 
 of the religious, social, and political factors in civilization 
 that does not include art among these factors is incom- 
 plete. 
 
 The question under discussion concerns the teaching of 
 art to the candidate for the bachelor of arts degree, and this 
 question will be solely kept in view. Since, however, 
 graduates in science, engineering, law, medicine, etc., are 
 not exempt from the needs of artistic culture, they too 
 should have at least an effective minimum of art instruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Art is recognized as a social activity. It enters largely 
 into such practical and utilitarian problems of the com- 
 munity as town planning and other forms of civic improve- 
 ment. As workers in such activities, college graduates are 
 frequently called to serve on boards of directors and com- 
 mittees which have such work in charge. To most of such 
 persons, education in art comes as a post-collegiate activity. 
 Surely the interests of the community would be promoted 
 if the men and women into whose hands these interests are 
 committed had had some formal instruction in art during 
 their college years. 
 
The Teaching of Art 
 
 477 
 
 If by practical education we mean training which pre- 
 pares the individual for living, then the study of an activity 
 that so pervades human life should be included in the 
 curriculum of even a so-called practical college course. 
 Art education has a more important function than to pro- 
 mote the love of the beautiful, to purify and elevate public 
 taste, to awaken intellectual and spiritual desires, to create 
 a permanent means of investing leisure. Important as all 
 these purposes are, they are merely a part of a larger one 
 — that of revealing to the student the relationship of art to 
 living. 
 
 Art expression has the quality of utmost flexibility. This I'lexibiiity 
 flexibility appears also in art instruction, and it is for this expression 
 reason that in no two institutions of higher learning is the "^e^e^^^i^^s 
 
 problem of art instruction attacked in the same way. There 
 is, consequently, a great diversity in the types of art courses, 
 even in the college. 
 
 The flexibility of art instruction is both advantageous and 
 embarrassing. It is an advantage in that it can be adapted 
 to almost any requirement. It can be applied to the occu- 
 pations of the kindergarten, or it can be made an intensive 
 study suitable for the graduate school. But this very 
 breadth is also a source of weakness in that it tends to di- 
 vert the attention from that precision of purpose which all 
 formal instruction should have, however elementary or ad- 
 vanced. It is apt to be too scattering in its aims. It is not 
 easy to determine exact values either in the subject studied 
 or in the accomplishment of the student. Estimates in art 
 are, and should be, largely a matter of personal taste and 
 opinion. They are not infrequently colored by prejudice, 
 especially where the judgment of producing artists is in- 
 voked. This, again, is as it should be. An artist who as- 
 sumes toward all works of art a catholic attitude, weakens 
 that intensity of view and of purpose which animates his 
 enthusiasm. It can easily be understood that to a larger 
 extent than in other subjects the nature and scope of art in- 
 struction depends upon the personality of the instructor. 
 
 flexibility of 
 art instruc- 
 tion 
 
478 College Teaching 
 
 Values of The flexibility to which we have adverted adapts art in- 
 
 art instruc- . . , . i • i • 
 
 tion struction to diverse educational aims. 
 
 In that it can be made to conduce to accurate observation 
 of artistic manifestations, and to logical deduction there- 
 from, it may be given a disciplinary purpose. In its 
 highest development, to which only the specially gifted can 
 attain, the ability to observe accurately and to deduce logi- 
 cally demands the most exacting training of the eye, of the 
 visual memory, and of the judgment. As an example of 
 the exercise of this sort of discipline we may cite Professor 
 Waldstein's recognition of a marble fragment in the form 
 of a head in the Louvre as belonging to a metope of the 
 Parthenon. When, after Professor Waldstein's suggestion 
 of the probable connection, a plaster cast of the head was 
 taken to the British Museum and placed upon the headless 
 figure of one of the metopes, the surfaces of fracture were 
 found to correspond.^ The most useful application of this 
 ability lies in the correct attribution of works of art to their 
 proper schools and authorship. Signor Morelli in his 
 method of identification used a system that is almost 
 mechanical, yet the evidence supplied by concurrence or 
 discrepancy of form in the delineation of anatomical details 
 was supplemented by a highly cultivated sense for style, for 
 craftsmanship, and for color as well as by an extensive 
 historical knowledge. 
 
 In that art instruction cultivates taste and the apprecia- 
 tion of works of art, it has a cultural purpose. By many 
 persons it is assumed that this is its sole value. 
 
 In that it serves to illuminate the study of the progress 
 of civilization, it has an informative purpose. 
 
 In that it enables the technical student to correlate his 
 work with that of past and present workers, it aids 
 in the preparation for professional studies. 
 
 Art has been defined as " the harmonic expression of the 
 emotions." - Accepting this definition as a modified con- 
 
 ^Waldstein: Essays on the Art of Pheidias, Cambridge University 
 
 Press, 1885, pages 95 et seq. 
 2 Neiv Princeton Review, II, 29. 
 
The Teaching of Art 479 
 
 densation of Tolstoi's definition, it is clear that in a work Difference 
 of art two separate personalities are involved — that which techScai 
 makes the expression, and the other to whom the expres- and lay 
 sion is addressed; thus, there are artists on the one hand, art one of 
 and the public on the other. Since we shall have to speak ©mpiiasis 
 of two distinct classes of students, — namely, those who 
 are in training as future artists (as architects, painters, 
 scupltors, designers, etc.), and those who are taking courses 
 in the understanding or appreciation of art, — it will be con- 
 venient in this discussion to refer to the former as art stu- 
 dents and to the latter as lay students. 
 
 Formal art instruction has been offered by colleges to 
 both these groups. It is evident that for the training of the 
 art student emphasis must be placed upon the technique of 
 creative work, whereas for the lay student emphasis must be 
 placed upon the study of the theory and the history of art. 
 It would seem, however, that these two methods are not 
 mutually exclusive; nor should they be, for the art student 
 would surely gain by a study of the principles of art and 
 its history, while the lay student would profit by a certain 
 amount of practice directed by an observance of the prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Mr. Duncan Phillips, in an article entitled " What Instruc- 
 tion in Art Should the College A.B. Course Offer to the 
 Future Writer on Art? " proposes a hypothetical course in 
 which " the ultimate intention would be to awaken the 
 aesthetic sensibilities of the youthful mind, to encourage the 
 emergence of the artists and art critics, and the establish- 
 ment of a residue of well-instructed appreciators." ^ 
 
 This proposal assumes the desirability of the completion 
 of a general course designed for college students, before 
 beginning the special courses designed for those individuals 
 whose aptitudes seem to fit them for successful careers as 
 artists on the one hand, or as successful writers on art, 
 or art instructors on the other. 
 
 In this place the question of professional training will 
 not be discussed. The courses under consideration are 
 
 1 The American Magazine of Art, Vol. 8, No. 5, page 177. 
 
480 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 A general 
 course of 
 study — 
 Must "be 
 adjusted to 
 local con- 
 ditions 
 
 designed to serve the group of lay students from which 
 specialists may, from time to time, emerge. It is of the 
 utmost importance that provision for the further training 
 of such specialists should be made in the college, in the 
 postgraduate school, or in an allied professional school 
 of art. 
 
 In view of the great diversity in the treatment of the 
 subject in different colleges, it will be impossible to pre- 
 sent a series of courses that might, under other conditions, 
 be representative of a general practice throughout the 
 country. On the other hand, the attempt to make an epi- 
 tome of the various methods in use at the more important 
 colleges would result in the presentation of a succession of 
 unrelated statements drawn from catalogues which would 
 be hardly less exasperating to the reader than it would be 
 for him to follow, successively, the outlines as presented in 
 the catalogues themselves. Various summaries of these 
 outlines have been made, and to these the reader is re- 
 ferred.^ 
 
 An attempt is here made to set forth a programme 
 which is offered as a suggestion, upon which actual courses 
 may be based, with such modifications as are demanded by 
 local conditions, the number and personal training of the 
 teaching staff, and the physical equipment available. 
 
 The task before the college art instructor is to culti- 
 vate the lay student's understanding and appreciation of the 
 works of art and to develop an ardent enthusiasm for his 
 
 1 Woodward, W. " Art Education in the Colleges," Art Education 
 in the Public Schools of the United States, edited by J. P. Haney; 
 American Art Annual, New York, 1908. 
 
 Ankeney. J. S., Woodward, W., Lake, E. J., " Final Report of the 
 Committee on the Condition of Art Instruction in Colleges and Uni- 
 versities." Seventeenth Annual Report of the Western Drawing 
 and Manual Training Association. Minneapolis, 1910. 
 
 Kelley, C. F., "Art Education." Report of the Commissioner of 
 Education, Vol. I, Chap. XV, Washington, D. C, 1915. 
 
 Smith, E. B., The Study of the History of Art in the Colleges and 
 Universities of the United States. University Press, Princeton, 
 1912. 
 
art in- 
 struction 
 
 The Teaching of Art 481 
 
 subject, tempered by good taste. This understanding will 
 
 be based upon a workable body of principles which the 
 
 student can use in making his artistic estimates and choices. 
 
 Such a body of principles will constitute his theory of art. 
 
 Art instruction for lay students may be presented in two ^^° 
 
 ■' J r methods of 
 
 ways : presenting 
 
 1. By the study of theory supplemented by the experi- 
 mental application of theory to practice, as by drawing, to lay 
 design, etc. ^*'^^""*" 
 
 2. By the study of theory supplemented by an applica- 
 tion of theory to the analysis and estimation of works of 
 art as they are presented in a systematic study of the history 
 of art. 
 
 Consider now the relation of practice and history to 
 theory: 
 
 First as to practice: Art instructors are divided into 
 three camps on the question of giving to the lay student 
 instruction in practice: (1) Those who believe that not only 
 is practice unnecessary in the study of theory, but actually 
 harmful; (2) those who believe that practice will aid in a 
 study of the theory of art; (3) Those who believe that prac- 
 tice is indispensable and who would, therefore, require that 
 all students supplement their study of the theory of art by 
 practice. As may be surmised, by far the largest number 
 of advocates is found in the middle division. 
 
 One form of practice is Representation. In this form 
 the student begins by drawing in freehand very simple ob- 
 jects either in outline or mass, and proceeds through more 
 advanced exercises in drawing from still life, to drawing 
 and painting of landscape and the human figure. With the 
 addition of supplementary studies, such as anatomy, per- 
 spective, modeling, composition, craft work, theory, history, 
 etc., this would be, broadly speaking, the method followed 
 in schools of art, where courses, occupying from two to four 
 or five years, are given, intended primarily for those who 
 expect to make some sort of creative art their vocation. 
 
 It is this kind of work which opponents to practice for 
 the lay student have in mind. They claim that only by 
 
482 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Relative 
 value of 
 freehand 
 drawing 
 and design 
 
 long and severe training can he produce such works a» 
 will give satisfaction to him or to others who examine his 
 handiwork. They contend that the understanding of works 
 of art is not dependent upon ability to produce a poor ex- 
 ample. They offer many amusing analogies as arguments 
 against practice courses for lay students. They maintain 
 that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, rather than in 
 the making; that to enjoy music one need not practice five- 
 finger exercises; that other creatures than domestic fowls 
 are capable of judging of the quality of eggs; that to ap- 
 preciate the beauty of a tapestry it is not necessary to ex- 
 amine the reverse side. It will perhaps be sufficient, for 
 the present, to point out that in so far as such alleged anal- 
 ogies can be submitted for arguments, they are equally ap- 
 plicable to laboratory courses in any subject which is stud- 
 ied with a non-professional or non-vocational purpose. 
 
 It is true, however, that such a course as that outlined 
 above demands a large amount of time, compared with the 
 results attained; and while successful courses in Representa- 
 tion are offered in certain colleges, the great m-ass of col- 
 lege students, who cannot hope to acquire a high degree of 
 skill, would hesitate to devote a large part of their train- 
 ing to technical work, even if college faculties were willing 
 to grant considerable proportions of credit for it toward the 
 bachelor of arts degree. 
 
 It will be understood by the reader that the value of ele- 
 mentary freehand drawing as a means of discipline or as an 
 aid to the technical student is not under discussion. The 
 value of drawing as a fundamental language for such pur- 
 poses is universally admitted. The questions are these: 
 Can some form of practice in art be used to aid in the under- 
 standing of the principles of art? Is representative draw- 
 ing the only form of practice available for the lay student 
 who undertakes the study of art? Fortunately, the advo- 
 cates of practice can offer an alternative; namely Design. 
 Mr. Arthur Dow distinguishes between the Drawing method 
 (Representation) and the Design method by calling 
 the former Analytical and the latter Synthetical. In 
 
The Teaching of Art 483 
 
 an article on "Archaism in Art Teaching"^ he says: 
 " I wish to show that the traditional ' drawing method ' of 
 teaching art is too weak to meet the new art criticism and 
 new demands, or to connect with vocational and industrial 
 education in an effective way; but that the ' Design method ' 
 is broad and strong enough to do all of these things." 
 
 " The drawing method," he continues, " is analytic, deal- 
 ing with the small, the details, the application of art; the 
 design method is synthetic, dealing with wholes, unities, 
 principles of art." 
 
 Mr. Dow carries his exposition into the application of the 
 Design method to vocational work, but it can be used with 
 equal effect in supplementing the lay student's study of art. 
 
 But the questions immediately arise: Is not a prepara- 
 tion as long and arduous required to make a designer as to 
 make a painter or a sculptor? And is not the half-baked 
 designer in as sorry a plight as the half-baked artist of any 
 kind? The answer to both is simple: The lay student is 
 not in any degree a painter or a sculptor or a designer, 
 neither is he in training for any of these professions. The 
 advantage of the Design method is, that with no skill what- 
 soever in drawing, the beginner in the study of art can apply 
 to his own efforts the same principles of design which have 
 from time immemorial entered into the creation of great 
 works of art. The college freshman planning a surface de- 
 sign with the aid of " squared " paper is applying the same 
 principles that guided the hand of Michelangelo as it swept 
 across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 
 
 Such principles as symmetry, balance, rhythm, emphasis, 
 harmony in form, mass, value, and color can be inculcated 
 by solving the simplest as well as the most complicated 
 problems. A graded series of exercises can be undertaken 
 by the student that will, with a comparatively small amount 
 of manual skill carry him a considerable distance in the 
 understanding of the principles of design upon which all 
 creative art rests. Another advantage is that, in the process, 
 
 "^Nineteenth Annual Report, Western Drawing and Manual Training 
 Association, Cincinnati, 1912, page 19. 
 
484 College Teaching 
 
 considerable skill in freehand drawing also can be acquired. 
 But this advantage is merely incidental. 
 
 The greatest value lies in the fact that the Design method 
 offers to the student an excellent means of self-expression. 
 The student, through no fault of his, is too prone to absorb 
 and too little inclined to yield of the fruits of his knowl- 
 edge. Herein lies a partial remedy for the tendency of col- 
 lege students to make receptacles of their minds into which 
 knowledge is poured through the ear by listening to lec- 
 tures, or through the eye by reading. Herein is a means 
 of overcoming mental inertia, for, certainly, the solution 
 of a problem in design calls for thought — the amount of 
 mental exertion being commensurate with the difficulty of 
 the problem. In this, the Design method is superior to the 
 Representation method, though it would be an error to 
 assume that freehand drawing is chiefly a manual opera- 
 tion. Such an error is entertained by those only who never 
 have learned to draw. Another considerable value lies 
 in the fact that even if the lay student of design should in 
 later life never set hand to paper, — as he probably will not, 
 any more than he who has taken courses in drawing and 
 painting will ever attempt to paint a picture, — yet he has 
 come into practical contact with the leading principles of 
 art, and has gained a knowledge that can be applied not 
 merely to the discriminating understanding of the artistic 
 qualities of the exhibits in art museums or in private gal- 
 leries, but to the art of every day. It can be applied to the 
 estimating of the artistic value of a poster, a book cover, 
 or a title page; to the choosing of wall paper; to the arrang- 
 ing of the furniture in a room; to the laying out of a garden; 
 to intelligent cooperation in the designing of a house or 
 in replanning, on paper at least, the street system of a 
 city; or to the selecting of a design for a public memorial. 
 It is not to be assumed that in thus exercising a cultivated 
 taste he would always make conscious application of the 
 principles of design in making his estimates. These would 
 have so entered into his habit of thought that he would 
 unconsciouslv make what Mr. Dow calls " fine choices." 
 
The Teaching of Art 485 
 
 The educational value of the Design method is almost 
 universally recognized in the art departments of our public 
 schools and in our art schools, and it is probable that when 
 its aims and methods are better understood by our college 
 faculties, its disciplinary, cultural, and informative value 
 will be more widely recognized in the college of liberal 
 arts, and that it will take equal rank with theme and report 
 writing as a means of cultivating a taste for literature, with 
 the practice of harmony and counterpoint as a means of 
 appreciating music, and with laboratory work in acquiring 
 knowledge of a science. 
 
 Next, consider art history as a means of inculcating Arthis- 
 the principles of art. It is evident that the emotions or ^^^sot 
 
 feelinsfs of the artist and the methods he employs to express inculcating 
 
 DriuciT)l6s 
 
 them may be studied in such masterpieces as the Hermes of art 
 of Praxiteles and the Lincoln of St. Gaudens. In either he 
 may observe the application of the principles of balance, 
 mass, repose, harmony, and the analysis of character. In 
 either he may study the technique which involves the ma- 
 terial of the statues, the tools employed, and the manner of 
 working. 
 
 There is, however, great advantage in considering such 
 examples in their place in the evolution of art, and their 
 significance in their relation to the social and political 
 development of the human race — in other words, in study- 
 ing systematically the history and development of art. 
 
 Instruction in history of art is not without its pitfalls. 
 It is too apt to lapse into a mere listing of names and dates 
 of artists and their work, with the introduction of interest- 
 ing biographical details and some discussion limited to the 
 subjects treated in selected examples. It is often too much 
 concerned with who, when, and where and not sufficiently 
 with why and how. A person may possess a large fund 
 of the facts of art history and yet have but little understand- 
 ing or appreciation of the aims and underlying principles 
 of art production. It should never be forgotten that for 
 the college student the history of art is merely a convenient 
 scheme or system upon which to base discussions of the 
 
486 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Years in 
 which 
 art courses 
 should be 
 offered 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion and 
 content of 
 courses in 
 art 
 
 principles of art as involved in the works themselves, an 
 outline for the study of the artistic affiliations of any artist 
 with the great company of his antecedents, his contem- 
 poraries, and his successors. The instructor should never 
 regard practice or history as ends in themselves, but as 
 means to the development of the understanding. 
 
 In some colleges only the more advanced students are per- 
 mitted to take art courses. It does not seem wise thus to 
 limit the years in which courses may be taken. An elemen- 
 tary course should be offered in the freshman year, while 
 other courses of increasing difficulty should be offered in 
 each of the succeeding years. The greatest variety is seen 
 in the colleges throughout the country in the amount of 
 art taught, and the amount of credit given toward the 
 A.B. degree. When the subject is elected as a " minor," 
 it should be one-tenth to one-eighth of all the work under- 
 taken by a candidate for the bachelor's degree; while a 
 "major" elective usually should cover from one-fifth to 
 one-fourth of all the work of a candidate for the same 
 degree. Some zealous advocates maintain that a certain 
 amount of art training should be required for gradua- 
 tion. Valuable as art training would be to every 
 graduate, it does not seem wise to make art a required 
 subject in the curriculum. To compel men and women 
 to study art against their will would destroy much of the 
 charm of the subject both for the teacher and the student. 
 Unless the subject is pursued with enthusiasm by both, it 
 loses its value. 
 
 The courses suggested are as follows: 
 
 Course I (Freshman year). Introduction to the study 
 of art. A study of the various forms of artistic expres- 
 sion, together with the principles which govern those 
 forms. The study would be carried on (1) by means 
 of lectures, (2) by discussions led by the instructor and 
 carried on by members of the class, (3) by laboratory 
 or studio practice in the application of the principles 
 of art expression to graded problems in design, (4) by 
 collateral reading, (5) by the occasional writing of themes 
 
TJie Teaching of Art 487 
 
 and reports, (6) by excursions to art collections (public 
 and private), artists' studios, and craft shops. 
 
 Some of the topics for lectures and discussion would 
 be: Primitive art and the factors which control its rise 
 and development; principles of harmony; design in the 
 various arts; an outline study of historic ornament; com- 
 position in architecture, painting, and sculpture; concept 
 in art, with a study of examples drawn from the master 
 works of all ages; processes in the artistic crafts; applica- 
 tion of the principles of design to room decoration. 
 
 The studio or laboratory work would include: Applica- 
 tiori of the principles of design; spacing of lines and 
 spots; borders and all-over designs achieved by repetition 
 of various units; studies in symmetry and balance; color 
 study, including hue, value, intensity; exercises in color 
 harmony; problems in form and proportions, decoration 
 of given geometrical areas; applications to practical uses; 
 studies in form and color from still life; use of char- 
 coal, brush, pastel, water color; simple exercises in 
 pictorial composition; problems in simplification neces- 
 sitated by technique; application of principles of design 
 to room decoration. (This course would be prerequisite 
 for all subsequent courses in practice.) 
 
 Course II (Sophomore year). A general course in the 
 history of art. A consideration of the development of the 
 arts of architecture, sculpture, and painting from prehis- 
 toric periods to recent times. In this course emphasis 
 would be laid upon the periods of higher attainments in 
 artistic expression, and the discussions would be directed 
 toward the qualities of great masterpieces rather than 
 toward those of the multitude of lesser works. 
 
 The work would be carried on (1) by means of 
 lectures; (2) by discussions led by the instructor and 
 carried on by members of the class; (3) by collateral 
 reading; (4) by study of original works of art, photo- 
 graphs, and other forms of reproduction; (5) by the 
 writing of themes and reports; (6) by visits to art 
 galleries and artists' studios. (This course would be pre- 
 
488 College Teaching 
 
 requisite for all subsequent courses in history, etc.) 
 Following these two general courses there should be 
 two groups of courses: Group A, Practice courses: 
 Group Bi History courses. Candidates for the A.B. de- 
 gree who expect to take postgraduate work in creative art 
 or in the teaching of creative art would elect chiefly 
 from Group A. Lay students who are candidates for the 
 A.B. degree and who expect to make writing or criticism 
 in art, or teaching of art to lay students, or art museum 
 work their vocation, would elect chiefly from Group B; 
 as would, also, those composing the greater number, who 
 study art as one means of acquiring general culture. 
 
 In the following lists of courses the grade of each 
 course is indicated by a roman numeral placed after the 
 title of the course, the indications being as follows: 
 
 I. Elementary (primarily for freshmen and sopho- 
 mores). 
 II. Intermediate (primarily for sophomores and 
 juniors). 
 
 III. Advanced (primarily for juniors and seniors). 
 
 IV. Graduate (primarily for seniors and graduates). 
 
 Beyond these indications no attempt is here made to pre- 
 scribe the subdivisions of the courses, nor the number of 
 hours per week, nor the number of weeks per year in each 
 course. 
 
 GROUP a: practice courses 
 
 Al Freehand Drawing. (I) Drawing in charcoal and 
 pencil from simple objects, plaster casts, still life, etc. 
 Elements of perspective with elementary problems. 
 
 A2 Freehand Drawing (continued). (11) Drawing in 
 charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, brush (monochrome in 
 water color) from plaster casts, still life and the costumed 
 figure. Out-of-door sketching. 
 
 A3 Color (Water Color or Oil Color). (II) Drawing 
 in color from still life and the costumed figure. Out-of- 
 door sketching. 
 
The Teaching of Art 489 
 
 A4 Modeling. (Ill) Modeling in clay from casts of 
 antique sculpture and of architectural ornament as an aid 
 to the study of form and proportion. 
 
 AS Advanced Design. (Ill) Theory and practice. (Con- 
 tinuation of Course I. Introduction to the study of art.) 
 
 A6, A7, . . . etc. Advanced Courses in Drawing, Paint- 
 ing, Modeling, and Applied Design (IV) selected from the 
 following: Studies in various media from life. Compo- 
 sition. Illustration. Portrait work. Practical work in 
 pottery, bookbinding, enameling, metal work, interior deco- 
 ration, wood carving, engraving, etching. These courses 
 would be supplemented by lectures on the theory and prin- 
 ciples of art. Topics of such lectures would be: Theory 
 of Design, Composition, Technique of the Various Arts, 
 Artistic Anatomy, Perspective, Shades and Shadows, etc. 
 
 GROUP b: history courses 
 
 Bl History of Ancient Art. (II) 
 B2 History of Roman and Medieval Art. (\\) 
 B3 History of Renaissance Art in Italy. (Ill) 
 B4 History of Modern Art. (Ill) History of art in 
 Western Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- 
 turies. 
 
 B5, B6, . . . etc. History of ^Special Periods; Con- 
 sideration of Special Forms of Art, and of Great Masters 
 in Art (IV) selected from the following: Art of Primi- 
 tive Greece, Greek Sculpture, Greek Vases, Early Christian 
 and Byzantine Architecture, History of Mosaic; Medieval 
 Illumination-; Sienese Painters of the Thirteenth and 
 Fourteenth Centuries; Florentine Painting; Domestic 
 Architecture of Various Countries; Leonardo da Vinci 
 and His Works; Art of the Netherlands; History of 
 Mural Painting; History and Principles of Engraving; 
 Prints and Their Makers; Chinese and Japanese Art; Co- 
 lonial Architecture in America; Painting and Sculpture in 
 America, etc., etc. 
 
 No attempt will here be made to comment upon the 
 
490 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Teaching 
 equipment 
 for college 
 courses in 
 art 
 
 general furnishing and equipment of lecture rooms, labora- 
 tories, and studios. Nevertheless, some reference to the 
 special teaching equipment is necessary for the further 
 consideration of the methods of teaching. 
 
 Illustrations are of the greatest importance in the study 
 of art. The best illustrations are original works of art. 
 For manifest reasons these are not usually available in the 
 classroom, and the teacher is dependent upon facsimiles 
 and other reproductions. These take the form of copies^ 
 replicas, casts, models, photographs, stereopticon slides, 
 prints in black and white and in color, including the 
 ubiquitous picture postal card. 
 
 The collections of public art museums and of private 
 galleries are of great value for illustrative purposes; but 
 of still greater value to the student is the departmental 
 museum, with which, unfortunately, but few colleges are 
 equipped. Some colleges have been saddled by well-mean- 
 ing donors with collections of various kinds of works of art 
 which are but ill related to the instruction given in the de- 
 partment of art. The collections of the college museum 
 need not be large but they should be selected especially with 
 their instructional purpose in view. The problems of ex- 
 pense debars most colleges from establishing museums of 
 art; but with a modest annual appropriation a working col- 
 lection can be gradually gathered together. A collection 
 which is the result of gradual growth and of careful con- 
 sideration will usually be of greater instructional value than 
 one which is acquired at one time. 
 
 An institution which owns a few original works of 
 painting, sculpture, and the crafts of representative masters 
 is indeed fortunate, but even institutions whose expenditures 
 for this purpose are slight may possess at least a few 
 original lithographs, engravings, etchings, etc., in its col- 
 lection of prints. 
 
 Fortunately, there are means whereby some of the un- 
 obtainable originals of the great public museums and pri- 
 vate collections of the world may be represented in the 
 college museums by adequate reproductions. The methods 
 
The Teaching of Art 491 
 
 of casting in plaster of Paris, in bronze and other ma- 
 terials; of producing squeezes in papier mache; and of 
 reproducing by the galvano-plastic process, are used for 
 making facsimiles of statues, vases, terra cottas, carved 
 ivories, inscriptions and other forms of incised work, gems, 
 coins, etc., at a cost which, when compared with that of 
 originals, is trivial.^ Paintings, drawings, engravings, 
 etc., are often admirably reproduced by various photo- 
 graphic and printing processes in color or black and white. 
 
 Generally speaking, the most valuable adjunct of the 
 college art museum or of the college art library is the 
 collection of photographs properly classified and filed for 
 ready reference by the instructor or student. 
 
 A specially designed museum building would present 
 opportunities for service that would extend beyond the 
 walls of the art department, but if such a building is not 
 available, a single well-lighted room furnished with suit- 
 able cabinets and wall cases, and with ample wall space 
 for the display of paintings, prints, charts, etc., would be 
 of great service. 
 
 A departmental library of carefully chosen books on the 
 theory, history, and the practice of the various arts, to- 
 gether with current and bound numbers of the best art 
 periodicals of America and of foreign countries, is indis- 
 pensable. 
 
 Methods will naturally depend somewhat upon the size Methods of 
 of the class. In large classes — of, say, more than forty 
 — the lecture method, supplemented by section meetings 
 and conferences, would usually be followed. In the fol- 
 lowing discussion it is assumed that fhe classes will not 
 exceed forty. 
 
 Under the head of Methods of Teaching are here in- 
 cluded: Work in Class and Work outside of Class. 
 
 The work in class consists of lectures; discussions by the 
 members of the class; laboratory or studio work; excur- 
 sions. There is no worse method than that of exclusive 
 
 1 Robinson, D, M., " Reproductions of Classical Art," Art and Archae- 
 ology, Vol. V, No. 4, pages 221-234. 
 
492 College Teaching 
 
 lecturing by the instructor. If the methods employed do 
 not induce the student to do his own thinking, they have 
 but little value. Much of the instructor's time will be oc- 
 cupied in devising methods by which the students them- 
 selves will contribute to their own and their fellows' ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 Discussions led by the instructor and carried on by the 
 members of the class should be frequent. From time to 
 time a separate division of a general topic should be as- 
 signed to each member of the class, who will prepare him- 
 self to present his part of the topic before the class either 
 by reading a paper or otherwise. Discussions by the 
 members of the class, concluded by the instructor, should 
 generally follow this presentation. Topics for investiga- 
 tion, study, and discussion should be so selected as to re- 
 quire the students to make application of their study to 
 their daily life and environment. In this way their critical 
 interest in the design of public and private buildings, of 
 monuments, and of the innumerable art productions which 
 they see about them would be stimulated. 
 
 For the purpose of illustrating lectures and aiding in 
 discussions, prints and photographs may be shown either 
 directly or through the medium of the reflectoscope. Or, 
 they may be transferred to lantern slides and shown by 
 means of the stereopticon. To a limited extent the Lu- 
 miere color process has been used in preparing slides. 
 
 The methods of laboratory and studio work have already 
 been briefly treated under the head of Courses of Instruc- 
 tion, and hardly need to be further amplified here. 
 
 It has already been stated that original works of art 
 are the best illustrations, and that these are but rarely 
 available within the walls of the college. Instructors in 
 institutions which are situated within or near to large 
 centers of population can usually supply this deficiency 
 by arranging visits to museums and other places where 
 works of art are preserved and exhibited; and to artists' 
 studios and to workshops where works of art are produced. 
 Instructors in institutions which are not so situated may 
 
The Teaching of Art 493 
 
 supply the deficiency, in some measure, by arranging for 
 temporary exhibitions in the museum or other rooms of the 
 department. Rotary exhibitions of paintings, prints, craft- 
 work, sculpture, designs, examples of students' work, etc., 
 may be arranged whereby groups of institutions within con- 
 venient distances from each other may share the benefits , 
 offered by such exhibitions, as well as the expense of as- 
 semblage, transportation, and insurance. In arranging for 
 such temporary exhibitions it is essential that only works 
 of the highest quality, of their kind, should be selected. 
 
 Selections can best be made personally by the instructor 
 or by capable and trustworthy agents who are thoroughly 
 informed as to the purpose of the exhibition and as to the 
 needs of the institutions forming the circuits. Such rotary 
 exhibitions possess a wider usefulness than that of serving 
 as illustrative material for the college department of art: 
 they serve also as an artistic stimulus to the membe.rs of the 
 college at large, and to the community in which the college 
 is situated.^ 
 
 The work of students outside of class has already been 
 mentioned. It consists of collateral reading, the study of 
 prints and photographs, and the preparation of written 
 themes and reports. Notwithstanding the lavish produc- 
 tion of books relating to art, there are but very few that 
 are suitable for use as college textbooks. The instructor 
 will usually assign collateral reading from various authors. 
 
 In attempting to measure the success or failure of the Testing 
 
 ... results of 
 
 work, the teacher must ask himself. What do our college artin- 
 
 graduates who have taken art courses possess that is lack- struction 
 
 ing in those who have not taken such courses? 
 
 The immediate test of the results of the work is in the 
 
 attitude of mind of the students. Do they think differently 
 
 about works of art from what they did before entering the 
 
 courses? Is there a change in their habit of thought? 
 
 Have they done no more than accept the lessons they have 
 
 1 Rotary art exhibitions for educational purposes are arranged by 
 the American Federation of Arts, 1741, New York Avenue, Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
494 College Teaching 
 
 been taught, or have they so absorbed them and made them 
 their own that they are capable of self-expression in mak- 
 ing their estimates of works of art? These questions may 
 be answered by the result of the written examination and 
 by the oral quiz. 
 
 It must be confessed that the chief purpose of art in- 
 struction in the college is to supply a lack in our national 
 and private life. Citizens of the older communities of 
 Europe pass their lives among the accumulated art treasures 
 of past ages. The mere daily contact with such forms of 
 beauty engenders a taste for them. Partly through our 
 Puritan origin, partly through our preoccupation with the 
 development of the material resources of our country, we, 
 as a people, have failed to cultivate some of the imponder- 
 able things of the spirit. So far as we have had to do 
 with its creation, our environment in town and village is 
 generally lacking in artistic charm. 
 
 The study by lay students of the art of the past has 
 one chief object; namely, to train them to understand the 
 works of the masters in order that they may discriminate 
 between what is beautiful and what is meretricious in the 
 art of the present day; to learn the lessons of art from 
 the monoliths of Egypt, the tawny marbles of ancient 
 Greece, the balanced thrusts of the Gothic cathedral, the 
 gracious and reverent harmonies of the primitives, the 
 delicate handicrafts of the Orient, the splendors of the 
 Renaissance, the vibrant colors of the latest phase of im- 
 pressionism, and to apply these lessons in the search for 
 hidden elements of beauty in nature and art iii their own 
 country and in their own lives and surroundings. 
 
 Believing, as he does, in the value of artistic culture, 
 it becomes the duty of the college art instructor to teach 
 with enthusiasm unmarred by prejudice; to cultivate in 
 the minds of his students a catholic receptivity to all that 
 is sincere in artistic expression; to open up avenues of 
 thought in the minds of those whose lives would otherwise 
 be barren of artistic sympathy; to cull the best from the 
 experience of the past, and, by its help, to impart to his 
 
The Teaching of Art 495 
 
 hearers some of his own enthusiasm; for their lives cannot 
 fail to touch at some point the borderlands of the magic 
 realm of art. 
 
 Holmes Smith 
 
 Washington University 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Ankeney, J. S., Lake, E. J., and Woodward, W. Final Report of 
 the Committee on the Condition of Art Work in Colleges and 
 Universities. JFestern Drawing and Manual Training Associa- 
 tion. Oak Park, Illinois, 1910. 
 
 Ankeney, J. S. The Place and Scope of Art Education in the Uni- 
 versity. Western Drawing and Manual Training Association, 
 16th Annual Report. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Beaux, Celia. What Instruction in Art Should the College A.B. 
 Course Offer to the Future Artists? The American Magazine of 
 Art. Washington, D. C, October, 1916. 
 
 Blayney, T. L. The History of Art in the College Curriculum. Pro- 
 ceedings of the American Federation of Arts. Washington, D. C, 
 1910. 
 
 Brooks, Alfred. The Study of Art in Universities. Education. 
 Boston, February, 1901. 
 
 Churchill, A. V. Art in the College Course. The Smith Alumnos 
 Quarterly. New York, February, 1915. 
 
 Clopath, H. The Scope and Organization of Art Instruction in the 
 A. B. Course. Western Drawing and Manual Training Associa- 
 tion, 17th Annual Report. Oak Park, Illinois, 1910. 
 
 Cross, H. R. The College Degree in Fine Arts. Western Drawing 
 and Manual Training Association, 17th Annual Report. Oak 
 Park, Illinois, 1910. 
 
 Dow, A. W. Anarchism in Art Teaching. Western Drawing and 
 Manual Training Association, 19th Annual Report. Cincinnati, 
 -1912. 
 
 Dow, A. W. Theory and Practice of Teaching Art. Teachers Col- 
 lege, Columbia University. 2d edition. New York, 1912. 
 
 Dow, A. W. Modernism in Art. The American Magazine of Art. 
 New York, January, 1917. 
 
 Frederick, F. F. The Study of Fine Art in American Colleges and 
 Universities; Its Relation to the Study in Public Schools. Ad- 
 dresses and Proceedings of the National Education Association. 
 Detroit, 1901. 
 
 Heller, 0. Art as a Liberal Study. Western Drawing and Manual 
 Training Association, 17th Annual Report. Oak Park, Illinois, 
 • 1910. 
 
 Jastrow, J. The place of the Study of Art in a College Course. 
 
496 College Teaching 
 
 Western Drawing and Manual Training Association. Oak Park, 
 Illinois, 1910. 
 
 Kelley, C. F. Art in American Universities. Nation, 91: 74. New 
 York, July 28, 1910. 
 
 Kelley, C. F. Art Education. Report of the Commissioner of Edu- 
 cation (Department of Interior, Bureau of Education). Wash- 
 ington, D. C, 1915. 
 
 Leonard, William J. The Place of Art in the American College. 
 Education, 32; 597-607. Boston, June, 1912. 
 
 Low, W. H. The Proposed Department of Art in Columbia Uni- 
 versity. Scribners Magazine. New York, December, 1902. 
 
 Mann, F. M. Cooperaton among Art Workers in Universities. West- 
 ern Drawing and Manual Training Association, 16th Annual Re- 
 port. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Marshall, H. R. The Relation of the University to the Teaching of 
 Art. Architectural Record. New York, April, 1903. 
 
 Monroe, Paul (editor) . Art in Education, etc. Cyclopedia of Edu- 
 cation. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1911. 
 
 Norton, C. E. The Educational Value of the History of Art. Edu- 
 cational Revieiv, New York, April, 1895. 
 
 Phillips, Duncan. What Instruction in Art Should the College A.B. 
 Course Offer to the Future Writer on Art? The American Mag- 
 azine of Art. New York, March, 1917. 
 
 PiCKARD, J. Message of Art for the Collegian. The American Mag- 
 azine of Art. Washington, D. C, February, 1916. 
 
 Robinson, D. M. Reproductions of Classical Art. Art and Archceol- 
 ogy. Washington, D. C, April, 1917. 
 
 Sargent, W. Instruction in Art in the United States. Biennial Sur- 
 vey of Education in the United States 1916-18 (Department of 
 the Interior, Bureau of Education) . Washington, D. C. 
 
 Seelye, L. C. The Place of Art in the Smith College Curriculum. 
 Educational Revieiv. New York, January, 1904. 
 
 Smith, E. B. The History of Art in the Colleges and Universities of 
 the United States. Princeton University Press. Princeton, 1912. 
 
 Smith, Holmes. Art as an Integral Part of University Work. West- 
 ern Drawing and Manual Training Association, 16th Annual Re- 
 port. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Smith, Holmes. The Future of the University Round Table. West- 
 ern Drawing and Manual Training Association. Oak Park, Illi- 
 nois, 1910. 
 
 Smith, Holmes, Lake, E. J., and Marquand, A. The College Art 
 Association of America. Report of Committee Appointed to In- 
 vestigate the Condition of Art Instruction in the Colleges and 
 Universities of the United States. School and Society. Garri- 
 son, New York, August 26, 1916. 
 
The Teaching of Art 497 
 
 Stanley, H. M. Our Education and the Progress of Art. Education. 
 Boston, October, 1890. 
 
 Swift, F. H. What Art Does for Life. Western Drawing and Man- 
 ual Training Association, 18th Annual Report. Springfield, Illi- 
 nois, 1911. 
 
 Sylvester, F. O. Esthetic and Practical Values in Art Courses. 
 Western Drawing and Manual Training Association, 16th Annual 
 Report. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Waldstein, C. The Study of Art in Universities. Harper & Broth- 
 ers. New York, 1896. 
 
 Walker, C. H. Art in Education. Western Draiving and Manual 
 Training Association, 16th Annual Report. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Woodward, W. Art Education in the Colleges. Art Education in the 
 Public Schools of the United States. American Art Annual. 
 New York, 1908. 
 
 Wuerpel, E. H. The Relation of the Art School to the University. 
 Western Drawing and Manual Training Association, 16th Annual 
 Report. St. Louis, 1909. 
 
 Zantzinger, C. C. Report of Committee on Education. Proceedings 
 of the 47th Annual Convention of the American Institute of Arch- 
 itects. Washington, D. C, December, 1913. 
 
 Note. For numerous discussions of problems of college art teaching, 
 the Bulletins of the College Art Association of America may be con- 
 sulted. 
 
PART SIX 
 Vocational Subjects 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 XXV The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 
 
 Ira 0. Baker 
 
 XXVI The Teaching of Mechanical Drawing 
 
 /. D. Phillips and H. D. Orth 
 
 XXVII The Teaching of Journalism 
 
 Talcott Williams 
 
 XXVIII Business Education 
 
 Frederick B. Robinson 
 
XXV 
 THE TEACHING OF ENGINEERING SUBJECTS 
 
 EACH of the preceding chapters of this volume treats 
 of a subject which is substantially a unit in method 
 and content; but the subjects assigned to this chapter in- 
 clude a variety of topics which are quite diverse in scope 
 and character. For example, such subjects as German and 
 physics represent the work of single collegiate departments; 
 while engineering subjects represent substantially the en- 
 tire work of an engineering college, of which there are 
 many in this country, each having a thousand or more 
 students. It is necessary, then, to inquire as to the scope 
 of this chapter. 
 
 I. SCOPE OF THIS CHAPTER 
 
 The contents of the representative four-year engineer- contents 
 ing curriculum of the leading institutions may be classified j^g cur- 
 about as in the table on page 502. In addition to the sub- ^^icuia 
 jects listed, most institutions require freshmen to take gym- 
 nasium practice and lectures on hygiene, and many colleges 
 require freshmen, and some also sophomores, to take 
 military drill and tactics. Formerly many institutions re- 
 quired all engineering freshmen to take elementary shop 
 work; but at present in most institutions this practice has 
 been discontinued, owing to the establishment of manual- 
 training high schools and to the development of other en- 
 gineering subjects. 
 
 The order of the subjects varies somewhat in the dif- 
 ferent institutions. For example, instead of as in the table 
 on page 502, rhetoric may be given in the sophomore year 
 and language in the first. Again, in some institutions a lit- 
 tle technical work is given in the freshman year. Further, 
 the total number of semester-hours varies somewhat among 
 the different institutions. However, the table is believed 
 to be fairly representative. 
 
 501 
 
502 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Contents of Engineering Curricula 
 
 The unit is a semester-hour; i.e., five class-periods a week for 
 
 half a year. 
 
 GENERAL SUBJECT 
 
 Mechanical drawing and de- 
 scriptive geometry 
 
 Rhetoric 
 
 Modern language 
 
 Pure mathematics 
 
 Science — physical and social. 
 
 Theoretical and applied me- 
 chanics 
 
 Technical engineering 
 
 Total 
 
 COLLEGIATE YEAR 
 
 10 
 6 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 36 
 
 II 
 
 36 
 
 III IV 
 
 10 
 20 
 
 36 
 
 32 
 36 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 10 
 6 
 
 8 
 18 
 29 
 
 13 
 60 
 
 144 
 
 The dif- 
 ferent en- 
 gineering 
 curricula 
 
 Below is a list of the principal four-year curricula offered 
 by the engineering colleges of this country. The list con- 
 tains forty different engineering curricula. No one in- 
 stitution offers all of these, but some of the larger and 
 better equipped offer fifteen or sixteen different curricula 
 for which a degree is given. 
 
 1. Architecture (which is usually classified as an en- 
 gineering subject) : general architecture; architectural de- 
 sign; architectural construction. 
 
 2. Ceramics engineering: general ceramics and ceramics 
 engineering; ceramics; ceramics engineering. 
 
 3. Chemical engineering: general chemical engineering; 
 metallurgical engineering; gas engineering; pulp and 
 paper engineering; electro-chemical engineering. 
 
 4. Civil engineering: general civil engineering; railway 
 civil engineering; municipal engineering; structural en- 
 gineering; topographic or geodetic engineering; hydraulic 
 engineering; irrigation engineering; highway engineering. 
 
 5. Electrical engineering: general electrical engineering; 
 telephone engineering; electrical design; power-plant de- 
 sign; electrical railway engineering. 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 503 
 
 6. Marine engineering: general marine engineering; 
 naval architecture; marine engineering. 
 
 7. Mechanical engineering: general mechanical engi- 
 neering; steam engineering; railway mechanical engineer- 
 ing; hydro-mechanical engineering; machine design and 
 construction; heating, ventilating, and refrigerating; in- 
 dustrial engineering; automobile engineering; aeronautical 
 engineering. 
 
 8. Mining engineering: general mining engineering; 
 metallurgical engineering; coal mining; ore mining. 
 
 The first engineering curriculum established was civil 
 engineering, which was so called to distinguish it from 
 military engineering. At first the course contained only 
 a little technical work, but in course of time specialized 
 work was increased; and later courses were established in 
 mining and mechanical engineering, and more recently 
 followed specialized courses in architecture, electrical en- 
 gineering, marine engineering, chemical engineering, and 
 ceramic engineering — about in the order named. The 
 order of the various special courses in the several groups 
 above is roughly that of their establishment. 
 
 In the preceding list are eight groups of curricula, each Number 
 of which contains about 60 semester-hours peculiar to it- nleSng 
 self; and, considering only a single curriculum in each subjects 
 of the eight groups, there are 480 semester-hours of 
 specialized work. In addition there are in the list thirty- 
 two subdivisions, each of which differs from the parent 
 by at least 10 semester-hours. Hence the total number 
 of engineering subjects offered is at least 800 semester- 
 hours. It is safe to assume that for administrative rea- 
 sons, each 3 semester-hours on the average represents a 
 distinct title or topic, and that therefore the engineering 
 colleges of the country offer instruction in 267 different 
 engineering subjects. 
 
 However, the diversity is not so great as the preceding 
 statement seems to imply, since for convenience in program 
 making and in bookkeeping many subjects are listed under 
 two or more heads. For example, a subject which runs 
 
504 College Teaching 
 
 through two semesters will for administrative reasons ap- 
 pear under two different heads in the above computations. 
 Again, the lecture or textbook work in a subject will usually 
 appear under one head and the laboratory work under 
 a separate title. Finally, some subjects which differ but 
 little in character may for convenience be listed under two 
 different titles. If the subjects that are subdivided for 
 the above reasons were listed under a single head, the 
 number of topics would be reduced something like 20 to 
 25 per cent. 
 
 Therefore, the topics of engineering instruction which 
 differ materially in character number about 200. This, 
 then, is the field assigned to this chapter. Obviously it is 
 impossible to consider the several subjects separately. 
 
 II. DIFFERENTIATION IN ENGINEERING CURRICULA 
 
 For a considerable number of years there has been much 
 discussion by both college teachers and practicing engin- 
 eers concerning differentiation in engineering curricula; 
 and the usual conclusion is that undue differentiation is 
 detrimental. But nevertheless specialization has gone on 
 comparatively rapidly and extensively — as shown in the 
 previous article. Since the degree of differentiation deter- 
 mines in a large measure (1) the spirit with which a 
 student does his work, (2) the method of teaching that 
 should be employed, and (3) the results obtained, it will 
 be wise briefly to consider the merits of specialization. 
 The arguments against specialization have been more 
 widely and more earnestly presented than those in favor of 
 specialization. The usual arguments pro and con may 
 be summarized as follows: 
 
 1. It is frequently claimed that the undergraduate is in- 
 capable of wisely choosing a specialty, and that hence 
 specialization should come after a four-year course, — i. e., 
 in the graduate school or by self-instruction after gradua- 
 tion. But the parents and friends of a student usually 
 help him in deciding upon a profession or on a special 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 505 
 
 line of study, and therefore it is not likely that a very 
 serious mistake will be made. Of necessity a decision 
 must be made whether or not to seek a college education; 
 and a decision must also be made between the great fields 
 of knowledge, — liberal arts, agriculture, engineering, etc. 
 If the student decides to take any branch of engineer- 
 ing, he usually has his whole freshman year in which to 
 make a further specialization. At the end of the soph- 
 omore year the specialization has not gone very far; 
 and therefore if the student finds he has made a mistake, 
 it is not difficult to change. 
 
 2. " The undergraduate seldom knows the field of his 
 future employment, and hence does not have the data 
 necessary for an intelligent decision." The young man 
 will never have all of the data for such a decision until 
 he has actually worked in that field for a time, and there 
 is no reason why he should not make a decision and try 
 some particular line of preparation. 
 
 3. Some opponents of specialization claim that the more 
 general the engineering training, the easier to obtain em- 
 ployment after graduation; but this is not in harmony with 
 the facts. The opposite is more nearly true. For ex- 
 ample, who ever heard of a practicing engineer preferring 
 a liberal arts student to a civil engineering student as a 
 rodman? 
 
 4. Specialized courses require that the college should 
 have larger equipment and a more versatile staff. The 
 larger institutions can prepare for specialized sections 
 nearly as easily and cheaply as for duplicate sections; and 
 institutions having only a few students or meager financial 
 support should not offer highly specialized courses. 
 
 5. The opponents of specialization claim that to be a 
 successful specialist one should have a broad training, 
 and that therefore the broader the curriculum the better. 
 It is true that to be. a successful specialist requires a 
 considerable breadth of knowledge, but that does not prove 
 that the student should be required to get all of his general 
 knowledge before he gives attention to matters peculiar 
 
506 College Teaching 
 
 to his specialty. No engineer can be reasonably success- 
 ful in any field with only the knowledge obtained in col- 
 lege, whether that be general or special. 
 
 6. It is claimed that specialization should be postponed 
 to a fifth year. It seems to have been settled by experi- 
 ence that four years is about the right length of the college 
 course for the average engineering student, and that in 
 that time he should test his fitness and liking for his 
 future work by studying some of the subjects relating to 
 his proposed specialized field. 
 
 7. The chief reason in favor of specialization is that the 
 field of knowledge is so vast that it is absolutely necessary 
 for every college student — engineering or otherwise — 
 to specialize; and in engineering this specialization is 
 vitally important, since fundamental principles can be 
 taught most effectively in connection with their application 
 to specialized problems. In no other way is it possible 
 to invest theoretical principles with definite meaning to the 
 student, and by this process it is possible to transform 
 abstract theory into glowing realities which under a com- 
 petent teacher arouse the student's interest and even his 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 8. Specialization in engineering curricula is a natural 
 outgrowth of the evolution of engineering knowledge, and 
 is in harmony with sound principles of teaching. For 
 example, all engineering students should have a certain 
 amount of mechanical drawing; but the best results will 
 be obtained if the civil engineer, after a study of the 
 elementary principles, continues his practice in drawing 
 by making maps, while the mechanical engineer continues 
 his by making details of machinery. Both will do their 
 work with more zest and much more efficiency than if both 
 were compelled to make drawings which meant nothing 
 to them except practice in the art of drawing. Similar 
 illustration can be found throughout any well-arranged 
 engineering curriculum. A vitally essential element in 
 any educational diet is that the subject shall not pall upon 
 the appetite of the student. He should go to every in- 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 507 
 
 tellectual meal with a hearty gusto. The specialized 
 course appeals more strongly to the ambition of the student 
 than a general course. The engineering student selects 
 a specialized course because he has an ambition to become 
 an architect, a chemical engineer, a civil engineer, or per- 
 haps a bridge engineer, a highway engineer, a mechanical 
 engineer, or perhaps a heating engineer or an automobile 
 engineer; and having an opportunity to study subjects in 
 which he is specially interested, he works with zest and 
 usually accomplishes much more than a student who is 
 pursuing a course of study only remotely, if at all, re- 
 lated to the field of his proposed activities after leaving 
 college. Further, the more specialized the course, the 
 greater the energy with which the student will work. 
 
 Many of those who have discussed specialization seem 
 to assume that the only, or at least the chief, purpose of 
 an engineering education is to give technical information, 
 and that specialization is synonymous with superficiality. 
 From this point of view the aim of a college education 
 is to give a student information useful in his future work, 
 and the inevitable result is that the student iTas neither 
 the intellectual power nor the technical knowledge to en- 
 able him to render efficient service in any position in which 
 he will work whole-heartedly. The weakness and super- 
 ficiality of such a student, it is usually said, is due to ex- 
 cessive specialization, while in reality it is primarily due 
 to wrong methods of teaching. Within reasonable limits 
 specialization has little or nothing to do with the result; 
 and under certain conditions, as previously stated, speciali- 
 zation helps rather than hinders intellectual development. 
 If a subject has real educational value and is so taught as 
 to train a student to see, to analyze, to discriminate, to 
 describe, the more the specialization the better; but if a 
 subject is taught chiefly to give unrelated information 
 about details of practice, the more the specialization the 
 less the educational value. 
 
 10. Experience has conclusively shown that an engineer- 
 ing student is very likely to slight a general subject in favor 
 
508 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 of a simultaneous technical or specialized subject. This 
 fact, together with the necessity of a fixed sequence in 
 technical engineering subjects, makes it practically impos- 
 sible to secure any reasonable work in most general sub- 
 jects when a student is at the same time carrying one or 
 more technical studies. For these reasons it is necessary 
 to make the later years of the curriculum nearly wholly 
 technical, which makes specialization possible, if it does 
 not invite it. 
 
 Disciplinary 
 values of 
 engineering 
 subjects 
 
 III. AIM OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION 
 
 The three elements of engineering education, as indeed 
 of all education, should be development, training, and in- 
 formation. The first is the attainment of intellectual 
 power, the capacity for abstract conception and reasoning. 
 The second includes the formation of correct habits of 
 thought and methods of work; the cultivation of the ability 
 to observe closely, to reason correctly, to write and speak 
 clearly; and the training of the hand to execute. The third 
 includes the acquisition of the thoughts and experiences of 
 others, and of the truths of nature. The development of 
 the mental faculties is by far the most important, since 
 it alone confers that " power which masters all it touches, 
 which can adapt old forms to new uses, or create new and 
 better means of reaching old ends." Without this power 
 the engineer cannot hope to practice his profession with 
 any chance of success. The formation of correct habits of 
 thinking and working, habits of observing, of classifying, 
 of investigating, of discriminating, of proving instead of 
 guessing, of weighing evidence, of patient perseverance, 
 and of doing thoroughly honest work, is a method of using 
 that power efficiently. The accumulation of facts is the 
 least important. The power to acquire information and 
 the knowledge of how to use it is of far greater value 
 than any number of the most useful facts. The value of 
 an education does not consist in the number of facts ac- 
 quired, but in the ability to discover facts by personal 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 509 
 
 observation and investigation and in the power to use these 
 facts in deducing new conclusions and establishing funda- 
 mental principles. There is no comparison between the 
 value of a ton of horseshoe nails and the ability to make 
 a single naiL 
 
 The engineering student usually desires to reverse the utilitarian 
 above order and assumes that the acquisition of informa- engineering 
 
 tion, especially that directly useful in his proposed pro- ?"pj®cts: 
 r • • 1 1111 r 1 . 1 information 
 
 tession, is the most valuable element oi an education; and and training 
 
 unfortunately some instructors seem to make the same mis- 
 take. The truth is that methods of construction, details 
 of practice, mechanical appliances, prices of materials and 
 labor, change so rapidly that it is useless to teach many 
 such matters. However important such items are to the 
 practicing engineer, they are of little or no use to the 
 student; for later, when he does have need of them, 
 methods, machines, and prices have changed so much that 
 the information he acquired in college will probably be 
 worse than useless. Technical details are learned of neces- 
 sity in practice, and more easily then than in college; 
 whereas in practice fundamental principles are learned 
 with difficulty, if at all. A man ignorant of principles does 
 not usually realize his own ignorance and limitations, or 
 rather he is unaware of the existence of unknown prin- 
 ciples. The engineering college should teach the prin- 
 ciples upon which sound engineering practice is based, but 
 should not attempt to teach the details of practice any 
 further than is necessary to give zest and reality to the in- 
 struction and to give an intelligent understanding of the 
 uses to be made of fundamental principles. 
 
 As evidence that technical information is not essential 
 for success in an engineering profession, attention is called 
 to the fact that a considerable number of men who took 
 a course in one of the major divisions of engineering have 
 practiced in another branch with reasonable success. The 
 only collegiate training one of the most distinguished 
 American engineers of the last generation had was a gen- 
 eral literary course followed by a law course. Further, 
 
510 College Teaching 
 
 a considerable number have successfully practiced engin- 
 eering, after only a general college education, and this in re- 
 cent years when engineering curricula have become widely 
 differentiated. Examples in other lines of business could 
 be cited to show that a knowledge of technical details is not 
 the most important element in a preparation for a profes- 
 sion or for business. The all-important thing is that the 
 engineering student shall acquire the power to observe 
 closely, to reason correctly, to state clearly, that he shall 
 be able to extract information from books certainly and 
 rapidly, and that he shall cultivate his judgment, initia- 
 tive, and self-reliance. A student may have any amount 
 of technical information, but if he seriously lacks any of 
 the qualities just enumerated, he cannot attain to any con- 
 siderable professional success. However, if he has these 
 qualities to a fair degree, he can speedily acquire sufficient 
 technical details to enable him to succeed fairly well. 
 
 The chief aim of the engineering college should be to 
 develop the intellectual power that will enable the student 
 not only to acquire quickly the details of practice, but 
 will also enable him ultimately to establish precedents and 
 determine the practice of his times. Incidentally the en- 
 gineering college should seek to expand the horizon and 
 widen the sympathy of its students. In college classes 
 there will be those who are either unable or unwilling to 
 attain the highest educational ideals, and who will become 
 only the hewers of wood and drawers of water of the en- 
 gineering profession; but a setting before them of the high- 
 est ideals and even an ineffective training in methods of 
 work will prepare them the better to fill mediocre posi- 
 tions. 
 
 The nearly universal engineering college course requires 
 four years. The field properly belonging to even a 
 specialized curriculum is so wide and the importance of a 
 proper preparation of the engineers of the future is so great 
 as appropriately to require more than four years of time; 
 but the consensus of opinion is that for various reasons 
 only four years are available for undergraduate work — 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 511 
 
 the only kind here under consideration. Hence it is of 
 vital importance that the highest ideals shall be set before 
 the engineering students and that the methods of instruc- 
 tion employed shall be the best attainable. 
 
 IV. METHODS OF TEACHING 
 
 Instruction in technical engineering subjects is given by 
 lectures, recitations from textbooks, assigned reading, 
 laboratory work, surveying, field-practice, problems in de- 
 sign, memoirs, and examinations. Each of these will be 
 briefly considered. 
 
 The term " lecture system " will be used to designate Lecture 
 that method of instruction in which knowledge is presented ^^^ ^^ 
 by the instructor without immediate questioning of, or dis- 
 cussion by, the student. In the early history of engineer- 
 ing education, when instruction in technical engineering 
 subjects was beginning to be differentiated from other 
 branches of education, the lecture was the only means of 
 acquainting the student with either the principles or details 
 of engineering practice, since textbooks were then few and 
 unsatisfactory. But at present, when there are so many 
 fields of technical knowledge in which there are excellent 
 books, the lecture system is indefensible as a means either 
 of communicating knowledge or of developing intellectual 
 strength. 
 
 It is a waste of the student's time to present orally that 
 which can be found in print. At best the lecturer can 
 present only about one third as much as a student could 
 read in the same time; and, besides, the student can under- 
 stand what he reads better than what he hears, since he 
 can go more slowly over that which he does not under- 
 stand. The lecturer moves along approximately uni- 
 formly, while some students fail to understand one part, 
 and others would like to pause over some other portion. 
 A poor textbook is usually better than a good lecturer. 
 
 It is a fundamental principle of pedagogy that there 
 can be no development without the activity of the learner's 
 
512 College Teaching 
 
 mind; and hence with the lecture system it is customary to 
 require the student to take notes, and subsequently submit 
 himself to a quiz or present his lecture notes carefully 
 written up. If the student is required to take notes, either 
 for future study or to be submitted, his whole time and 
 attention are engrossed in writing; and at the close of the 
 lecture, if it has covered any considerable ground, the 
 student has only a vague idea of what has been said. 
 Further, the notes are probably so incomplete as to af- 
 ford inadequate material for future study. 
 
 If the subject matter is really new and not found in 
 print, the lecture should be reproduced for the student's 
 use. It is more economical and more effective for the 
 student to pay his share of the cost of printing, than to 
 spend his time in making imperfect notes and perhaps ulti- 
 mately writing them out more fully. 
 
 The lecture system is less suitable for giving instruc- 
 tion in engineering subjects than in general subjects, such 
 for example as history, sociology, and economics, since 
 technical engineering subjects usually include principles 
 and more or less numerical data that must be stated briefly 
 and clearly. 
 
 If a student has had an opportunity to study a subject 
 from either a textbook or a printed copy of the lecture 
 notes, then comments by the teacher explaining some diffi- 
 cult point, or describing some later development, or show- 
 ing some other application or consequence of the prin- 
 ciple, may be both instructive and inspiring; but the main 
 work of teaching engineering subjects should be from care- 
 fully prepared textbooks. However, an occasional formal 
 lecture by an instructor or a practicing engineer upon some 
 subject already studied from a textbook can be a means 
 of valuable instruction and real inspiration, provided the 
 lecture is well prepared and properly presented. 
 
 In the preceding discussion the term " lecture "has been 
 employed as meaning a formal presentation of information; 
 but there is another form of lecture, a demonstration 
 lecture, which consists of an explanation and discussion by 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 513 
 
 the instructor of an experiment conducted before the class. 
 The prime purpose of the experiment and the demonstration 
 lecture is to explain and fix in mind general principles. 
 This form of lecture is an excellent method of giving in- 
 formation; and if the student is questioned as to the facts 
 disclosed and is required to discuss the principles estab- 
 lished, it is an effective means of training the student to 
 observe, to analyze, and to describe. 
 
 This system of instruction consists in assigning a lesson 
 upon which the student subsequently recites. In subjects 
 involving mathematical work, the recitation may consist of 
 the presentation of the solution of examples or problems; 
 but in engineering subjects the recitation usually consists 
 either of answers to questions or of the discussion of a 
 topic. 
 
 The question may be either a " fact " question or a 
 " thought " question. If the main purpose is to give in- 
 formation, the " fact " question is used, the object being 
 to determine whether the student has acquired a particular 
 item of information. Not infrequently, even in college 
 teaching, the question can be answered by a single word 
 or a short sentence; and usually such a question, even if it 
 does not itself suggest the answer, requires a minimum of 
 mental effort on the part of the student. This method 
 determines only whether the student has acquired a number 
 of unrelated facts, and does not insure that he has any 
 knowledge of their relation to each other or to other facts 
 he may know, nor does it test his ability to use these 
 facts in deducing conclusions or establishing principles. 
 Apparently this method of conducting a recitation, or quiz 
 as it is often called, is far too common in teaching engin- 
 eering subjects. It is the result chiefly of the mistaken 
 belief that the purpose of technical teaching is to give in- 
 formation. 
 
 The " thought " question is one which requires the student 
 to reflect upon the facts stated in the book and to draw 
 his own conclusions. This method is intermediate between 
 the " fact " question and the topical discussion ; it is not 
 
 Recitation 
 system 
 
514 College Teaching 
 
 so suitable to college students as to younger ones, and is 
 not so easily applied in engineering subjects as in more 
 general subjects such as history, economics, or social 
 science. It will not be considered further. 
 
 The topical recitation consists in calling upon the 
 student to state what he knows upon a given topic. This 
 method not only tests the student's knowledge of facts, but 
 also trains him in arranging his facts in logical order and 
 in presenting them in clear, correct, and forceful language. 
 
 (1) One advantage of this method of conducting the recita- 
 tion is that it stimulates the student to acquire a proper 
 method of attacking the assigned lesson. Many college 
 students know little or nothing concerning the art of study- 
 ing. Apparently, they simply read the lesson over witih- 
 out attempting to weigh the relative importance of the sev- 
 eral statements and without attempting to skeletonize or 
 summarize the text. The ability to acquire quickly and 
 easily the essential statements of a printed page is an ac- 
 complishment which will be valuable in any walk of life. 
 In other words, this method of conducting a recitation 
 forces the student to adopt the better method of study. 
 
 (2) A second advantage of the topical recitation is that 
 it trains the student in expressing his ideas. It is generally 
 conceded that the engineering-college graduate is deficient 
 in his ability to use good English, which is evidence that 
 either the topical recitation is not usually employed, or 
 good English is not insisted upon, or perhaps both. (3) 
 A third advantage of the topical recitation is that it trains 
 the student in judgment and discrimination — two elements 
 essential in the practical work of all engineers. 
 
 Apparently many college teachers think it more credit- 
 able to deliver lectures than to conduct recitations. The 
 formal lecture is an inefficient means of either conveying 
 information or developing intellectual power, and hence no 
 one should take pride in it. The textbook and quiz method 
 of conducting a recitation is more effective than the lecture 
 system, but is by no means an ideal method of either 
 imparting information or giving intellectual training. 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 515 
 
 Neither of these methods is worthy of a conscientious 
 teacher. The textbook and topical recitation affords an 
 excellent opportunity to teach the student to analyze, to 
 observe, to discriminate, to train him in the use of clear 
 and correct language, and in the presentation of his 
 thoughts in logical order — an object worthy of any teacher 
 and an opportunity to employ the highest ability of any per- 
 son. In the conduct of such a recitation in engineering 
 subjects, there is abundant opportunity to supplement the 
 textbook by calling attention to new discoveries and other 
 applications, and to introduce interesting historic refer- 
 ences. It is often instructive to discuss differences in con- 
 struction which depend upon differences in physical con- 
 ditions or in preferences of the constructor, and such dis- 
 cussions afford excellent opportunities to train the student 
 in discovering the causes of the differences and in weighing 
 evidence, all of which helps to develop his powers of ob- 
 servation and analysis and above all to cultivate his judg- 
 ment. If a teacher is truly interested in his work, such a 
 recitation gives opportunity for an interchange of thoughts 
 between the student and teacher that may be made of great 
 value to the former and of real interest to the latter. The 
 conduct of such a recitation should be much more inspiring 
 to the teacher than the repetition of a formal lecture which 
 at best can have only little instructional value. 
 
 The recitation is such an important method of instruc- ^^/^^^ ^°^^ 
 
 tion that it is believed a few suggestions as to its conduct increasing 
 
 1 ..11 11 1 T • r 1.1 1 £ effectiveness 
 
 may be permissible, although a discussion oi methods ot ^f t^e 
 
 teaching does not properly belong in this chapter. (1) recitation 
 The students should not be called upon in any regular 
 order. (2) If at all possible, each student should be called 
 upon during each recitation. (3) The question or topic 
 should be stated, and then after a brief pause a particular 
 student should be called upon to recite. (4) The ques- 
 tion or topic should not be repeated. (5) The student 
 should not be helped. (6) The question should be so 
 definite as to admit of only one answer. (7) "Fact" 
 questions and topical discussions should be interspersed. 
 
516 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Assigned 
 reading 
 
 Laboratory 
 work 
 
 (8) Irrelevant discussion should be eliminated. (9) The 
 thoughtful attention of the entire class and an opportunity 
 for all to participate may be secured by interrupting a 
 topical discussion and asking another to continue it. (10) 
 Clear, correct and concise answers should be insisted upon. 
 (11) In topical discussions the facts should be stated in a 
 logical order. (12) Commend any exceptionally good an- 
 swer. 
 
 A student is sometimes required to read an assigned 
 chapter in a book or some particular article in a technical 
 journal as a supplement to a lecture or a textbook. Some- 
 times the whole class has the same assignment, and some- 
 times different students have different assignments. Each 
 student should be quizzed on his reading, or should be re- 
 quired to give a summary of it. The method of instruc- 
 tion by assigned reading is most appropriate when the lec- 
 ture presentation or textbook is comparatively brief. This 
 method is only sparingly permissible with an adequate text- 
 book. 
 
 The chief purpose of laboratory work is to illustrate the 
 principles of the textbook and thereby fix them in the 
 student's mind. The manipulation of the apparatus and 
 the making of the observations is valuable training for the 
 hand and the eye, and the computation of the results famil- 
 iarizes the student with the limitations of mathematical 
 processes. The interpretation of the meaning of the re- 
 sults cultivates the student's judgment and power of dis- 
 crimination, and the writing up of the report should give 
 valuable experience in orderly and concise statement. 
 Sometimes the student is not required to interpret the mean- 
 ing or to discuss the accuracy of his results, and some- 
 times he is provided with a tabular form in which he in- 
 serts his observed data without consideration of any other 
 reason for securing the particular information. He should 
 not be provided with a sample report nor with a tabular 
 form, but should be required to plan his own method of 
 presentation, determine for himself what matter shall be 
 in tabular form and what in narrative form, and plan 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 517 
 
 his own illustrations. Of course, he should be required 
 to keep neat, accurate, and reasonably full notes of the lab- 
 oratory work, and should be held to a high standard of 
 clearness, conciseness, and correctness in his final report. 
 Providing the student with tabular forms and sample re- 
 ports may lessen the teacher's labors and improve the ap- 
 pearance of the report, but such practice greatly decreases 
 the educational value to the student. 
 
 In its aims surveying field-practice is substantially the Surveying 
 same as engineering laboratory work, and all the preceding practice 
 remarks concerning laboratory work apply equally 
 well also to surveying practice. Ordinarily the latter has 
 a higher educational value than the former in that the 
 method of attack, at least in minor details, is left to the 
 student's initiative, and also in that the difficulties or ob- 
 stacles encountered require the student to exercise his own 
 resourcefulness. The cultivation of initiative and self-reli- 
 ance is of the highest engineering as well as educational 
 value. Further, in the better institutions the instructor in 
 surveying usually knows the result the student should ob- 
 tain, and consequently the latter has a greater stimulus to 
 secure accuracy than occurs in most laboratory work. 
 Finally, the students, at least the civil engineering ones, 
 always feel that surveying is highly practical, and hence are 
 unusually enthusiastic in their work. 
 
 When properly taught an exercise in design has the Design 
 highest educational value; and, besides, the student is usu- 
 ally easily interested, since he is likely to regard such work 
 ^as highly practical and therefore to give it his best efforts. 
 Instruction in design should accomplish two purposes; viz., 
 (1) familiarize the student with the application of prin- 
 ciples, and (2) train him in initiative. Different subjects 
 necessarily have these elements in different degrees, and 
 any particular subject may be so taught as specially to 
 emphasize one or the other of these objects. 
 
 Sometimes a problem in design is little more than the 
 following of an outline or example in the textbook and 
 substituting values in formulas. The design of an ordinary 
 
518 College Teaching 
 
 short-span steel truss bridge, as ordinarily taught, is an 
 example of this method of instruction. Another example 
 is the design of a residence for which no predetermined 
 limiting conditions are laid down and which does not differ 
 materially from those found in the surrounding community 
 or illustrated in the textbook or the architectural magazine. 
 Such work illustrates and enforces theory, gives the student 
 some knowledge of the materials and processes of construc- 
 tion, and also trains him in drafting; but it does not give 
 him much intellectual exercise nor develop his mental fiber, 
 although it may prepare him to take a place as a routine 
 worker in his profession. Such instruction emphasizes 
 utilitarian training but neglects intellectual development, 
 mental vigor, and breadth of view. 
 
 The exercise in design which has the highest educational 
 value is one in which the student must discover for himself 
 the conditions to be fulfilled, the method of treatment to be 
 employed, the materials to be used, and the details to be 
 adopted. An example of this form of problem is the de- 
 sign of a bridge for a particular river crossing, without 
 any limitations as to materials of construction, type of struc- 
 ture, time of construction, etc., except such as are inherent 
 in the problem and which the student must determine for 
 himself. A better example is the architectural design of 
 a building to be erected in a given locality to serve some 
 particular purpose, with no limitations except perhaps 
 cost or architectural style. 
 
 Experience of several teachers with a considerable num- 
 ber of students during each of several years conclusively 
 shows that students who have had only comparatively little 
 of the design work mentioned in the preceding paragraph 
 greatly exceed other students having the same preparation 
 except this form of design work, in mental vigor, breadth of 
 view, intellectual power, and initiative. This difterence in 
 capacity is certainly observable in subsequent college work, 
 and is apparently quite effective after graduation. 
 Examina- The term " examination " will be used as including the 
 
 comparatively brief and informal quizzes held at inter- 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 519 
 
 vals during the progress of the work and also the longer and 
 more formal examinations held at the end of the work. 
 Usually the examination is regarded as a test to determine 
 the accuracy and extent of the student's information, which 
 form may be called a question-and-answer examination or 
 quiz. A more desirable form of examination is one which 
 requires the student to survey his information on a par- 
 ticular topic, and to summarize the same or to state his 
 own conclusions concerning either the relative importance 
 of the different items or his interpretation of the meaning 
 or application of the facts. Such an examination could 
 be called a " topical examination." The remarks in the 
 earlier part of this chapter concerning the relative merits 
 of the question-and-answer and the topical recitation apply 
 also with equal force to these two forms of examinations. 
 However, the topical examination can be made of greater 
 educational value than the topical recitation, since the stu- 
 dent is likely to be required to survey a wider field and 
 organize a larger mass of information, and also since the 
 examination is usually written and hence affords a better 
 opportunity to secure accuracy and finish. 
 
 It is much easier for the instructor to prepare and grade 
 the papers for the question-and-answer examination than for 
 the topical examination, and perhaps this is one reason 
 why the former is nearly universally employed. Of course, 
 the topical examination should not be used except in con- 
 nection with the topical recitation. Some executives of 
 public school systems require that at least a third, and 
 others at least a half, of all formal examinations shall be 
 topical ; and as the examination papers and the grades there- 
 on are subject to the inspection of the executive, this re- 
 quirement indirectly insures that the teacher shall not neg- 
 lect the topical recitation. Apparently a somewhat similar 
 requirement would be beneficial in college work. 
 
 The term " memoir " is here employed to designate either Memoir 
 a comparatively brief report upon some topic assigned in 
 connection with the daily recitation or the graduating 
 thesis. 
 
520 College Teaching 
 
 The former is substantially a form of laboratory work 
 in which the library is the workroom and books the appa- 
 ratus. This method of instruction has several merits. It 
 makes the student familiar with books and periodicals and 
 with the method of extracting information from them. It 
 stimulates his interest in a wider knowledge than that ob- 
 tained only from the textbook or the instructor's lectures. 
 It is valuable as an exercise in English composition, par- 
 ticularly if the student is held to an orderly form of presen- 
 tation and to good English, and is not permitted simply to 
 make extracts. The value to be obtained from such literary 
 report depends, of course, upon the time devoted to it, and 
 also upon whether the instructor tells the student of the 
 articles to be read or requires him to find the sources of 
 information for himself. 
 Thesis The thesis may be a description of some original design, 
 
 or a critical review of some engineering construction, or an 
 account of an experimental investigation. The thesis 
 differs from other subjects in the college curriculum in that 
 in the latter the student is expected simply to follow the 
 directions of the instructor, to study specified lessons and 
 recite thereon, to solve the problems assigned, and to read 
 the articles recommended; while the preparation of the 
 thesis is intended to develop the student's ability to do inde- 
 pendent work. There is comparatively little in the ordinary 
 college curriculum to stimulate the student's power of in- 
 itiative, but in his thesis work he is required to take the lead 
 in devising ways and means. The power of self-direction, 
 the ability to invent methods of attack, the capacity to fore- 
 see the probable results of experiments, and the ability to 
 interpret correctly the results of experiments is of vital im- 
 portance in the future of any engineering student. Within 
 certain limits the thesis is a test of the present attainments 
 of the student and also a prophecy of his future success. 
 Therefore, the preparation of a thesis is of the very highest 
 educational possibility. Unfortunately many students are 
 too poorly prepared, or too lacking in ambition, or too de- 
 ficient in self-reliance and initiative to make it feasible for 
 
The teaching of Engineering Subjects 521 
 
 them to undertake the independent work required in a 
 thesis. Such students should take instead work under di- 
 rection. Further, it is unfortunate that, for administrative 
 reasons, the requirement of a thesis for graduation is made 
 less frequently now than formerly. The increase in number 
 of students has made it practically impossible to require a 
 thesis of all graduates, because of the difficulty of pro- 
 viding adequate facilities and of supervising the work. 
 Again, it is difficult to administer a requirement that only 
 part of the seniors shall prepare a thesis. Consequently 
 the result is that at present only a very few undergraduate 
 engineering students prepare theses. 
 
 All of the preceding discussion applies only to under- ^^^^duate 
 graduate work. Only comparatively few engineering 
 students take graduate work. A few institutions have 
 enough such students to justify, for administrative reasons, 
 the organization of classes in graduate work, but usually 
 such classes are conducted upon principles quite different 
 from those employed for undergraduates. No textbooks in 
 the ordinary sense are used. Often the student is assigned 
 an experimental or other investigation, and is expected 
 to work almost independently of the teacher, the chief 
 function of the latter being to criticize the methods pro- 
 posed and to review the results obtained. Such work under 
 the guidance of a competent teacher is a most valuable 
 means for mental development, training, and inspiration. 
 
 Ira 0. Baker 
 
 University of Illinois 
 
522 College Teaching 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Below is a list of the principal articles relating to engineering edu- 
 cation, arranged approximately in chronological order. 
 
 1. The annual Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion of 
 Engineering Education, from 1913 to date, contain many valuable 
 articles on various phases of engineering education. Each volume 
 consists of 200 to 300 8vo pages. The society has no permanent ad- 
 dress. All business is conducted by the secretary, whose address at 
 present is University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
 The more important papers of the above Proceedings which are 
 closely related to the subject of this chapter are included in the list 
 below. Many of the articles relate to the teaching of a particular 
 branch of engineering, and hence are not mentioned in the following 
 list. 
 
 2. "Methods of Teaching Engineering: By Textbook, by Lectur- 
 ing, by Design, by Laboratory, by Memoir." Professor C. F. Allen, 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An excellent presentation, 
 and discussion by others. Proceedings of the Society for the Promo- 
 tion of Engineering Education, Vol. VII, pages 29-54. 
 
 3. " Two Kinds of Education for Engineers." Dean J. B. Johnson, 
 University of Wisconsin. An address to the students of the College of 
 Engineering of the University of Wisconsin, 1901. Pamphlet pub- 
 lished by the author; 15 8vo pages. Reprinted in Addresses of Engi- 
 neering Students, edited by Waddell and Harrington, pages 25-35. 
 
 4. " Potency of Engineering Schools and Their Imperfections." 
 Professor D. C. Jackson, University of Wisconsin. An address pre- 
 sented at the Quarto-Centennial Celebration of the University of Col- 
 orado, 1902. Proceedings of that celebration, pages 53-65. 
 
 5. " Technical and Pedagogic Value of Examinations." Professor 
 Henry H. Norris, Cornell University. A discussion of the general sub- 
 ject, containing examples of questions in a topical examination in an 
 electrical engineering subject. Discussed at length by several others. 
 Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Educa- 
 tion. Vol. XV, pages 605-618. 
 
 6. " Limitations of Efficiency in Engineering Education." Professor 
 George F. Swain, Harvard University. An address at the opening of 
 the General Engineering Building of Union University, 1910. A dis- 
 cussion of various limitations and defects in engineering education. 
 Pamphlet published by Union University; 28 small 8vo pages. Re- 
 printed in Addresses of Engineering Students, edited by Waddell and 
 Harrington, pages 231-252. 
 
 7. "The Good Engineering Teacher: His Personality and Training." 
 Professor William T. Magruder, Ohio State University. An inspiring 
 
The Teaching of Engineering Subjects 523 
 
 and instructive presidential address. Proceedings of the Society jot 
 the Promotion of Engineering Education. Vol. XXI, pages 27-38. 
 
 8. " Hydraulic Engineering Education." D. W. Mead, University 
 of Wisconsin. An interesting discussion of the elements an engineer 
 should acquire in his education. The article is instructive, and is 
 broader than its title; but it contains nothing directly on methods 
 of teaching engineering subjects. Bulletin of the Society for the Pro- 
 motion of Engineering Education, Vol. IV, No. 5, 1914, pages 185-198. 
 
 9. " Some Considerations Regarding Engineering Education in 
 America." Professor G. F. Swain, Harvard University. A paper pre- 
 sented at the International Engineering Congress in 1915 in San 
 Francisco, California. A brief presentation of the early history of 
 engineering education in America, and an inquiry as to the effective- 
 ness of present methods. Transactions of International Engineering 
 Congress, Miscellany, San Francisco, 1915, pages 324-330; discussion, 
 pages 340-348. 
 
 10. " Technical Education for the Professions of Applied Science." 
 President Ira N. Hollis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A discus- 
 sion of the methods and scope of engineering education, and of the 
 contents of a few representative engineering curricula. Transactions 
 International Engineering Congress, San Francisco, 1915, Miscellany, 
 pages 306-325. 
 
 11. " What is Best in Engineering Education." Professor H. H. 
 Higbie, president Tau Beta Pi Association. An elaborate inquiry 
 among graduate members of that association as to the value and 
 relative importance of the different subjects pursued in college, of the 
 time given to each, and of the methods employed in presenting them. 
 Pamphlet published by the Association, 107 8vo pages. 
 
 12. " Some Details in Engineering Education." Professor Henry S. 
 Jacoby, Cornell University. A president's address, containing many 
 interesting and instructive suggestions concerning various details of 
 teaching engineering subjects and the relations between students and 
 instructor. Proceedings of the Society for the Promotion of Engineer- 
 ing Education, Vol, XXIII, 15 pages. 
 
 13. " Report of Progress in the Study of Engineering Education." 
 Professor C. R. Mann. Several of the National Engineering Societies 
 requested the Carnegie Foundation to conduct a thorough investiga- 
 tion of engineering education, and the Foundation committed the in- 
 vestigation to Professor C. R. Mann. First Report of Progress, Pro- 
 ceedings of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, 
 Vol. XXIII, pages 70-85; Second Report, Bulletin, same, November, 
 1916, pages 125-144; Final Report: A Study of Engineering Educa- 
 tion by Charles Riborg Mann, Bulletin Number 11, Carnegie Foun- 
 dation for Advancement of Teaching, 1918. 
 
 14. " Relation of Mathematical Training to the Engineering Profes- 
 sion." H. D. Gaylord, Secretary of the Association of Teachers of 
 
524 College Teaching 
 
 Mathematics in New England, and Professor Paul H. Hanus, Harvard 
 University. An elaborate inquiry as to the opinion of practicing en- 
 gineers concerning the importance of mathematics in the work of the 
 engineer. Bulletin of the Society for the Promotion of Engineering 
 Education, October, 1916, pages 54-72. 
 
 15. " Does Present-Day Engineering College Education Produce Ac- 
 curacy and Thoroughness? " Professor D. W. Mead, University of 
 Wisconsin, and Professor G. F. Swain, Harvard University. An ani- 
 mated discussion as to the effectiveness of a collegiate engineering 
 education. Engineering Record, Vol. 73 (May 6, 1916), pages 607- 
 609. 
 
 16. "■ Teach Engineering Students Fundamental Principles." Pro- 
 fessor D. S. Jacobus, Stevens Institute. Address of the retiring presi- 
 dent of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. A clear and 
 forceful discussion of general methods of studying and teaching, and 
 of the choice of subjects to be taught. Engineering Record, Decem- 
 ber 16, 1916, pages 739-740. 
 
 17. A considerable number of thoughtful articles on the general 
 subject of technical education appeared in the columns of Mining 
 and Scientific Press (San Francisco, California) during the year 
 1916. In the main these articles discuss general engineering educa- 
 tion, and give a little attention to mining engineering education. 
 
 18. Since the preceding was written there has appeared a little 
 book, the reading of which would be of great value to all engineering 
 students, entitled How to Study, by George Fillmore Swain, LL.D., 
 Professor of Civil Engineering in Harvard University and in the 
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. McGraw-Hill Book Company, 
 New York City, 1917. 5 x IV2 inches, paper, 63 pages, 25 cents. 
 
XXVI 
 
 THE TEACHING OF MECHANICAL DRAWING 
 
 DRAWING is a mode of expression and is therefore a 
 form of language. As applied in the engineering field 
 drawing is mechanical in character and is used principally 
 for the purpose of conveying information relative to the 
 construction of machines and structures. It seems logical 
 that the methods employed and the standards adopted in the 
 teaching of engineering drawing should be based on an 
 analysis of conditions found in the engineering world. In 
 the best engineering practice the technical standards of 
 drawing are high, so high in fact that they may be used as 
 an ideal toward which to work in the classroom. Exam- 
 ples of good draftsmanship selected from practice may well 
 serve to furnish standards for classroom work, both in tech- 
 nique and methods of representation. 
 
 Engineering drawing demands intellectual power quite 
 as much as it does skill of hand. The draftsman in con- 
 ceiving and planning his design visualizes his problem, 
 makes calculations for it, and graphically represents the re- 
 sults upon the drafting board. The development of the 
 details of his design makes it necessary that he be a trained 
 observer of forms. Since new designs frequently involve 
 modifications of old forms, in his efforts to recall old forms 
 and create new ones, he develops visual memory. If the 
 requirements of a successful draftsman or designer be taken 
 as typical, it is evident that the young engineer must de- 
 velop, in addition to a technical knowledge of the subject, 
 and a certain degree of skill of hand, a habit of quick and 
 accurate observation and the ability to perceive and retain 
 mental images of forms. 
 
 Modern methods of instruction recognize both the motor 
 and mental factors involved in the production of engineer- 
 ing drawings. It is the aim of the drawing courses in 
 engineering colleges to familiarize the student with the 
 
 525 
 
 Mechanical 
 drawing a 
 mode of 
 expression 
 
 Mechanical 
 drawing 
 disciplinary 
 as well as 
 practical 
 in value 
 
526 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Organiza- 
 tion and 
 content of 
 courses in 
 mechanical 
 drawing 
 
 standards of technique and methods of representation found 
 in the best commercial practice; likewise to develop in him 
 the powers to visualize and reason, which are possessed by 
 the commercial draftsman and designers. 
 
 The drawing courses of engineering curricula may be 
 divided into two groups: (1) General courses, in which the 
 principles and methods of representation are taught, to- 
 gether with such practice in drawing as will develop a satis- 
 factory technique. (2) Technical courses, the aim of which 
 is to assist the student to acquire technical knowledge or 
 training, drawing being used primarily for the purpose of 
 developing or testing a student's knowledge of the subject 
 matter. 
 
 The general courses usually include an elementary course 
 and a course in descriptive geometry. These courses deal 
 with the fundamental principles and methods which have 
 universal application in the advanced and technical courses. 
 While the courses of the two groups may overlap, the gen- 
 eral courses precede the courses of the technical group. 
 There is no general agreement as to the order in which the 
 subjects belonging to the general group should be given. 
 Each of the following orders is in use: 
 
 1. A course in descriptive geometry followed by an ele- 
 mentary technical course. 
 
 2. An elementary course and a course in descriptive 
 geometry given simultaneously. 
 
 3. An elementary course followed by a course in descrip- 
 tive geometry. 
 
 The first plan is followed by a number of institutions 
 which conclude, because of the general practice of offering 
 courses in drawing in the secondary schools, that pupils 
 entering college have a knowledge of the fundamentals 
 ordinarily included in an elementary course. In other in- 
 stitutions it is held that the principles of projection can be 
 taught to students of college age in a course of descriptive 
 geometry without preliminary drill. 
 
 Where the second plan is used, the courses are so corre- 
 lated that the instruction in the 'use of instruments given in 
 
The Teaching of Mechanical Drawing 527 
 
 an elementary course is applied in solving problems in 
 descriptive geometry, while the principles of projection 
 taught in descriptive geometry are applied in the making 
 of working drawings. This plan is followed by several 
 of the larger engineering colleges. 
 
 Under the third plan the principles of projection are 
 taught through their applications in the form of working 
 drawings. In this way the principles may be taught in 
 more elementary form than is possible in any adequate 
 treatment of descriptive geometry. The illustration of the 
 principles in a concrete way makes it possible for those 
 who find visualizing difficult, to develop that power before 
 abstract principles of projection are taken up in the descrip- 
 tive geometry. The skill of hand developed in the ele- 
 mentary course makes it possible to give entire attention 
 to a study of the principles in the course in descriptive 
 geometry. While excellent results are being obtained under 
 each of the three plans, this plan is the one most generally 
 adopted. 
 
 The order of courses in the technical drawing groups is 
 
 determined by other considerations than those relating to 
 
 drawing, such as prerequisites in mathematics, strength of 
 
 materials, etc. 
 
 The elementary courses have undergone a number of Theeie- 
 I , . T 1 /• 1 mentary 
 
 important changes durmg recent years. In those oi the courses 
 
 present day more attention than formerly is given to the 
 making of complete working drawings. In the earlier 
 courses the elements were taught in the form of exercises. 
 In the latter part of the courses the elements were combined 
 in working drawings. In the modern courses, however, 
 there is a very marked tendency to eliminate the exercise 
 and make the applications of elements in the form of work- 
 ing drawings throughout the course. 
 
 In the early type of course the theory of projection 
 was taught by using the synthetic method; i. e., by placing 
 the emphasis first upon the projection of points, then lines, 
 surfaces, and finally geometrical solids. In the modern 
 type of course, however, this order is reversed and the 
 
528 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Fundamen- 
 tals of the 
 elementary 
 course 
 
 analytic method is used; i. e., solids in the form of simple 
 machine or structural parts are first represented, then the 
 principles of projection involved in the representation of 
 their surfaces, edges, and finally their corners are studied. 
 In this type of course the student works from the concrete 
 to the abstract rather than from the abstract to the con- 
 crete. 
 
 Geometrical constructions, which were formerly given 
 as exercises and which served as a means of giving excellent 
 practice in the use of instruments, are now incorporated in 
 working drawings and emphasized in making views of ob- 
 jects. It is believed that in the applied form these con- 
 structions offer the same opportunity for the training in 
 accuracy in the use of instruments that was had in the ab- 
 stract exercises, to which is added interest naturally 
 secured by making applications of elements in working 
 drawings. 
 
 Conventions are also taught in an applied form and are 
 introduced as the skill for executing them and the theory 
 involved in their construction are developed in the progress 
 of the course. 
 
 The type of freehand lettering most generally taught is 
 that used in practice; i.e., the single-stroke Gothic. The 
 best commercial drafting-room practice suggests the use of 
 the vertical capitals for titles and subtitles, and the in- 
 clined, lower case letters and numerals for notes and di- 
 mensions. 
 
 The plan generally found to produce satisfactory results 
 is to divide the letters and numerals of the alphabet into 
 groups containing four or five letters and numerals on the 
 basis of form and to concentrate the attention of the student 
 on these, one group at a time. The simple forms are con- 
 sidered first, and enough practice is given to enable the 
 student to proportion the letters and numerals and make the 
 strokes in the proper order. 
 
 It is more natural to make inclined letters than vertical 
 ones, and they are therefore easier to execute. If both 
 vertical and inclined letters are taught, the instruction on 
 
The Teaching of Mechanical Drawifig 529 
 
 the vertical should be given first, as it is more difficult to 
 make vertical strokes after becoming accustomed to the 
 inclined strokes. 
 
 Freehand perspective sketching affords the most natural 
 method of representing objects in outline. It is of par- 
 ticular value in interpreting orthographic drawing. The 
 student who first draws a perspective sketch of an object 
 becomes so familiar with every detail of it that he cannot 
 fail to have a clearer mental image of its form when he 
 attempts to draw its orthographic views. It gives a valu- 
 able training in coordinating the hand and eye in drawing 
 freehand lines and estimating proportions. It also serves 
 as an intermediate step between observing an object and 
 drawing it orthographically. 
 
 Freehand orthographic sketching is now quite commonly 
 incorporated in modern courses in mechanical drawing. 
 Such sketches serve as a preliminary step in the preparation 
 of the mechanical drawing. They correspond to the sketches 
 made by the engineer or draftsman for drafting-room or 
 shop use. The experience of many instructors seems to 
 indicate that the early introduction of freehand perspec- 
 tive and orthographic sketching in a course of mechanical 
 drawing serves as a means of developing that skill in free- 
 hand execution which is so necessary in rendering the free- 
 hand features of a mechanical drawing. When this type 
 of skill is acquired before the mechanical work is started, 
 the mechanical and freehand technique may be simultan- 
 eously developed. 
 
 The organization of an elementary course composed 
 largely of a progressive series of working drawings neces- 
 sitates the giving of considerable attention to the selection 
 of problems involving the use of the above-named funda- 
 mentals to make the course increasingly difficult for the 
 student. The drawing of views involves geometrical con- 
 structions and conventions, while the dimensions, notes, 
 and title involve the making of arrowheads, letters, and 
 numerals. In such an elementary course the student re- 
 ceives not only the training in the fundamentals, but also 
 
530 College Teaching 
 
 in their application in working drawings which furnish com- 
 plete and accurate information in the desired form. 
 Descriptive ^^^ modern methods of teaching descriptive geometry 
 
 apply the theory of the subject to applications in problems 
 taken from engineering practice. The introduction of prac- 
 tical applications adds interest to the subject and makes the 
 theory more easily understood. The number of applica- 
 tions should be as great as possible without interfering with 
 the development of the theory. Such a treatment of descrip- 
 tive geometry, following a thorough course in elementary 
 drawing, should make it possible to deal with abstract prin- 
 ciples of projection with a few well-chosen applications. 
 
 Descriptive geometry aids materially in developing the 
 power of visualization which is so essential to the training 
 of the engineer. The graphical applications of the sub- 
 ject in the solution of engineering problems may be used 
 as a means of testing the student's ability to visualize. 
 
 There is now very little discussion relative to the advan- 
 tages and disadvantages of the first and third angle pro- 
 jection. Since the third angle is generally used in the ele- 
 mentary course as well as in engineering practice, it seems 
 logical that it should be emphasized in descriptive geom- 
 etry. Recent textbooks on this subject confirm the ten- 
 dency toward the use of the third angle. 
 
 The use of the third angle presents new difficulties, such 
 as that of locating the positions of magnitudes in space in 
 relation to their projections. Magnitudes must be located 
 behind or below the drawing surface. To obviate such diffi- 
 culties, some instructors demonstrate principles by first angle 
 constructions. Others invert surfaces which in the first an- 
 gle have their bases in the horizontal plane. This unde- 
 sirable device may be overcome by using a second hori- 
 zontal plane in the third angle. Such means of demonstra- 
 tion may be avoided altogether by considering the space 
 relations of magnitude to one another instead of relating 
 them to the planes of projection. This method centers the 
 attention of the student on the relation of magnitudes rep- 
 resented and develops visualization. It has been found to 
 
The Teaching of Mechanical Drawing 531 
 
 give excellent results in both elementary drawing and 
 descriptive geometry. 
 
 To bring the teaching of descriptive geometry into closer 
 harmony with its application in practice, auxiliary views are 
 frequently used instead of the method of rotations. 
 
 Briefly, then, it appears that the modern course in descrip- 
 tive geometry should contain enough applications to hold the 
 interest of the student and to test his power of visualization; 
 that the third angle should be emphasized, and some use 
 should be made of auxiliary views. Above all, the develop- 
 ment of visualizing ability should be considered one of the 
 chief aims of the course. 
 
 In teaching drawing and descriptive geometry, lectures, 
 demonstrations, and individual instruction each have a place. 
 Principles can best be presented in the form of lectures. 
 The manual part of the work can be presented most effec- 
 tively by means of demonstrations. The instructor should 
 illustrate the proper use of instruments and materials by 
 actually going through the process himself, calling atten- 
 tion to important points and explaining each step as he 
 proceeds. Individual instruction given at the student's 
 desk is a vital factor in teaching drawing, as it offers the best 
 means of clearing up erroneous impressions and minister- 
 ing to the needs of the individual student. 
 
 Frequent recitations and quizzes serve the purpose of 
 keeping the instructor informed as to the effectiveness 
 of his instruction and as a means by which the student 
 can measure his own progress and grasp upon the 
 subject. 
 
 Those drawing courses which have for their primary ob- 
 ject the teaching of technical subject matter make use of the 
 drawings as an instrument to record facts and to test the 
 student's knowledge of principles and methods. 
 
 In the technical courses it should be possible to assume 
 a knowledge of the material given in the general courses. 
 Some effort is usually necessary, however, to maintain the 
 standards already established. The effort thus expended 
 should result in improving technique and increased speed. 
 
 Methods 
 of instruc- 
 tion in 
 general 
 courses 
 
 Methods 
 of instruc- 
 tion in 
 technical 
 drawing 
 courses . 
 
532 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The 
 
 four-year 
 drawing 
 course 
 
 Conclusion 
 
 In an institution where drawing courses are given through- 
 out the four years, much can be done by organization and 
 cooperation to make the time spent by the student produc- 
 tive of the best results. More time than can usually be se- 
 cured for the general courses is necessary to develop skill 
 that will be comparable with that found in practice. The 
 conditions in technical drawing courses approximate those 
 in practice. They apply methods taught in the general 
 courses. The limited time, frequently less than 300 clock 
 hours, devoted to the general courses makes it desirable 
 that advantage be taken in the technical courses for fur- 
 ther development of technique and skill. In a number of 
 institutions allwork in drawing is so organized as to form a 
 single drawing unit. This plan calls for cooperation on 
 the part of all drawing teachers in the institution. The 
 results obtained by this method seem amply to justify the 
 effort put forth. 
 
 The final test in any course or group of drawing courses 
 may be measured by the student's ability to solve problems 
 m-et with in engineering practice. Measured upon this 
 basis, the newer types of courses discussed herein, those 
 founded upon the analytic method and developed largely 
 as a progressive series of working drawings, seem to be meet- 
 ing with better results than did those of the older type 
 in which the synthetic method predominated and in which 
 abstract problems were principally used. 
 
 While the college man is not fitting himself to become a 
 draftsman, it is quite true that many start their engineer- 
 ing careers in the drafting office. Those who think well and 
 are proficient in expressing their thoughts through the 
 medium of drawing are most apt to attract attention which 
 places them in line for higher positions. 
 
 Those who do not enter the engineering field through the 
 drafting office will find the cultural and disciplinary train- 
 ing and the habits of precision and neatness instilled by a 
 good course in drawing of great value. 
 
 J. D. Phillips and H. D. Orth 
 
 University of Wisconsin 
 
XXVII 
 THE TEACHING OF JOURNALISM 
 
 THE education of the journalist or newspaper man has 
 been brought into being by the evolution of the news- 
 paper during the last half century. Addison's Spectator 
 two centuries ago counted almost wholly on the original 
 and individual expression of opinion. It had nothing be- 
 yond a few advertisements. The news sheet of the day 
 was as wholly personal, a billboard of news and adver- 
 tisements with contributed opinion in signed articles. A 
 century ago, nearly half the space in a daily went to such 
 communications. In the four-page and the eight-page news- 
 paper of sixty to eighty years ago, taking all forms of 
 opinions, — leaders contributed, political correspondence 
 from capitals, state and federal, and criticism, — about one 
 fourth of the space went to utterance editorial in character. 
 The news filled as much more, running to a larger or 
 smaller share as advertisements varied. The news was little 
 edited. The telegraph down to 1880 was taken, not as it 
 came, but more nearly so than today. In an eight-page New 
 York paper between 1865 and 1875, a news editor with one 
 assistant and a city editor with one assistant easily handled 
 city, telegraph, and other copy. None of it had the inten- 
 sive treatment of today. It was not until 1875 that telegraph 
 and news began to be sharply edited, the New York Sun 
 and the Springfield Republican leading. Between 1875 and 
 1895, the daily paper doubled in size, and the Sunday paper 
 quadrupled and quintupled. The relative share taken by 
 editorial and critical matter remained about the same in 
 amount, grew more varied in character, but dropped from 
 25 per cent of the total space in a four-page newspaper to 
 3 to 5 per cent in the dailies with sixteen to twenty pages, 
 and the news required from three to five times as many per- 
 sons to handle it. The circulation of individual papers 
 in our large cities doubled and quadrupled, and the weekly 
 
 533 
 
534 College Teaching 
 
 expenditure of a New York paper rose from $10,000 a week 
 to thrice that. These rough, general statements, varying 
 with different newspapers as well as issue by issue in the 
 same newspaper, represent a still greater change in the char- 
 acter of the subjects covered. 
 
 When the newspaper was issued in communities, of a 
 simple organization, in production, transportation, and dis- 
 tribution, the newspaper had some advertising, some news, 
 and personal expression of opinion — political-partisan for 
 the most part, critical in small part. This opinion was 
 chiefly, though even then not wholly, expressed by a single 
 personality, sometimes dominant, able, unselfish, and in 
 nature a social prophet, but in most instances weak, time- 
 serving, and self-seeking, and partisan, with one eye on 
 advertising, official preferred, and the other on profits, 
 public office, and other contingent personal results. 
 
 In the complex society today, classified, stratified, organ- 
 ized, and diff"erentiated, the newspaper is a complex repre- 
 sentation of this life. The railroad is a far more important 
 social agency than the stagecoach. It carries more people; 
 it off'ers the community more; but the individual passenger 
 counted for more in the eye of the traveling public in the 
 stagecoach than today in the railroad train; but nobody 
 would pretend to say that the railroad president was less 
 important than the head of a stage line, Mr. A. J. Cassatt, 
 President of the Pennsylvania Railroad and builder of its 
 terminal, than John E. Reeside, the head of the express 
 stage line from New York to Philadelphia, who beat all 
 previous records in speed and stages. 
 
 The newspaper-complex, representing all society, still 
 expressing the opinion of society, not merely on politics but 
 on all the range of life, creating, developing, and modifying 
 this opinion, publishes news which has been standardized by 
 cooperative news-gathering associations, local, national, and 
 international. In the daily of today " politics " is but a 
 part and a decreasing part, and a world of new topics has 
 come into pages which require technical skill, the well- 
 equipped mind, a wide information, and knowledge of the 
 
Tlie Teaching of Journalism 535 
 
 condition of the newspaper. The early reporter who once 
 gathered the city news and turned it in to be put into type 
 and made up by the foreman, — often also, owner and pub- 
 lisher, — in a sheet as big as a pocket-handkerchief, is 
 as far removed from the men who share in the big modern 
 daily, as far as is the modern railroad man from the rough, 
 tough individual proprietor and driver of the stagecoach, 
 though the driver of the latter was often a most original 
 character, and a well-known figure on the highway as rail- 
 road men are not. 
 
 As this change in the American newspaper came between Evolution 
 1860 and 1880, the public demand came for the vocational f°esSo/of' 
 training of the journalist and experiments in obtaining it journalism 
 began. When Charles A. Dana bought the New York Sun 
 in 1868, he made up his staff, managing editor, news editor, 
 city editor, Albany correspondent and political man, from 
 among the printers he had known on the New York Tribune. 
 In ten years these were succeeded by college graduates, 
 and the Sun became a paper whose writing staff, as- a whole, 
 had college training, nearly all men from the colleges. 
 
 College men were in American journalism from its early 
 beginnings; but, speaking in a broad sense, the American 
 newspaper drew most of its staff in the eighteenth century 
 and in the first half of the nineteenth century from among 
 men who had the rough but effective training of the com- 
 posing room, with the common school as a beginning. 
 When the high school developed from 1860 on, it began to 
 furnish a large number of journalists, particularly in Phila- 
 delphia, where the Central High School manned many 
 papers. By 1880, college men began to appear in a steadily 
 growing proportion, so far as the general writing staff was 
 concerned. If one counted the men at the top, they were in 
 a small proportion. In journalism, as in all arts of expres- 
 sion, a special and supreme gift will probably always make 
 up for lack of special training. 
 
 Between 1890 and 1900, the American newspaper as it is 
 today was fairly launched, and Joseph Pulitzer, the ablest 
 man in dealing with the journalism of and for the many, 
 
536 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Journalism 
 today re- 
 quires gen- 
 eral and 
 technical 
 training 
 
 was the first conspicuous figure in the newspaper world to see 
 that the time had come for the professional training of the 
 journalist, the term he preferred to " newspaper men." 
 Neither the calling nor the public were ready when he made 
 his first proposal, and with singular nobility of soul and sad 
 disappointment of heart he determined to pledge his great 
 gift of $2,000,000, paying $1,000,000 of it to Columbia 
 University before his death and providing that the School 
 of Journalism, to which he furnished building and endow- 
 ment, should be operated within a year after his death. 
 This came October 29, 1911, and the school opened the fol- 
 lowing year. 
 
 The discussion of the education of the journalist has been 
 in progress for twoscore years. In 1870 Whitelaw Reid 
 published his address on the " School of Journalism " and 
 urged systematic training, for which in the bitter personal 
 newspaper of the day he was ridiculed as " the young pro- 
 fessor of journalism." In 1885, Mr. Charles E. Fitch, but 
 just gone after long newspaper service, delivered a course of 
 lectures on the training of the journalist, at Cornell Uni- 
 versity. Two years later Mr. Brainerd Smith, before and 
 after of the New York Sun, then professor of elocution in 
 the same university, began training in the work of the news- 
 paper in his class in composition, sending out his class on 
 assignments and outlining possible occurrences which the 
 class wrote out. This experiment was abruptly closed by 
 Mr. Henry W. Sage, Chairman of the Cornell Board of 
 Trustees, because the newspapers of Minneapolis inclined 
 to treat the university as important, chiefly because it taught 
 " journalism." Mr. Fred Newton Scott, professor of rhet- 
 oric in the University of Michigan in 1893, began, with less 
 newspaper notice, training in newspaper English, continuing 
 to the present time his happy success in teaching style to his 
 students. 
 
 In 1908, Mr. Walter Williams, for twenty-four years 
 editor, first of the Boonville Advertiser, and then of the 
 Columbia, Missouri, Herald, became dean of the first school 
 of journalism opened in the same year by the University of 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 537 
 
 Missouri. This example was followed under the direction 
 of Willard G. Bleyer in the University of Wisconsin. By 
 1911, nearly a score of colleges, universities, and technical 
 schools were giving courses in journalism. 
 
 By 1916, the directory of teachers of journalism compiled 
 by Mr. Carl F. Getz, of the University of Ohio, showed 107 
 universities and colleges which gave courses in journalism, 
 28 state universities, 17 state colleges and schools of journal- 
 ism, and 62 colleges, endowed, denominational, or muni- 
 cipal. 
 
 The teachers who offered courses in journalism numbered 
 127. Of these, 25 were in trade, industrial, and agricul- 
 tural schools, their courses dealing with aspects of writing 
 demanded in the fields to which the institution devoted 
 its work. The number of students in all these institutions 
 numbered about 5000. This gave about 1200 students a 
 year, who had completed their studies and gone out with 
 a degree recording college or technical work in which train- 
 ing in journalism played its part. With about 40,000 men 
 and' women who were " journalists " in the country at this 
 time, there are probably — the estimate is little better than 
 a guess — about 3000 posts becoming vacant each year, in 
 all branches of periodical work, monthly, weekly, and 
 daily. 
 
 The various training in journalism now offered stands 
 ready to furnish a little less than half this demand. I judge 
 it actually supplies yearly somewhat less than a fourth 
 of the new men and women entering the calling, say about 
 750 in all. As in all professional schools, a number never 
 enter the practice of the calling for which they are pre- 
 sumably prepared and still larger numbers leave it after a 
 short trial. In addition, training for the work of the 
 journalist opens the door to much publicity work, to some 
 teaching, and to a wide range of business posts where writ- 
 ing is needed. No account also has been made here of the 
 wide range of miscellaneous courses in advertising provided 
 by universities, colleges and schools of journalism by ad- 
 vertising clubs, by private schools, and by teachers, local. 
 
538 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Develop- 
 ment of 
 courses and 
 schools of 
 journalism 
 
 lecturing and peripatetic. It will take at least ten years 
 more before those who have systematic teaching in journal- 
 ism will be numerous enough to color the life of the office 
 of the magazine or newspaper, and a generation before they 
 are in the majority. 
 
 But numbers are not the only gauge of the influence of 
 professional study on the calling itself. The mere presence, 
 the work, the activities, and the influence of professional 
 schools raise the standards of a calling. Those in its work 
 begin to see their daily task from the standpoint which 
 training implies. Since the overwhelming majority of news- 
 paper men believe in their calling, love it, rejoice in it, 
 regret its defects, and honor its achievements, they begin 
 consciously to try to show how good a newspaper can be 
 made with nothing but the tuition of the office. Inaccuracy, 
 carelessness, bad taste, and dubious ethics present them- 
 selves at a diff'erent angle when judged in the light of a call- 
 ing for which colleges and universities furnish training. 
 A corporate spirit and a corporate standard are felt more 
 strongly, and men who have learned all they know in a 
 newspaper office have a just, noble, and often successful de- 
 termination to advance these standards and endeavor to 
 equal in advance anything the school can accomplish. This 
 affects both those who have had college training and those 
 who come to their work as newspaper men with only the 
 education of the public schools, high or elementary. More 
 than 1000 letters have been received by the School of 
 Journalism in Columbia University, since it was opened, 
 asking advice as to the reading and study which could aid a 
 man or woman unable to leave the newspaper office to study 
 to improve their work. College graduates, in particular 
 on newspapers, begin systematic study on their own account, 
 aware of an approaching competition. Definite standards 
 in newspaper writing and in diction begin to be recognized 
 and practiced in the office, and slips in either meet a more 
 severe criticism. 
 
 Newspaper associations of all orders play their part in 
 this spontaneous training. Advertising clubs and their 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 539 
 
 great annual gatherings have censored the periodic pub- 
 licity of the advertising column as no other agency whatever 
 could possibly have done. How far this educating influ- 
 ence has transformed this share of the American periodical 
 in all its fields only those can realize who have studied past 
 advertisements. Every state has its editorial association. 
 These draw together more men from the weeklies and the 
 dailies in cities under 50,000 of population than from cities 
 of more than 500,000. These associations thirty years ago 
 were little more than social. They have come to be edu- 
 cational agencies of the first importance. They create 
 and assert new norms of conduct and composition. The 
 papers read are normally didactic. All men try to be 
 what they assert they are. From the American Newspaper 
 Publishers' Association, bringing together nearly 1000 of 
 our leading newspapers to meetings of the weeklies of a 
 county, a region in a state, a whole state, sections like New 
 England or the Southern States of particular classes of peri- 
 odicals, these various organizations are rapidly instituting a 
 machinery, and breathing a spirit whose work is a valid 
 factor in the education of the newspaper man. Not the 
 least influence which the schools of journalism exert on the 
 
 active work of the calling is through these associations, 
 
 particularly in the states west of the Mississippi where, at the 
 present stage of journalism in this region, state universities 
 can through schools of journalism bring newspapers to- 
 gether at a " newspaper week." 
 
 The rapid growth in students registered in " journalism " 
 courses did not gauge the demand for professional teaching 
 in the craft of the newspaper or the magazine. A large 
 share of the " journalism " taught consisted simply in teach- 
 ing newspaper English. The college course has been no- 
 where so vehemently and vigorously attacked as in the train- 
 ing it gave in writing English. Few were satisfied with it, 
 least of all those who taught it. At least one college pro- 
 fessor, whose method and textbooks were launched thirty 
 years ago, has recanted all his early work in teaching com- 
 position and pronounced it valueless or worse. The col- 
 
 Journalism 
 raised to 
 dignity of a 
 profession 
 Tjy schools 
 of journal- 
 ism 
 
540 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Journalistic 
 writing 
 demands a 
 distinctive 
 style and 
 calls for 
 immediate 
 response 
 
 lege graduate, after courses in English composition (at least 
 one in the freshman year and often two or three more), in 
 many instances found himself unable to write a business 
 letter, describe a plan projected in business affairs, com- 
 pose advertisements, or narrate a current event. This was 
 not invariably the case, but it occurred often enough to be 
 noted. Books, pamphlets, and papers multiplied on this 
 lack of training for practical writing in college composi- 
 tion courses. The world of education discovered, what the 
 newspapers had found by experience, that the style of ex- 
 pression successful in literature did not bring results in 
 man's daily task of reaching his fellow man on the homely 
 and direct issues of daily life. In literature, genius is 
 seeking to express itself. In the newspaper and in busi- 
 ness, the writer is trying — and only trying — to express 
 and interpret his subject so as to reach the other and con- 
 temporary man. If he does this, he wins. If not, he fails. 
 Genius can, should be, careless of the immediate audience, 
 and wait for the final and ultimate response. No news- 
 paper article and no advertisement can. For them, style is 
 only a means. In letters, form is final. The verdict of 
 posterity and not of the yearly subscriber or daily purchaser 
 is decisive. 
 
 In the high school and college, from 1910 on, there came 
 courses in English which turned to the newspaper for 
 methods and means of expression, and were called 
 " courses in journalism." They were really courses in the 
 English of the newspaper, besprinkled with lectures on the 
 diction of the newspaper and the use of words — futile 
 eff'orts, through lists of words that must not be used, to 
 give a sound rule of the selection of language by the 
 writer, and, above all, attempts to secure simple, direct, 
 incisive narrative and discussion. These are all useful in 
 their place and work. They prepare a man for some of 
 the first steps of the newspaper office, particularly in the 
 swift, mechanical routine and technique of " copy," indis- 
 pensable where what is copy now is on the street for sale 
 v/ithin an hour. 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 541 
 
 Where an instructor has himself the gift of style and the 
 capacity to impart it, where he is himself a man who sells 
 his stuff and knows what stuff wiH sell, where he has taste 
 and inspiring, effective teaching power, a course in news- 
 paper English may carry a man far in acquiring command 
 of his powers of expression to their profitable use. These 
 "courses in journalism" sometimes run for only a single 
 semester. Many run for the normal span of three hours 
 a week through a year. Sometimes there are two in suc- 
 cession, the second assuming the task of teaching work 
 which a newspaper beginner usually reaches in from three 
 to five years: the special article, the supplement, study of 
 a subject, the " feature " story, criticism, and the editorial. 
 When these courses are based on assignments which lead a 
 man to go out and get the facts on which he writes, they 
 furnish a certain share of training in the art of reporting. 
 Where this is done in a college town and a college com- 
 munity, however, the work is a far remove from that where 
 the reporter must dive and wrestle in the seething tide of a 
 great city, to return with news wrested from its native bed. 
 
 Newspaper English has its great and widest value to the Courses in 
 man who wishes to learn how he can affect the other man. paper 
 A course in it is certain, if the instruction is effective, ^^siisii 
 to leave a student better able to express himself in the nor- 
 mal needs of life. This work is taken by many students 
 as part of the effective training of college life, with no 
 expectation of entering active newspaper work. The de- 
 mand for publicity work in all business fields, and its 
 value to the social worker, the teacher, and the clergy- 
 man, lead others to this specialized training. In at least 
 one of our state universities, half those who take the 
 courses in journalism do not look to the newspaper in the 
 future. The curriculum is often so arranged that in a 
 four-year college course it will be practicable to combine 
 these courses in newspaper English with the parts of work 
 offered, required for, or preparatory to the three learned 
 professions, social service, business, and the applied 
 sciences. Such an arrangement of studies frankly recog- 
 
542 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Functions 
 of a school 
 of journal- 
 ism : To 
 select as 
 well as to 
 train 
 
 nizes the value in general education and after life of 
 training in the direct expression the newspaper uses. In 
 no long time every college will have at least one such 
 course in its English department. 
 
 But this course in direct writing stands alone, without 
 any systematic training in journalism; it should not be 
 called a course in journalism any more than a course in 
 political science dealing with law, or a course in physiol- 
 ogy or hygiene, can be called courses in law or medicine, 
 because they cover material used in schools of law or 
 schools of medicine. It is an advantage for any educated 
 man to learn to write clearly, simply, to the point; to put 
 the purpose, object, and force of an article at the beginning, 
 and to be as much like Daniel Defoe and Franklin, and as 
 little like Walter Pater or Samuel Johnson, as possible; it is 
 well for him to have a general view of the newspaper and 
 its needs; it is a mistake to leave him with the impression 
 that he has the training journalism demands. He is no 
 better off at this point than any college graduate who has 
 picked up for himself, by nature or through practice and 
 imitation, the direct newspaper method. 
 
 President Eliot, when the organization of a school of 
 journalism came before him, cast his august and mislead- 
 ing influence for the view that a college education was 
 enough training for newspaper work. Many still believe 
 this. In more than one city-room today college men are 
 challenging the right of the graduates of a school of 
 journalism to look on themselves as better fitted for the 
 newspaper office than those who are graduates of a good 
 college. If the training of the school has done no more 
 than graft some copy-writing and some copy-editing .on the 
 usual curriculum, they are right. If the coming journal- 
 ist has got his training in classes, half of whose number 
 had no professional interest in the course offered, the claim 
 for the college course may be found to be well based. 
 Men teach each other in the classroom. A common pro- 
 fessional purpose creates common professional ideals and 
 common professional aims as no training can, given with- 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 543 
 
 out this, though it deal with identically the same subjects. 
 
 The training of the journalist will at this point go 
 through the same course as the training of other callings. 
 The palpable thing about law, the objective fact it presents 
 first to the layman, is procedure and form. This began 
 legal education. A man entered a law office. He ran er- 
 rands and served papers which taught him how suits were 
 opened. A bright New York office boy in a law firm will 
 know how many days can pass before some steps must be 
 taken or be too late, better than the graduate of a law 
 school. The law students in an office once endlessly copied 
 forms and learned that phase of law. For generations 
 men " eat their dinners " at the Inns of Court and learned 
 no more. The law itself they learned through practice, 
 at the expense of their clients. Anatomy was the obvious 
 thing about medicine when Vesalius, of the strong head and 
 weak heart, cleaned away the superstitions of part of the 
 medical art and discovered a new world at twenty-eight. 
 The medical training of even seventy years ago, twenty 
 years after cellular pathology had dawned, held wearisome 
 hours of dissection now known to be a waste. It is the 
 functions of the body and its organs which we now know 
 to be the more important, and not the bones, muscles, 
 nerves, and organs considered as mere mechanism. 
 
 The classroom is the patent thing about instruction. 
 The normal schools lavished time on the tricks of teaching 
 until flocks of instructors in the high schools and colleges 
 could not inaccurately be divided into those who could 
 teach and knew nothing and those who knew something and 
 could not teach. Our colleges early thought they could 
 weave in Hebrew and theology, and send out clergymen, 
 and later tried to give the doctor a foundation on which 
 eighteen subsequent months could graft all he needed of 
 medicine. 
 
 Reporting is the obvious aspect of journalism which the 
 ignorant layman sees. Many hold the erroneous view that 
 the end of a school of journalism is to train reporters. Re- 
 porting is not journalism. It is the open door to the news- 
 
544 College Teaching 
 
 paper office, partly because there are very few reporters 
 of many years' service. Some of them are, but able men 
 before long usually work out of a city-room, or gain 
 charge of some field of city news, doing thus what is in 
 fact reporting, but combined with editorial, critical, and 
 correspondent work. Such is the Wall Street man, the local 
 politics man, the City Hall man, or the Police Headquarters 
 man, who gathers facts and counts acquaintance as one of 
 his professional assets. But these men are doing, in their 
 work, far more than reporting as it presents itself to those 
 who see in the task only an assignment. Such men know 
 the actual working of the financial mechanism, not as 
 economists see it, but as Bagehot knew it. They under- 
 stand the actual working of municipal machinery besides 
 having a minute knowledge of character, decision, practice, 
 and precedent in administration. In our real politics, big 
 and little, they and the Washington and Albany corre- 
 spondents are the only men who know both sides, are 
 trusted with the secrets of both parties, and read closed 
 pages of the book of the chronicles of the Republic. As 
 for the Police Headquarters man, he too alone knows both 
 police and crime, and no investigation surprises him by its 
 revelations. If a man, for a season, has had the work of 
 one of these posts, he comes to feel that he writes for an 
 ignorant world, and if he have the precious gift of youth, 
 looks on himself as favored of mortals early, seeing the 
 events of which others hear, daily close to the center of 
 affairs, knowing men as they are and storing confidence 
 against the day of revelation. 
 
 Men like these are, the very heart's core of a newspaper. 
 Their posts train them. So do the key posts of a news- 
 paper, its guiding and directing editors and those who do 
 the thinking for thinking men by the hundred thousand in 
 editorial, criticism, and article. It is for this order of work 
 on a newspaper that a school of journalism trains. It is 
 to these posts that, if its men are properly trained, its 
 graduates rapidly ascend, after a brief apprenticeship 
 in the city-room and a round in the routine work of a 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 545 
 
 paper. Dull men, however educated, will never pass these 
 grades, and not passing they will drop out. A school 
 should sift such out; but so far, in all our professional 
 training, it is only the best medical schools which are in- 
 flexible in dealing with mediocrity. Most teachers know 
 better, but let the shifty and dull pass by. The newspaper 
 itself has to be inexorable, and no well-organized office 
 helps twice the man who is dull once; but he and his kind 
 come often enough to mar the record. 
 
 Journalism, like other professions, has its body of special 
 tasks and training, but, as in other callings, clear com- 
 prehension of this body of needs will develop in instruc- 
 tion slowly. The case system in law and the laboratory 
 method in medicine came after some generations or cen- 
 turies of professional work and are only a generation old. 
 Any one who has sought to know the development of these 
 two methods sees that much in our schools of journalism 
 is where law and medical schools were sixty years ago. 
 We are still floundering and have not yet solved the prob- 
 lem of giving background, concision, accuracy, and in- 
 terest to the report, of really editing copy and not merely 
 condensing and heading it, of recognizing and developing 
 the editorical and critical mind, and most of all, of shutting 
 out early the shallow, the wrong-headed, the self-seeking, 
 and the unballasted student. 
 
 The very best law and medical schools get the better '^^^^^^ 
 of this, and only the best. They are greatly aided by a college 
 state examination which tests and tries all their work, l^^^^^_ 
 braces their teaching, stimulates their men, and directs pressional 
 their studies. This will inevitably come in journalism, "^^H^^ 
 though most practicing newspaper men do not believe this. 
 Neither did doctors before 1870 expect this. As the news- 
 paper comes closer and closer into daily life, inflicts wounds 
 without healing and does damage for which no remedy 
 exists, the public will require of the writer on a daily at 
 least as much proof of competency as it does of a plumber. 
 This competency sharply divides between training in the 
 technical work of the newspaper and in those studies that 
 
546 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Kind of 
 training in 
 composition 
 to be given 
 students of 
 journalism 
 
 knowledge which newspaper work requires. Capacity to 
 write with accuracy, with effect, with interest, and with 
 style is the first and most difficult task among the technical 
 requirements of the public journal. As has already been 
 said, a gift for expression is needed, but even this cannot 
 be exercised or developed unless a man has acquired dic- 
 tion and come in contact with style, for all the arts rest 
 on the imitation of accepted models. Many students in all 
 schools of journalism come from immigrant families and 
 are both inconceivably ignorant of English and incon- 
 ceivably satisfied with their acquirement of English, as we 
 all are with a strange tongue we have learned to speak. 
 Even in families with two or more generations of American 
 life, the vocabulary is limited, construction careless, and 
 the daily contact with any literature, now that family 
 prayers and Bible reading are gone, almost nil. Of the 
 spoken English of teachers in our public schools, consid- 
 ered as the basis of training for the writer, it is not seemly 
 to speak. Everybody knows college teachers who have 
 never shaken off the slovenly phrases and careless syntax 
 of their homes. The thesis on which advanced degrees are 
 conferred is a fair and just measure of the capacity to write 
 conferred by eleven years of education above the " grammar 
 grades." The old drill in accurate and exact rendering of 
 Greek and Latin was once the best training for the writer; 
 but slovenly sight reading has reduced its value, and a large 
 part of its true effect was because the youth who studied 
 the classics fifty years ago came in a far larger share than 
 today from families whose elders had themselves had their 
 expression and vocabulary trained and developed by liberal 
 studies. The capacity for good writing apparent at Oxford 
 and Cambridge rests in no small measure on the classical 
 family horizon in teacher and taught. 
 
 Those who turn to journalism naturally care for writing, 
 but in an art to " care " is little and most have never had 
 the personal environment, the training, or the personal 
 command of English to enable them to do more than write 
 a stiff prose with a narrow vocabulary and no sense of 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 547 
 
 style. Even those who have some such capacity are 
 hampered by the family heritage already outlined. College 
 writing is in the same condition; but the average college 
 man is not expecting to earn his living by his typewriter. 
 In order to receive a minimum capacity in writing enough 
 to pass, every year of study for journalism must have a 
 writing course and the technical work must run to con- 
 stant writing. From start to finish there must be patient, 
 individual correction. The use of the typewriter must be 
 made obligatory. Rigid discipline must deal with errors in 
 spelling, grammar, the choice of words and phrases. 
 Previous college training in composition must in general be 
 revised and made over to secure directness and simplicity. 
 At the end, the utmost that can be gained for nineteen out 
 of twenty is some facility, a little sense of style and dic- 
 tion, and copy that will be above the average of the news- 
 paper and not much above that. Examine the writing in 
 the newspapers issued by some schools and the work in 
 schools that do not, and a distressingly large portion is 
 either dull or " smart," the last, worst fault of the two. 
 
 Reporting is the first use to which writing is put and Effective 
 ir c> 1 T-" 1 • 1 J training in 
 
 through which the writer is tramed. r or this, abundant ma- reporting 
 terial is indispensable, as much as clinical material for a ^^f^^^^ 
 medical school. As the medical schools gravitate to cities, large urban 
 and the rural institutions flicker out one by one, so m 
 the end the effectively trained reporter will gravitate to 
 a large city. Towns of under 20,000 population furnish 
 a very tame sort of reporting, and those who get this 
 training in them find reporting is under new conditions in 
 a great metropolis. In such a place the peril is that 
 routine news will take too much of the precious time for 
 training the reporter and the demands of academic hours 
 will interfere with sharing in the best of big stories. 
 
 Routine is the curse of the newspaper, and it is at its f^uns m^ 
 worst in reporting. In its face the four hard things to get the art of 
 are the combination of the vivid, the accurate, and the in- reporting 
 formed and the condensed story. Equipped newspapers 
 of high standards like the New York World require re- 
 
548 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 The teach- 
 ing of copy- 
 editing 
 
 course to reference books, the " morgue," and the files in 
 every story where details can be added to the day's digging 
 in that particular news vein. Condensation comes next. 
 The young cub reporter generally shuns both. He hates 
 to look up his subject. He spreads himself like a sitting 
 hen over one egg. Both must be required for efficient 
 training. Compression it is difficult to enforce in a school 
 where paper bills are small or do not exist and the space 
 pressure of the large daily is absent. A number of dailies 
 of large circulation are cultivating very close handling of 
 news and space for feature and woman stuff with very 
 great profit, and the schools give too little attention to this 
 new phase of the newspaper. In all papers, the old ten- 
 dency to print anything that came by wire is gone and mere 
 " news " has not the place it once had. In particular, local 
 news was cut down one half in a majority of dailies in cities 
 of 250,000 and over from August, 1914, to the close of the 
 war. The small daily in places of less than 50,000 and 
 weeklies did not do this, which is one reason why great 
 tracts of the United States were not ready for war when 
 it came. Woe to the land whose watchmen sleep! 
 
 Copy-editing is the next task in the training of the coming 
 newspaper man. On the small daily and weekly, there is 
 little of this, but it is practiced on the metropolitan daily. 
 There ten to twelve men are needed, doing nothing else but 
 editing copy. In the office, two or three years are needed 
 to bring a man to this work. No school can teach this un- 
 less its men give at least a full day to editing a flood of 
 copy that will fill a 12 to 16 page newspaper. Where the 
 work of the students runs day by day on the copy of one of 
 the lesser dailies, editing for that purpose is secured, but 
 not the intensive training needed to handle the copy-desk 
 requirements of newspapers in a city of 1,000,000 popula- 
 tion or more in its urban ring. Success in this field is 
 proved when men go direct from the classroom to such a 
 desk. This carries with it tuition in heads for all needs, 
 make-up, and the close editing of special articles, features, 
 and night Associated Press copy. 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 549 
 
 Newspaper training will always deal also with subjects A liberal 
 and needs a course containing a larger proportion of the must be 
 studies usually taught in college or offered in its curricu- part of 
 
 1 Ti/r 1- • • 1 1 • • 1 training 
 
 lum. Medicine requires the same chemistry, organic and for jour- 
 inorganic, the same physics, and the same elementary '^alism 
 biology as our college courses cover; these sciences are 
 more or less like a Mother Hubbard, no very close fit and 
 concealing more than is revealed. Johns Hopkins has 
 been able at this point to apply tests, personal and particu- 
 lar, gauging both teacher and taught, more searching than 
 are elsewhere required. The fruits abundantly justify this 
 course, and in time some school of journalism will apply 
 like tests to history, — ancient, medieval, and modern, — 
 political economy, political science, and the modern 
 languages, which are the basis of its work. The practical 
 difficulty is that it is far easier to test the three sciences 
 just mentioned than history, politics, and economics. No 
 one will seriously assert that these are as rigorously taught 
 as chemistry, physics, and biology. The personal equation 
 of the teacher counts for more, it is both easier and more 
 tempting to inject social theories, not yet tested by current 
 facts, than in science. Sciolism is less easily detected in 
 courses which deal with the humanitarian field than in 
 science, but it is not less perilous and it is not less possible 
 to apply the same experimental tests as in the scientific 
 laboratory. He is blind, however, who does not see that 
 much advance in the current teaching at any time of history, 
 politics, and economics has had its experimental tests as 
 complete and as convincing as in any laboratory, which 
 certain teachers wholly refuse to accept — sometimes be- 
 cause they are behind the times, sometimes because they 
 are before the times; sometimes they are in no time what- 
 ever but the fool time of vain imaginings that somewhere, 
 somewhen, and somehow there is a place where human de- 
 sires are stronger than the inevitable laws which guide and 
 guard the physics, the chemistry, and the biology of social 
 bodies. 
 
 A notable difference exists between the views of law 
 
550 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Social 
 sciences 
 must "be 
 related 
 to life 
 
 taught and discussed in a law school and in a school of 
 political science. The medical lectures preserve a sobriety 
 in discussing sundry biological problems not always present 
 in advanced courses of biology. Both lecturers, in both 
 instances, are scientific men, both are faithful to the truths 
 of science, but as a distinguished economist, who in his 
 early years had been accused of being an advanced social- 
 ist, said, after he had won a comfortable fortune by judi- 
 cious investments in business, banking, and realty, to a 
 friend of earlier and far-distant years: " My principles re- 
 main exactly the same, but, I admit, my point of view has 
 changed." There is not one biology of the medical school, 
 another of the biological laboratory. Neither does the 
 body of law differ in a law school or in a school of politi- 
 cal science. The principles remain exactly the same. Of 
 necessity, however, the point of view has changed and treat- 
 ment has changed with it. So has responsibility. 
 
 The subject offers some difficulties. The analogy is not 
 at all points exact. Medicine and law have a definite body 
 of doctrine. Schools of biology and political science have 
 not, but granting all this, it still remains true that exactly 
 as the law student and the medical student must have what 
 is defined, established, and unmistakable in the world of 
 law and of life, so the student looking to journalism needs 
 and must have what is defined, established, and unmistak- 
 able in economics and political science. Here, again, no 
 one will pretend that the usual college course in either of 
 these branches is taught with the same determination to keep 
 within the same metes and bounds of recorded, tested, and 
 ascertained facts as is true of courses in physics, chemistry, 
 and biology. The boundary marked is less distinct. The 
 periodic law by which the atomic values of elements are 
 established is more definite than the periodic law under 
 which wealth is distributed through society, though in the 
 end some Mendelleeff will record the periodic law of social 
 elements in their composition and action. Research is 
 needed and must be free. Theory and speculation are as 
 necessary to secure an experiment and observation. The 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 551 
 
 principle is clear, however, that the student who is to make 
 professional use of a topic needs to have a definite and 
 established instruction, not required in one to whom topic 
 is incidental. The medical student or law student who has 
 a new view of economic results or a new theory of the cause 
 and purpose of our judicial and constitutional system as 
 organized to protect the few against the many will work 
 this off in the school of life, and is unaffected in his pro- 
 fessional work. The journalist within his first year's work 
 must apply his college economics and political science, and 
 a wrong starting point may have serious consequences to 
 his own career in the end, perhaps to society. Fortunately 
 the work of the journalist so brings him in contact with 
 things as they are, that the body of newspaper writers, taken 
 as a whole, represents the stability of society. The convic- 
 tions and principles created by their daily work tend this 
 way. The labor union has few illusions to the reporter, and 
 it was the editorial writers of the land who carried the gold 
 standard in 1896, when many a publisher was hazy and 
 scary. The causes of crime grow pretty clear to a police 
 reporter, and a few assignments in which a newspaper man 
 sees a riot convinces him of the value of public order, 
 rigidly enforced. None the less, the reporter should start 
 right on these sciences, basic in his calling; in the end, 
 as the medical school has steadied the college teaching of 
 chemistry and biology, so the school of journalism, the 
 school of business, and the school of railroad practice et al 
 will steady economics and political science. But the duty 
 of the college and university remains clear, to be as watch- 
 ful that the sciences of social action and reaction shall be 
 taught with the same adherence to the established and the 
 same responsibility to their professional use as the sciences 
 of physical, chemical, and biological action and reaction. 
 The college studies needed as preparation for journalism 
 call for a special proficiency and content as much as for a 
 professional viewpoint. The journalist makes precisely the 
 same use of his fundamental studies as does the medical 
 student of his. If a future lawyer neglects his chemistry 
 
 Especially 
 adapted 
 content in 
 social sci- 
 ences to 
 meet pro- 
 fessional 
 needs 
 
552 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 General 
 science 
 course of 
 inestima"ble 
 ■worth to 
 the jour- 
 nalist 
 
 In history 
 attention 
 must he 
 focalized 
 on modern 
 movements 
 
 and biology, it is of little moment. He can get up what 
 he needs of a case. A medical student who neglects these 
 studies will find that the best schools bar him. In time 
 the school of journalism will refuse the college passing 
 mark for admission. The newspaper man almost from the 
 start has to use his economics, his political science, and 
 his history. Elementary economics is in great measure 
 given to theory, though a change has begun. For the 
 journalist, this course needs to be brought in close con- 
 tact with the actual economic working of society. The 
 theory may be useful to the man who expects in the end 
 to teach economics. It is of next to no value to the writer 
 on public affairs. Of what possible use is it to him to 
 learn the various theoretic explanations of Boehm-Bawerk's 
 cost and value? The newspaper man needs to see these 
 things and be taught them as Bagehot wrote on them and 
 Walker and Sumner taught them. 
 
 In Columbia, this change is already recognized as neces- 
 sary. So in political science, the actual working of the 
 body politic needs to be taught, and this is too often 
 neglected for explanatory theories and a special interpreta- 
 tion. A single elementary course in chemistry, physics, or 
 biology presupposes two or three more courses which fill 
 out the special opening sketch. Newspaper works requires 
 a general account of science, derided by the scientist who 
 is himself satisfied in his own education with a similar 
 sketch in history. These general science courses are being 
 smuggled in as " history of science," or " scientific nomen- 
 clature." Much can be done in a year with such a three- 
 hour course, if the teaching be in exceptional hands; but 
 adequate treatment requires two years of three hours, one 
 on organic and one on inorganic science. The latter should 
 give a view of anthropology and the former dwell on the 
 application of science in modern industry. 
 
 College history courses end thirty to fifty years ago. 
 The journalist needs to know closely the last thirty years, 
 at home and abroad. Weeks given to colonial charters in 
 American history are as much waste as to set a law student 
 
The Teaching of Journalism 
 
 553 
 
 to a special study of the Year Books of Edward I and II. 
 College students have to put up with a good deal of this 
 kind of waste. If twelve hours can be assigned to history, 
 three should be on the classical period, three introductory 
 to the modern world, three to European history since 1870, 
 and three hours for American history; at least two of these 
 three hours should go to American history since Garfield. 
 
 The writing course should be used to supplement this 
 by articles on both these fields so that a student will learn 
 the sources of history for the last thirty years, its treaties, 
 its elections, its movements, its statutes, its reference works. 
 He will need all this knowledge as soon as he has to write 
 as a correspondent, a feature writer, or an editor, on the 
 important topics of the day. Statistics need to supplement 
 economics and advanced courses, two, if possible, should 
 give knowledge and method in the approach to new prob- 
 lems in currency, banking, trusts, and unions. At least one 
 general course in philosophy is needed, and Freud is as 
 important for him here as Aristotle. The contact of the 
 newspaper man with book reviewing, book advertising, and 
 the selection of fiction and news in supplements and maga- 
 zines calls for the " survey course in English literature " 
 and a knowledge of the current movement in letters for 
 thirty years back. In science, in politics, in history, in 
 economics, in philosophy, and in letters, it is indispensable 
 that the young newspaper man should be introduced by 
 lecture, and still more by reading, to the speaking figures 
 of his own day on affairs, political life, letters, the theatre, 
 and art. 
 
 These things are indispensable. The man who knows 
 them can learn to write and edit, but the man who can only 
 write and edit and does not know them will speedily run 
 dry in the newspaper, weekly and monthly. News is today 
 standardized. Each President, each decade, each great war, 
 the Associated Press and City Press Associations cover 
 more completely the current news. Presentation, comment, 
 handling special articles, grow each year more important 
 and more in demand. The price of supplement and maga- 
 
 Becent 
 progress in 
 all subjects 
 must be 
 summed up 
 for the 
 student of 
 journalism 
 
 The jour- 
 nalist must 
 ever be a 
 student of 
 human af- 
 fairs 
 
554 College Teaching 
 
 zine articles has trebled in the last twenty years. The 
 newspaper grows more and more to be a platform, par- 
 ticularly the Sunday newspaper and popular magazine. 
 If a man is to be a figure in the day's conflict and on its 
 wider issues, he needs the special training just outlined, 
 and when this outline is begun, he will find the toil of the 
 years in these fields has but begun. About the safe 
 harbors of journalism where men come and go, dealing 
 with the aff"airs of and finding the ready market of the day, 
 are the reefs strewn with the wrecks of ready and often 
 " brilliant " writers whose few brief years left them empty 
 and adrift, telling all they meet that no man can long earn 
 a fair income and hold his own through the years in 
 journalism. 
 
 A school can ameliorate all this by one course which. re- 
 quires much reading of the Bible and Shakespeare, by 
 furnishing in the school library abundant access to the 
 best current prose and verse of the day which will directly 
 appeal to the young reader, since each decade has its new 
 gods in letters, and by selecting teachers for the profes- 
 sional courses who have shown that they can write at least 
 well enough to be paid by newspapers and magazines for 
 their work. The teacher in writing whose work is not 
 salable is not as likely to teach students how to write so 
 that their work can sell as one who has earned his living 
 by selling his stuff. 
 
 Talcott Williams 
 
 School of Journalism, Columbia University 
 
B 
 
 XXVIII 
 BUSINESS EDUCATION 
 
 USINESS education of collegiate grade is a very recent Evolution of 
 
 l)llSill6S*I 
 
 development. The world's first commercial college education 
 
 was established at Antwerp in 1852, while the forerunner 
 of American institutions of this sort, the Wharton School, 
 was founded in 1881. Others followed in the nineties, but 
 the general establishment of schools of commerce as parts 
 of colleges and universities, as well as the inclusion of 
 business subjects in the curricula of liberal colleges, took 
 place after 1900. This sudden flowering at the top was 
 preceded by a long evolution quite typical of the develop- 
 ment of education in all the branches of learning to which 
 institutions devote time because of their cultural or pro- 
 fessional worth. 
 
 Some practical end and not the desire for abstract knowl- 
 edge prompted early instruction and stimulated business 
 education as well as education in general through various 
 stages of progress. Of course all education is a process 
 whereby technical operations and abstract truth developed 
 by many generations are systematized, compressed, and 
 imparted to individuals in a relatively short time. 
 
 The first stage in the evolution in a given field may be 
 called the apprentice stage. Just as physicians, lawyers, 
 and in fact practitioners in all the professions and crafts 
 trained their assistants in their establishments for the pur- 
 pose of making them proficient in their daily work, so did 
 merchants at this stage give apprentice training in com- 
 mercial branches to their employees. Traditional ways of 
 carrying out certain transactions, convenient rules of thumb, 
 and habits of neatness and reliability were passed on in a 
 given establishment. As industry grew and guilds were 
 formed, the trainino; tended to become more standardized 
 and merchants joined in establishing guild schools for their 
 
 555 
 
556 College Teaching 
 
 employees. Many such schools were conducted in the 
 various crafts, and their modern counterparts are the well- 
 known vocational or trade schools. This vocational train- 
 ing stage was developed by business men for persons not 
 employed as productive craftsmen but rather as workers in 
 business offices which administered production and directly 
 attended to selling and exchange, and for others looking 
 forward to such employment. At this stage there grew up 
 also private schools, usually conducted by teachers es- 
 pecially proficient in particular lines of service. Thus 
 inventors of shorthand systems, devisers of systems of pen- 
 manship, and authors of methods of bookkeeping and ac- 
 counting set up schools in these specialties. Here we have 
 training outside the business house itself to prepare for 
 participation in business, and the enterprises flourish be- 
 cause there is a demand for the people they train. At this 
 stage rules of thumb are supplanted by systems based on 
 principles, and the way is paved for the technical school 
 stage. The training here is practical, but it is broad and 
 based on scientific knowledge. This stage is not reached 
 in all fields of endeavor, for some stop at the first or the 
 second, while on the other hand the existence of a higher 
 stage of education does not preclude the continuation at the 
 same time of agencies carrying on instruction after the 
 mode of the lower stages. With the rise of the factory 
 system and the extension of capitalistic production and 
 industrial integration in the form of " big business," there 
 came a demand in the business world for men widely in- 
 formed and thoroughly trained. Not only did men to meet 
 this demand have to have good foundations of general 
 education, but they needed technical preparation in the 
 specialized field of business itself. 
 
 Business science is not only applied science, but it is 
 secondary or derived from a number of the fundamental 
 sciences. It draws its principles from the physical sciences 
 of physics, chemistry, geoloo:y, and biology; it utilizes the 
 engineering applications of these sciences; it derives valu- 
 
Business Education 557 
 
 able information from physiology and psychology, and it 
 makes use of the modern languages. Borrowing from all 
 the pure sciences and their applied counterparts, it formu- 
 lates its own regulations so that it may manage the work 
 of the world economically, so that it may bring about the 
 production of goods necessary to meet humanity's many, 
 varied, and recurrent wants, and make these commodities 
 available in advantageous times and places with individual 
 title to them established according to existing standards of 
 personal justice and social expediency. 
 
 The final stage, the cultural stage, is reached when the 
 educator determines that the field in question is so much 
 a part of the general civilization or intellectual wealth of 
 the world that it ought to receive some consideration, not 
 only by specialists in the field but also by the student 
 pursuing a well-planned course of a general or non- 
 technical character designed to enable him to appreciate 
 and play some role in the world in which he lives. It is 
 because new branches of human endeavor constantly blos- 
 som forth into this stage, while more ancient branches 
 wither and no longer bear fruit of contemporary signifi- 
 cance, that the very humanities themselves change as well 
 as realities. 
 
 Business as a field of human thought and activity has 
 reached this stage, and educators reckon with it in laying 
 out courses of general elementary, secondary, and collegiate 
 study. 
 
 No one would contend that educators should in any 
 way cease to offer general or cultural courses, but they 
 should insist that these general courses embrace all of 
 humanity's wealth, including that which modern society 
 contributed, and that they should with each addition re- 
 shape their general offerings so that appropriate propor- 
 tions will be preserved. 
 
 Before the development of modern highly organized pro- 
 duction, business training Avould have been synonymous 
 with commercial training; that is, training to prepare men 
 
558 
 
 College Teaching 
 
 Definition 
 of business 
 education 
 
 to play their parts in the exchange of goods. This would 
 embrace correspondence with customers, the keeping of 
 records of stock, the cost of stock, making out bills, and 
 attending to all financial operations which were associated 
 with marketing and exchange. Successful training would 
 imply, of course, the broad foundational grasp of arithme- 
 tic, reading, and writing of the mother tongue and of such 
 foreign languages as the nature of the market might re- 
 quire, a grasp of various money values, banking procedure, 
 and other information concerning financial affairs, the 
 means of transportation, freight charges, etc. Manual skill 
 had to be developed in penmanship, in the technique of 
 bookkeeping, general office organization, and filing. With 
 the invention of mechanical and labor-saving office devices, 
 facility in operating them was required to supplement skill 
 in penmanship. 
 
 Of course, with the development of the market the com- 
 plexity of office management increased. In modern times 
 the business man concerns himself not only with the duties 
 of the merchant and exchanger, but also with the organiza- 
 tion of industry and economical procedure. The modern 
 business man, entrepreneur or manager, and all those as- 
 sisting him in the discharp;e of his duties, perform functions 
 in two directions: first, in the direction of the market in 
 the establishment of price, in the selling of his goods, and 
 in attending to all matters which flow therefrom, and sec- 
 ondly toward the production plant itself; while he employs 
 technicians who know how to perform operations skillfully 
 according to the laws of science, nevertheless he must know 
 how to buy labor and how to organize labor and materials 
 and put them in coordinate working relationship most 
 economically. 
 
 We can therefore define business education as education 
 which directly prepares people to discharge the business 
 function; namely, the economical organization of men and 
 materials in production and the most advantageous dis- 
 tribution and exchange of the commodities or service for 
 consumption. 
 
Business Education 
 
 559 
 
 In the modern world it is hard sometimes to draw the 
 line between the field of technology in production and the 
 field of business management in production, but in general 
 the two functions are fairly distinct. The technician is 
 interested in operations of production, while the business 
 manager is interested in their economical organization and 
 in their government with relation to market conditions. 
 The very engineers themselves must be selected, engineered, 
 and paid by the business man. The business manager is 
 interested in keeping the total price of his commodities 
 above his total entrepreneur's cost. The technician is in- 
 terested in inventing and operating the machinery of pro- 
 duction, if and when the business man determines what 
 operations v/ill be profitable. 
 
 The aims of business education are, first and foremost, 
 professional; second, civic; and third, cultural. At no 
 time can the three be separated, but it is possible to devise 
 a curriculum which stresses one or two of the aims. It is 
 also possible to treat a subject so as to emphasize technical 
 and practical skill or to promote philosophical reflection. 
 
 The professional aim prompted the establishment of the 
 first schools or colleges of commerce, and it is kept to the 
 fore not only in institutions giving courses of study which 
 lead to distinctive degrees in commerce, but also in places 
 which give specialized instruction in particular fields. We 
 shall consider curricula of the following types: 
 
 Type I. Curriculum designed to give the student train- 
 ing to meet a definite professional requirement 
 established by law. 
 
 Type II. Curriculum designed to make a student profi- 
 cient in a particular narrow field. 
 
 Type III. Curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree 
 in commerce or business, vertical type. 
 
 Type IV. Curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree 
 in commerce or business, horizontal type. 
 
 Aims and 
 curricula of 
 "business 
 education 
 
560 College Teaching 
 
 TYPE I. A TECHNICAL COURSE, DESIGNED TO PREPARE 
 
 STUDENTS TO MEET THE STATE REQUIREMENTS 
 
 FOR CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS 
 
 Entrance requirements for students matriculating for the 
 whole course as candidates for a Diploma of Graduate 
 in Accountancy — high school graduation, college en- 
 trance or a State Regents' C.P.A. Qualifying Certifi- 
 cate. 
 
 Non-matriculated students — mature persons wishing to 
 pursue certain subjects without academic credit. 
 
 Prescribed 
 
 Accounting, Theory, Practice and Problems 
 
 4 terms, 4 hours a week — 256 hours 
 This course covers general accounting for the 
 single proprietor, partnerships and corporations, 
 embracing financing, manufacturing, and selling 
 operations, with agencies and branches, the forma- 
 tion of mergers, syndicates, holding companies, 
 etc.; dissolutions and reorganizations. 
 
 Cost accounting 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 
 Auditing 1 term, . 2 hours a w eek — 32 hours 
 
 Public utilities accounting 
 
 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 
 Judicial (fiduciary) accounting 
 
 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 Advanced accounting, theory, and problems 
 
 2 term, 2 hours a week — 64 hours 
 Commercial Law 
 
 3 terms, 3 hours a week 144 hours 
 
 Covering general principles of law, contracts, and 
 all forms of special contracts of interest to the 
 business man, especially those related to personal 
 property, risk insurance, credit and real property, 
 and forms of business associations. 
 
Business Education 561 
 
 Economics 
 
 Economic principles 
 
 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Economic development of the United States 
 
 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Money and banking 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 English — Written, Business English 
 
 2 terms, 2 hours a week — 64 hours 
 Oral English — Public Speaking 
 
 4 terms, 1 hour a week — 64 hours 
 Additional electives — one course of at least 96 hours in 
 Government and enough other elective subjects in 
 technical commercial work or Political Science to ac- 
 crue at least a total of 1000 hours. 
 
 The available additional electives in accounting are 
 advanced courses in different special fields such as 
 Advanced Cost Accounting, Municipal Accounting — 
 General and Departmental, Systems for particular in- 
 dustries or forms of business. Public Utilities Rate 
 Making and Regulation, etc. 
 
 In Government the available electives include such 
 subjects as American Government and Citizenship, 
 American Constitutional Law, International Law, Po- 
 litical Theory, Comparative Government, State Legisla- 
 tion and Administration, Municipal Administration, 
 etc. 
 
 In Political Science, courses in Economics and Busi- 
 ness, such as Economic Problems, Business Organi- 
 zation and Management, Public Finance, Foreign 
 Trade, Foreign Exchange, Insurance, Advertising, 
 Salesmanship, etc., are available, while general and 
 special courses may be taken in Sociology and Statis- 
 tics. 
 
 Courses of study of this sort in a specialized field are 
 offered in colleges usually at night for students who are 
 in active business during the day. With more or less ex- 
 tensive additions in scientific, literary, and linguistic fields 
 
562 College Teaching 
 
 they become the curricula leading to baccalaureate degrees 
 as represented by Type III, to follow. Large private insti- 
 tutes or schools conducted for profit and also correspond- 
 ence institutions offer similar courses. Other groups of 
 studies in particular fields are: in banking, in transporta- 
 tion or traffic, in sales management, including advertising 
 and salesmanship, and in foreign trade. 
 
 A group in Foreign Trade will typify this sort of course 
 of study, which differs from the one in Accountancy just 
 given because the make-up will be determined wholly by 
 each institution quite independent of legally established 
 professional standards. 
 
 TYPE II. TO PREPARE STUDENTS FOR WORK IN A 
 SPECIAL FIELD, FOREIGN TRADE 
 
 Principles of economics 
 
 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Economic resources of the U. S. 
 
 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Commercial geography 
 
 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Money and banking 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Foreign exchange 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 Foreign credit 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 
 International law 1 term, 3 hours a week — 48 hours 
 
 Tariff history of the U. S. 
 
 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 U. S. and foreign customs administrations 
 
 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 Export technique 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 
 Practical steamship operation 
 
 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 Marketing and salesmanship 
 
 General course 1 term, 2 hours a week — 32 hours 
 
 Special courses as desired on South American Mar- 
 kets, Mediterranean Markets, Russian Markets, 
 Northwest Empire Markets, etc. 
 
Business Education 563 
 
 Foreign Languages: 
 
 Practical courses in Conversation and correspond- 
 ence in French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, 
 Russian, etc., according to market in which trade 
 is specialized, at least 
 
 4 terms, 3 hours a week — 192 hours 
 
 Total (in 2 years, with weekly schedule of 10 or 12 hrs.) 
 
 672 hours 
 
 A special course of this sort usually leads to a certificate 
 but not a diploma or degree. Obviously the technical aim 
 is very prominent, though civic and cultural benefits of no 
 mean character will of necessity be derived. New groups 
 will be found as new fields of business become important 
 and develop definite, recognizable requirements of a 
 scientific sort. Naturally each such specialty goes through 
 the usual evolution and contributes its philosophical dis- 
 tillation or essence to the cultural college course. 
 
 When we come to the construction of a curriculum lead- 
 ing to a bachelor's degree in business, economics, or com- 
 merce, we have the problems of the engineering schools. 
 Just how far will specialization be carried, in what sequence 
 will the foundational subjects and the specialties be taken 
 up, and to what extent will other more general subjects not 
 directly contributing to a technical end be admitted? In 
 most institutions of good standards the degree is regarded 
 as representing not only technical proficiency in business 
 but also some acquaintance with science, politics, and let- 
 ters in general. The question (already an old one in 
 schools of engineering) arises then concerning the best way 
 to arrange the special or distinctively business subjects in 
 relation to the more general. Although there are a number 
 of variations, two outstanding types are recognizable. We 
 may devise labels for them: the vertical curriculum, which 
 offers both general and special courses side by side right 
 up through the college course, and the horizontal, which 
 requires a completion of the whole or nearly all of the 
 general group during the first two years of college before 
 the special subjects are pursued in the last two. 
 
564 College Teaching 
 
 TYPE III. VERTICAL TYPE OF UNDERGRADUATE 
 
 CURRICULUM, LEADING TO THE DEGREE 
 
 OF B. S. IN ECONOMICS 
 
 Entrance: College entrance requirements. 
 
 Requirement for graduation: 74 units, of which 40 must be 
 in general business and in liberal subjects, with 34 in 
 specialized fields of business activity, to be taken after 
 the freshman year. 
 
 A unit here represents successful work for one hour a week for 
 two semesters. Therefore the total 74 is equivalent to 148 of the 
 usual collegiate units. 
 
 Freshman Required Work 
 English composition 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 English, history of the language 1 hour a week — 2 terms 
 English literature 1 hour a week — 2 terms 
 
 Chemistry — general 
 
 or ^3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Business law 
 
 Physical education 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Government — federal and state 3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 Principles of economics 3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Economic resources 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Accounting general course 3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Sophomore Required Work 
 
 English literature and composition 
 
 3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Physical education 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 General history 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
 Required before End of Junior Year 
 
 Additional political science 2 hours a week — 2 terms 
 Physical education 1 hour a week — 2 terms 
 
 Required before Graduation 
 Additional history 3 hours a week — 2 terms 
 
Business Education 565 
 
 Physical education 1 hour a week — 2 terms 
 
 A modern language beyond the first year in college 
 
 3 hours a week — 4 terms 
 Total required units 40 units 
 
 Elect after the Freshman year courses aggregating 34 
 additional units in fields of 
 I. Business law 4 courses, 10 units available 
 
 II. Commerce and transportation 
 
 9 courses, 19 units available 
 
 III. Economics 8 courses, 15 units available 
 
 IV. Finance and accounting 
 
 20 courses, 53 units available 
 V. Geography and industry 
 
 11 courses, 26 units available 
 
 VI. Insurance 7 courses, 16 units available 
 
 VII. Political science 22 courses, 43 units available 
 
 VIII. Sociology 6 courses, 12 units available 
 
 Total required for the degree, 74 units 
 
 There is a school which grants a degree in Commerce for 
 the equivalent of 36 of these units or 72 of the usual college 
 credits, if the student has business experience, and for the 
 equivalent of 48 of these units or 96 of the usual college 
 credits if he has not. The course is essentially like Type I 
 and includes no broad liberal requirements in literature, 
 foreign language, and history and on the other hand is 
 not so strictly prescribed as Type I. A strictly technical 
 degree may be desirable for such a short course, provided 
 the prescription is severe and includes languages. Gener- 
 ally it seems best to reserve degrees for full college courses 
 of four years or more which include a reasonable general 
 requirement in languages and science. This leads us to 
 Type IV, or the curriculum which requires the first regular 
 two years of the college course prescribed for one of the 
 liberal degrees and permits business specialization in the 
 last two undergraduate years or these with an additional 
 postgraduate year. One institution requires the first three 
 
566 College Teaching 
 
 years as a foundation for a two-year course in business, and 
 one conducts a postgraduate school of business administra- 
 tion leading to the degree of Ph.D. in Business Economics. 
 No doubt postgraduate work will be continued mainly in the 
 research direction, but undergraduate day and continuation 
 courses will be devoted mainly to preparation for business. 
 
 It is not necessary to illustrate Type IV, because the first 
 two years consist simply of the Freshman and Sophomore 
 work of any sort of liberal college course. Classical, Scien- 
 tific, or Modern Language, while the succeeding years are 
 made up of special work in Economics and Business of more 
 or less concentrated character. 
 
 The advantage of the type is obviously administrative. 
 The whole vexing problem of insuring fairly wide cultiva- 
 tion along with opportunities for specialization is con- 
 veniently settled by giving general training, most of it 
 remote from business work, for two years, after which the 
 student is considered cultivated enough to withstand the 
 blighting effect of specialization. But there are serious 
 pedagogical objections to this arrangement which make the 
 vertical plan seem preferable. A student coming from one 
 of our constantly improving high schools of commerce is 
 checked for two years and given time to forget all the book- 
 keeping and other commercial work which he has learned 
 and on which advanced commercial instruction* may be 
 built, while he pursues an academic course. It would be 
 far better to continue the modern languages, the mathe- 
 matics, and natural sciences, along with business courses. 
 Furthermore there is much to be done by educators in 
 arranging such parallel sequences of subjects so that ad- 
 vantage may be taken of vocational interest to stimulate 
 broad and deep study of related fundamentals. Consider- 
 able improvement could be made over Type III, but that 
 type seems better than the one we have styled " horizontal." 
 
 In all these courses of study we quite properly find both 
 the philosophical and analytical courses, those which are 
 historical and descriptive and those of detailed practical 
 technique; we find economic theory, industrial history, busi- 
 
Business Education 567 
 
 ness management, and practical accounting; we find theory 
 of money and banking, history of banking in the United 
 States, and practical banking; we find theory of interna- 
 tional exchange, tariff history, and the technique of customs 
 administration. Concerning methods of teaching particular 
 subjects we shall speak later. 
 
 Seldom do we find curricula drawn up with the purely 
 civic end in view, though many schools and associations 
 throughout the country are agitating the question of organ- 
 ized training of men for public service. Strictly speaking, 
 this kind of training is both professional and civic because 
 it is designed to make men proficient in carrying on the 
 business of the State. In New York City the municipal 
 college conducts courses of this sort for persons in the 
 city service, while private bureaus of municipal research 
 conduct their own courses. So far in America no courses 
 are yet accepted officially for entrance into public service 
 or as the only qualification for advancement in the service. 
 Nevertheless, progress is being made in this direction. The 
 curricula offered include courses in Government and es- 
 pecially Municipal Government, Public Finance and Taxa- 
 tion, the practical organization and administration of 
 various departments such as Police, Charities, Public 
 Works, the establishment and maintenance of special sys- 
 tems of municipal accounts. 
 
 But the great civic benefit comes from general courses in 
 business, for the business man who has a real grasp of his 
 work and sees it in the light of general social welfare be- 
 comes a good citizen. Business education gives some sense 
 of the interdependence of industry, personal ethics, and 
 government. The broadly trained business man realizes 
 that he is in a sense a servant of the community, that his 
 property is wrapped up with the welfare of his fellow men, 
 and that what he has is a trust which society grants to him 
 to be conducted after the manner of a good steward. Such 
 training reveals to him the raison d'etre of labor legisla- 
 tion, factory laws, the various qualifications of the prop- 
 erty right, the necessity for taxation, and the importance 
 
568 College Teaching 
 
 of good government to all the citizens of the State both as 
 cooperative agents in production and as consumers. Con- 
 tinued and improved business education will elevate the 
 mind of the merchant and the manager so that its horizon 
 is no longer the profit balance but the welfare of all society. 
 
 The cultural aim of business courses is consciously kept 
 in mind by the makers of curricula for colleges of liberal 
 arts and sciences which permit a rather free choice of 
 electives in the department of Economics and Business or 
 of Political Science, according to the departmental organiza- 
 tion of the institution. Here, of course, we find Economics, 
 which bears to practical business much the relation which 
 Philosophy bears to active life in general. We find also 
 courses in Money and Banking, usually offered from the 
 historical and descriptive rather than the technical point 
 of view. Recently, however, colleges have included in this 
 field of election practical courses in Accountancy and Com- 
 mercial Law. The tendency is in the direction of including 
 more and more of the practical and technical courses, al- 
 though the historical and philosophical courses are retained. 
 Nevertheless the cultural value is undiminished, unless one 
 were to maintain that nothing which is exact can be cultural. 
 Methods of The field of business is so wide and embraces so many 
 subjects that the methods of teaching giving the best results 
 will be varied and used in different combinations with dif- 
 ferent subjects. Those subjects which are practical and 
 largely habit forming, such as stenography, typewriting, 
 bookkeeping, and the manipulation of mechanical and labor- 
 saving office devices, are of course taught by some method 
 of training which will insure quick reaction. In these 
 courses the object is to cultivate habits of manual dexterity 
 and habits of orderliness and neatness. Here we find that 
 exposition is reduced to a minimum, lectures are few, recita- 
 tions do not exist to any great extent, but that practice, 
 
 1st, to secure proper form, and 
 
 2d, to secure speed, 
 is the controlling aim of the method. The teachers show 
 their ingenuity in devising exercises which will give ac- 
 
 teaching 
 
Business Education 569 
 
 curacy of form and then develop speed without sacrifice of 
 accuracy. 
 
 In colleges these courses are reduced to a minimum be- 
 cause they are usually cared for in lower schools, but for 
 students who come directly to the commercial college with- 
 out them, preparatory courses of this sort are often con- 
 ducted. 
 
 Among the technical subjects the one which calls for the 
 most practice is, of course, Accountancy, first for the single 
 proprietor, next for the partnership, and finally for the 
 corporation. Various methods of presenting Accountancy 
 have been suggested. Very few teachers employ extensive 
 recitation work in this field. It is found most desirable 
 to have periods of at least two hours' duration, so that the 
 teacher can give such exposition and lecture work at the 
 beginning of the period as he may see fit, and the class 
 may then take up practice. In some schools it is customary 
 to have one course in theory, another course in practical 
 accounting, and another course in problems of accounting. 
 However, the tendency seems to be in the direction of 
 making these three aspects of the work mutually helpful, 
 and the course is offered as a course in Accounting, Theory, 
 Practice, and Problems. The theory is set forth in a 
 lecture, practice is given with typical situations in mind, 
 and then related problems are taken up for solution. Many 
 excellent texts are now appearing and can be used in the 
 customary manner. Assignments in these books tend to 
 make unnecessary many long or formal lectures, but there 
 still remains the need for classroom talks and quizzes. As 
 the course progresses, the problems become more and more 
 difficult and complicated, and the final problem work is 
 exceedingly difficult and calls for a considerable power 
 of analysis, clarity of statement, and care in arrangement 
 on the part of the student. 
 
 A complete course of this, sort usually covers two and 
 a half or three years. At the end of the first year of gen- 
 eral accountancy, special subjects may be pursued parallel 
 with the general course. The order in which these special- 
 
570 College Teaching 
 
 ties are introduced is usually Cost Accounting, Auditing 
 Systems, Judicial or Fiduciary Accounting, and then other 
 special branches such as Brokers' Accounts, Public Utilities 
 Accounting, Foreign Exchange Accounting, etc. 
 
 General Accounting is very important both as an instru- 
 ment for the business man to use and as a training to insure 
 the grasp of general business organization. It is the opin- 
 ion of the writer that whether a business man expects to 
 become an accountant or not, he should have a thorough and 
 technical grasp of this subject. In these specialties it is 
 necessary to depend upon lectures rather than textbooks, 
 not only because textbooks here are few and other works 
 are not well adapted to teaching use, but also because the 
 subject matter must be kept up to date and in keeping with 
 changing practice. The lecturers should be practical ex- 
 perts in each particular field as well as acceptable teachers. 
 
 Closely related to Accountancy is Commercial Law. 
 Commercial Law should, of course, be understood by every 
 business man, not because he expects to become a practi- 
 tioner of law but because he wishes to avoid unnecessary 
 disputes and to shape his course wisely from a legal stand- 
 point in dealing with his employees, his business associates, 
 and his customers. 
 
 There are various methods of teaching Commercial Law. 
 The one which has been in vogue thus far has been the 
 textbook method, in which the principles of law of interest 
 to the business man are set forth. Lessons are assigned in 
 the book, and recitations are held. The lecture method 
 also is advocated. In some universities which have both 
 law schools and schools of commerce, the commercial 
 students receive lectures in the school of law in such sub- 
 jects as contracts, agencies, insurance, etc. It seems to the 
 writer that neither of these practices is desirable but that 
 the proper way to teach Commercial Law to the commercial 
 students is the case method, in which the principles of law 
 of interest to the business man are developed from an ex- 
 amination of actual cases of business litigation. We may 
 
Business Education 571 
 
 very likely look forward to the publication of case books 
 which can be used either alone or in conjunction with text- 
 books on legal principles. Lectures on law to commercial 
 students should be reduced to a minimum, and then they 
 should confine themselves to very broad principles which 
 need no lengthy exposition or to fields in which the students 
 may be expected to have a general grasp but. no very de- 
 tailed knowledge. But such subjects as contracts, agency, 
 bankruptcy, sales, insurance, negotiable instruments, and 
 forms of business association should be taught thoroughly 
 to the student in the classroom through the case method, in 
 which each case is fully discussed by the class and from 
 which discussion legal principles are evolved. It is inter- 
 esting to note that the states which stand highest in the 
 matter of Certified Public Accountancy licenses are requir- 
 ing very thorough preparation in law. To meet such re- 
 quirements a course in law covering at least three semesters, 
 three hours a week, with a case method is certainly neces- 
 sary. 
 
 The modern languages taught in schools of commerce 
 should be by the direct method, and always with the voca- 
 tional end clearly before the student. Actual business tran- 
 sactions, such as selling to a foreign customer in the foreign 
 language, correspondence, newspapers, catalogues and other 
 documents of business, should be the supplementary reading 
 and exercise material of the class. Facility in conversation 
 and writing should be developed as rapidly as possible, and 
 the grasp of the methodical rules should follow. It would 
 probably be presumptuous to take a strong position here on 
 the question of teaching modern languages, but experience 
 with commercial students has clearly indicated that greatest 
 progress can be made if the language is taught by a con- 
 versation or direct method from the very start, and if 
 paradigms and rules of syntax are evolved after some vocab- 
 ulary has been developed and some facility in speech has 
 been acquired. We may say here, incidentally, that it seems 
 wise to teach the spoken language for a while before taking 
 
572 College Teaching 
 
 up the problem of the written language, especially where 
 the foreign language assigns different phonetic values to 
 the printed symbols from those assigned in English. 
 
 While the various technical subjects offer different prob- 
 lems because of differences in their character, we may say 
 in general that the aim of the school should always be to 
 keep in touch with the actual practice in the business world; 
 to have the lecturer use material which is up to the minute, 
 and, where possible, to give the students the advantage of 
 field work or at least to take them on tours of inspection 
 in the different houses engaged in this or that line of busi- 
 ness. 
 
 The curriculum of any good commercial college or 
 university department of business includes courses in Eco- 
 nomics, Commercial Geography, Industrial History, Busi- 
 ness Management, and similar subjects. No doubt other 
 chapters of this book discuss methods of teaching these 
 subjects. But it may not be out of place here to indicate 
 that the best approach to the study of Economics is through 
 practical business courses in Accountancy, Commercial 
 Law, and Practical Management. Economics is the Philos- 
 ophy of Business, and it cannot be understood by one who 
 is unfamiliar with the facts of business. Certainly it can- 
 not be related to real business life by the academic student. 
 It would seem, therefore, best to reserve the course in 
 Economic Theory for the senior year of a business course 
 and precede it with courses in Accounting, Law, Indus- 
 trial History, and Management. Then, when it is taught, 
 it should be presented through practical problems from 
 which the general principles may, by induction, be 
 derived. 
 Relations It jg important that commercial education should not 
 
 business grow academic and remote from the real world of affairs. 
 *" "'^ Therefore schools of business should keep in close contact 
 
 with merchants' associations, chambers of commerce, and 
 such other bodies of business men as may be in the neighbor- 
 hood of the school. Committees from such associations 
 should have either a voice in the conduct of the school, or 
 
 world 
 
Business Education 573 
 
 at least have very strong advisory representation on com- 
 mittees. In France, Germany, and in fact most European 
 countries, colleges of commerce were directly established by 
 chambers of commerce and associations of merchants, and 
 the work is to a large extent conducted under their direc- 
 tion. Whether the college of commerce in America be a 
 private institution or one supported by the public, it should 
 form some sympathetic contact with the leading business 
 organizations. Of course certain business associations 
 have their own technical schools of training. The Ameri- 
 can Bankers' Association conducts its own courses, drawing 
 upon various universities for lecturers in some subjects and 
 drawing upon experts in business for other kinds of techni- 
 cal work. So also various corporations have their corpora- 
 tion schools which seek to develop business executives by 
 proajressive courses of training for those in the lower ranks. 
 Nevertheless, the collegiate institutions offering organized 
 courses in commerce will do well to keep in touch with 
 business men. Another way in which such schools and 
 colleges can keep abreast of the times is to employ lecturers 
 who do not make teaching their main business of life but 
 who are expert in certain particular fields. Indeed, it is 
 almost impossible to teach certain of the very advanced and 
 specialized courses without employing men of this sort. 
 They are attracted to teaching not by the pay but by the 
 honor of being connected with an institution of learning, 
 and by sincere desire to contribute something to the de- 
 velopment of the work in which they are interested. These 
 men, of course, can be scheduled only for a relatively few 
 hours a week, and sometimes they can be had only for 
 evening lectures, but in any event they are very much worth 
 while. Obviously the director of studies in the college 
 should give these men all possible assistance of a peda- 
 gogical sort, so that their advantages as experts in business 
 will not be offset by deficiencies as teachers. 
 
 This brings us to another consideration which is very Evening 
 T 1 • 1 1 . 1 1 . . work in 
 
 important, it seems to the writer that the ideal training commercial 
 
 for a student who has reached the stage of entrance to '^°'^"®^ 
 
574< College Teaching 
 
 college and who wishes to go into business is as follows: 
 He should enroll in the college course which is prepara- 
 tory for business training and pursue his modern languages, 
 Mathematics, English, and the Social Sciences, and also 
 take up such accounting and technical work as he can have 
 the first two years of his course. Then he should enter 
 the world of business itself, be in a business house during 
 the day, and continue his studies at night. It seems very 
 desirable that this parallel progress, in organized theory and 
 instruction, on the one hand, and in actual business with 
 its diflBculties which arise almost haphazard, should be car- 
 ried on. The relationship is very helpful. Of course a 
 substitute for this is the cooperative plan, in which the 
 student spends a part of his time in college and a part of 
 the time in a business house. Another alternative in in- 
 stitutions which have the three-term year is to put two 
 terms in at college and one term in at business. The cal- 
 endar arrangement of any institution will suggest variations 
 of this suggested arrangement, the purpose of which will be 
 to insure progressive development in business practice and 
 also in collegiate instruction. 
 Hecentde- Jt jg to be noticed that in the last few years business 
 
 has become more and more intense. The developments are 
 in two directions. The first direction is saving and effi- 
 ciency through organization. This tends to keep down 
 cost. The other direction is in the stimulation of the market 
 and in perfecting advertising and selling methods. Nat- 
 urally there have been developments in the recording, ac- 
 counting, and clerical ends of the business, but scientific 
 management in production on the one hand, and scientific 
 selling on the other, are the two great developments. In 
 both, engineering plays a prominent part and dictates a 
 close correlation of the business and the engineering cur- 
 ricula of a college or university seeking to give most ef- 
 fective training either to the student of business or the 
 student of engineering. On the selling side we are having 
 the further developments which come with the growth of 
 foreign trade. 
 
Business Education 575 
 
 In order to meet the demand for men competent to organ- 
 ize production wisely and from a business viewpoint, more 
 courses will be given in what we may call production man- 
 agement or commercial engineering. Furthermore, the 
 sales engineer must be trained. The curriculum of the 
 course of collegiate grade should be made up somewhat as 
 follows: 
 
 A two years' prescribed course in the general sciences and 
 in general principles of business, followed by a two or 
 three year curriculum in technical business management, on 
 the one hand, including especially accounting, cost account- 
 ing, w^age systems, employment management, and some 
 branch of engineering on the other hand. The engineering 
 course should be general but thorough. It should not go 
 up into specialized fields of design, but it should include 
 all the fundamental courses of engineering — of mechanical, 
 electrical, and civil engineering. A combination course in 
 engineering and business management is needed also to pre- 
 pare men for places in banks as investment managers. 
 The banks must advance funds to industrial concerns, and 
 such loans cannot be made wisely save upon the advice of 
 one who is thoroughly acquainted with plant management, 
 equipment, and mechanical operations as well as costs of 
 production and market possibilities. In addition, such a 
 man must be well acquainted with systems of accounting 
 and methods of preparing financial statements. In the field 
 of salesmanship, engineering training is growing in im- 
 portance. In short, the highly organized state of modern 
 production and the tremendous part played by engineering 
 in modern industry indicate the need for a close coordina- 
 tion of business and engineering education. 
 
 In conclusion we may say that business education is now 
 at the stage where it has its own technology, is in close 
 touch with other fields of technology, and is making its 
 contribution to the general fund of modern culture. Texts 
 and scientific treatises in the field of business are increas- 
 ing, the pedagogy of the various included subiects is re- 
 ceiving satisfactory attention, and schools of collegiate and 
 
576 College Teaching 
 
 university grade are keeping abreast of the demands of 
 the business world for adequate general and specific train- 
 ing in business. 
 
 Frederick B. Robinson 
 
 College of the City of New York 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 CooLEY, E. G. Vocational Education in Europe. Commercial Club 
 of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1912. Chapters on Vocational Edu- 
 cation in General, Commercial Schools, and the Conclusion. 
 
 Farrington, F. E. Commercial Education in Germany. The Mac- 
 millan Company, 1914. 
 
 Herrick, C. a. Meaning and Practice of Commercial Education, 
 and other works in the Macmillan Commercial Series, 1904. There 
 is an excellent bibliography on the whole subject of commercial 
 education as an appendix to Herrick's Commercial Education,. 
 
 Hooper, Frederick, and Graham, James. Commercial Education 
 at Home and Abroad. The Macmillan Company, 1901. 
 
 There are numerous contributions on particular aspects and general 
 methods and special methods in commercial subjects. The best 
 printed bibliography of these is in the back of Herrick's book. 
 A typical work on methods is Klein and Kahn's Methods in Com- 
 mercial Education. 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Accountancy. See Business Edu- 
 cation 
 Adapting course of study, 95-97, 
 
 202, 244, 480, 572 
 Adler, Felix, 323, 325 
 Esthetic aim, in teaching, 52, 
 
 92; in music, 470 
 Aims, in teaching, 48-54; modi- 
 fied for different students, 54; 
 in organization of knowledge, 
 65; in teaching biology, 88- 
 94; in teaching mathematics, 
 172; in physical education, 
 184-190; in teaching econom- 
 ics, 217-220 ; in teaching Amer- 
 ican history, 218; in teaching 
 political science, 282-287; in 
 teaching philosophy, 304; in 
 teaching ethics, 320-328; in 
 teaching psychology, 337; in 
 teaching English literature, 
 380-384, 422-423; in teaching 
 classics, 405; in teaching Ro- 
 mance languages, 426-427; in 
 teaching music, 460-462, 467; 
 of art instruction, 478; in 
 teaching engineering subjects, 
 508-511; in teaching mechan- 
 ical drawing, 525-527; in 
 business education, 559. See 
 Civic, Disciplinary, Utilitarian 
 
 Allen, J. T., 411 
 
 Angell, J. B., 30 
 
 Application of knowledge, 72 
 
 Art, 475-497 
 
 Art instruction, 475 
 
 Athletics. See Physical educa- 
 tion 
 
 Author's life, in literary study, 
 385 
 
 Biological basis of education, 85- 
 
 87, 94, 364 
 Biology, 85-109 
 
 579 
 
 Brown, E. E., 358 
 Brown University, 5 
 Business education, 555-577 
 Butler, N. M., 30, 404 
 
 Calkins, Mary W., 339 
 Canby, H. S., 42 
 Case method, in political science, 
 292; in philosophy, 316; in 
 ethics, 329; in psychology, 
 338-340; in commercial law, 
 572-573 
 Cattell, J. M., 30 
 Chemistry, 108-125 
 Chronological viewpoint in his- 
 tory, 257 
 Citizenship, training for, 282 
 Civic aim in economics, 219 
 Classics, 404-423; in Colonial 
 colleges, 5-6; status in college 
 teaching, 404; through the 
 vernacular, 418; through an- 
 cient authors, 421 
 Coeducation, 18-21 
 College teaching, why ineffective, 
 
 46-48 
 Collegiate Institute, 4 
 Colonial period, 3 
 Columbia University, 5, 8 
 Commercial education. See Busi- 
 ness education 
 Commercial law, 571-572 
 Committee on standards of Amer- 
 ican universities, 42 
 Comparisons in teaching, 70 
 Composition and journalism, 546 
 Composition teaching, status of, 
 
 390. See English 
 Correlation, 70, 151, 156-157, 
 
 297, 295-297, 314 
 Course of study, 477, 481-485, 
 486^90; in biology, 95-98; 
 logical and psychological, 103; 
 in chemistry, 111; in physics, 
 
580 
 
 Index 
 
 134-137, 138-139; in geology, 
 153-156, 158; in hygiene and 
 physical training, 206; in eco- 
 nomics, 225; in sociology, 244- 
 246; determined by commu- 
 nity, 246; in American history, 
 259-262; in European history, 
 269-276; in political science, 
 280-281; in philosophy, 312- 
 314; in education, 353; in 
 English literature, 386; in 
 classics, 410; in Romance lan- 
 guages, 431-436; in German, 
 442-453; in engineering, 502- 
 504; in mechanical drawing, 
 526-530; in business educa- 
 tion, 559-567 
 Cultural aim, 220, 336, 348, 382- 
 384 
 
 Dartmouth College Case and 
 college development, 8-9 
 
 Democracy, 259 
 
 Descriptive geometry, 530 
 
 Design in engineering, 517 
 
 Development method, 73, 75-76. 
 See Recitation 
 
 Dewey, J., 362-364 
 
 Dexter, E. G., 30, 355 
 
 Differentiated courses, 504-508 
 
 Direct method, 444 
 
 Disciplinary aim, 51-52; in 
 physics, 126-127; in geology, 
 143-150; in history, 264; in 
 psychology, 336; in education, 
 349; in literature, 382-384; in 
 Romance languages, 424; in 
 music, 467-468 
 
 Draper, A. S., 30 
 
 Duggan, S. P., 353 
 
 Economic viewpoint in history, 
 
 257 
 Economics, 58, 217-240 
 Education as college subject, 
 
 347-376 
 
 Educational and instructional 
 aim, 50-51 
 
 Elective system, 11-14 
 
 Elementary language courses as 
 college courses, 426 
 
 Eliot, Charles W., 11 
 
 Emotional reaction in literature, 
 384 
 
 Engineering subjects, 501-524 
 
 English, teaching of, 49, 379- 
 388, 389-403. 5ee Composi- 
 tion, Literature 
 
 Equipment for art instruction, 
 490 
 
 Ethics, 320-333 
 
 Evening session for business edu- 
 cation, 573 
 
 Examination, 80. See Tests 
 
 Experimental work in psychol- 
 ogy, 342. See Laboratory 
 method 
 
 Expressional limitations of col- 
 lege students, 545 
 
 Field work, 254, 298, 517 
 
 Finance, teaching of. See Busi- 
 ness education 
 
 Flexner, A., 30, 42 
 
 Foster, W. T., 30 
 
 Functional aspect in teaching, 
 292 
 
 Geology, 142-160 
 German, 440-453 
 German influence on American 
 
 college, 14 
 Gradation of subject matter, 56, 
 
 387 
 Graduate schools, 14-15 
 Graves, 353 
 
 Habits, 91, 199. See Aims, Dis- 
 ciplinary aim 
 Handschin, C. H., 42 
 Harper, W. R., 30 
 Hart, 355 
 Harvard, 3 
 
Index 
 
 581 
 
 Health instruction, 197. See 
 Physical education 
 
 Heuristic method. See Develop- 
 ment method, Recitation 
 
 High school preparation, in phys- 
 ical education, 190; in music, 
 469, 485 
 
 History, of American college, 3; 
 of college mathematics, 167; 
 of sociology, 241; of music as 
 college subject, 357; of teach- 
 ing of journalism, 533-539; of 
 business education in the col- 
 lege, 555-557 
 
 Holliday, C, 42 
 
 Home, H. H., 36, 42 
 
 Illustrations, 243 
 Immigration and status of Eng- 
 lish teaching, 394 
 Informal aim in teaching, 51 
 Informal examination, 308 
 Introductory course, in ethics, 
 328; in political science, 288, 
 298; in philosophy, 307, 315; 
 in psychology, 334; in mechan- 
 ical drawing, 527-528 
 
 Jefferson and founding of Ameri- 
 can college, 7 
 
 Johns Hopkins University, 32 
 
 Journalism as college subject, 
 24, 533-554 
 
 Junior college, 26-27 
 
 King's College, 5 
 Kingsley, C. D., 30 
 
 Laboratory method, 73, 78; in 
 chemistry, 62, 114; in biology, 
 99; in physics, 132; in geology, 
 157; in psychology, 343; in en- 
 gineering, 516 
 
 Language as index of mentality, 
 388 
 
 Law, 17; commercial, 571-572 
 
 Lecture method, 73; in chemis- 
 try, 113-114; in physics, 131, 
 133; in mathematics, 175; in 
 economics, 227, 231-235; in 
 sociology, 242; in history, 260, 
 265; in philosophy, 308-310; 
 in psychology, 340-341; in 
 classics, 419-421; in engineer- 
 ing, 511-513; in commercial 
 education, 568-572 
 
 Length of periods in account- 
 ancy, 569 
 
 Literary analysis, 386 
 
 Literary appreciation, 380. See 
 Aims, Cultural, iEsthetic 
 
 Literary style, 386 
 
 Literature and the classics, 407- 
 408, 415. See English 
 
 Logical association, 63-64 
 
 MacLean, G. E., 30 
 
 Mathematics, 59, 161-182 
 
 Mechanical drawing, 525-532 
 
 Medicine, 17 
 
 Mental development and acquisi- 
 tion of language, 388 
 
 Methods of teaching conditioned 
 by aims, 98. See Aims 
 
 Mezes, S. E., 48 
 
 Modern languages, when intro- 
 duced, 7; in business educa- 
 tion, 571 
 
 Modern literature and the clas- 
 sics, 412 
 
 Monroe, P., 353 
 
 Morrill Act, 10 
 
 Motivation in teaching, 55-56 
 
 Municipal research, 298. See 
 Laboratory method. Sociology, 
 Political science 
 
 Music in secondary schools, 465 
 
 Natural method in classics, 411, 
 
 416-417 
 Newspaper English, 541-542 
 
582 
 
 Index 
 
 Non-sectarianism in American 
 
 colleges, 7 
 Notebook of students, 356 
 
 Oberlin and coeducation, 20 
 
 Oral composition in German, 447 
 • Oral reading and English liter- 
 ature, 384 
 
 Ordinance of 1787, 9 
 
 Organization of subject matter, 
 62-66 
 
 Outlines in biology, 102 
 
 Parker, S. C, 355 
 
 Pennsylvania University, 4 
 
 Philosophy, 57, 70-71, 123, 127, 
 302-319 
 
 Physical education, 22, 183-314 
 
 Physics, 126-141 
 
 Pitkin, W. B., 46-50 
 
 Place in curriculum, of political 
 science, 287; of ethics, 328; 
 of psychology, 334, 344; of his- 
 tory of education, 351 ; of edu- 
 cational theory, 359; of Ger- 
 man, 440 ; of art education, 475 
 
 Point of contact in teaching, 57- 
 62 
 
 Political science, 279-301 
 
 Preparatory training, in chemis- 
 try, 109; in physics, 129; in 
 mathematics, 164, 176-178; in 
 physical education, 190; in 
 German, 448; for journalism, 
 549 
 
 Problem method, in economics, 
 228, 231-235; in sociology, 
 248-251 
 
 Professional preparation, for 
 women, 20; through political 
 science, 283 
 
 Prose composition and the clas- 
 sics, 414 
 Psychology, 57, 334-346, 364 
 Public service, training for, 284 
 
 Quiz, how to conduct, 118 
 
 Recitation, 118, 174, 513-516, 
 568-572 
 
 Reduction of college course, 27 
 
 Reference reading, 73, 76, 267, 
 514 
 
 Relating course to students, 128, 
 370; in chemistry, 120; in so- 
 ciology, 245; in philosophy, 
 309; in ethics, 321-327, 331- 
 332; in psychology, 338; in 
 music, 459; in business educa- 
 tion, 572. See Adapting course 
 of study 
 
 Relative importance in organiza- 
 tion of knowledge, 64 
 
 Religious character of American 
 college, 5-7, 22 
 
 Reporting, teaching art of, 547 
 
 Research, 285. See Reference 
 reading. Problem method. 
 Seminar 
 
 Research scholars as teachers, 
 105-106, 124, 137, 178 
 
 Robinson, M. L., 42 
 
 Romance languages, 424-428 
 
 Scholarship as preparation for 
 
 teaching, 38 
 Science, teaching of, 61-64; 
 
 place of, in journalism course, 
 
 552 
 Scientific methods, in political 
 
 science, 298; in psychology, 
 
 343 
 Scope of course in educational 
 
 theory, 361 
 Self-activity, 72 
 Self-government, 24 
 Seminar, 76 
 Senior college, 26-28 
 Sequence of courses in political 
 
 science, 289 
 Skill to be developed in biology, 
 
 90 
 Smith, F. W., 55 
 Snow, L. F., 30 
 Social museum, the, 254 
 
Index 
 
 583 
 
 Social sciences, place in journal- 
 ism course, 550 
 
 Sociology, 241-255 
 
 Socratic method. 5ee Recita- 
 tion, Development method 
 
 Stanley, A. A., 465 
 
 Student Army Training Corps, 
 335 
 
 Summaries in teaching, 66 
 
 Teacher, as scholar, 105. See 
 Research, Teacher training 
 
 Teacher training, 18, 31, 37-39, 
 256-257, 436, 468-470 
 
 Technical subjects in college cur- 
 riculum, 16, 25-26, 479, 504- 
 508 
 
 Technique, as aim in teaching, 
 52 
 
 Testing results of instruction, 
 136; in economics, 244; in 
 history, 261, 268; in psychol- 
 ogy, 343; in music, 473; in 
 art, 493-^96; in engineering 
 subjects, 519-522 
 
 Textbook, in geology, 158; in 
 mathematics, 179; in econom- 
 ics, 228, 231-235; in sociology, 
 253; in history, 259; in ethics, 
 330 
 
 Theology, in separate school, 16 
 
 Thoroughness, 66-72, 104 
 
 Thwing, C. F., 30 
 
 Time to be given to subjects, 
 345, 486. See Place in cur- 
 riculum 
 
 Topical method in history, 266 
 
 Types of instruction, 396-398 
 
 Undergraduate and graduate 
 teaching, 388 
 
 Unified courses, 59, 302 
 
 Utilitarian aim, 217; of physics, 
 126; of geology, 142; of politi- 
 cal science, 286; of psychology, 
 337; of history of education, 
 348 
 
 Values, 355. See Aims 
 Vernacular, in teaching German, 
 
 445 
 Viewpoint in teaching, a new, 69 
 Virginia, University of, 7 
 
 West, A. F., 30 
 
 William and Mary, 4 
 
 Wolfe, A. B., 36, 42 
 
 Women, education of, 18-21. 
 See Coeducation 
 
 World War, effect on curricu- 
 lum, 183 
 
 Yale, 4 
 
nmniiiiHiiiiinmiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimmiimiiirnnnniniiiinniniiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiniiniiiiiiiiiik 
 
 I A review of the factors and problems connected luith the i 
 
 I learning and teaching of modern languages avith an analysis I 
 
 I of the various methods ivhich may be adopted in order to i 
 
 I obtain satisfactory results. I 
 
 I THE SCIENTIFIC I 
 
 I STUDY AND TEACHING 
 I OF LANGUAGES 
 
 I By Harold D. Palmer 
 
 I Phonetics Department, University College, London 
 
 I ^'npHE aim of the book," the author says, "is to add to 
 I J- the general store of ever increasing knowledge of the 
 
 I nature of language, and to contribute a share toward ascer- 
 
 I taining the principles which will help to emancipate lan- 
 
 I guage-teaching and language-study from the domain of 
 
 I empiricism and will place it once for all on a true scientific 
 
 I basis." 
 
 I This book undertakes to analyze the language-teaching prob- 
 
 I lem, to discover the factors that enter into it, and from the 
 
 I data thus acquired to formulate principles for the teaching 
 
 I and learning of languages. 
 
 I The constant reference to actual conditions and the wealth 
 
 I of illustrations from the author's long experience furnish a 
 
 I store of practical suggestions for classroom work. Nothing 
 
 I could be more practically helpful and suggestive than the 
 
 I example of a standard course, which is worked out in de- 
 
 I tail for three years of French, or the discussion of such topics 
 
 I as applications of the laws of memory, the use of associa- 
 
 I tion and visualization, how to guard against what the au- 
 
 I thor classifies as "the six vicious tendencies of all students 
 
 I of languages," when translation is and is not allowable. 
 
 I It is a book of particular importance in college classes in 
 
 I the pedagogy of language teaching, and is helpful to all 
 
 I teachers of languages, especially to teachers of French. 
 I Cloth. Illustrated. Charts. 328 pages. Price $3.00 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY 
 
 I YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK 
 
 g 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago 
 
 aiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiniiiiiuiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiu 
 
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiinmimtinrnnintirmmuitiirnmintniiiiiintiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim 
 
 I NEW-WORLD SPANISH i 
 
 I SERIES I 
 
 I LESSON BOOKS f 
 
 I POCO A POCO, hy Guillermo Hall, An easy book, profusely | 
 
 I illustrated, especially well adapted to junior high schools. $1.28. = 
 
 I ALL SPANISH METHOD, hy Guillermo Hall. Furnishes flie = 
 
 S best direct-method Spanish course published. Designed for high- i 
 
 § school or college beginning classes. First Book $1.30. Second | 
 
 I Book $1.48. or in one volume Complete $1.92. I 
 
 I ^ READERS I 
 
 I FABULAS Y CUENTOS, by Clifford G. Allen. A reader for i 
 
 i beginning classes. $1.00. I 
 
 I POR TIERRAS MEJICANAS, by Manuel Uribe-Troncoso. An I 
 
 5 easy reader for beginners in Spanish. Well illustrated. $1.00. 5 
 
 I PAGINAS SUDAMERICANAS, by Helen M.Phipps. Another | 
 
 i easy-reading book, well illustrated, for students of high-school 3 
 
 I grade. $1.00. | 
 
 i Lihro Prtmario de Lectura: Aplicado a la Higiene (60 cents), | 
 
 I Higiene Prdctica (72 cents), and Higiene Personal (84 cents) — | 
 
 I three books on health for Latin American countries — furnish 3 
 
 I excellent, simple, everyday, and practical Spanish for reading 3 
 
 I practice. Escribo y Leo (60 cents) is an exceptionally well illus- 3 
 
 I trated primer for use by natives of the Spanish Ijinguage. | 
 
 I ANNOTATED TEXTS | 
 
 I Martinez Sierra's TEATRO DE ENSUENO, edited by Aurelio I 
 
 I M. Espinosa. Easy for the second half year. Introduction, 3 
 
 I notes, vocabulary. 60 cents. 3 
 
 I Benavente's EL PRfNCIPE QUE TODO LO APRENDIO EN § 
 
 I LOS LIBROS, edited by Aurelio M. Espinosa. Easy enough 3 
 
 I for beginning students. Notes, exercises, vocabulary. 60 cents. I 
 
 I Benavente's LOS INTERESES CREADOS, edited by Francisco § 
 
 I PiNOL Giro. For second-year reading. Notes, exercises, vocabu- 1 
 
 I lary. In press. ^ s 
 
 I Tamayo y Baus' MAS VALE MANA QUE FUERZA, edited by I 
 
 I C. Everett Conant. For first or second year. Notes, exercises, § 
 
 I vocabulary. 60 cents. i 
 
 I Quintero's LA MUELA DEL REY FARFAN, edited by Aurelio I 
 
 I M. Espinosa. Suitable for both reading and acting by beginning | 
 
 i classes. 60 cents. | 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY | 
 
 I Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York | 
 
 I 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago I 
 
 aiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuuiuuiuuiiuJuiiiuiiuiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiuiiiimwiiinninnmiiiuiii^ 
 
^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiniiiimrirriimiiiifninumimnmrmiiTnrnniiiiiinninniiiiMiiiniiiniiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiix 
 
 I NEW-WORLD I 
 
 I SCIENCE SERIES I 
 
 j Edited by JOHN W. RITCHIE | 
 
 I 'TpHE publication of books that "apply the world's | 
 
 I A knowledge to the world's needs" is the ideal of this | 
 
 I house and it is intended that the different volumes of this | 
 
 I series shall express this ideal in a very concrete way. I 
 
 I Completed | 
 
 I Human Physiology. By John W. Ritchie, Professor of Biology, = 
 
 I College of William and Mary. A text on physiology, hygiene, = 
 
 I and sanitation for upper grammar or junior high schools. $1.28. = 
 
 I Laboratory Manual for Human Physiology. By Carl Hartman, i 
 
 I University of Texas. A manual to accompany Ritchie's Human | 
 
 I Physiology. Price, paper 48 cents, cloth 92 cents. | 
 
 i Science for Begiimers. By Delos Fall, Albion College, Michigan. | 
 
 i A beginning text in general science for intermediate schools and | 
 
 i junior high schools. Price $1.40. = 
 
 I Exercise and Review Book in Biology. By J. G. Blaisdell, Yonkers, i 
 
 I N. Y., High School. A combined laboratory guide, notebook and | 
 
 I review book for students' use. Written from the standpoint of | 
 
 I efficiency and furnishing material for a year's work and to ac- | 
 
 I company any one of several high-school texts in general biology. | 
 
 I Price 96 cents. | 
 
 I Trees, Stars, and Birds. By E. L. Moseley, Ohio State Normal | 
 
 = College, Bowling Green. A book of outdoor science for j unior high = 
 
 i schools and the upper grammar grades. Price $1.60. = 
 
 I Personal Hygiene and Home Nursing. By Louisa C. Lippitt, | 
 
 I University of Wisconsin. A practical text for use with classes | 
 
 I of young women in vocational and industrial high schools, colleges, | 
 
 I and normal schools. Price $1.40. | 
 
 I Science of Plant Life. By E. N. Transeau, Ohio State University. | 
 
 i A scientific and very practical text for high schools. Price $1.60. | 
 
 = Principles of Zoology. By T. D. A. Cockerell, University of Colorado. | 
 
 I A text for college use. Price $3.00. | 
 
 I Experimental Organic Chemistry. By ^. P. West, University of the i 
 
 = Philippines. A text for college use. Price $3.00. | 
 
 I Ready at an Early Date | 
 
 I Introductory Ideas in Science. By Berenice Jenkins. | 
 
 I Science of the Everyday World. By Carleton W. Washburne. | 
 
 I Other volumes are also in preparation. § 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY | 
 
 I YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK S 
 
 = 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago f 
 
 ^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiujiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiuiiiuiiiimiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiiiii iiiiiiiiuuiiif 
 
smiiiiiiiiiiiiimiMiiiiiiiniiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniMiiitiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiimmiiiiiiiiu 
 
 I School Efficiency Monographs I 
 
 = Constructive educational books of handy size covering many edu- = 
 
 = cational activities named in the order in which they were issued i 
 
 I THE PUBLIC AND ITS SCHOOL | 
 
 I By William McAndrew | 
 
 I Treats educational matters in a big way. Illustrated. 75 cents, I 
 
 I STANDARDS IN ENGLISH f 
 
 I By John J. Mahoney = 
 
 = A course of study in composition for elementary schools. 99 cents i 
 
 I AN EXPERIMENT IN THE FUNDAMENTALS f 
 
 = By Cyrus D. Mead = 
 
 I Gives results from practice material. Illustrated. GO cents. | 
 
 I NEWSBOY SERVICE I 
 
 = By Anna Y. Reed i 
 
 I Of value to those interested in the Smith-Hughes Act. 99 cents. I 
 
 I EDUCATION of DEFECTIVES in the PUBLIC SCHOOLS | 
 
 I By Meta L. Anderson | 
 
 I A thoroughly readable and instructive book. 90 cents. | 
 
 I RECORD FORMS FOR VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS I 
 
 = By Joseph J. Eaton = 
 
 i Forms showing ways to introduce efficiency methods. 75 cents. | 
 
 I RURAL EDUCATION and the CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL I 
 
 i By Julius B. Arp = 
 
 I The problems of the rural school. Illustrated. 99 cents. i 
 
 I PROBLEMS IN STATE HIGH SCHOOL FINANCE i 
 
 I By Julian E. Butterworth | 
 
 = A vast amount of data for school officials. 99 cents. = 
 
 I COMMERCIAL TESTS AND HOW TO USE THEM | 
 
 I By Sherwin Cody | 
 
 = A working handbook of the National Business Ability Tests. | 
 
 I 99 cents. | 
 
 I THE RECONSTRUCTED SCHOOL | 
 
 I By Francis B. Pearson = 
 
 I Discussion of the real problems in the work of reconstruction. | 
 
 = 75 cents. i 
 
 I THE TEACHING OF SPELLING | 
 
 I By WiLLARD F. TiDYMAN ^ | 
 
 I The only method book written since the famous investigations. | 
 
 I 99 cents. | 
 
 i Other volum,es in active preparation § 
 
 I Prices are for kraft bound books § 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY | 
 
 § YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK S 
 
 I 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago | 
 aiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiitMiiiMiiniiiiiniMiMiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis 
 
uiiiiMiiiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiiminiiiirnnnimiMiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^ 
 
 I A COLLECTION OF THE WORLD'S BEST LITERA- | 
 
 I TURE FOR CHILDREN | 
 
 I TYPES OF CHILDREN'S i 
 
 I LITERATURE | 
 
 I Collected and Edited by Walter Barnes | 
 
 E Head of the Department of English, State Normal School, Fairmont, W, Va, i 
 
 I A I AHIS book for the first time presents in convenient f 
 
 I I form the source material that teachers and students | 
 
 I of the literature of childhood most need to have | 
 
 I available. It is made up of classified masterpieces that | 
 
 I were selected after a thorough sifting of every type of I 
 
 I children's literature. The different forms of poetry and | 
 
 I narrative, and descriptions, sketches, essays, and letters | 
 
 I are represented. | 
 
 I Every piece is a complete unit or is at least easily de- | 
 
 I tached from its original setting, like an Uncle Remus or | 
 
 I an Arabian-Nights story. The selections are arranged | 
 
 I as nearly as may be in the order of increasing difficulty. | 
 
 I The versions given are the definitive and authoritative | 
 
 I ones. The space devoted to each type of writing has | 
 
 I been justly apportioned. ^ i 
 
 I A bibliography, index to authors, titles, and first lines of | 
 
 I poems and helpful notes are included. It is attractive | 
 
 I in appearance. Though primarily designed for use in | 
 
 I normal-school, college and library classes, it will interest | 
 
 I teachers and parents generally, and it should be put into | 
 
 I the hands of children. | 
 
 I • xiii -j- 462 pages. Price, $1.80 | 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY | 
 
 I YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK | 
 
 I 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago | 
 
 s = 
 
 = X 
 
 .^iiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiniiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiM 
 
SiniiniiiiiiUMniiiiiiiuiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiHiiuiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiHiiniiiiiiiinauniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim 
 
 I BOOKS ON GOVERNMENT | 
 
 I FOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES | 
 
 i iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii f 
 
 I GOVERNMENT HANDBOOKS | 
 
 I Edited by David P. Barroivs and Thomas H. Reed | 
 
 I Government and Politics of Switzerland | 
 
 I By Robert C. Brooks | 
 
 I A description of the organization and functioning of this gov- = 
 
 I ernment, with a discussion of historical origin and develop- i 
 
 i ment and with particular emphasis on the modern political life 2 
 
 I of the country. ($2.00.) | 
 
 I Evolution of the Dominion of Canada | 
 
 I By Edivard Porritt | 
 
 5 The most comprehensive and up-to-date handbook on the gov- | 
 
 I ernment of Canada since its confederation. ($2.20.) - | 
 
 I ■ Government and Politics of the German Empire | 
 
 I By Fritz-Konrad Kriiger | 
 
 i A careful and authoritative study of th-e political institutions i 
 
 I of the empire before we entered the war. An added pamphlet | 
 
 I brings the text up to peace times. ($1.80.) | 
 
 I CITIZENSHIP: An Introduction to Social Ethics I 
 
 I By Milton Bennion | 
 
 § The nature of society and social problems; social obligations of = 
 
 c the individual and the opportunities society offers for develop- | 
 
 I ment through service. ($1.20.) I 
 
 I FORM AND FUNCTIONS OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT j 
 
 I By Thomas Harrison Reed | 
 
 I A high-school textbook in civics; notable for solid historical basis, | 
 
 s modern point of view, and clear treatment of difficult phases of = 
 
 I the subject. ($2.00.) | 
 
 I DEMOCRACY AND V^ORLD RELATIONS | 
 
 I By David Starr Jordan i 
 
 i A new book, suitable for high-school and college classes in history = 
 
 i or civics, and for the general reader. The first book on recon- | 
 
 I itruction, written in a candid, non-controversial spirit. ($1.50.) | 
 
 I iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I 
 
 I WORLD BOOK COMPANY | 
 
 g YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NeW YoRK = 
 
 I 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago | 
 
 fllllllllllUlllllllllllMlllllilllilllllllllllllllilillliinillllllillllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllii