THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE THE UNIVERSITY OP CHICAGO PR] CHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY NEW YORK THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIEI-KAISHA TOKYO, OSAKA, KYOTO, VUKUOKA, SCUBA I THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY THE ^TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE W. L. EJKENBERRY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE, KANSAS THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS COPYRIGHT 1922 BY THE UNIVERSITY or CHICAGO All Rights Reserved Published March 1932 Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago. Illinois, U.S.A. GENERAL PREFACE Never before in this country has there been so insistent a demand for a more thorough and more comprehensive system of instruction in practical science. Forced by recent events to compare our education with that of other nations, we have suddenly become aware of our negligence in this matter. Now industrial and educational experts and commissions are united in demanding a change. While on the whole there has been a steady increase in the amount of time given to science work in the secondary and elementary schools, the attention paid to it, especially in the elementary schools, has been some- what spasmodic, and its administration has been more or less chaotic. This is not due to lack of interest on the part of school officials but to their dissatisfaction with the methods of instruction employed. There is no doubt that superintendents would gladly introduce more science if they felt sure that the educational results would be commensurate with the time expended. This is indicated by a recent survey of about one hundred and fifty cities in seven states of the Central West. The survey shows that two-thirds of them have nature- study in the elementary schools and that all are re- quiring some science for graduation from the high school. The average high school is offering three years of science. Since 1900 there has been a greater increase in the percentage of students enrolled in science in the high schools than in any other subject with the one exception of English. Moreover, greater attention is now being paid to the training of teachers in methods of presentation of science. vii viii GENERAL PREFACE The chief needs in science instruction today are a more efficient organization of the course of study with a view to its socialization and practical application, and a clear-cut realization on the part of the teacher of the aims, the principles of organization, and the methods of instruction; it is to meet these needs that this series is being issued. The books attempt to present such generalizations of science as the average pupil should carry away from his school experience and to organize them for the preparation of the teacher and for presenta- tion to the class. The volumes will therefore be of three kinds: (i) source books with accompanying field and laboratory guides for the use of students in normal schools and schools of education, and of teachers, (2) pupils' texts and notebooks, and (3) books on the teaching of the various science subjects. In the first the material will be organized with special reference to the training of the teacher and the most effective methods of presenting the subject to students. In the second the matter will be simplified, graded, and arranged in such a way that the books will serve as guides in science work for the pupils themselves. Moreover, they will furnish texts for the grades and high school that will simplify the teacher's task of presentation and will assure well-tried and well-organized experiences, on the part of the pupil, with natural objects. This series of texts for elementary and secondary schools will have dependent continuity and the subject-matter will gradually increase in difficulty to accord with the increasing capacity of the pupils. It will furnish a unified course in science. The third type of book is for the teacher and deals with the history, aims, principles of organization, and methods of instruction in the several sciences. AUTHOR'S PREFACE Two functions of science have always been recognized investigation and instruction. The past century has been peculiarly fruitful in the exercise of the first of these functions the discovery of new knowledge. The progress of scientific discovery has been so rapid that the instruction of the public has not kept pace with investigation. There is at present sufficient knowledge of the principles of plant production to increase greatly the product of our farms if all available knowledge were in the possession of the farmers and were used by them. Enough has been discovered about disease to greatly reduce the death-rate from certain diseases if these discoveries were known and utilized by our citizens. But these things are not universally known. Scientists have of late been so engrossed in the fundamentally important work of research that they have neglected the almost equally important work of diffusing the new knowledge among the masses. The great masters of popular scientific exposition of the past century Tyndal, Huxley, Farraday, and others have left few followers. The investigator has outrun the teacher. There are signs of a revival of interest in the teaching of science. It is recognized that the diffusion of scientific knowledge is a function only less important than that of discovery, and that in large measure it is the former which makes the latter fruitful. Teaching offers great opportunities for service. It has its own set of problems no less difficult, interesting, and important than those ix x AUTHOR'S PREFACE of pure science; and a technique is being built up whereby these problems may be attacked experimentally. In short, we are forming a science of science teaching. The most extensive experiment in science teaching now in progress is represented by the general-science movement. The present volume is presented as an interpretation of this experiment. It is an attempt to show the character of the movement, its connection with the past history of science teaching, its relation to the established sciences, and its place in the new science of education. It is hoped that the teacher, principal, or superintendent who is interested in general science will be able to find something of its spirit and meaning in this book. The book is not a manual of classroom methods. For information upon this subject and the related subjects of equipment and teaching-devices the reader is referred to the several excellent works on the teaching of the several special sciences, on the teaching of science in general, and the many books upon classroom proce- dure. A brief bibliography is appended to each chapter. The lists could be extended indefinitely by the inclusion of general pedagogical works. The bibliography of the periodical literature of general science is placed at the end of the book. It is believed to contain all significant titles to the end of 1920 together with most of those for 1921. In a work of this character it is impossible to acknowl- edge all sources from which assistance has been drawn. The author is especially indebted to Dr. O. W. Caldwell, director of Lincoln School of Teacher's College, to whom AUTHOR'S PREFACE xi he owes the inspiration of his first work in general science as well as very much valuable aid and guidance in his study of the problems of science teaching. Dean R. A. Kent, School of Education, University of Kansas, Dr. W. W. Charters, Carnegie Institute of Technology, and Professor Ralph Carter, of the School of Education of the University of Illinois, have read the manuscript critically and have given many important constructive criticisms. Acknowledgments are due also to Dean F. J. Kelly, of the University of Kansas, and to the author's former colleagues, Dr. E. R. Downing and Mr. C. J. Pieper, of the School of Education of the University of Chicago, with all of whom the author has had opportunity for free discussion of many of the ideas here presented. The constant encouragement of the writer's wife, Florence Shaw Eikenberry, and her assistance in preparing the manuscript for the press have done much to make the book possible. W. L. EIKENBERRY CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS i II. CRITICISM OP SCIENCE TEACHING 13 III. ROADS TOWARD REFORM 26 IV. OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING . ... . . . 35 V. THE OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE .... 53 VI. GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 70 VII. THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE 95 VIII. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 109 IX. EXAMPLES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF GENERAL SCIENCE - 121 X. THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 133 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL SCIENCE 151 INDEX xiii v 4 CHAPTER I SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS The true relations of the general-science movement cannot be understood independently of the backgound which is supplied by the history of science teaching. Unfortunately no one has written a comprehensive account of the science movement in our American high schools although it is a movement that is in many ways unique. Dependence must, therefore, be placed upon sketches of the history of individual sciences, from which it is possible to infer general characteristics. In the academies. While the sciences in their present form and extent are a modern feature of the curriculum, it is interesting to note that they were recognized in connection with the founding of our earliest schools corresponding to the present secondary schools. In the Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsyl- vania, published by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, and which resulted in the establishment of the "Public^ Academy in the City of Philadelphia, " we find it urged that "there should be also readings in natural history. This study should be accompanied by practical exercises in agriculture and horticulture. Commerce, industry, and mechanics would be entertaining and useful studies for all." 1 In the charter of 1753 the trustees of this institution were empowered to provide instruction in "any kind of literature, erudition, arts and sciences." In 1754 1 Brown, The Making of Our Middle Schools, p. 181. ttiACB^G OF GENERAL SCIENCE instruction was being given in "natural and moral philosophy." Natural philosophy appears in the first curriculum of the English High School of Boston (1821) j 1 philosophy and natural history in that of the New York High School for boys (i825). 2 In the Philadelphia Academy the sciences made little progress. This was due, according to Franklin, to dis- crimination against the English School on the part of the "Latinists" of whom he complains, "they were combined to decry the English School as useless. It was without example, they said, as they still say, that a school for teaching the vulgar tongue and sciences in that tongue was ever joined with a college." 3 In the early high school. A more congenial home was afforded by the public high schools which were established for the specific purpose of affording a very practical training to those who had not the means, the time, or the inclination to attend a classical school. The New York school was established through the efforts of a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy and its first report states "It should never be forgotten, that the grand object of this institution is to prepare the boys for such advancement, and such pursuits in life, as they are destined to after leaving it." "All scholars in this department attend to Spelling, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, Elocution, Composition, Drawing, Philos- ophy, Natural History and Book-keeping." 4 It will be noted that all the subjects required of all pupils were of a practical nature. Of the English High School it was said that "public opinion and the wants 1 Brown, The Making of Our Middle Schools, p. 301. a Ibid., p. 307. s Ibid., p. 190. Ibid., p. 307. SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS 3 of a large class of citizens of this town have long been calling for a school in which those, who have either not the desire or the means of obtaining a classical education, might receive instruction in many branches of great practical importance which have usually been taught only at the colleges." 1 According to Brown, "the common people of these towns and cities were becoming desirous of more extended education; and the com- mercial activities of these centers called for a different kind of training from that offered by the schools designed to prepare for college." 2 Thus the scientific subjects made their entrance into the schools as a preparation for life rather than as a preparation for college. Natural philosophy. The characteristics and his- tory of natural philosophy have been considered at some length by Woodhull 3 and by Mann. 4 In general, it may be said that the authors of the textbooks in natural philosophy sought to "give a familiar view of physical science" which would be of practical advantage to citizens and tradesmen in particular, as well as to the general public. In consonance with this aim, the books consisted largely of explanations of familiar phenomena, designed to convey to the reader a notion of the prin- ciples involved. Due to the great interest in machinery which was just coming into extensive use, much attention was given to mechanics, but the subject was developed upon an experimental, rather than a mathematical, basis. Many of the authors specifically stated that the book 1 Ibid., p. 307. 2 Ibid., p. 295. 3 Woodhull, "The Teaching of Physical Science," Teachers' College Record, XI, 1-18. 4 Mann, The Teaching of Physics, chap. ii. 4 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE could be understood without a knowledge of mathe- matics. The general method of these books differed from that of many later texts of physics in that the former commonly began with phenomena which aroused curiosity or wonder and demanded explanation, pro- ceeded to elucidate the matter, and closed with a statement of the principle which was found to be in- volved. That natural philosophy, in spite of its faults, really met a need in rather satisfactory manner is indicated both by the testimony of those who studied it and by the number of editions through which some of the texts passed. The end of the period in which natural philoso- phy was the representative of physical science in the schools may be placed at 18^2 in which year physics was first accepted for college entrance. Natural history. The type of natural history which Franklin had in mind was probably composed principally of botany, since he associated it with practical agricul- tural work. At any rate botany appears to have been studied more commonly than zoology in the early schools. Early botany was an extremely practical subject, being the outgrowth of the study of medicinal herbs. Later it passed into a stage of development characterized prin- cipally by classification, the naming and describing of the parts of plants found useful in classification, and the description of habitats and medicinal properties. It was this descriptive and taxonomic phase of botany that found its place in the early schools. It seems to have been particularly cultivated in schools for girls, where it was considered more as an "accomplishment" or a social grace than as a means of mental discipline. The preface SOME BISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS 5 of at least one book of the period insists upon the subject as being appropriate for " females." Botany. Botany emerges from the obscurity of an educational dark age with Asa Gray. His textbook published in 1856 made the subject both possible and popular in the "schools. This book, with its accompany- ing manual for the identification of common plants, practically determined the course in botany from its publication in 1856 until it was displaced following the appearance of a more modern text in 1896. The main ami of Gray's Botany was acquaintance with the plants of the region. The textbook served merely to prepare one to make use of the manual for identification. He states in the preface to the lessons that "all the subjects treated of have been carried far enough to make the book a genuine grammar of Botany and Vegetable Physiology and a sufficient introduction to those works in which the plants of a country, especially of our own, are described." At its best this kind of botany sent the student into the fields where he became acquainted with a large number of plants in their natural environment and incidentally secured much good training, the value of which is attested by many who experienced it. For most pupils, however, the work based upon the textbook degenerated into memorizing a meaningless and compli- cated terminology, and the field work into collecting fifty dried plants and a quantity of drier facts. The period dominated by Gray's ideas was not without tendencies toward change. In the seventies, coincident with the change from natural philosophy to physics, there began a period of unrest in the biological 6 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE field. Two factors were largely responsible. Huxley had begun in England the use of the biological laboratory for instructional purposes. At the same time increasing numbers of biologists were going to the great Ger- man research laboratories for training, and returning thoroughly imbued with the laboratory idea. These men worked in the colleges, but they influenced power- fully the teachers of botany and zoology in the high schools. Many attempts were made to establish laboratory work in botany and some success was achieved, but in general the utter impossibility of cor- relating laboratory work with the Gray text prevented any general development of laboratory work before the last decade of the century. The publication of Spalding's Introduction to Botany, in 1893, and Bergen's Elements of Botany , in 1896, mark the end of the period. Zoology. According to Brown, 1 zoology made its way into the curriculum about 1825, but did not be- come at all common until about 1850. The natural history phase of zoology dominated the situation until about 1870, the textbooks showing a predominance of material relating to life-histories, habits, and external morphology. 2 It was doubtless the variety and interest of animal structure that led to a shift of emphasis from natural history to comparative anatomy. It was char- acteristic of the texts of this period that they gave to the discussion of external and internal anatomy from 50 per cent to 75 per cent of their space. 3 Whether 1 Brown, "History of Zoology Teaching in the Secondary Schools of the U.S.," School Science and Mathematics, II, 201-9, 256-64. 2 Downing, "Zoology Textbooks for Secondary Schools," School Review, XXIV, 375-85. 3 Ibid., p. 376. SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS .. 7- natural history or comparative anatomy supplied the motive, the work was founded upon the book alone, specimens being used only for illustration. The animals were treated in the order of the accepted system of classification. The work of Huxley and the publication of Huxley and Martin's General Biology affected zoology more directly than was the case with botany. This appears to have been due to the fact that the English work was more zoological than botanical, to the influence of the work of Agassiz, and to the fact that the numerous textbooks of the comparative-anatomy period could be readily co-ordinated with laboratory type-studies in anatomy. The publication of Colton's Practical Zoology in 1886 put laboratory work in zoology within the possibilities for high schools with the most meager equipment. The period from 1886 to 1900 is designated the evolutionj:>eriod because the doctrine of evolution ruled the organization of the texts, though it actually received little specific discussion. It might better be called the period of laboratory study since it was charac- terized by the ' ' study ^of animals, rather than about animals," even to the entire exclusion of the textbook in some cases. The influence of the colleges. The movement toward placing the sciences on the list of subjects accepted for entrance to college, which began with the acceptance of physics by Harvard in 1872, had been extended to include the biological sciences early in the eighties. This action of the colleges had great influence in modi- fying the character of instruction in secondary-school science, since the colleges were obviously under the 8 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE necessity of establishing standards by means of exami- nations and otherwise. As pointed out earlier, the high schools were originally established as schools for the masses who could not expect to go to college, and with a very practical aim. Natural philosophy had concerned itself with imparting an acquaintance with common physical and chemical phenomena; natural history with acquaintanceship with plants and animals. In both, the character of the instruction marked it off rather sharply from the college work of the time. But society had developed no type of control competent to insure the high school's remaining true to type. In fact, the high school has developed pretty largely without effective control. When, there- fore, the colleges began to set standards of high-school science acceptable for college entrance, the high schools found themselves for the first time furnished with a com- mon measuring rod. They immediately reacted by attempting to live up to the standards and became to all intents college-preparatory institutions though at no time did they send more than a small minority of their pupils to the colleges. With the college setting the standard for high-school science and supplying teachers for the high school, the secondary courses in science rapidly approximated in general type the college courses. This is seen in the supplanting of the experimental natural philosophy by a physics based upon mathematical analysis; and by the predominance of evolutionary studies in biology after 1890. The physics of this period abounds in algebraic formulas and experiments which "verify" principles already enunciated in the formulas; the chemistry was SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS 9 largely theoretical with only the slightest contact with practical affairs; and biological study consisted to a large extent in tracing the evolutionary series by means of a series of "types" graduated from the lowest to the highest forms of life, while practical materials almost disappeared from the textbooks. The present-day high school. During the first decade of the new century the amazing growth of the high school subordinated its college-preparatory functions to such an extent that the institution was again recognized as the school of the masses. This new high school is now facing its true task, that of democratic education, with a great deal of independence and the colleges appear quite content to withdraw their guidance. In the new and more democratic high school the sciences are showing interesting tendencies in the direc- tion of a return toward the earlier types of work. Davenport's Introduction to Zoology (1900) attempts to " restore the old-time instruction in Natural History," in the dress of modern ecology, believing that "what the ordinary citizen needs is an acquaintance with the com- mon animals." It has been followed by a multitude of texts which give increasing attention to those topics which lead to "acquaintance with the common animals" and an understanding of their relations to man. Several recent texts give approximately three-fourths of their space to a consideration of animal habits, external morphology, and economic zoology. 1 The case in botany is similar. In all of the later texts the consideration of morphology and evolution is much restricted, but greater amounts of space are given 1 Downing, loc. cit., p. 377. io THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE to the general anatomy, physiology, and ecology of flowering plants, with a tendency to place physiology in the first place, and economic botany bids fair to become the most extensive division of the subject. 1 Symptoms of the same kind are to be seen in connec- tion with physics and chemistry. Mathematics and theory are being reduced to a minimum, much economic material is introduced and the subjects are being brought into close contact with the industries, agriculture, and the home, so that they again begin to "give a familiar view" of the phenomena of environment. This move- ment has been particularly marked since 1910 in both physical and biological sciences. Origin of general science. Chronologically, general science had its origin in the latter part of the nineties, in the midst of the period when high-school science was most technical and specialized, but its greatest growth has occurred since 1910 during the period of democra- tization and readjustment. In 1899 there were at least three schools in the country in which general science was under trial, one in Massachusetts, one in California, 2 and one in Illinois. The Illinois experiment was located at Oak Park, near Chicago, and was under the direction and inspiration of the principal, J. C. Hanna. As early as 1897 Principal Hanna had been instrumental in initiating some work of the nature of general science in the East High School at Columbus, Ohio. This work was carried on as an 1 Frank, " Data on Textbooks in the Biological Sciences Used in the Middle West," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 354-57- 3 Taylor, "The Extent of Adoption and Attitude toward General Science," School and Society, IV, 179-86. SOME HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS II introduction to physical geography, but appears to have been quite in the spirit of general science. In Dayton even several years earlier, Rhynearson was experimenting with a revision of physical geography in a fashion that resulted some years later in enlisting his interest in general science and establishing it at Pittsburgh. These appear to be the earliest records of courses that may be called by the name of general science. Of the reasons leading up to the introduction of this work Hanna says, ' ' It seemed to me that the science teaching of the high schools was not well adapted to the capacity of the pupils and was not so conducted as to challenge and hold their interest and, further, that it lacked in recognition of the psychology of youth and the ordinary principles of pedagogy as well as in its definite- ness of relation to the real things of life. There seemed to me to be a necessity for working out some kind of a primary or elementary course that should be simpler and better adapted to the age of the pupils both in content and in method of presentation, and that should commend itself to them as being related to some other phases of life besides the machinery of schools. "It seemed to me, also, that inasmuch as the phenom- ena of nature are presented to us unclassified, not grouped at all as physical, chemical, physiographical, biological, etc., and inasmuch as the interest of the pupils in meeting the problems connected with these phenomena could not very well be confined to one subdivision of them, all hankerings being suppressed for investigation in other fields, that there ought to be a course that would peep into all of these directions or, as I have many times expressed it, it seemed to me that a bird's-eye view of the 12 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE field of natural science was a necessity for good pedagog- ical reasons before taking up what I have sometimes called the ' toad's-eye view. ' ' Its progress. During the first ten years the general- science movement spread very slowly. By 1909 there were only five schools in California and fifteen in Massa- chusetts offering courses in general science, according to Taylor's data. In the whole country there were probably not more than forty or fifty schools with general science at the end of the first decade. Five years later the subject had been introduced into 223 schools in California and Massachusetts alone. No one has investigated the present number of schools offering general science but the rate of growth has been remark- ably rapid. REFERENCES Brown, E. E. The Making of Our Middle Schools. New York: Longmans, 1913. Brown, Marion. "The History of Zoology Teaching in the Secondary Schools of the United States," School Science and Mathematics, II (1902), 201-9, 256-64. /^Committee of Ten. Report on Secondary Schools. New York: American Book Co., 1894. Downing, E. R. "Zoology Textbooks for Secondary Schools," School Review, XXIV, 375-85. Frank, O. D. "Data on Textbooks in the Biological Sciences Used in the Middle West," School Science and Mathematics, XVI (1916), 354-57- Hofe, George D. von. "History of the General Science Move- ment," General Science Quarterly, I, 200-206. Mann, C. R. The Teaching of Physics. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1912. Stout, J. E. The Development of the High School Curriculum in the North Central States from 1860-1918. Supplementary Educa- tional Monographs, III, No. 3, University of Chicago Press. Taylor, Arvilla. "The Extent of Adoption and Attitude toward General Science," School and Society, IV, 179-86. CHAPTER H CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING Decreasing enrolment. Discussion of the success or failure of science courses in secondary schools has been particularly keen during the past decade. This phase of active public discussion appears to have been initiated by the publication in the report of the federal Commissioner of Education for 1910 of certain data which appear to show a decreasing proportionate enrolment in science. Thoughtful teachers of science had recognized the situation long before the publication of these figures, and many of them had experimented intelligently in the reorganization of their courses. Evidences of such dissatisfaction may be seen in the report of the Committee of Ten, published in 1893. Many associations of science teachers have appointed committees to consider the state of science teaching and the need of reorganization. From all of the discussion there has resulted no investigation of the actual facts as to the efficiency of science teaching in the schools, other than is represented by the Commissioner's figures on enrolment. Obviously, the number of enrolments in a subject can give us information regarding the efficiency of instruction in that subject only in so far as it may be fairly assumed that enrolment is dependent upon efficient instruction. We have, however, no measurement of such relationship. Furthermore, all figures of enrolment for the whole country are open to grave suspicion, andjponclusions 13 14 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE should be guarded very carefully since it is very doubtful if we now possess the machinery for securing accurate data regarding the secondary schools in any but a very few states. Certain subjects are not included in the reports until many years after they are introduced into the schools, as note the omission of general science in the data for 1914-15. Various tendencies in general administration may and do greatly modify the elections in all branches. Downing 1 has shown that on the basis of the Commissioner's figures for 1910 and for 1915 all of the traditional subjects excepting modern language are decreasing, the latter showing only the small increase of 1.5 per cent. His figures for the various subjects are as follows, the figures representing percentage of increase or decrease of enrolment, in the several subjects, between 1910 and 1915. TABLE I Classics Mathematics History English Science . Modern Language -E Total net decrease 33-43 The causes of this anomalous situation are unknown, but it may be connected with the increasing diversity of the curriculum and with a tendency to restrict each pupil to a narrower range of subjects in any one semester. Both of these tendencies certainly exist and contribute in some degree to the result indicated above. 1 Downing, E. R., " Enrollment in Science in the High Schools," Science, N.S., XLVI, 351-52. CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING 15 The attitude of the public. A more important indict- ment of science teaching may be found in the general attitude of the public toward it. Although science has been in the schools for more than a generation, the public continues to regard it as something quite apart from the affairs of their lives and often with something of the awe that attaches to the mysterious and the supernatural. Even the better class of newspapers either omit reference to important scientific discoveries or refer to them flippantly, and commonly speak of the scientist either as a joke or as a wizard. The man in the street looks upon scientific research as the recreation of an impractical dreamer. Due to the publicity resulting from the great achieve- ments of science in the world-war the dependence of modern society upon scientific development has im- pressed a large number of the people, and there are signs of a greatly increased interest in both research and instruction in science. In spite of this increasing interest, it remains true that all the instruction that has been given has not yet succeeded in establishing in the public consciousness any adequate notion of the nature of scientific pursuits or of their relation to individual and civic welfare. There is not yet a common body of scientific information and opinion to which appeal may be made in discussing civic and social questions. In the absence of more exact data we are obliged to conclude that while science is probably maintaining its relative position so far as enrolment is concerned, it has not succeeded if success is measured in terms of popular scientific knowledge. Many causes may have con- tributed to this lack of complete success. A large part 16 THE TEACHING OP GENERAL SCIENCE of the population has not attended the high school; many high schools offer little or no science; schools and teachers are not properly equipped; college entrance requirements have sometimes penalized preparation in science; science has been in the schools for a much shorter time than many of the competing subjects which have profited by the natural conservatism of the school system; the arrangement of the science curriculum and the choice of subject-matter and method may have been unfitted to the needs or the desires of the public. Doubt- less all of these factors have been operative to a degree, but consideration at this point will be restricted to criticism of the curriculum, the subject-matter, and the method, as questions which lie wholly within the reahn of the science teacher. Lack of continuity. The outstanding characteristic of the American organization of science for purposes of secondary instruction is the arrangement of a series of units, each constituting a year's work in a single science, but with no commonly accepted order of sequence and. with the minimum of correlation^ The sequence of the sciences, as represented in the practices of the high schools, has been investigated by a number of students of education. The results have been brought together by Downing, 1 to whom is due the arrangement of the following comparative tabulation of data secured by himself, Hunter, and Weckel. It is obvious that each of the subjects included in the investigations is taught in each of the four years, that most of them are represented by a significant 1 Downing, E. R., "Some Data Regarding the Teaching of Zoology in Secondary Schools," School Science and Mathematics, XV, 36-53. CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING percentage in each year, and that no one science is at all closely restricted to a single year of the curriculum. Individual schools have commonly fixed an arbitrary sequence for the sciences, but such administrative ar- rangements are commonly very elastic in practice, and TABLE II Subjects First-Year Percentage Second -Year Percentage Third-Year Percentage Fourth-Year Percentage Botany 32 42 II 13 Weckel 4.2 40 g 3 Downing 2^ 60 2 o Chemistry i 3 38 58 Weckel o o 68 29 ' Downing o o 65 35 Physics Hunter I 9 56 34 Weckel o e CO "" 42 Downing . . o o * 66 Physical Geography Hunter C7 3 3 10 Weckel 62 20 c 5 Downing 74 22 o Physiology CA 18 IO 18 Weckel 4.6 26 II 7 Downing . . 67 18 IO 5 Zoology 18 56 16 10 Weckel I 63 12 o Downing IQ 60 II i the reasons underlying particular sequences are not sufficiently convincing to bring about unanimity. Due to this lack of organization in the science curriculum, there is little recognition of interdepend- ence among the several sciences, and there is almost nothing in the organization which favors an orderly progress of the pupil through the whole field of science. l8 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE The pupil may be offered physiography in the first year, botany in the second, and physics in the third. When, at the end of the first year, he has finished his physiog- raphy he finds that the work offered for the next year has no obvious connection with the subject which he has been pursuing. Botany is in no sense a continuation of physiography nor a natural complement of it; physiog- raphy does not introduce him to botany, nor is his physio- graphic knowledge of particular service in the pursuit of his botanical study. If he looks farther ahead he discovers that the same maladjustment exists in relation to botany and physics, with the further absurdity that while botany and physiography are not logical anteced- ents of physics, it is clear that a knowledge of physics would have been very useful in the study of physiography and botany. The pupil completes his first year of science not with the feeling that he has begun his science course, but rather with the notion that he has completed physiography. Since most other departments are organ- ized on the basis of two, three, or four years of continuous work, the peculiar organization of the science curriculum constitutes a factor favorable to discontinuing science study in the face of any pressure from other departments. It is not remarkable that most pupils take but one or two years of science. Small proportion of time. The fragmentary char- acter of the science work offered by the American high school is further emphasized by quantitative studies of curricula. The Committee of Ten felt that the science conferences had been moderate in asking for an allotment of time equal to one-fourth of the whole program, but President Eliot has lately shown, from a study of curric- CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING 19 ula and teaching-staffs, that "the secondary schools are giving not more than from one- tenth to one-sixth of their force to observational, sense-training subjects, " J within which group he includes the sciences. An investigation by Koos of graduation credits in a group of middle- western high schools shows that the average credit in science of graduates of these schools is but two and two- tenths units. Less than 60 per cent of the graduates of these schools have had as much as two years of science. We are justified in concluding that very few high- school pupils pursue their science work for longer than two years. Since the larger number of the pupils entering the high school do not remain for the whole four years, it is probable that the average amount of science instruction for all high-school pupils is not much * greater than one year. This failure of pupils to pursue scientific study with continuity must be charged in part at least to the lack of continuity in the scientific part of the curriculum. Lack of correlation. If a pupil overcomes the arti- ficial obstacles placed in his way by a poorly designed curriculum and elects to pursue science throughout his four years in high school, he does not thereby escape the disadvantages resulting from poor organization. The lack of correlation between the several sciences results in duplication of work on one hand, and omission of important material on the other hand, as well as in failure to establish that intimate mental connection between the fields of the several sciences which is essential alike to successful research and to practical 1 Eliot, Changes Needed in American Secondary Education, General Education Board, "Occasional Papers," No. 2, p. u. 20 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE utilization of scientific knowledge. For instance, the subject of micro-organisms in relation to disease is commonly treated in extenso in physiology, botany, zoology, and domestic science, and may at times make its appearance in physiography, agriculture, and chem- istry. Such recurrence of a topic may be defensible if it constitutes successive applications and expansions of knowledge acquired in the first course, but unfortu- nately the later treatment is commonly not based at all upon earlier work. The fact that many members of a given class have not elected the course in which previous treatment of the topic occurred, renders impos- sible any effective correlation. A concrete illustration, of the difficulties of correlation is afforded by an instance recently reported 1 by a science teacher. He mentions a "chemistry class in which 20 per cent of the class had taken two years of science before taking chemistry, 53 per cent had taken one year, 7 per cent had one-half year, and 20 per cent had taken no previous science work." Such conditions are by no means unusual. The causes of this lack of adjustment between the elements of the science curriculum are many. The better correlation in certain other departments is the result of a process of trial and error extending over centuries. Doubtless the sciences would in time reach a more satisfactory condition in the same manner, did not scientific discovery progress so rapidly, but the dependence of our civilization upon science is too great to permit us to wait for such slow adjustment in the schools. 1 Stewart, E. A., "The Place and Value of General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 777-83. CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING 21 The specialist. The extraordinarily rapid progress of scientific discovery has been accompanied by the development of highly specialized science departments in the colleges and universities, and to these departments has fallen the task of preparing teachers for the high schools. Naturally, they have prepared specialists. A student of mathematics is expected to be conversant with the whole field of mathematical science and in the high school would be almost equally ready to teach any one of the mathematical subjects; a teacher of French is expected to instruct in any grade of French offered in the high schools, if indeed an equal familiarity with modern language in general is not required; but a teacher of physics or chemistry may be wholly ignorant of biological science, and a teacher of biology may have devoted little or no time to the physical sciences or indeed to biological sciences other than his major. It is a corollary of such specialization that each teacher thinks first of his own subject and is little concerned with other sciences or with correlation between the sciences, with the result that few teachers have a grasp of the educational possibilities of the whole field of science, or concern themselves seriously about the problem of the proper organization of science for education. With such diversity of training and interest in the science faculty, that cohesion and esprit de corps so necessary for the solution of our present problems is largely lacking. Little need for specialists. The high school has little need for specialists. The writer has shown elsewhere 1 'Eikenberry, W. L., "First-Year Science in Illinois High School," School Review, XXI, 542-48. 22 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE that during a recent year only 13.53 per cent of the teachers of science in Illinois were instructing in one subject only, and but 21.8 per cent in only two subjects. If the city of Chicago be eliminated from consideration the percentages become 6.22 and 13.1 respectively. The situation may be illustrated yet more clearly by the following data from the state of Kansas. It is obvious that only the larger high schools can employ the time of a specialist in his own branch of science. The figures in the tabulation exhibit the distribution of the high schools reporting to the state superintendent in 1916-17, according to size. The school population in each group is given. County high schools are not included, but this omission cannot seriously affect the general tenor of the results. TABLE ill Number of Pupils Number of Schools Total Num- ber of Pupils I 00 .. 312 16,370 79 11,108 2OO- 200 14 7 ,270 2,00 3QQ Q 31OO AOO- 400 . . 4 1,712 6 3,324 i ooo i 099 7 s,o82 I-, 2-, and 3-year high schools 172 2,539 Total 508 46 . 6 i 7 Total 4-year high schools with enrolment of less than 400 418 16 486 On the basis of the very conservative assumption that no important division of labor among the science teachers will be secured in schools with an enrolment of less than four hundred pupils, it appears that approxi- CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING 23 mately thirty-six thousand of the forty-six thousand high-school pupils of Kansas were attending schools in which the specialist was out of place. Indeed, more than thirty thousand were attending schools with an enrol- ment of less than two hundred in which not more than the equivalent of one science teacher would be on the teaching-staff. It is evident that most pupils must be taught by teachers who are not functioning as specialists. The need of some teacher-training agency that will meet the actual situation better than it has been met by existing agencies is obvious. Subject-matter unsuitable. The subject-matter of science instruction has also been criticized as unsuited to the needs of modern society. This criticism the sciences share with most of the other subjects in the high-school curriculum. Formulated largely by specialists in high school and college, dominated by textbooks emanating from college departments, taught by teachers directly influenced by college instruction, and taking form in a period ruled by a very formal idea of mental discipline, the traditional science courses are made up of subject- matter mucR of which is more important to the symmetry of the scientific system of thought than to the equipment of the citizen. Only on formal grounds was it possible to argue that the botany of 1860 was valuable because of its complicated and complete terminology, that a detailed study of sexual reproduction in plants was an exercise of first-rate importance for general education, or that mathemetical mechanics was more valuable than the experimental phase, because more difficult. That the desires of the public, which may or may not accord with their needs, are not well met is sufficiently 24 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE indicated by the lack of public appreciation of the work of science in the schools. That this is not due to lack of interest in things of a scientific nature is shown by many indications, as the extraordinary success of popular scientific magazines, and the popularity of certain types of science study in the Boy Scout organization. Appar- ently, it is not so much a question of whether the rising generation will learn science, as whether it will learn it systematically in the schools or incidentally through other agencies. In a scientific age such as this some form of science instruction will certainly be developed and maintained. Conclusion. The general conclusion must be drawn that while science instruction in the high schools, as now administered, serves those whom it reaches suf- ficiently well to hold their interest, as well as most competing subjects, it has failed either to establish the scientific attitude in the public or to secure for itself a fair portion of the time of school pupils. This failure is connected with both organization and materials. The curriculum is discontinuous and illogical, and the materials are ill suited to modern needs judged either by public demand or educational principles. REFERENCES Commissioner of Education. Report for the Year Ending in June, 1910, Vol. II, chap, xxv, Tables A, B, C, and 130-60. . Report for the Year Ending in June, 1916, Vol. II, chap, viii, Tables 34-75. Downing, E. R. "Enrollment in Science in the High Schools," Science, N.S., XLVI, 351-52. . "Some Data Regarding the Teaching of Zoology in Secondary Schools," School Science and Mathematics, XV (1915), 36-43. CRITICISM OF SCIENCE TEACHING 25 Downing, E. R. "The Scientific Trend in Secondary Schools," Science, N.S., XLI (1915), 232-35. Dresslar, Fletcher B. "A Brief Survey of Educational Progress during the Decade 1900 to 1910," Report U.S. Commissioner of Education, I (1911), 1-35. Eliot, C. W. Changes Needed in American Secondary Education. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 2. Flexner, Abraham. The Modern School. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 3. Mann, C. R. The Teaching of Physics. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1912. Stewart, E. A. "The Place and Value of General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII (1917), 777-83. CHAPTER III ROADS TOWARD REFORM Increasing freedom. Whatever may have been the past limitations upon the high schools in their efforts to reform their curricula, there is at present great freedom. The colleges have so greatly liberalized their entrance requirements that almost anything a standard high school credits toward graduation will be accepted for entrance to nearly all colleges. Many states have gone farther and required the state university to accept high-school graduation unconditionally, as evidence of fitness to enter college. Furthermore, the growth of the high schools has been such that the group of pupils who contemplate entering college is a relatively small one and, therefore, is not necessarily a determining one in fixing the course of study. That this new and inde- pendent high school is able to assimilate new ideas is shown by the introduction of applied science courses such as agriculture and domestic science, and the growth of the general-science movement. As indicated in the preceding chapter, there are three principal phases of the problem of science instruc- tion that fall primarily within the province of the present discussion organization of the curriculum, materials of instruction, and method. While individual teachers have in many cases concerned themselves with questions of method and materials, the published utterances of both individuals and organizations of science teachers have dealt principally with the organization of the cur- 26 ROADS TOWARD REFORM 27 riculum. The public, so far as it has made its wishes known, has insisted upon the inclusion of applied-science materials. The 1913 proposals. The Central Association of Science and Mathematics Teachers in IQI3 1 adopted a "Four- Year Course of Study in Science" which consisted of a first year of general science, a second year of biology, with opportunity to elect from the remaining special and applied sciences in the other two years. In 1915 the Biology Subcommittee of the National Education Association Commission for the Reorganization of Secondary Education published a preliminary report 2 in which, similarly, the first two years were fixed, with options for the last two. In this course the first two years were given to four half-year courses on physical environment, plants, animals, and man. Neither proposition has been put into practice exten- sively. The outstanding fault of both is that they do not carry such solution as they offer beyond the second year. Indeed, the number of courses relegated to the third and fourth years is such that no solution of the problem of sequence and correlation in those years is possible. The 1920 proposals. The report of the Biology Sub- committee referred to above has been superseded by the report of the Science Committee of the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, published 'Caldwell, O. W., and Committee, "Report on a Four-Year High School Science Course," School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 166-88. 2 Peabody, James E., and Committee, "Revised Report of the Biology Committee of the N.E.A. Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 501-17. 28 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE in IQ20. 1 This report proposes science sequences for four types of high schools. It will be sufficient to note here the sequence proposed for the junior-senior high school as the same general arrangement appears in all. The suggested curriculum is as follows. Seventh or eighth year: General science, including hygiene. Ninth year: Biological science, including hygiene. Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years: Differentiated elective courses to meet special needs and inter- ests, as follows: (a) Chemistry general chemistry, and chemistry specialized to meet special needs. (6) Physics general physics, and physics special- ized to meet special needs. (c) General geography, or physiography. (d) Advanced biological sciences. This report will undoubtedly exercise a very strong influence upon the organization of science teaching for a good many years to come. While it does not offer a remedy for all the faults of science teaching, it marks a distinct advance. The principal bearings upon our present discussion may be summarized as follows: (a) If the two years of general science and biological science are required of all pupils, at least a limited knowledge of science will be the common property of all educated people, (b) The number of sciences remaining for the last three years is too large to permit the adoption of a fixed sequence and hence no close correlation between 1 Caldwell, O. W., and Committee, Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools, U.S. Bureau of Education, Bull. No. 26, 1920, pp. 22-24. ROADS TOWARD REFORM 29 them is possible. The difficulty becomes even greater when one notes that the allied subjects of agriculture and domestic science are not included in this report though they would of course be included in any practical high-school program and demand correlation with the sciences, (c) It should be possible to correlate each of the advanced science courses with the two required years in the eighth (or seventh) and ninth grades, thus tying the whole group together in a fashion that has not before been possible, (d) Continuity is secured through two years, and with proper correlation of advanced courses with the two elementary years, a very satisfactory continuity can be secured throughout the pupil's course. (e) General science is fundamental to such continuity and correlation as is secured in this or other proposals for reform of the curriculum. Parallel courses. There have also been proposals regarding a type of curriculum in which several sciences would be carried along together, each meeting once or twice per week, for several years or throughout the whole high-school course, after the European custom, but no educational organization has yet taken this up. A psychological sequence. The discussion of science curricula would become more enlightening and possibly more satisfying if the criteria for organization were more commonly sought in the nature of the pupils rather than in the nature of the subject-matter. In present practice a given topic is treated in the third year because it is physics, or in the second year because it has to do with plants, but in neither case is the topic located at a particular point in the course because it is known or believed that the topic is peculiarly fitted to 30 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE advance the mental development of the pupil at just that stage or that it is otherwise necessary to him at any particular time. If we were in possession of something approaching a complete outline of the psychology of science teaching we should probably be able to select and arrange our instructional materials in such manner that a normal type of pupil would make an orderly progress from topic to topic throughout his course. If such an ideal sequence of topics were arranged it is extremely improbable that we should find all physical phenomena sequestered in one part of the course, all chemical phenomena in another, biological phenomena in still another part, and so on. We do not possess the psychological knowledge to enable us to proceed deductively to arrange a cur- riculum upon this basis, and very probably we never shall possess it. Experimental determination of topics. The most hopeful road toward reform of the science curriculum lies in the experimental determination of topics suitable to particular points in the sequence, in relation to the pupil's mental needs and to the materials which precede and follow. Experimentation will give us data upon the basis of which we may determine pragmatically at what stage in a pupil's development a certain unit of instruc- tion is most valuable, and at the same time assist in accumulating a mass of facts upon which a theory of the psychology of science teaching may later be constructed. There has been almost continuous change in the subject-matter of the sciences ever since they came into the schools. One has only to examine successive texts or syllabi in any science to assure himself of the fact. ROADS TOWARD REFORM 31 At some times these changes have affected large divisions of the subject as in the practical elimination of taxonomy from the course in botany; at other times the character of supplementary and illustrative material only has been affected. At the present time and for several years past there has been a very marked tendency to introduce into all sciences the materials commonly and loosely designated as applied, or economic. This movement has kept pace with a growing public interest in the character of instruction and an insistent demand that high-school training shall be directed toward some obviously useful end. The evidence of the reaction of the older sciences to this movement is seen in such changes as the reduction in amount of detailed observational, informational, study in the biological sciences, or the elimination of much quantitative experimentation and mathematical analysis in physics, with the substitution therefor of purposive qualitative experimentation. The tendency is expressed yet more clearly in the increasing number of texts and courses labeled "Practical Zoology," " Every- day Physics," " Household Chemistry," and the like. Applied science. Not only has the traditional science of the high school been greatly modified by this new tendency, but entire new courses of an applied-science nature have made their appearance in the schools, as agriculture and domestic science. These new courses have not merely a more distinctively applied-science type of subject-matter, but they possess an organization that is based on the applied-science materials. While in some cases the new movement is distinctly and even narrowly vocational, and therefore outside 32 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE the scope of our present discussion, it would be a serious error to consider that this movement is concerned only with preparing pupils to earn their bread. There is indeed, and very properly, a strong movement toward making the schools a more effective agency in preparing ' pupils to function efficiently in specific vocations; but alongside of it, co-operating with it, but sharply distinct from it, is the movement for the teaching of science through the use of applied-science subject-matter, not because such subject-matter is of economic value, but because more familiar, more interesting, and, therefore, more educative. If it happens to be of economic value, that is an added gain. The demand is for significant subject-matter rather than for economic value. The basis for selection. The great opportunity for advance at this point lies in the experimental selection from the great complex of modern life of those items that are significant to the pupils and suitable for use in the educative process. Changes in method of teaching. It is .clear that a shifting emphasis on subject-matter must be accom- f j panied by changes in method in order to prepare boys and girls to think clearly and scientifically regarding the affairs of life. We are proposing to take materials from that life and make them the basis of our school work, but pupils will not exercise themselves in produc- tive thinking if there is no problem to be solved, as in much aimless observational study ; or if the result is known in advance, as in the case of much so-called experimentation. It appears, therefore, that the tend- ency in method is toward a form of exercise in which a significant problem is attacked by the pupil for the ROADS TOWARD REFORM 33 purpose of securing a solution which appears to him to be of value. A more detailed discussion of the various types of method which have been developed or adopted to meet this situation is postponed to the chapter on the method of general science. General science and reform. It is as an attempt at reform in the science curriculum that general science presents itself. It may be interpreted as an attempt to arrange experimentally a sequence of topics and prob- lems suitable for the first year in the high school. The experiment is in operation in the first year of science study in the high school because that is the obvious place of beginning. The materials are selected with the aid of such knowledge as we possess regarding the special psychology and pedagogy of science teaching, but principally they are selected upon an experimental basis. No general-science course which does not rest upon a basis of careful experiment in the classroom can be con- sidered a contribution to education. REFERENCES Caldwell, O. W., and Committee. "Report on a Four- Year High School Science Course," Proceedings Central Associa- tion of Science and Mathematics Teachers, XIII, 21-23; republished, School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 166-88. . Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools. U.S. Bureau of Education, Bull. No. 26, 1920. Eliot, C. W. Changes Needed in American Secondary Education. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 2. Flexner, Abraham. The Modern School. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 3. Glenn, Earl R. "The Reorganization of Science in the Secondary Schools of Great Britain and America," General Science Quarterly, V, 65-69. 34 TEE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Mann, C. R. The Teaching of Physics, New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1912. Peabody, James E., and Committee. "Revised Report of the Biology Committee of the N.E.A. Commission on Reorgani- zation of Secondary Education," School Science and Mathe- matics, XVI, 501-17. Twiss, George R. "The Reorganization of High School Science," School Science and Mathematics, XX, 1-13. CHAPTER IV OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING The problem. The statement of the objectives, or the aims, in teaching a particular subject, has always offered considerable difficulty. A considerable part, at least, of the difficulty with respect to the various sciences has arisen from the attempt to postulate a single objec- tive, aim, or value, or a very few of these, which should be characteristic and distinctive. That is, search has been made for that educational characteristic of the subject in question which appeared but slightly or at all in other subjects. Search for such unique and individual airns for the particular subject one is teaching is likely to halve one of two outcomes. One may discover one or two objectives which appear to be so important and satisfy- ing that he neglects the possibility of other important values. Thus some teachers make a shibboleth of obser- vation, of accuracy, or of reasoning. On the other hand, if the mind remains open to new impressions, one accumulates an ever-increasing list of "aims" each of which individually appears worthy, but the total number becomes so great as to be unmanageable, and intellectual confusion results. Thus the search for the discipline peculiar to science, or to any other subject, is likely to result either in restricted objectives or in confusion. Teachers' aims. Some notion of the actual working hypotheses consciously held by teachers of science may be secured from a recent investigation by Koos. 1 The 1 Koos, The Administration of Secondary School Units, pp. 75-79. 35 36 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE following aims in science teaching were listed in a blank sent out to some five hundred schools of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and science teachers were asked to check those aims in which they concur. Three hundred and fourteen teachers responded as follows: (a) to present a comprehensive and unified organization of the subject, 69.1 per cent; (b) to develop the particular quality of intellectual training which this subject makes possible, 73.3 per cent; (c) to relate the subject to problems of environment, 85.9 per cent. When asked further to state what they consider the "particular quality of intellectual training" to be, a representative group of the teachers gave replies most of which may be summed up as follows: Replies Observation 32 Accuracy 15 Thinking 43 About one-half of the teachers did not respond to an invitation to set down "other definite aims," and those additional aims that were given added little to the list. It may be fairly assumed that the statement above is typical of the conscious aims of science teachers. It may be noted that the first of these aims is extremely formal and that the second is translated into terms of discipline by the analysis given. As an educational creed, such a statement of aims lacks both in extent and in definiteness. The objectives of education. A somewhat more cer- tain type of procedure in attempting to fix upon a work- ing hypothesis of objectives in science teaching is to OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 37 inquire first what are the specific aims of education in general. There are certain advantages resulting from this procedure which are due to the fact that the objec- tives of education in general have been rather clearly formulated, while the contrary is true as to objectives in particular subjects. Obviously the objectives in any science constitute a special case contained within the general statement. The problem becomes one of deter- mining to which of these specific general objectives a particular subject, as a science, is able to contribute and to what relative degree it is able to do so. A psychological statement. The objectives of educa- tion, interpreted in terms of mental characteristics, have been well stated by Bagley. 1 There are, according to Bagley, six acquired conduct-controls and, correspond- ingly, six educational functions or psychological pro- cesses, each of which results in the development of a specific type of conduct-control as tabulated below. TABLE IV Functions Conduct-Controls 1. Training Specific habits 2. Instructional Ideas, concepts, principles, facts; that is, knowledge 3. Inspirational Ideals and emotionalized standards 4. Disciplinary Ideals of method or procedure 5. Recreative Tastes 6. Interpretative Attitudes and perspectives Four of these conduct-controls habits, knowledge, ideals, and tastes need no explanation here. The fourth conduct-control ideals of method or procedure corresponds generally to the conception that science- 1 Bagley, Editcationd Values, particularly pp. xviii, xix, 117-27. 38 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE teachers have in mind when they speak of training pupils to think. For the purposes of our further dis- cussion it may be taken to be equivalent to "discipline in scientific method." The nature and importance of the sixth conduct- control insight and perspective may be illustrated by considering the situation of the uneducated person. Lacking proper perspective, he is not able to place storms, lightning, volcanic eruptions, meteorites, or comets in any rational relation to the more usual facts of his environment. His attitude toward them is one of fear, awe, or worship. A true perspective of the universe enables the educated person to place these and many other phenomena in their proper relationship and to assume a rational attitude toward them. A sociological statement. The aims of education may be expressed equally well in terms of preparation for the activities in which individuals will engage. Inglis groups the important activities under three heads involving primarily "(i) participation in the duties of citizenship and in the not-directly economic relations of co-operative group life; (2) participation in the produc- tion and distribution of economic utilities; (3) the life of the individual as a relatively free and independent personality." 1 The corresponding educational aims are: (i) the social-civic aim; (2) the economic- vocational aim; (3) the individualistic-avocational aim. A synthetic view. The two statements given above are not exclusive or antagonistic. Rather, they are supplementary. If one concedes that education can and does develop the conduct-controls mentioned, such 1 Inglis, Principles of Secondary Education, pp. 367-75. OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 39 as habits, knowledge, and ideals, and asks himself which habits, knowledge, and ideals have value, the reply may be given in terms of preparation for the three groups of activities of life. Thus a knowledge of certain funda- mental facts about communicable diseases is a valu- able conduct-control since it facilitates participation in the social-civic activities concerned with preventing the spread of disease. The habit of co-operation, and the ideal of fair play are other examples of conduct-controls of educational value because they contribute to the social-civic aim. A taste for out-of-door study of birds or plants is of value because of its contribution to individualistic-avocational life in that it supplies a needed and desirable type of recreation. The matter may be summed up by saying that it is the task of education to develop in each individual the several conduct-controls, but that in selecting particular facts, habits, or ideals as the subject of educational effort we must ask ourselves what value each of them has in preparing pupils for social-civic activities, for economic-vocational activities, or for individualistic- avocational activities. These relationships may be tab- ulated in this fashion. specific habits social-civic knowledge activities ideals Education ideals of method which prepare economic- develops < or procedure for vocational tastes participation in activities attitudes and individualistic perspectives avocational activities The general nature of educational objectives. A very significant thing in connection with this analysis 40 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE is that most, if not all, of the subjects in the high-school curriculum are able to furnish materials suitable for use in developing each one of the conduct-controls. In physics, to cite an instance, there is opportunity for the formation of specific habits, as that of weighing with speed and accuracy; it offers knowledge of many facts and principles ; it may inculcate ideals of truth and intellectual honesty; and the general perspective or insight secured regarding the working of nature's laws may enable one to orient himself with reference to such notions as are involved, for instance, in the ever-recurring propositions for producing "perpetual motion." All of these have value in preparation for one or another of the three types of life-activities. The non-science sub- jects might be shown to possess an equally wide range of adaptability. The search for unique objectives for science is foredoomed to failure, since science shares with other subjects in all the functions of education. The educa- tional standing of a particular subject may be expressed in terms of the reply to two questions, the first of which is quantitative and the second qualitative. First, what amount, relatively, is the specified subject able to contribute toward the development of each type of control ? Secondly, what particular habits, knowledge, ideals, prejudices, tastes, attitudes, and perspectives, can the subject furnish that have sufficient value to be included in the conduct-controls which are to be acquired by the pupils? The answer to the first question will delimit, on the whole, the region within which the subject operates. That is, it will determine whether a given subject is to function principally as a training or drill OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 41 subject, or for informational purposes, or whether it shall be inspirational only, or whether it shall combine several of these functions. The reply to the second question, if followed to the end, would constitute the key to the selection of subject-matter by which these functions might be carried on. We must therefore proceed to consider in some detail the adaptability of science to make a valuable contribu- tion to each of the conduct-controls and to attempt to distinguish those points at which science can make the most significant contribution. We shall then be in po- sition to indicate the relative emphasis and to properly evaluate the aims of science teaching. Specific habits. Nothing can be more certain than that in the course of the pupil's work he will form habits. Obviously, every reasonable effort should be made to inhibit the formation of wrong habits and to facilitate the formation of habits that will be of value. The habits that are commonly mentioned as objectives in science teaching are such as the habits of observation, neat- ness, carefulness, accuracy, and the like. It must be remembered, however, that the habits actually formed are such specific habits as neatness at the laboratory desk, accuracy in weighing or in compounding chemicals, care regarding spelling and punctuation of notes, or methodical procedure in recording data. These habits have very great social, vocational, and individualistic importance if they are actually employed outside of school or in later school work. It does not follow that they will so function. The one who has formed these habits may not be equally neat about his study desk, nor accurate in the kitchen, or careful with personal 42 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE correspondence. Such transfer of training is desirable, however, and will at least be facilitated if the scientific materials are so closely related to the actualities of occupations that the associations are readily made; if the apparatus used approximates commercial types; if the data are similar to those secured in industries and affairs; and if the class activities generally are similar to extra-school activities. The bearing of this upon general science will be considered later. It may be said that, in general, in science classes, the training function is not exercised upon materials introduced into the course for that specific purpose. Rather, the results must be achieved by continued train- ing throughout the whole course, and habit-formation becomes in this sense incidental, though its importance is in no way diminished thereby. Knowledge. Facts, principles, concepts, ideas, are the structural materials of science. They must obvi- ously be a primary objective in science teaching. They run the whole scale of values. But again one is compelled to recognize that the potential value of knowledge is realized only if in the circumstances of its learning or otherwise it is in some manner rather closely associated with situations in practical life. Thus the small amount of knowledge acquired by a "practical" man in the pursuit of his occupation may be of greater functional value to him than is the more extensive knowledge of another if gained in the pursuit of " theo- retical" studies. Knowledge which is to be used in practical situations should result from study having its origin in practical situations rather than in theoretical ones. OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 43 Ideals of method. Discipline of mind has commonly been named by science teachers as one of the objectives of science teaching. Various notions of the nature of this discipline have been held, but usually, when analyzed, they are found to include some notion of the formation of specific habits, and some notion of the acquirement of a certain method of thought or ability to think. The general working hypothesis of teachers is well shown by the results published by Koos and cited earlier in this chapter. It is assumed that the scientific method, once acquired, will thereafter function generally in practical situations to which it is applicable; but as in the case of the extension of habits or the broader use of knowledge, such transfer of the results of disciplinary training does not necessarily follow. The question of the transfer of training and formal discipline has been discussed at length by many authorities who may be consulted for a fuller account of the modern view. 1 Without entering into a discussion of the controverted points, it may be safely assumed that certain conditions will favor transfer or ex- tension into new fields, whether it be of habits, knowl- edge, or methods. The significance, from this point of view, of choice of subject-matter and its setting, has been alluded to in the discussion of specific habits. The idea is equally applicable here. Thus a method which has been used satisfactorily by the pupil in the solution of a problem arising in his own environment tends to be employed more widely in the solution of environmental problems, while the same method, if learned in connec- tion with remote and non-motivated study, may never function in everyday affairs. This, of course, emphasizes 1 Inglis, Principles of Secondary Editcation, pp. 394-412. 44 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE the importance of using actual situations rather than artificial ones in education. Transfer appears to be dependent, also, upon conscious purpose to utilize the particular habit or method in the new situation. This requires, on the part of the pupil, a rather clear concep- tion, or ideal, of the method, and particularly of the method as a way of securing valuable results when employed upon the type of problem he wants to solve. If his ideal of the scientific method represents it as a way of getting the answer the teacher wants in dealing with a meaningless task, the method certainly will not find much application outside of the schoolroom. One of the advantages of general science, as con- trasted with the special sciences, is that although actual situations commonly include elements related to "several sciences, each special science deals only with those elements lying within its own field and must therefore abstract its problems from their natural relationships, whereas general science deals with the actual situations as it finds them. Not alone methods, but habits, ideas, concepts, and principles are thus more easily brought into general use. Importance of the scientific method. From the time of Herbert Spencer to the present day, all writers upon the psychology of science have insisted upon the impor- tance of the scientific method. It is not restricted to the sciences, but it is in them that it has been developed to a very high degree and through them it can be imparted very efficiently. Undoubtedly one of the greatest con- tributions that science can make to the mental fur- niture of an individual is to develop in him an ideal of the scientific method of thought and discipline him OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 4$ in the use of it. Mastery of it is of great value for social, vocational, and individualistic activities. Ideals. Emotionalized standards of conduct have not been much considered in connection with science teaching 1 since science prides itself on being unemotional, such things have been referred commonly to history, biog- raphy, literature, art, and religion. However, we must mention in passing that science affords notable oppor- tunities for the cultivation of ideals of self-sacrifice, devotion, persistency, loyalty to truth, and the highest types of altruism. The history and biography of science are particularly rich in opportunities of this sort, but the history of science has scarcely been used in elemen- tary science instruction, and scientific biographies are only lately making their way into elementary science in an incidental way. The ideals of science are those of construction rather than of destruction, of peace rather than war, of liber- alism rather than reaction, of democracy rather than aristocracy, and are therefore peculiarly important in the social-civic activities of a democratic society. But however great their importance, they cannot at present exert a determining effect upon the organization of science courses, since neither the subject-matter nor the technique of such instruction has yet been sufficiently developed. Tastes. Like ideals, tastes have not been given much attention in the discussion of science teaching. It has been felt that science required rigid self-elimination but that appreciation belonged to the realm of the humani- x See, however, Lloyd and Bigelow, The Teaching of Biology, pp. 11-13, 65-68, 250-60; and Twiss, Principles of Science Teaching, pp. 93-98. 46 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE ties. 1 At the same time it has been evident that most good teachers did actually develop new tastes and appreciations for nature in many of their pupils and that they considered this an important part of their work. 2 Likewise many great scientists have shown keen appreci- ation of the recreative and aesthetic aspects of nature. In the stress of modern life, recreation is a real need. It is of the greatest importance to society that its members shall possess a stock of interests, tastes, and appreciations upon which may be founded recreations of the higher type. Such is the appreciation of beauty in plants, animals, landscape, and all nature. In many cases the enjoyment may be founded not upon its beauty, but upon an understanding of its meaning. Thus, a journey across the alkali and sage-brush areas of the Great Plains may be very wearisome to the casual traveler, but intensely interesting to one who has sufficient knowledge of the geography and biology of the region to enable him to interpret the meaning of the formations he passes. No subject in the curriculum is richer in recreative suggestions than science. Amateur science in its mul- titudes of forms collection of natural objects, bird study, wireless telegraphy, chemical experimentation, animal photography is fundamentally recreational. Such interests are a needed antidote to the tendency toward sensual and vicious pleasures. Recreative values, tastes, and appreciations stand high, and science is well able to contribute them, but at 1 Coulter, "The Mission of Science in Education," School Review, XXIII, 1-8, and School Science and Mathematics, XV, 93-100. 3 Lloyd and Bigelow, The Teaching of Biology, pp. 253-60. OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 47 the same time it can hardly be conceived that a course in science would be organized primarily for recreative purposes. It follows that these values are not determi- native of the course but must be sought incidentally. Insight and perspective. There is in all of us a crav- ing for knowledge for its own sake, or to satisfy our curiosity regarding what is beyond. This is the genesis of much scientific research. On this basis sanction may be found for the admission into science courses of much "mere information." Likewise, many units of fact or principle may have value only as they fill out gaps in our system of knowledge, thus making an organized whole of one's environment instead of a lot of disjointed parts. The value of this unity in the conception of the environment lies in the fact that it serves as a basis from which to view, classify, and evaluate new experi- ences. From it arise attitudes, perspectives, and ideals that are important. The savage, lacking such a perspective of the world in which he lives, is a prey to his fears and superstitions. And even in civilized society, ignorance and superstition take their toll from millions of people. A true perspec- tive of the universe enables the educated person to place the phenomena of his environment in their proper relationship and to assume a rational attitude toward them. In thus freeing the mind from the domination of superstition a true liberal culture is achieved. The perspective and insight which frees from super- stition is also of value in enabling one to recognize the problems in his environment, and recognized they must be before they can be solved. Thus, the uneducated are likely to accept the very large baby death-rate of the 48 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE cities merely as a fact, or as a dispensation of Providence; but the person who has an insight into the possibilities of public hygiene recognizes it as a problem demanding solution. This apprehension of problems and the proper placing of them in relation to other phenomena is pre- requisite to any progress. 1 Since it is the peculiar province of science to deal with the facts of the universe and to generalize from them, the intellectual value of science and its importance to a liberal and liberalizing education is of the highest order. We must, however, guard against the tacit assumption that high-school work in science is going to enable a pupil immediately to complete a perspective of the universe. To lay out such a scheme is useless. The task is too vast. The high school may put the pupil on the way and enable him to grasp some of the simpler, though fundamental, generalizations of science. Objectives in science. The preceding discussion of conduct-controls has shown that they are all involved in science education, but that they are not all equally important in determining the materials and the or- ganization of the course. The three that are outstand- ing are knowledge, ideals of method, and insight and perspective. In selecting the particular facts, principles, concepts, and ideas the knowledge which makes up the subject- matter of the course, one would have two criterions. A particular item of subject-matter might be included because it was valuable for its own sake, since it con- tributes to preparation for one or more of the three groups of activities; or it might be included because it 1 Judd, Psychology of High School Subjects, pp. 328-32. OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING 49 is available for training in the scientific method of thinking, or for imparting insight and perspective. In practice, it is commonly found that the subject- matter that is most valuable as knowledge in preparation for life's activities is for that reason more available for use in training thought. The development of a proper perspective is probably no less important than the other two, but the limitations inherent in the immature minds of secondary-school pupils make it impossible to give this factor a leading place. To do so would be to commit the error of organizing the course for the subject rather than for the pupil. Some materials will be introduced into the course because of their inspirational values, or because of recreative or training values, but in general the develop- ment of ideals, tastes, and habits will be secured by the incidental use of subject-matter which is in the course primarily for other purposes. It appears, then, that the primary aim in science teaching is (i) to instruct the pupil in that scientific knowledge which is valuable as a preparation for life- activities, (2) to use this knowledge and the processes of its acquisition in disciplining the mind in the scientific method, and (3) to impart an insight into the nature and organization of the environment so far as time and the limitations of mind permit; secondarily, to use the materials of the course to train in right habits and to develop desirable ideals, tastes, and appreciations. Science and lif e. As indicated in earlier parts of this chapter, these objectives are not the peculiar property of science. Even its method is not unique, but it has SO THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE carried the method of thought to a very high point in refinement and efficiency. The peculiar claim of science rests upon the usefulness of its subject-matter in securing the types of conduct-controls which constitute the im- mediate objectives, and in the value of these when so secured as a preparation for the three groups of life- activities, namely the social-civic, economic-vocational, and individualistic-avocational. Facts and principles there are in plenty, but the facts and principles of science have to do with the material, utilitarian world in which we associate with one another as members of the social organism, in which we make our livings, and in which we pursue our recreative and individualistic aims. There is therefore the closest pos- sible relationship between science and the activities of life. Other values. While the grouping of life's activities under three heads has been accepted for the purposes of this discussion, and the three groups are used as criteria of the value of educational methods and mate- rials, it is true that there are certain educational func- tions which, though implied, are not sufficiently empha- sized thereby. Thus, in the case of pupils who are going to continue their formal education, the value of present courses in preparing them for more advanced work is very great. This is called by Inglis the propae- deutic function. Attention must also be called to the selective and directive functions of education. The latter in particular may assume great importance in connection with vocational guidance. Further analysis and research needed. The formula- tion, of educational objectives suggested is not proposed OBJECTIVES IN SCIENCE TEACHING $1 as a final analysis, but as a working hypothesis for present purposes, and as a basis for discussion. It must not be supposed that even if it were accepted in its entirety, the problem of aims would be solved finally thereby. As has been indicated at several points, the real practical point in the question of aims lies in the details; and the establishment of general categories merely affords opportunity to attack the essence of the problem. A further analysis of objectives would require that one specify exactly what habits, ideas, concepts, ideals, and procedures ought to be inculcated in science teaching. This no one is now prepared to do, upon the basis of objective evidence. It remains to determine objectively what are the habits that should be established, what are the groups of materials with which we must work in developing the habit of thinking scientifically, in such fashion that this habit will function in life; what ideals are important and which of these are appropriate ends of science instruction; how scientific interests and perspectives may be developed; which utilitarian values can be secured by instruction in science, and which are worth while; for what advanced courses pupils are being prepared, and how largely the preparation will actually be called for; what are the specific items of knowledge which have civic or vocational worth; how recreative interests may be secured; and to what extent and by what means we may expect to secure in the high school a serviceable interpretive insight into the world of natural phenomena. To each of these questions and to many others like them, the pedagogy of science must ultimately 52 TEE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE be able to give a definite answer before science teaching can rest upon a rational foundation. REFERENCES Bagley, W. C. Educational Values. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1911. Caldwell, O. W., and Committee. Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools. U.S. Bureau of Education, Bull. No. 26, 1920. Charters, W. W. Methods of Teaching. Chicago: Row, Peterson & Co., 1912. Coulter, J. M. "The Mission of Science in Education," School Review, XXIII, 1-8. Also School Science and Mathematics, XV, 93-100, 1915. Davenport, Eugene. Education for Efficiency. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1909. Dewey, John. "Science as Subject-Matter and as Method," Science, XXXI, 121-27. Eliot, Charles W. Changes Needed in American Secondary Education. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 2. Flexner, Abraham. A Modern School. General Education Board, N.Y., "Occasional Papers," No. 3. Inglis, A. Principles of Secondary Education. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1918. Judd, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. Koos, Leonard. The Administration of Secondary School Subjects. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1917. Lloyd, F. L., and Bigelow, M. A. The Teaching of Biology. New York: Longmans, 1914. Twiss, G. R. The Principles of Science Teaching. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1917. CHAPTER V THE OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE Point of view. Any subject, and particularly one that is relatively new in the course of study, may be considered as a body of material to be treated experi- mentally in developing a better method and organiza- tion for the future educational use of this material. Or primary consideration may be given to the task of secur- ing the best immediate results from the present organiza- tion and methods in the education of the particular group of pupils in hand at the present time. The former is the method of experimental education. It concerns itself with the broader educational problems and looks toward the organization of teaching upon a basis of facts experi- mentally determined. The latter is the method of rou- tine teaching and is concerned primarily with securing present results with the actual pupils in the present classes, rather than with possible future reorganizations. Actually, both points of view are necessary and both are held in varying degrees by most classroom teachers, but the first is particularly the point of view of experimental schools while the second necessarily predominates in the routine of most public high schools. It is necessary, therefore, to consider general science both from the point of view of experimental education and from that of routine teaching. General science is experimental. From the point of view of experimental education the objective of general science is to establish by experimental methods a definite S3 54 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE knowledge of what particular facts, principles, and so forth, may properly be subjects of instruction in the first year. Much progress in this direction has already been made. The better courses in general science which are extant at the present time represent carefully designed and observed experimentation with pupils, extending over a series of years. The particular items included in each course are so included because a practical teacher has found that they work out well with a first-year class, and not because they are parts of some logical or scien- tific system. The more carefully worked out courses in general science now offer a selection of subject-matter which is, with regard to its adaptation to the needs and abilities of first-year pupils, more evenly and correctly graded than is true of the subject-matter of any of the other science courses. Further experimentation is highly desirable in order that we may further refine both method and selection of material. Such experimentation may take the form of the determination of the adaptability to first-year work of single, more or less isolated topics; 1 or it may include the organization of an entire year's work. 2 In either case the publication of the results secured with a class constitutes a real contribution to education. It must not be forgotten, however, that such publication represents results secured in a particular environment 'Lott, "A Twenty-Minute Project," General Science Quarterly, I, 122-26; and Lunt, "An Illuminating-Gas Project," General Science Quarterly, I, 213-15. a Carpenter, " General Science in the Junior High School at Rochester, N.Y.," Part II, "Courses of Study," General Science Quarterly, II, 255-66. OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 55 and with a particular type or types of pupils. The results reported may be of local rather than of general application, and it is therefore important that writers report so far as possible all those factors which might have influenced the final result. Making courses as an experimental problem. The essentially experimental character of the problem of formulating a course in general science, or indeed in any other science, has not been sufficiently appreciated by authors and teachers. It has been all too common for a committee, appointed by an association of teachers, to bring in a report recommending the establishment of courses in general science and proposing a long list of topics, sufficient sometimes for two or three years' work, with the statement that it "seemed to the commit- tee" that these topics could be used in the first year, and that from the list the teacher " could select such as were desired." Such a proposition as the foregoing, whether embodied in a committee report, an article in a periodical, or in a textbook, does not constitute an important contribution toward the solution of the problem. Since it merely proposes topics but does not select them, and since there is no experimental assurance of the adapta- bility of individual topics, the whole problem of selecting and testing remains as before in the hands of the individ- ual teacher. The development of general science has advanced to such a point that any proposal can be positively helpful only if it is (a) definite, proposing a clear-cut selection of material which can be tried out under average condi- tions with a minimum of selecting, eliminating, and rearranging; and (b) experimental, in that it represents 56 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE materials that have been successfully used with classes in essentially their present form. Standardized courses. Upon the basis of present experimental evidence it is becoming possible to select a considerable number of topics which are known to be suitable to the first year and, what is no less important, to relegate to later years those topics most suitable to those years. It may be hoped that finally we shall be able to formulate several standard courses in general science suitable to several types of environment, as rural and urban, and resting upon the sanction of accepted experimental results. The attempt to establish such standards at the present time would be premature. It would probably act to inhibit to some degree exactly that experimentation upon which the progress of the immediate future must depend. It might be expected that because of the wide range of material and the freedom of selecton of topics, general- science courses would be so widely variant as to show little resemblance to each other. So far as the selec- tion of topics is concerned, there is in fact a remarkable agreement. Based upon a study of textbooks, it has been shown that the agreement in the selection of topics is represented by approximately 70 per cent. 1 No higher degree of standardization would be desirable at the present time. In a later chapter a more detailed presen- tation of present practice is given. Reflex influence of general science. One of the incidental advantages of experimental general science is that it very definitely stimulates the experimental attitude on the part of the teacher. In the older sciences, 1 Webb, General Science Instruction in the Grades, p. 9. OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 57 traditions, prejudices, and vested interests have accumu- lated and are commonly accepted without question on the basis of custom and authority. General science has not yet gathered a like collection of predispositions. The teacher is therefore not only free to exercise his own judgment upon all questions of material and method, but is compelled to do so to an unusual degree. The attitude of scientific questioning, the scientific method turned upon educational problems, is stimulating in the highest degree. It very commonly reacts most favorably upon a teacher's attitude in all subjects. 1 Educational opportunities. General science thus offers to experimental education an unrivaled oppor- tunity for approaching the reorganization of high-school science upon a rational and objective basis. The field of experimentation is limited to a definite span in the pupil's development and it is relatively unencumbered by established prejudices and non-pedagogical limita- tions. Real situations are general. From the teaching point of view, as contrasted with the experimental, the objectives of general science must be stated in terms of the general objectives of science teaching as discussed in the preceding chapter. The teaching value of the subject is to be judged, not upon the basis of the realiza- tion of unique objectives, but by the ease, certainty, and completeness with which the objectives common to all science teaching are realized. Emphasis has been laid upon the employment of subject-matter drawn from the pupil's environment to produce results which 1 Gould, "Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 298-303. 58 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE may be utilized in the environment. Actual problems must be solved in the school in order that the pupils may be able to solve practical problems outside of school. Now it happens that most actual situations are general, in the sense here intended, since they involve elements of more than one science. General science deals with complete situations in their natural settings and is, therefore, peculiarly adapted to secure for the pupil specific habits, facts, ideas, concepts, principles and ideals of method and procedure which shall function for him in his life. General science is quite capable, for instance, of taking up the entire problem of growing an acre of corn under the general conditions, with the implements and for the valuable results, that commonly characterize corn-growing. No special science can deal with this situation without exceeding its own limitations. If in carrying out this project, a boy is trained to cultivate the soil with care as a measure for increasing productive- ness, the specific habit so formed is so intimately asso- ciated with the farm that it is likely to function in any similar farm operation. The habit of destroying weeds in the field even after the corn is grown past the point of serious injury, in order to avoid the spread of weeds to adjoining areas under the care of his father or neighbor, is a socializing habit which has been formed in such close association with farm and community life that farm and community conditions almost inevitably con- stitute a stimulus resulting in socially advantageous repetition of the habitual reaction. Usable facts and principles. The facts and principles secured in close contact with the actualities of life and OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 59 closely connected with other facts and principles which give significance to the whole are more useful than those learned and held in isolation. That ants are abundant in the cornfield, that plants utilize in their growth the substance dissolved in their sap, and that plant lice are cared for and colonized by certain ants, are interesting but isolated bits of information. If these facts are discovered in the course of an investigation regarding what ails the corn plants, they are immediately signifi- cant and useful. Furthermore, they are likely to stimulate the consideration of other kinds of plants and other kinds of insects. Thus, the facts learned in their natural settings are more significant and more usable than those secured without such connec- tions. Method of thought. The value of the scientific method of thought is likewise closely connected with the associations among which it is learned. Productive think- ing requires problems that appear worth while. Real problems are likely to be general and here again the value of general organization appears. J Ability to think effectively and accurately comes only with practice in thinking about real and interesting problems, under skilful guidance and criticism; consciousness of the value of the method arises from the feeling of satisfaction resulting from its repeated employment upon significant problems; and the habit of so employing it either in school situations or in situations outside of school is the natural outgrowth of this consciousness, providing that the materials upon which the method is exercised are sufficiently similar to the materials of the problems commonly encountered so that the opportunity for application of the method 60 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE is commonly recognized. /Both the knowledge and the method look forward to employment for practical purposes. Utilitarian and socializing values. Since the subject- matter of general science is so largely drawn from the practical affairs of life, it follows that the values which are recognized in everyday affairs, namely the social, civic, and economic-vocational, will be readily realized. Illustrations of this have been given in the preceding discussion. It should be recalled in this connection that the economic-vocational values sought are not those which are attached to particular vocations, and therefore contingent upon entering them, but rather the broader values that may be supposed to be important to the majority of people. Among the groups of facts which possess great civic and social importance it may be sufficient to refer to the usefulness and harmfulness of bacteria and their relation to disease and public health; to the relations between insects and the spread of contagious disease; to the scientific facts and principles concerned in the problems of securing proper water supplies and the safe disposal of wastes; to the origin and production of foods, their distribution, preservation, and conserva- tion, and the principles of nutrition; to the source and transformations of energy and the conservation of fuel; to the place of agriculture in our national economy; to the facts underlying the necessity of conservation of national resources in general. No one of these groups is restricted to a single science and therefore none of them lends itself readily to adequate treatment in the special sciences. They do constitute, on the contrary, OBJECTIVES OP GENERAL SCIENCE 6l precisely the sort of subject-matter with which general science works most readily. Intellectual values. With regard to the intellectual values to be secured from the learning of science in general, there is no disagreement between general science and the special sciences; with regard to the kind and amount of intellectual value to be secured during a certain period, as a certain year of the course, there is sharp disagreement. It will be recalled that in Koos's investigation, cited earlier in the chapter, it was found that nearly three-fourths of the teachers held as a conscious aim, "to present a comprehensive and unified organization of the subject." It is to be presumed that the value to be received from effort of this sort was rather largely intellectual a perspective of the field of a particular science such that the individual would be able to orient himself with reference to the facts and phenomena of nature, so far as they fall within this field. It is, also, an unmistakable tendency for writers of textbooks and syllabi to emphasize some of the greater generalizations of their science. Thus, courses in botany and zoology commonly give considerable attention to the doctrine of evolution and are not infrequently organized in accordance with evolutionary theory. Of late years mutation, Mendelism, and genetic theories in general have also found place even in first- or second-year courses. The physical sciences, too, include much theo- retical material. Both the organized view of the science and the great generalizations are important to the intel- lectual life of the pupils, but general science raises several questions about the proper time for acquiring them. Is 62 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE the first year in the high school the place for a study of either the greater generalizations of science or of the organization of a field of science ? Has the beginning pupil sufficient interest in these things to cause him to apply himself to them? Even when he " learns" them, does he actually come to an intellectual appreciation of them such that they can have value for him ? That is, does he actually acquire insight and perspective as a result of this study. Bigelow in discussing the intel- lectual value of zoology in secondary schools, goes no farther than to suppose that it may give the pupil a " viewpoint which in later years may be important in giving proper perspective to philosophic studies." 1 Generalizations in general science. General science introduces many principles which are developed in the course of the discussion of its problems, but the organiza- tion of these principles into the greater generalizations which constitute the philosophical system of science is properly an objective of special science, not of general science. It is the contention of general science that many of these very important generalizations are not and cannot be learned and understood by beginners in science; 2 that most of the greater generalizations should be relegated to a period of greater mental maturity unless a better reason can be given for their early introduction than the blanket reason that the science to which they pertain has been arbitrarily placed in the first year, and that the whole question is properly one for experimental 1 Lloyd and Bigelow, The Teaching of Biology, p. 253. *Webb, General Science Instruction in the Grades, Part II, par- ticularly pp. 98-105. OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 63 determination. It is likewise contended that the com- prehensive and unified organization of the subject is rarely learned and never apprehended by the beginner in science. Furthermore, even if we should grant that the study of special sciences was successful in instilling a working understanding of the organization and generali- zations of the few sciences a pupil ordinarily studies in successive years, it is after all extremely difficult to see how these limited perspectives, secured in piecemeal fashion, are to be integrated into an understanding of environment without a general foundation to which all parts of the structure may be related. Considered from the positive side, general science seeks to supply this common foundation. It assumes that it is not possible to rise into the higher intellectual levels during the first year, and it therefore contents itself with attempting to organize the immediate and familiar environment of the pupil in as useful fashion as possible. It may go farther, and indicate in which directions the principal fields of science lie, but it leaves for later science study the more philosophical organization of these fields. Certainly it is more useful to the pupil to have an elementary organization of the field of actual experi- ence rather than a more highly organized view of a restricted and, to a considerable extent, a strange realm. If the pupil goes no farther, he has some sort of guide which may enable him to "find his wiy about" in the world of phenomena. If he does go farther, he possesses a general foundation, a plane of reference, which serves to relate his later acquisitions. General science as an introduction. General science, then, is not to be considered in the light of a substitute 64 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE for the special sciences but as an introduction to them and to life. The pupil who has developed or discovered an interest in the problems of his environment will need and, it may be hoped, will wish to investigate many of the factors in greater detail, and this more detailed study is particularly the province of the special sciences. It is the great pleasure of every teacher of general science to find himself in the position where, time and facilities at his disposal not being sufficient to satisfy a pupil's curiosity on a given problem, he is obliged to point out to the inquirer the advantages of future study of the special sciences. Objectives contrasted. If now we contrast special science and general science with reference to the state- ment of objectives of science teaching as formulated earlier in this chapter, we may secure some notion of the actual objectives of each. Both are interested in habits, facts, ideas, concepts, principles, and method. Special science selects its subject-matter with special reference to the organization of the science, taking with almost equal readiness units which occur in the pupil's environ- ment or those remote from it; general science selects its subject-matter and secures its results with the need for explanation and interpretation of the environment always in mind. Special science, engrossed in the task of presenting the scientific system, only with very consider- able reluctance and to a minor degree, admits materials contributing directly to utilitarian and socializing values, as pointed out in chapter ii; general science is built up largely with materials which have interest because of utilitarian and socializing values. Special science goes relatively far in presenting principles and OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 65 generalizations which have intellectual or liberalizing values together with the facts upon which these are based, often making this value the most prominent; general science frankly recognizes the limitations of the begin- ner's mind and is satisfied with an interpretation of the more readily accessible natural phenomena and applica- tions of science. The importance of the objectives of special science is not denied; but their appropriateness for beginners is questioned. Summary. It is the mission of general science to explain for the pupils those natural phenomena that have interest and significance for them, and to impart such additional knowledge as their interests and needs demand; to encourage the pupils to solve the simpler problems themselves as a beginning of scientific thinking; and to develop such easily comprehended principles as apply to the local environment and the pupils' interests. 1 Secondary aims, conditioned by local circumstances, will include the mastery of particular scientific facts and principles useful as a preparation for economic- vocational activities, training in important habits, mastery of underlying principles preparatory to later science work, the encouragement of recreative interests, and the creation of social-civic ideals. Importance of introductory function. The peculiar relation of general science to the other sciences in the high school calls for brief consideration of its introductory, or propaedeutic, value. As pointed out in chapter ii, the importance of such preparation is greatly empha- sized by the recognized interrelationships of the sciences and by their present illogical arrangement in the cur- 1 Snedden, Problems of Secondary Education, pp. 255-62. 66 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE riculum. For instance, a knowledge of the physical sciences is seriously needed in pursuing the study of the biological and earth sciences, but that the former are usually studied last, thus rendering realization of the preparatory value impossible. It is undoubtedly true that any one of the sciences would profit in some degree if all of the other sciences should precede it in the curric- ulum. Since this is impossible, the obvious thing to do is to precede the study of the special sciences by some sort of science study that will supply the needed ele- mentary knowledge of science in general. Introduction always presupposed. That the study of high-school science should be preceded by a more elementary and more general preparatory study has always been supposed since high-school science assumed its present form. An earlier attempt was made to meet this need through the work of the elementary school in nature-study. Dependence upon nature-study for prep- aration for high-school science was very definitely recog- nized by the Committee of Ten. All three of the science conferences recommended continuous science work throughout the grades and apparently founded their recommendations for high-school work upon the supposi- tion that efficient preparation of this sort would be secured. One conference went so far as to prepare a complete outline for the elementary-school nature-study. 1 Nature-study. That the elementary school has not been able to meet the need is sufficiently indicated by the present interest in the general-science movement. It is highly improbable fe3|^ature-study will ever be able to meet this particular situation or that it ought 1 Report of the Committee on Secondary School Sttulies, pp. 142-51. OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 67 to meet it. Investigations of the status of nature-study in our elementary schools emphasize the lack of prep- aration on the part of teachers, the limited oppor- tunity of prospective teachers to secure such prepa- ration along with the large amount of other work demanded, the multitude of subjects in which they must instruct, and the absurdly small amount of time actually used in science instruction in the elementary schools of the country. It is obviously impossible under existing types of organization, to secure science instruction in sufficient quantity and of such reliability and uniformity that the science program of the high school can be founded upon the knowledge and training received. This does not constitute a criticism of the elementary school. That institution is doing its task well, but it must not be expected to accomplish impossi- bilities. It appears to be the part of the elementary school, in the matter of science teaching, to maintain and develop scientific interests and, so far as possible, to initiate training in proper habits of thought. Any- thing beyond this must be secured in the high school with its specially trained teachers and departmental organization. Introduction to life. For a very large number of pupils, the first year of science is also the last. It there- fore becomes in their case an introduction to the practi- cal situations of life just as to other pupils it constitutes an introducton to the further study of science in school. In either case the selection of materials must be broad enough to secure a real introduction to the great variety of situations to be met in the future, and in the case of the large majority who early terminate their school 68 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE experience, the materials of science should be such as have considerable utilitarian value. Preparatory values incidental. Assuming that pre- paratory values are incidental rather than primary, it is obvious that the course will not be organized or the material selected with reference to the supposed needs of following courses. To do so would be to introduce the preparatory fallacy of working primarily for post- poned values. The correct view of the situation is expressed by saying that while the general-science course is organized and administered for other than introductory purposes, it does in fact present certain introductory values that may be utilized by later science courses. The adjustment between general science and special science must be made by the latter building upon what foundation the former lays, rather than by any attempt to prescribe that certain materials shall be used for pre- paratory reasons. REFERENCES Barber, F. D. "The Present Status and Real Meaning of General Science," School Review, XXIII, 9-24. Also School Science and Mathematics, XV (1915), 218-24, 302-7 . " Fundamental Considerations in the Reorganization of High-School Science," School Review, XXIV (1916), 724- 34. Also, General Science Quarterly, I (1917), 102-11. Briggs, Thomas H. "General Science in Secondary Schools," Teachers' College Record, XVII (1916), 19-30. Caldwell, O. W. "An Interpretation of the New Point of View in Science Teaching," General Science Quarterly, I, 131-36. Davenport, Eugene. Education for Efficiency. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1909. Dewey, John. "Method in Science-Teaching," Proceedings of the National Education Association, LIV (1916), 729-34. OBJECTIVES OF GENERAL SCIENCE 69 Gould, J. C. " Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII (1917), 298-303. Howe, C. M. "What Eighty Teachers Think as to the Aims and Subject-Matter of General Science," General Science Quar- terly, II, 445-58. Lloyd, F. E., and Bigelow, M. A. The Teaching of Biology. New York: Longmans, 1914. Orr, W., Whitman, W. G., and Kelly, H. C. General Science, Teachers' Manual. Bulletin No. 2, 1917. Boston: Massa- chusetts Board of Education. Also, General Science Quarterly, I, 37-46, 88-101, 180-88, 228-32. Report of the Committee on Secondary School Studies. U.S. Bureau of Education, 1893. Snedden, David. "Principles of Aim, Organization, and Method in General Science," School and Society, I (1915), 436-41. . Problems of Secondary Education. New York: Hough- ton Mifflin Co. Webb, Hanor A. General Science Instruction in the Grades. Peabody College for Teachers, "Contributions to Education," No. 4, 1921. CHAPTER VI GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD The fact that the subject has been named general science has operated to attract attention to the selection of subject-matter and thereby to obscure the real meaning of the general-science movement. The move- ment is aimed toward a reform in method and point of view, and the selection of subject-matter is largely dominated by the method. The method, therefore, re- quires first attention. An act of thought. According to Dewey, there is a fundamental unity of method in all thinking, and scientific thinking differs from empirical thinking principally in the refinement and extension of certain phases of the thinking process. An act of thought includes "(a) a felt difficulty, (b) its location and definition, (c) suggestions of possible solution, (d) de- velopment by reasoning of the bearings of the suggestion, (e) further observation and experiment leading to its acceptance or rejection." 1 It will be noted that the origin of thinking is found in a recognized perplexity, and this suggests the impor- tance of introducing each new laboratory exercise or each new subject in the textbook or class discussion by means of those elements that stimulate wonder or curiosity, and challenge the intellect to attempt the solution of a prob- lem. Reflective thought operates only toward the solu- tion of a perplexing situation. In accordance with this 1 Dewey, How We Think, p. 72. 70 GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 71 fundamental law of mind, a laboratory exercise in general science is typically presented as a problem which is left to the pupil for solution. 1 The work of the teacher appears in the form of selecting situations that contain real problems, in developing and defining these problems to the point where they are apprehended by the pupils and the solu- tion appears both desirable and necessary, and in guiding the subsequent processes of observation, experiment, and reflection. This method of attack is commonly known as the problem method. It is of course not restricted to general science, but is characteristic of it. The problems. The problems may originate in school experience, in the home, or in play; they very commonly arise as a result of previous problems in the course; or the teacher may deliberately introduce them, as when the simple experiment of holding an inverted drinking-glass immersed in water is used to stimu- late the pupils to raise problems about the nature and characteristics of air. In any case the teacher must be active in controlling the selection of problems either directly or by selecting the stimulus by which the character of the problems that will be proposed is largely predetermined. Whatever the origin of the problems, whether spontaneous or predetermined, the teacher must see that they are appropriated by the class as their own before the solution is attempted. Problem method and subject-matter. The reactions of the problem method upon selection of subject-matter are readily seen. In order that the problems may inter- 1 Downing, "Supervised Study and the Science Laboratory," School Review, XXV, 646-51. 72 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE est the pupils and in order that the solution may lead to worth-while results, the subject-matter of the problems must come from the life that the pupils are leading or from the life that they recognize as lying immediately in the future. Such problems are never wholly abstracted from their natural settings and, therefore, commonly involve elements of several sciences. To be sure, the problem which forms the subject of a single laboratory exercise may not involve more than one science, but any attempt to follow through the series of connected problems which are involved in the con- sideration of any concrete situation is almost certain to lead one beyond the confines of a single science. Thus a wilting plant constitutes a botanical problem, but it immediately leads to physical problems connected with evaporation and absorption. The broader problem of why the food supply is sometimes not adequate leads to questions related to as diverse matters as soil physics and chemistry, nutrition of animals, labor-saving machinery, transportation, symbiotic bacteria, and parasitic insects. Some current practices. The implications of the problem method may become clearer in contrast with certain current practices. In examination of textbooks of science it is quite usual to find that each chapter opens with the definition of certain concepts and the statement of certain general principles. This is followed by a discussion of these concepts and principles, necessa- rily deductive, and the chapter closes with a more or less formal instancing of practical applications. These applications are often rather remote from the actual experience and perplexities of the pupils and therefore in fact constitute merely a further discussion of the GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 73 principles. Obviously the first condition for reflective thinking a problem is wanting. In contrast, general science begins with a practical situation involving a problem, proceeds with a discussion directed toward the solution of the problem by the discovery of the general concepts under which the particular phenomenon falls, and ends with the statement of principles and definitions. One proceeds from general to particular; the other from particular to general. The same current tendency to proceed deductively is shown in many published laboratory manuals in which a general principle is stated, often misnamed a problem, and the pupil is directed in detail how to proceed to " verify" it. Even in more modern labora- tory manuals which are by their titles dedicated to the problem method, by far the greater number of exercises are entitled "to prove that" or "to show that" certain things are true. Any fairly intelligent pupil will imme- diately recognize such a statement as an expression of ascertained fact to be accepted without question, and his effort will be ended when he has established some sort of concurrence between his observations and the stated proposition. The movement of thought is wholly deductive. Observation. The second step in thinking is the location and definition of the problem. This step may be combined with the first; but in many cases it requires careful observation to establish the facts which delimit the problem and at the same time give rise to suggestions toward its explanation. This is no aimless "observation lesson." It is ob- servation with the very definite purpose of ascertaining 74 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE the facts which apply to a particular situation. If a person is alone in the house at night, an unusual noise will set him to thinking. The first act of the mind, typically, is expressed in the question, "What is it?" This will be followed by very careful listening in order to secure all possible information about that specific sound. So in the study of any problem the recognition of the problem should be followed by similar careful observation of the facts. Inductive and deductive movement. The third step suggestion may be spoken of as an attempt to ex- plain the phenomena or as guessing at the meaning. Several alternative explanations are desirable as tending to prevent the mind from prematurely fixing upon one suggestion as a conclusion instead of a working hypoth- esis, merely because no alternative presents itself. Once one or more suggestions are present, thinking passes into the step of examining and developing the bearings and meanings of these the fourth step. Here the movement of thought is at first from the particular and discrepant facts of observation toward a general, unifying conception as the suggested explanation. This movement from particular to general is inductive. It results in the tentative acceptance of one or another of the suggestions. Immediately there is initiated a reverse movement of thought, tending to test the tentative conclusion. If the explanation is correct, certain other relations should follow; a great many facts not noted in the orginal observation ought to appear. The presence or absence of these should constitute a test of the explanation. If it is the presence of air that hinders the water from entering a submerged, GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 75 inverted, drinking-glass, the removal of air should cause water to enter. Further observation and experimenta- tion will supply the facts. This is the deductive phase of thinking, and leads typically to the last step the acceptance of the suggestion as satisfactory, or its final rejection. For clearness and convenience, the deductive movement may often be presented as a separate labora- tory exercise, as may the original collecting of data, but all parts of the problem should be so connected that one grows naturally out of the other. An example. If a group of pupils are brought in contact with the experience involved when a drinking- glass is thrust under water, mouth downward, the major- ity of the group will immediately recognize a difficulty. The observed fact that the glass is not filled with water is not in accord with previous experiences and the dis- crepancy demands explanation. Recognition of the problem constitutes the first step in thinking. If the facts are clearly recognized by everyone the problem may be sufficiently delimited without further observa- tion. It often happens, however, that certain pupils fail to note that the submerged glass is not filled with water, while others have discovered that the water does in fact enter the glass a short distance. Further experimenta- tion and repetition of experience is demanded until all have reached an agreement as to the facts to be ex- plained, namely, that the water does truly enter the glass a short distance, but not far enough to remove the original perplexity regarding tHe failure of the glass to fill with water. Thus the problem is delimited. The attempt to explain the known facts may lead to several suggestions, of which the most credible is the 76 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE notion that air in the glass may exclude the water, and this may be adopted tentatively. Without the guidance and criticism of the teacher it is probable that many if not a majority of young pupils would be inclined to allow the matter to rest here, accepting the inference finally rather than tentatively. It is the function of the teacher to impress the importance of testing inferences before accepting them. In the case under discussion it will probably be suggested by pupils that the air, if present, may be allowed to escape by tilting the glass, whereupon, if the exclusion of the water is due to the air, the water ought to occupy the glass in proportion as the air escapes. Also, air may be introduced under the glass by blowing through a tube as an attempt to re-establish the original conditions. In this example experimentation and observation are employed first to delimit the problem and supply a basis for inference, secondly to test the validity of the inference. The scientific method. The scientific 1 method is the same in outline as the general method of thought outlined above, differing only in accuracy, caution, and refinement. Its chief distinguishing characteristics, particularly as related to the educational process are the following: (a) there can be no scientific thinking without a problem; (b) careful and extensive observation is resorted to for the purpose of defining the problem and supplying a basis for suggestions related to the problem; (c) the tendency to escape from intellectual 'Meister, Morris, "The Method of the Scientists," School Science and Mathematics, XVIII, 735-45. GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 77 uncertainty by immediate acceptance of the first sugges- tion is inhibited, and alternative suggestions are sought, including as far as possible all plausible suggestions; (d) each suggestion is examined in turn both by following it to its ultimate meaning and by reasoning back from this suggested meaning to the facts either observed or implied; and (e) the selected suggestion or suggestions are submitted to the test of further observation or experiment to establish finally the validity of one of them which is accepted as the conclusion. With respect to the conclusion, scientific thinking, in contrast with empirical thinking requires that the conclusion express a causal relation rather than one of coincidence merely. General science is to be interpreted as a method of developing the habit of scientific thinking and securing scientific information through the investigation of a series of real problems arising in practical situations in the school, the home, the playground, or in other activities of the pupils. These problems may be proposed spontaneously by the pupils or suggestion may be stimulated by the teacher. The procedure follows closely the normal progress of thinking. Since the individual problem very commonly, and the con- nected series of problems almost invariably, pass beyond the limits set for a single science, the materials of a course are necessarily general in their nature. This general character of the course is, therefore, a consequence of the method rather than a primary condition; but it is equally indicated by every consideration of interest and of facility in the utilization in later experiences of the training secured. 78 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Point of view is essential. It follows from the con- siderations discussed above that a course does not be- come general science merely by being labeled so, nor by having been constituted from a more or less miscella- neous selection of materials. When subject-matter is taken bodily from several special sciences and treated in the same manner and with the same point of view as when constituting parts of botany, physics, et al., it obviously loses nothing of its technical character. It is unfortunately true that courses called general science may be found in which both in point of view and in practice the problem-solving attitude is wanting; in which the point of view is wholly that of the special science's from which they are assembled; or in which laboratory work is wanting. The statement is made in connection with one of these courses that no laboratory or laboratory work is necessary. In most cases the need of laboratory work is recognized and its absence results from such causes as the lack of equipment or the indif- ference and insufficient preparation of the teacher. Such courses may offer certain minor advantages, as it is possible to select from the older sciences only those items which are within the comprehension of the pupils, and the elementary course may serve as an informational preparation for later courses. They are not, however, carried on in the spirit of general science and must fail to secure the broader values. Definition of the project method. A method which has been much discussed in connection with general science is the project method. A review of the literature of project teaching both in science and in other subjects commonly leads to considerable confusion, due to the GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD fact that there is no commonly accepted definition of the concept represented by the term "project." Some writers have been careful to define their own use of the term, but others have not done so. 1 It thus becomes necessary that one should state, at the outset, his own definition of the concept or point out which of the definitions he accepts. For the purposes of this discussion the writer proposes to adhere to the definition and analysis given by Kil- patrick. This author considers a project to be a "wholehearted purposeful activity proceeding in a social environment." 2 For school purposes projects may be divided into four types, as follows: "Type i, where the purpose is to embody some idea or plan in external form, as building a boat, writing a letter, presenting a play; Type 2, where the purpose is to enjoy some (aesthetic) experience, as listening to a story, hearing a symphony, appreciating a picture; Type 3, where the purpose is to straighten out some intellectual difficulty, to solve some problem, as to find out whether or not dew falls, to ascertain how New York outgrew Philadelphia; Type 4, where the purpose is to obtain some item or degree of skill or knowledge, as learning to write Grade 14 on the Thorndike Scale, learning the irregular verbs in French." 3 It will not be amiss to state that in the definition given above the emphasis is placed very decidedly upon the purposeful character of the activity. 4 From this 1 Branom, The Project Method in Education, chap, ii; Horn, Ernest, "What Is a Project?" Elementary School Journal, XXI, 112-16. 'Kilpatrick, "The Project Method," Teachers' College Record. XIX, 320. 3 Ibid., pp. 332, 333. Ibid., p. 322. 8o THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE point of view, the contrast between common "assigning lessons" and the project method is the contrast between a task imposed by superior authority and an activity entered into from choice. It is conceived that a pupil who was assigned the task of constructing from tinfoil and paper an electric condenser would be likely to execute the task in a perfunctory manner designed to get by the teacher's inspection, while the boy who planned to use the facilities of the school for constructing a condenser because he wished to use it in his wireless set would do an entirely different grade of work. Discussion of project types. So far as the general- science course is concerned, the projects of Type i are likely to be in the nature of individual construction projects, as making an iceless refrigerator, or construct- ing an efficient flytrap. Occasionally a project of this type may be of such character that it will allow or demand the co-operative action of several members of the class, as the establishment and maintenance of a United States Weather Bureau signal station. From the nature of these projects and because of their individualistic character, they cannot constitute the background of a science course, but must be secondary and accessory. Projects of Type 2, the aesthetic projects, are closely related to the inspirational and recreative functions of education. It was pointed out in connection with the discussion of these functions and the corresponding conduct-controls (ideals and tastes) that no suitable technique had been developed, at least in the sciences. The utilization of such projects is wholly in the experi- mental stage, and will not be discussed further. X 1 *- GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD Si Type 3 is the problem type. The problem method thus becomes, according to Kilpatrick, a special case under the project method. The character and impor- tance of the problem method have been emphasized in the first part of the present chapter. The pupil's purpose in projects of Type 4 is to ob- tain skill or knowledge. These are objectives which have always been in the mind of the teacher. They have been sought through lessons, drills, and recitations, but too often the purpose was that of the teacher and not of the pupil. The project method does not dispense with textbooks, library references, drills, and recitations; it requires that these shall be engaged in, sometimes in modified form, as a result of the pupils' purpose to secure certain skill or knowledge which appears to them to be valuable, rather than to engage in the same activities as assigned and purposeless tasks. It is clear that in any practical use of the project method in general-science teaching, projects of Type 4 must occupy an important place alongside of those of Type 3. The value of the conception represented by Type 4 lies in its reminder that the problem method can- not displace drills, lessons, and recitations. Comparison of methods. It is clear that in science teaching only activities of the kinds indicated by the third and fourth types of projects can claim a leading part in the constitution of the courses. In any course in which the acquisition of knowledge is the principal aim, the fourth type would doubtless predominate, but in science the acquisition of the method of thought assumes such great importance that the problem takes first place. General science should be thought of as a series of THE TEACHING OP GENERAL SCIENCE problems dealing with the personal environment of the pupils, supplemented and extended by other methods of instruction. The problem thus receives first place as an organizing factor, though it may not have the largest place in space or time. The relation between the two types of instruction may be made more clear by illustration. A problem, or problems, regarding the effect of large bodies of water upon climate may be raised by the presence of the peach-growing region in Michigan, the grape belt in New York, the summer exodus to lake resorts, the contrast between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, or by any one of many other sets of facts. Let us suppose that the problem has actually come up in connection with the peach area of Michigan. It may be solved in so far as the influence of Lake Michigan upon the surrounding area is concerned by collection and comparison of data, and reasoning from them. Such an exercise constitutes a valuable experience in problem-solving or scientific thinking. The knowledge of the effect of Lake Michigan upon living conditions assists in understanding the social and civic conditions of the region and therefore has at least potential social- civic worth; it may have economic- vocational value if one is purposing to enter the business of fruit-raising; and to a person who spends his summer vacations away from home, it has avocational value. So far, the study is clearly within the limits of the problem type of project. However valuable the results of the problem solution detailed above may be, it would be regrettable to leave the topic without attempting to extend it somewhat . GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 83 farther, and to secure even broader values. After all, the solution extends no farther than the influence of Lake Michigan on the surrounding region. What about other bodies of water ? Time and data for similar investigation of other regions are lacking. Here recourse is had to the textbook and library in order to secure the desired information, and the recitation, better known as the class conference, serves to develop, complete, and fix the knowledge. If the individuals of the class have been brought to include the acquisition of this knowledge in their purpose, it is an example of the fourth type of project. The knowledge so secured is similar to that resulting from the problem-solving and has the same values, but in addition because of the greater breadth of the field covered, it extends to a much wider environ- ment, leads to broader generalizations, contributes in a larger degree to perspective, and therefore possesses greater individualistic value. It is clear that in practical general science, instruction will be dominated by the two types of activity classed by Kilpa trick under projects of Types 3 and 4, and that these activities, in which the problem should have the leading place, will determine the character of the course. Construction projects may be important aids, but are properly considered supplementary. Project method not new. None of these three types of activity are new. All have been commonly em- ployed by good teachers in something like the form here discussed, and it remains an open question whether the term "project" is a useful addition to educational terminology. At any rate, the discussion of the project method has been useful in that it has called attention to THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE these several types of activity and emphasized the impor- tance of causing the pupils to adopt the main purposes of the course as their own. The teacher's part. The success of the method out- lined, whether it be called the project method or not, depends almost wholly upon the teacher. The heart of the method lies in securing the wholehearted, purposeful, interest of the pupils. Sometimes this will be sponta- neous, growing out of either the out-of-school activities of the pupils or the intriguing character of the subject. Much more frequently interest must be aroused through adroit handling on the part of the teacher. Textbooks may help, but they cannot replace personality and skill. Projects in the textbooks. The direct assistance of textbooks in developing the purposeful attitude on the part of pupils is at present relatively small. It is indeed quite possible to use the printed page to develop great interest in constructional projects, as is shown by certain popular boys' magazines, but it is not practical to do so in a brief textbook, due to the limited number of indi- viduals to whom any one project may appeal and the consequently large number of projects which must be presented. Most authors of textbooks attempt noth- ing more elaborate than to list suggested projects with- out comment. The discussion of problems in the textbook offers peculiar difficulties. It is not at all difficult to present problems and to arouse interest in them, but if the discussion proceeds beyond that point, it will include the solution as well, and thus deprive the pupil of exactly that type of mental exercise which the problem was intended to promote. The textbook can and should GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 8 arouse interest in each new topic, but it can rarely present a clear-cut problem and leave it to the pupil to work out the solution. The teacher who would use the problem method must therefore assume the principal responsibility for developing the problem, assisted by the laboratory manual. The teacher should expect the textbook to arouse interest, to supply material that can be used in motivating the work, and to create an atmos- phere favorable to problem-solving. When it comes to presenting material suitable for the acquisition of knowledge, textbook-making is on firmer ground. That is what textbooks have always done. Unfortunately it is too often true that new topics are not so introduced as to create interest and a purpose to learn. In those cases the teacher will be opposed to the inertia set up by the book. It is quite possible to introduce each new topic in such manner that the work of the teacher will be greatly assisted, 1 and this is one of the criteria by which books should be judged. Some misconceptions. Some teachers and writers, carried away with enthusiasm for the new terminology, have attempted to organize all educational materials as projects. At the present stage of development there could be no greater mistake. It will be found that certain teachers can organize but a small part of their courses under the problem method or in the form of other projects; others, with greater skill, resourcefulness, or interest in the method, will so organize the larger part; but it is not to be supposed that the whole course will 1 For examples, see opening sections of the chapters in Jewett, The Next Generation. Ginn & Co. THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE be organized in this manner. 1 Indeed it is not yet clear that all of the materials of education ought to be brought under this procedure. 2 Practically, the attempt to do so results either in the omission of valuable materials which do not fit into the scheme, or in a forced and stilted attempt to make "projects" out of subject-matter that refuses to lend itself to such treatment. In either case it would be better to treat the materials by more conserv- ative and familiar methods. At the present stage of development of the technique of the project, any syllabus or textbook which attempts to organize general science exclusively on a project basis is bound to commit both errors. Another misconception that has made its appearance is that of designating the larger, more inclusive topics of a course by the name of projects. A topic may be a project, according to the definition we have accepted, if it is handled in the proper fashion, but mere size, or the name, does not make it so ; 3 the test lies in the purposeful character of the activity. A very concrete example of this misconception is afforded by textbooks in which the word "project" has been substituted for "chapter" in designating the major units of the book. Summary. That the three types of work classified by Kilpa trick as projects of Types i, 2, and 4 are essential parts of the general-science course will not be denied by anyone. It is equally clear that the work 'Kilpatrick, "Dangers and Difficulties of the Project Method," Teachers' College Record, XXII, 287. 'Bagley, "Dangers and Difficulties of the Project Method," Teachers' College Record, XXII, 292-93. 3 Kilpatrick, loc. cit., p. 286. GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 87 ought to be energized in some such manner as indicated by his emphasis upon purpose. Once these main prin- ciples are in mind, the exact terminology matters little; but whatever terms are used, it is important that they be used with a rather exact sense of their meaning and limits. The place of the laboratory. In the discussion throughout this chapter there has been little mention of laboratory work, and the place of such work in the scheme that has been outlined must now be considered. In the past it has been all too common to treat labora- tory work as something detached from the remainder of the course. In the best practice it has been closely correlated with the work based more directly on the textbook, but in far too many cases there has been little real connection. This lack of connection has been em- phasized by giving the laboratory work in a different room, with a different book, and in extreme cases with a different teacher, and so organized that it could be taken in a different semester. The laboratory work is in fact an essential, integral part of the problem method. As a means of securing this identity in the minds of both pupils and teachers, there is good psychology and pedagogy in the modern plan of providing combined laboratories and classrooms for the science departments. All the exercises of a class are then held in the same room and with conditions favorable for the closest pos- sible continuity. The primary place where laboratory work appears is in the problem method, where it is demanded at two points. The second step in thinking, according to Dewey's analysis, requires the collection of information. 88 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE It may occasionally occur that the necessary facts are well known to pupils and need only be recalled and set in order, but ordinarily additional observation of facts is necessary. This constitutes the observational type of laboratory exercise, but it should be noted that it is observation with a purpose. It is guided by the problem. The other point at which the problem method re- quires laboratory work is in the last step the verifica- tion. When an explanation or a generalization has been reached and tentatively accepted as a solution of the problem, the act of thought is completed only if the conclusion is subjected to some sort of test which will commonly, but not always, take the form of an experi- ment. Thus, the notion that the curvilinear path of winds is caused by the rotation of the earth may be tested in part by pouring water on a rotating globe, or the conclusion that water is excluded from an inverted glass by air may be tested by allowing the air to escape. There are other cases where the testing will not be experi- mental, but will take the form of mathematical analysis, or of library research. The reason for the existence of the laboratory as an instructional device rests mainly on these two types of exercises. Secondarily, it may be very useful for illustrative purposes to secure for the children sense impressions from contact with objects, as a place for executing constructional projects, and sometimes as a means of carrying out the search for information included in projects of Type 4. Laboratory exercises without problems. Two of the most common types of laboratory exercises in usual practice may now be evaluated. There is first the GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 89 "observational" exercise, so common in the biological sciences. The pupil is set to work to collect data such as would be of use primarily in the delimitation of a problem, and secondarily in the deductive testing of inferences, but no problem is set and therefore neither definition of problem, inductive inference, nor deductive testing can take place. The other type, more common in the physical sciences, announces the principle, and invites the pupil to secure experimentally the data for verification. In one case there is an elaboration of the first steps in thinking, as an end in itself, but in the absence of a problem there is no productive thinking; in the other case the exercise is set in the form of an experimental testing of inferences, but with the correct- ness of the inferences granted in advance, there is little stimulus to thought. One is the negation of thinking; the other, deductive thinking with the conclusion known in advance, since an incorrect suggestion or hypothesis would of course not be introduced. Both represent useful types of procedure, but need to be connected with problem solution in order that thinking may be complete and that discipline in the scientific method may result. Insufficient provision for laboratory work. The necessity of laboratory work in all science courses, and peculiarly in general science, is generally conceded. At the same time it is very common to find that in practice the laboratory work is slighted or is even omitted entirely. Thus one hears of many schools in which general science is taught without laboratory work or with a limited number of "experiments," ten or fifteen for instance, in the whole year or half-year of work. Such conditions are not limited to general go THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE science, and there is no reason to think that the practice is any more common in general-science classes than in other science classes. No comprehensive statistical study of laboratory work in high-school science has yet been made. The reason for lack of laboratory work as usually given is the absence of equipment. It is certainly too true that such a condition often exists. In a recent year, in Kansas, out of 137 schools giving courses in botany, 21 reported no investment in equipment, and of 241 schools giving agriculture, 58 reported no investment for the purpose. These conditions were found in schools of all sizes excepting among the ten schools having more than four hundred pupils. Further, in schools with less than four hundred pupils and reporting equipment, the aver- age value of the equipment in each subject was from fifty cents to one dollar per pupil on the basis of total enrolment. In the larger schools the average invest- ment per pupil was less. Simple equipment. It appears, therefore, to be true that in many schools no generous provision for the teach- ing of the sciences has been made. On the other hand, it is equally true that while a well-equipped laboratory is very desirable, it is not a prerequisite for laboratory work. Soil may be calcined for estimation of organic material in a ten-cent sheet-iron frying-pan just as well as in a special soil pan or a crucible. The pump in the school well, supplemented by a discarded pump head and cylinder from a neighboring farm is rather better as a subject of study than a laboratory model. The resources of any other laboratories in the school and of the homes of the pupils are sufficient to provide a GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 91 fairly satisfactory laboratory course in general science. Such a course may readily be the prelude to recognition by the school authorities of the importance of more complete equipment. Laboratory directions. It is regrettable that in a few cases textbooks for first-year science distinctly call attention to the possibility of using the book without any laboratory work or with a minimum. The opposite extreme is represented by laboratory manuals unaccom- panied by any text. Most authors have combined the two by providing a textbook and a laboratory manual closely correlated with it. The laboratory exercises are sometimes printed in the body of the text, sometimes appended to the chapters, and sometimes bound sepa- rately. The distribution of exercises throughout the text is rather erratic in some cases. It is a general prac- tice to provide rather more laboratory work to accompany the first part of the work than the latter part, since at the last much use can be made of the earlier experiences. One book, however, goes so far as to offer 85 per cent of all its laboratory exercises in the first half of the book. The character of the laboratory exercises shows a variation equally great. In one case there are appended at the end of each chapter a large number of practical questions based upon the preceding text, about one- fourth of which requires experiment for solution; in other cases the exercises are of formal type, taken with little change from the special sciences; and in other cases they represent true problems, adapted for training in reflective thinking. Laboratory problems and procedure. The criteria for judging the merits of the several types of laboratory 92 TEE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE work offered must be found in the particular demands of the local situation and in the principles of method that are adopted. Clearly, the general character of the course is dependent upon the presence and character of the laboratory work more than upon any other single factor. If it is decided to adhere to the principles of method advocated in the present chapter, laboratory work is a fundamental consideration, and that laboratory work must be of the type that starts with a problematical situation and attempts to find the solution. In general the laboratory work must precede discussion of the textbook and furnish the concrete basis for such discus- sion, though there is no reason why the introductory materials in each chapter should not be used as a means of creating interest and stimulating the presentation of problems. The problems may not always be experi- mental, requiring the facilities of the laboratory. In many parts of the course, particularly in those from which it is proposed to realize social and civic values, it may be desirable to study data regarding local health conditions, to collect such data by questioning the local authorities, to secure by means of field trips the facts upon which to base judgment as to the care taken of the public water and milk supply or the efficacy of the measures used for the disposal of garbage and sewage, or to estimate the sanitary conditions of food markets. In any case, the laboratory work should be looked upon as much more fundamental than the discussion based upon the text and should supply the outline of the course. GENERAL SCIENCE AND METHOD 93 REFERENCES Bagley, W. C. The Educative Process. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1906. Branom, M. E. The Project Method in Education. Boston: Badger, 1919. Briggs, Thomas E. "General Science in Secondary Schools," Teachers' College Record, XVII (1916), 19-30. Brownell, Herbert. "The Role of Laboratory Work in General Science and the Teacher Training It Involves," General Science Quarterly, IV, 389-99. Charters, W. W. Methods of Teaching. Chicago: Row, Peterson & Co., 1909. Dewey, John. How We Think. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1910. Downing, E. R. Supervised Study and the Science Laboratory, School Review, XXV, 646-51. Hall, E. H. , and Smith, A. The Teaching of Physics and Chemistry. New York: Longmans, 1904. Herrold, Rose E. "Bibliography of the Project Method," General Science Quarterly, IV, 283-91. Kilpatrick, W. H. "The Project Method," Teachers' College Record, XIX, 3io-35- Kilpatrick, W. H., and Others. "Dangers and Difficulties of the Project Method and How to Overcome Them A Sym- posium," Teachers' College Record, XXII, 283-321. Lloyd, F. E., and Bigelow, M. A. The Teaching of Biology. New York : Longmans , 1914. Mann, C. R. The Teaching of Physics. New York: The Mac- millan Co., 1912. Orr, W., Whitman, W. G., and Kelly, H. C. General Science, Teacher's Manual. Boston: Massachusetts Board of Edu- cation, Bull. No. 2, 1917. Also, General Science Quarterly, I, 37-46, 88-101, 180-88, 228-32. Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. . "Problem-solving or Practice in Thinking," Elementary School Journal, XXI, 16-25, 98-111, 174-88, 257-72. 94 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Snedden, David. "The Project as a Teaching Unit," School and Society, IV, 419-23. Stevenson, J. A. "The Project in Science Teaching," School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 50-53. Stockton, J. E. Project Work in Education. Boston: Houghton Miffiin Co., 1920. Twiss, G. R. Principles of Science Teaching. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1917. CHAPTER VII THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE GENERAL- SCIENCE COURSE Selection. The problem of the selection of materials, or subject-matter, in general science is one of elimination. The field is so extensive that by no possibility can all the available materials be utilized. In general, the subject-matter selected must be within the intellectual grasp of the pupils, possess interest for them, have local significance, be suitable for use as the basis of scientific thinking and investigation, and fall within the scope of the type of organization adopted. The larger units of instruction and their sequence must be decided upon by the teacher. The main outlines of the develop- ment within these units must also be determined by the same authority, and if skilfully outlined, the pupils will follow the development naturally and with little guidance. At the same time it is not expected that adherence to the prearranged plan will be very rigid. Interests and problems newly discovered by the pupils are valid reasons for divergence at any point, but the teacher must be able to discern when the bypath has become unprofitable or has led so far afield that the results fail to contribute to the main problem of the unit. The bypath excursions must not be allowed to dissipate interest in the original problem or to prevent following it through to the end. Quantitative studies of subject-matter. No one as yet has published a quantitative study of the actual 95 96 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE materials of general science based upon a classification of the nature of the problems used. Such a study of the TABLE V 1. Rowell, Introduction to Science 1911 2. Clark, General Science 1912 3. Caldwell and Eikenberry, Elements of General Science . 1914 4. Snyder, First Year Science 1914 5. Hessler, First Year Science 1914 6. Clark, Introduction to Science 1915 7. Pease, A First Year Course in General Science . . . 1915 8. Barber, First Course in General Science 1916 9. Brownell, Laboratory Lessons in General Science . . 1916 10. Elhuff, General Science 1916 11. Weckel and Thalman, A Year in Science . . . . 1916 12. Clute, Experimental General Science 1917 13. Fall, Science for Beginners 1917 14. Lake, General Science 1917 15. Coulter, Elementary Science 1917 16. Hodgdon, Elementary General Science 1918 17. Smith and Jewett, Introduction to the Study of General Science 1918 18. Brownell, Textbook in General Science 1918 19. Caldwell and Eikenberry, Elements of General Science (rev. ed.) 1918 20. Van Buskirk and Smith, Science of Everyday Life . . 1919 21. Trafton, Science of Home and Community .... 1919 22. Snyder, Everyday Science 1919 23. Washburne, Common Science 1920 24. Hodgdon, Junior General Science 1920 25. Hunter and Whitman, Civic Science in the Home . . 1921 26. Bedford, General Science 1921 27. Barber, Science for Beginners 1921 materials actually used by teachers of general science would be very instructive. THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE 97 In the absence of satisfactory information regarding the actual courses, the most available source of informa- tion is found in the textbooks. There are a large number of these, as is shown by the list in Table V. Several analyses of textbooks have been made with the intention of showing the quantitative relation of the subject-mat- ter of general science to the special science and related subjects which are offered in the high school. Analyses of textbooks. Quantitative analyses of a number of textbooks of general science have been made by different reviewers. One such has reached the writer in manuscript and is unpublished; one is by McMahon, but published by Lewis; 1 another by Webb; 2 and the other by Daggett. 3 A much more extended and careful review, including almost all of the textbooks of general science extant was published very recently by Webb. 4 The results included in the several early reviews are tabulated together for comparative pur- poses in Table VI. Webb's later work is reserved for separate treatment in a later section. The classification of topics adopted by the several reviewers is not the same and it was therefore necessary to rearrange the data somewhat in order to make them comparable. The topic groups which it was necessary to adopt for comparative purposes are as follows : astron- 1 Lewis, "General Science in Iowa High Schools," School Review, XXIV, 426-35. * Webb, A Quantitative Analysis of General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 534-45. 3 Daggett, What Text Shall I Use in General Science? "North Carolina High School Bulletin," No. 8, pp. 122-24. * Webb, General Science Instruction in the Grades. Peabody College for Teachers, " Contributions to Education," No. 4. 98 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE omy, physiology, biology, commercial geography, chem- istry, domestic science, meteorology, physiography, and physics. TABLE VI Book Number Astronomy < Agriculture ^ Physiology < Biology Commercial geography Chemistry < Domestic science Meteorology Physiography Physics Total pages. . . ru a b c d e f g x.o 2.O O.O 6-3 5-2 25.2 ed phy 12.6 5-9 14.0 46.5 28.2 27.0 2.8 3-o 4.2 4-2 5-3 5-2 6.0 0.7 O.O 19.0 13-5 13.7 11.4 II. I 6.7 "3 II. 17.0 16.0 22.6 29.1 302 9-S 6-5 2.6 6.0 3-o 4.8 siology 4-1 3-7 8-5 17-5 9.6 15-2 O.O O.O O.O 2.O 0.0 Trace 0.0 0-3 O.O 22. 9.0 10.8 IO.2 44-5 43-0 46.0 52.0 5-o 19.0 12.3 14.0 460 0.0 O.O O.O 2.O 2.O 26.O in biol 26.3 26.3 12.2 37-o 12.2 12.3 O.O O.O 15-0 18.0 12.4 12.5 0.0 10.7 7-5 5-5 5-5 5-2 5-7 3-0 4.0 4-5 5-3 35-0 32.0 30.0 29.0 460 0.0 0.0 O.O I.O O.O IO.O ogy ii. S i-7 12.0 5-5 13-5 13-8 O.O O.O 3-5 12.4 8-5 3-8 21. 2O. I 24.O 5-5 O.O 3.6 2.1 9-S O.O 12.2 II. I 34-0 53-o 28.7 38.0 467 10.9 IO.O M.. lw.. ru 7-3 4-1 0.0 0.0 0.9 9-5 [M.. U... M.. W.. D... U... M.. W.. D "5 Includ 10.5 23-9 12.2 15.9 4-9 10.9 6.4 7.2 5.6 ru O.O O.O IO.O 8.5 ,M.. TT O.O M.: W.. D 12.6 9 .8 7.2 5-4 U 0.0 W.. D 7.8 23-4 30.0 TT 5-2 4.5 M.. W.. D 7.0 7.5 22.5 23.0 ru 28.0 28.3 M.. W.. D 6.1 14-5 3-i 4.0 r u M.. W.. D 36.9 28.8 13.3 25.2 293 23-4 25-0 584 295 In Table VI all figures represent percentage excepting the figures for total pages. The responsibility for the THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE 99 figures in each horizontal line is represented at the left of each line by the letters U (unpublished), M (McMahon), W (Webb), and D (Daggett). The most important discrepancies in the classes result from the omission of agriculture by Webb and Daggett, and of domestic science by McMahon. Physi- ology is included in biology by McMahon but not by the others. Interpretation of analyses. Examination of the fore- going table discloses important differences between the reviewers. A part of this is due to the difference in the categories used by the reviewers. The absence of the headings for agriculture and domestic science would of necessity throw materials properly belonging here into other parts of the tabulation, principally to botany and physiology, or to biology. Even if these applied-science categories are retained there is always the question as to whether a given item is properly referred to applied science or to the most nearly related pure science. For instance, is the matter of nitrogen- fixing bacteria to be classified in agriculture, in botany, or in chemistry? Several reviewers appear to have habitually referred doubtful cases to pure science. Diff- erences of opinion of this kind would be particularly great in the case of those books in which the science is very intimately related to the practical affairs of life. This is illustrated by at least two of the books analyzed above. On the other hand, the analyses of three of the books show very considerable agreement among the four reviewers, in one case the figures on a particular science frequently agreeing within i per cent. This indicates that the materials in these books are handled in such 100 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE manner that the reviewers had little difficulty in identi- fying them in the special-science classification and this manner of treatment is often correlated with the deduc- tive order of presentation to which reference was made in the preceding chapter. Further examination shows such books to be written in the spirit of special science rather than in the spirit of general science. They do not commonly lend themselves well to the project and problem method. Further analysis of textbooks. A later and much more extensive study of textbooks by Webb 1 was made with the intention of establishing standards of common practice. It includes eighteen books. The materials in these books were classified from the viewpoint of the several school sciences (omitting agriculture and com- mercial geography). The percentage composition of each textbook is shown in Table VII, which is assembled from Webb's data. 2 The names of textbooks are not given, but they are designated arbitrarily by the letters from A to R. Examination of this table shows a rather remarkable agreement among the authors in regard to the quanti- tative importance of the several sciences, which is quite in opposition to the conditions asserted by opponents of the general-science movement. Webb calculates the ranking of the sciences in each of the eighteen books, and finds the median rank for each with the result shown in Table VIII. 1 Webb, General Science Instruction in the Grades. Peabody College for Teachers, "Contributions to Education," No. 4. a /ta*.,pp. 14, 15. THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE IOI t^OO O 00 MM M M C4 j- O t^ t^ O OvO co -^-vO ON 4 1 d ^f MM CO W M \O M OOO 102 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE It will be noted that physics stands first, physiog- raphy and biology are tied for second place, and physi- ology and chemistry are tied for fourth place. If the members of each tie are considered to be interchangeable, they may be put in the following order: (i) physics, TABLE VIII Median Rank 1. Physics i 2. Physiography 3 3. Biology 3 4. Physiology 4.5 5. Chemistry 4.5 6. Household art 6 7. Astronomy 7 TABLE IX Pages 1. Physics 2,212.5 2. Physiography 1,264.5 3. Biology 908.0 4. Physiology 885.5 5. Chemistry 632.0 6. Household art 343 . 5 7. Astronomy 271.5 8. Miscellaneous 120.5 (2) physiography and biology, (3) physiology and chem- istry, (4) other subjects. Examination of the data in Table VII shows that this order is actually followed by four of the texts and that many others exhibit but slight variations from it. The total number of pages given to a science may also be used to establish its importance in the estimation of the authors of the books. On this basis the subjects THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE 103 rank as shown in Table IX. The figures are for the total pages in the eighteen books. The subject-matter of general science. It is quite possible that general science might exhibit great uni- formity as to the amount of attention given to particular sciences, and at the same time show great diversity in the selection of the actual topics to be treated. It has been freely charged by its opponents that such is the case; and certainly the breadth of the field and the freedom from established precedents would favor such a condition. The agreement among authors in the choice of topics has been investigated by determining the number of textbooks in which a given topic occurs. Table X is adapted from such an investigation 1 and includes a list of all "unit groups" found in ten or more books. The number of books in which each topic occurs is shown also. Discussion of data. The 79 groups of topics included in the table represent the common elements in the present practice. They include probably more than 50 per cent of the space in all the books. The agreement is much greater than one would have supposed possible in a new subject, and certainly it is as great as would ordinarily be found in other science subjects. 2 In the interests of development it is to be hoped that efforts will not be made to secure greater uniformity in the near future, since freedom of experimentation is essential 1 Webb, General Science Instruction in the Grades, pp. 10-13. 2 Cf. Frank, "Data on Textbooks in the Biological Sciences Used in the Middle West," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 354~57; and Downing, "Zoology Textbooks for Secondary Schools," School Review, XXIV, 375-85. 104 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE TABLE X Number of Books Transfer of heat 18 Thermometers 18 Combustion 18 Air pressure and measurement. Barometers . 17 Humidity. Precipitation of all kinds . . . 17 Winds and storms, Causes of 17 Soil formation. Weathering. Types . 16 Weather forecasts and weather maps . . .16 Photosynthesis 16 Yeasts and molds 16 Composition of the atmosphere 16 Energy, Types of. Momentum, inertia, etc. . 15 Three molecular states of matter . . . . 15 Quantity of heat. Specific heat .... 15 Flowers. Structure and function .... 15 Bacteria and contagious diseases 15 Pure water supply, how obtained . . . . 15 Composition of foods. Carbohydrates, pro- teins, fats 15 Levers 14 Ground water, caves, springs 14 Roots. Structure and function. Osmosis . 14 Bacteria. Fixation of nitrogen 14 Oxygen. Occurrence, preparation, etc. . . 14 Carbon dioxide, preparation, etc 14 Magnets, Permanent 13 Specific gravity, buoyancy, etc 13 Pumps, and their uses 13 Reflection of light. Mirrors 13 The inclined plane 13 Mass, or weight of matter. Gravity ... 13 The spectrum. Rainbows, etc 13 Erosion, deposition, rivers, lakes .... 13 Irrigation, drainage 13 Coal, occurrence and formation 13 Seeds, dispersal, germination . v .... . . 13 THE GENERALSCIENCE COURSE 105 TABLE X Continued Number of Books Insect carriers of disease 13 Respiration 13 Composition of water. Electrolysis. ... 13 The solar system, sun and planets .... 13 The seasons 13 Electromagnets and applications 12 Boiling and freezing points 12 Ice-making, Principle of 12 Refraction of light. Lenses, etc 12 Electrical cells 12 Stems, trees as types 12 Digestion 12 The eye 12 Narcotics and stimulants '. 12 Elements, mixtures, and compounds . . 12 Hydrogen, preparation and properties ... 12 Hardness of water 12 Dynamos and motors n The steam engine n Expansion from heat 1 1 Nature of light .11 Climate, conditions and causes n Physical and chemical changes n Nitrogen, preparation and properties . . . u Fuel value of foods. Dietary n Artificial lighting, Principles of 10 Sound 10 Water- and wind-power 10 Electric heating and lighting 10 Liquid pressure, Laws of. Hydraulics . . . 10 Evaporation. Vapor pressure 10 Solutions. Physical properties of water . . 10 Pulleys 10 Rocks, Igneous and sedimentary. . . . . 10 Thunderstorms. Lightning 10 Bacteria, Structure of (Not hygiene) . . . 10 io6 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE TABLE X - Continued Number of Books Leaves. Structure of 10 Transpiration 10 The circulation 10 Acids, bases, and salts 10 Solution and crystallization 10 Phosphorous. Matches 10 The stars and constellations 10 The earth as a planet 10 to progress. At the same time, the list of topics given may be suggestive to teachers who wish to know how their own courses compare with general practice. In Webb's table there are given 127 unit groups of topics which do not appear in as many as 10 textbooks. The frequency with which each group occurs is as follows : Unit Groups No. Books Each of Topics Appeared in 10 9 9 8 9 7 16 6 12 5 16 4 17 3 19 2 19 i Standardization. Some college-accrediting author- ities have been inclined to object to accrediting general science for college admission purposes on the basis that the course was not yet sufficiently uniform to make such action practicable. It would appear from the data presented that a very considerable degree of uniformity THE GENERAL-SCIENCE COURSE 107 has already been achieved, and that objections to general science on that basis will no longer hold. If the experi- mental attitude toward the teaching of general science is to be maintained, it is essential that considerable divergence from average practice shall be encouraged. One of the most important future developments, which would be hindered by too close standardization is the experimental determination of the suitability of particular topics to given years of the course (see chap. v). Two important investigations of the adaptation of subject-matter to children at various stages of their development have been made, 1 and these should be con- sulted by those teachers who are interested in this type of experiment. Classroom practice. The data presented must be accepted with the reservation that they represent the judgment of the authors of books, but not necessarily the judgment or practice of teachers. The actual practice of the teachers of general science doubtless differs in some degree from that suggested by the pre- ceding analysis of textbooks, both by exclusion and by addition. Many courses are but a half-year in length. Most of the books include more than a half-year's work if proper laboratory work is given, and some of them are rather too large for a year's work. In any case the teacher necessarily excludes some of the subject-matter presented. Other teachers have developed particular topics which they have found valuable for first-year work and which they therefore include in their own J Finley, "Some Studies of Children's Interests in Science Materials," School Science and Mathematics, XXI, 1-24; and Webb, loc. cit., Part II. io8 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE courses, or they may operate entirely without text- books. An analysis and summary of the actual classroom practice of the general-science teachers of the country or of a considerable number of the courses as actually administered in the schools, would be of great impor- tance. Unfortunately the number of these that have been published, up to the present, is entirely too small to make possible a significant summary. REFERENCES Barber, F. D. "Fundamental Considerations in the Reorganiza- tion of High-School Science," School Review, XXIV (1916), 724-34. Also, General Science Quarterly, I (1917), 102-11. Carpenter, H. A. " General Science in the Junior High School at Rochester, N.Y." Part II, "Courses of Study," General Science Quarterly, II (1917), 255-66. Daggett, P. H. What Text Shall I Use in General Science? "North Carolina High School Bulletin," No. 8 (1917), pp. 122-24. Downing, E. R. "Zoology Textbooks for Secondary Schools," School Review, XXIV, 375-85. Finley, C. W. "Some Studies of Children's Interests in Science Materials," School Science and Mathematics, XXI (1921), 1-24. Frank, O. D. "Data on Textbooks in the Biological Sciences Used in the Middle West," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 354-57- Lewis, E. E. "General Science in Iowa High Schools," School Review, XXIV, 426-35. Trafton, G. H. "Comparison of Textbooks in General Science," General Science Quarterly, IV, 450-54. Webb, Hanor A. "A Quantitative Analysis of General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII (1917), 534-45. . General Science Instruction in the Grades. Peabody College for Teachers, "Contributions to Education," No. 4, 1921. CHAPTER VIII PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION Interest in the problem. No movement in science education in late years has been the occasion of more discussion than the general-science movement. No phase of the movement has been the center of so vig- orous and frequent attack as the matter of the organiza- tion of general science. Unfortunately, much of the discussion on both sides has not been upon a scientific plane. There has been a tendency to substitute adjec- tives for facts, with the inevitable loss of lucidity and finality. A not uncommon method of attack has been to designate general science as a hodge-podge, a hash, or an omelet, and to compare its organization, to its disadvantage, with the so-called logical organization of the special sciences. Logical organization. The argument based upon the logical organization of the sciences is common to most opponents of general science, but the exact character of the organization designated as logical is assumed rather than defined. The discussion appears to imply for each of the sciences the existence of an arrangement of facts that is at once logical and inherent in the science. This organization is advocated as essential for purposes of efficient instruction. That the facts of each of the sciences can be organ- ized, and in fact are organized, in a systematic and logical fashion does not, of course, admit of dispute, but the advocacy of this organization for purposes of 109 no THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE instruction involves the further assumption that it is not only logical from the 'point of view of the science, but that it is also the most successful from the educa- tional or instructional point of view. It is clear that instead of one logical organization of a given group of facts, there may be in fact an indefi- nite number of logical arrangements, depending upon differences in the purposes for which the facts are employed. Thus each new writer in a given field of science may organize well-known facts in a wholly new way and lead to new principles. Textbooks as illustrations of organizations. The great variety of perfectly logical organizations of prac- tically identical subject-matter is nowhere better illus- trated than in current textbooks of science. 1 For instance, examination was made of a group of four textbooks in physiography, all used to a considerable extent within the last decade and all written by recog- nized authorities. In three of these the arrangement of the grand divisions of the subject assumes two different types of sequence, while the fourth is so widely variant as to defy comparison. In detail they differ yet more widely. Textbooks in other sciences illustrate the variation in organization equally well. One series of texts in botany formerly opened with germination of seeds; in the latest edition it begins with a general view of plants and follows with a discussion of the work of roots. An- other botanical author who formerly began the study with leaves now begins with the thallophytes. A later 1 Barber, F. D., "The Present Status and Real Meaning of General Science," School Review, XXIII, 9-24 (see pp. 20, 21). PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION ill textbook than any of these has quite discarded the common organization into chapters on root, stem, leaf, and flower, the corresponding materials being organ- ized under physiological heads. Conclusion. The obvious conclusion is that there exists no single and accepted logical organization of any science, but instead, an indefinite number of such organizations present themselves. The interpretation of the logic of the situation depends upon the viewpoint * and purpose of the individual. It is perfectly logical for general science to propose other types of organiza- tion of the facts of science, based upon its viewpoint and purposes. Logical organization and instruction. If we wish to examine the assumption that the logical organization represents the best arrangement for purposes of instruc- tion, we cannot restrict attention to a single example. Rather, it is necessary to discover the common elements which occur throughout examples of logical organiza- tions, so far as these are of importance in instruction. As pointed out above, there is no close agreement with respect to the order and arrangement of the scientific facts presented. There does appear to be, however, a very considerable and significant similarity in the method of approach to the whole subject or to each major divi- sion of the subject and, consequently, in the method of treatment. Examination of any considerable number of text- books in science, or indeed in other subjects as well, will show that the larger number of them exhibit the following characteristics. In the first chapter the subject is defined, analyzed into its elements, and each of these 112 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE elements defined in turn. These elements constitute the subjects of discussion in succeeding chapters, each being approached in the same manner by definitions and statements of general principles, and completed by discussion of the implications of these principles and their practical applications. This type of organization and method has been much used. In the author's boy- hood writing was taught in this spirit. The letters had all been analyzed into their elements by the author of the "system" used. The first duty of the teacher was to define by word and illustration straight lines and curves, long loops and short loops, erect and inverted forms, angular connections and rounded ones, and the pupils practiced these dismembered, or disembodied, forms until judged sufficiently expert to be allowed to combine them into letters and finally into words. Some- times the different "strokes" were given numbers and the teacher dictated words by calling in order the num- bers representing the elements of letters, a process that sometimes produced such unexpected results that it was on the whole a very interesting and exciting exer- cise. In arithmetic, too, one had first to learn the defini- tion of a number, a unit, a denominate number, an integer, and a fraction, before he might put two and two together to make four. If we agree that we under- stand "logical" to connote something that has been the subject of reflection and which has finally been elaborated into a complete and coherent system, these subjects were undoubtedly logically organized. Logical organization in science textbooks. The same general type of organization may be found in current high-school textbooks of science. The physiography PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 113 textbooks referred to above agree in that all begin with statements intended to define the earth as a member of the solar system and with definitions of geography and its subdivisions or aspects. None starts with facts of observation and concrete notions. A chapter on the composition of the earth first defines elements, minerals, and rocks, and each one of the com- mon rocks and minerals. A chapter on lakes opens with a definition of a lake and a discussion of notions of distribution, depth, and prerequisite conditions of lakes in general, but not with any particular lake or problem. Textbooks in physiology commonly define physiology, anatomy, hygiene, cells, tissues, organs, and the chemical elements before proceeding to any concrete study of the problems which have real meaning for the pupil. Indeed, several chapters may be passed before one finds anything upon foods, muscular develop- ment, bodily hygiene, or other topics which belong to the really vital part of the course. A very excellent and popular textbook of physics omits from its intro- ductory chapter the usual definition of matter and its properties, but includes one on measurements, prelimi- nary to the real work of the course. Logical organization an end rather than a means. It will be conceded that the systems presented in the manner described may be, and usually are, coherent and relatively complete systems. They are, therefore, logical. The fundamental fallacy in proposing them as educational syllabi is that they represent the mature and relatively finished product of the adult mind rather than a process of arriving at maturity. They are the result of reflective thinking rather than the starting- 114 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE point for it. The concepts are not the vague concepts of casual and random experience, to be refined, tested, and developed by experiment and reflection ; they are the finished product of experiment and reflection. Those who propose this type of organization for instructional purposes neglect the principle that true education in science is a process which takes the pupil where it finds him, a being with vague environmental conceptions and undefined problems, and leads him to define and solve his problems by means of reflective thinking, finally arriving by this means at clear and logical conceptions. Psychological organization. An organization of sub- ject-matter which is based upon the learning-process is often distinguished as psychological, in contrast with the logical types discussed above. Thus psychological organization describes a sequence of items correspond- ing as closely as may be with the order which the mind follows in seeking the solution of a problem. The logi- cal organization represents the systematic arrangement of the facts that result from a mature examination of the matter after the solution has been achieved. Edu- cationally the psychological organization lends itself readily to the encouragement of original thinking, while the logical organization, if used for instruction, tends to force the mind to follow certain formal steps which are believed to represent an understanding of the subject, resulting in the memorizing of definitions, principles, and applications with little real thought about them. 1 Gen- eral science employs the psychological organization as a means of instruction, but holds to the logical organiza- tion as an end. 1 Dewey, How We Think, p. 60. PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 115 Organization of the environment. That the pupil ought eventually to obtain a grasp of the logical systems of the several sciences is not doubted by anyone, but the real task is not that of organizing for the pupils one or two sciences. The task is to assist them to organize their entire material world in a logical fashion. The goal cannot be reached in a single school term. Both general science and special science must co-operate within their several provinces to enable the student to organize his immediate environment in such fashion that he can find his way about among the ordinary phenomena of nature with some ease and certainty and to lay a broad foundation for more complete organization of the whole field. It is the part of the special sciences to carry on the task in more detail and with greater complete- ness; each in its particular field. It may be allowable to suggest here that it appears most important for the success of the special sciences that they should learn to appreciate psychological organization for teaching as thoroughly as they now appreciate the logical organization of the product of teaching. It is even more important that general science should free itself from adherence to the so-called logical organization in detail as well as it has in general features. A basis for organization. The basis for a psycho- logical organization of science for the beginner is not to be found in the world of the teacher or of the scientist but in the world of the pupil. Take the case of a boy who has lately secured a motorcycle. Some day it refuses to run. Where does the difficulty lie? What is it that really makes a cycle run ? The combustion of Ii6 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE gasoline in the engine. Then is the engine getting a sufficient supply of gasoline of proper grade? Is the battery exhausted ? Is there trouble with the coil ? Is the spark plug injured ? Is there mechanical trouble ? overheating ? failure of the oiling system ? lack of com- pression ? All these problems are eagerly pursued, and neither the fact that some of them are physical and others are chemical, nor the further fact they do not appear in an order conformable to any logical scientific system make any difficulty for him. They all arise perfectly logically out of the problem at hand, and his procedure is probably also perfectly logical. The par- ticular problem of the motorcycle would not be used, in most situations, as a part of a general-science course, since few members of a class may be supposed to possess a motorcycle and the problem is not one that arises in the experience of most individuals, but it affords a detached illustration of organization. The various items are unified by the facts of experience. They fall into a sequence such that one leads on to the next in an orderly and necessary way. After all, the argument for any organization is the fact that it serves our purpose. The sequential organization of the boy with a motor- cycle serves his purpose perfectly; likewise, the more philosophical organization of the scientist serves his particular purpose. Both are justified. Psychological organization in general science. Since the subject-matter of general science is taken from surrounding phenomena, and since these phenomena are studied in their entirety regardless of whether this study leads into one science or another, it is obviously impos- sible to organize it in the categories of any of the special PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 117 sciences or of several of them combined. If the " logical ' ' organization has been properly interpreted above, it is not only impossible but also undesirable to use it in general science. The organization within a unit of instruction in general science is, typically, of a sequential nature, as in the case of the boy and the motorcycle. Each topic may give rise to the following topic or at least serve as an introduction to it, the whole leading the pupil on by easy stages with no sensible break, from item to item, until a final conclusion has been reached. The attainment of an approximation to this ideal organi- zation cannot be achieved except by actual experiment with the subject-matter and classes. Books and syllabi that represent theoretical notions uncorrected by actual high-school practice have very small value from the point of view of organization. Even under the best conditions it is not to be expected that an absolutely ideal organization will be attained. The other scientific subjects, as well as the humanities, have been in the schools for many years and yet there is no universally accepted arrangement of materials. Like- wise in general science, no one arrangement of materials is entirely satisfactory in all its parts even to its author, nor does it appeal equally to all people. Most construc- tive students of general science at least give their adherence to the principle of sequential organization, though they may work it out differently in detail. This constitutes as close agreement as we should be able to find in other science courses. As to the relations of units of instruction to each other, as chapters in a textbook, the same general prin- ciple may be applied, but with some reservations. It Ii8 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE is clear that there must be some relative lack of continuity between chapters in a book or between the subjects represented by the larger divisions of a syllabus. Otherwise there is no significance in the division into chapters or sections. At the same time it is important that in most cases one unit should lead up to the follow- ing one in such manner that the passage is readily made and the general unity of the course maintained. Noth- ing could be more confusing to the pupil than to attempt to retain in mind the subject-matter of thirty or forty unrelated units. It is essential for purposes of mental organization and easy recall that the course should be divided into units comparable to chapters in a book, but it is equally essential that these -units should main- tain an obvious serial relationship to each other. Conclusion. In general, the organization of general science exhibits the following characteristics: (a) each principal unit of instruction begins with a practical situation; (b) coherence and continuity within the unit are secured by passing naturally from one to another of the minor problems as they arise; (c) the same sequen- tial arrangement is adhered to in relating the units to each other; (d) no attempt is made to secure a repre- sentation of all fields of science. Such an arrangement, which aims to follow the natural movement of the mind of the learner in the arrangement of subject-matter is termed psychological, in contrast with that type of organization which attempts to arrange the subject- matter in a manner to correspond with the analysis of a science as a completed product of the mature mind. Evidence from practice. There is considerable evi- dence that the sort of organization advocated is really PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 119 psychological, and this evidence is of three kinds. In the first place, it is the very general experience of teachers of general science that pupils are greatly interested in the course. 1 One principal of a school where a successful course was developed, says that his school had about a thousand pupils in general science in a period of three years, and that "it is a positive fact that no one of the whole thousand asked to be excused from taking the work or wanted to drop it, or said he could not understand it, or did not like it. This statement I cannot make regarding any other high-school study." This indicates that the pupils are able to " follow the argument." In the second place, that the interest is active rather than passive, is indicated by the number and kind of questions asked. It is the general experience that no other class in science asks more than a fraction as many questions as does a general-science class, and that most of these are ques- tions that represent thinking in the asking and that demand it in the reply. This is taken to indicate that the organization is such that it stimulates the pupils to think. That is, the organization is psychologically usable. In the third place, it is found that a notable number of questions arise which are identical with the problems outlined in the syllabus for later consideration. This shows that such an organization is natural not only in the sense that pupils are able to follow it without mental confusion, but that at least the quicker ones out- run the movement of the class, but continue to think along the predetermined line. 1 Gould, "Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 298-303. 120 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Upon the basis of such evidence as has been secured, it appears that sequential organization offers no dif- ficulty to the pupil. On the contrary, he finds it interesting, understandable, and quite in line with the movement of his mind in the learning-process. The organization of general science must not be judged by the completeness of its analysis and treatment of the sciences as a finished product, but rather by the ease, naturalness, and logical quality of the movement of the mind through the sequence of topics of which it is composed. REFERENCES Barber, F. D. "The Present Status and Real Meaning of General Science," School Review, XXIII, 9-24; School Science and Mathematics, XV, 218-24, 302-7. . "Fundamental Considerations in the Reorganization of High-School Science," School Review, XXIV, 724-34; General Science Quarterly p , I, 102-11. Charters, W. W. Methods oj Teaching. Chicago: Row, Peterson & Co., 1912. Dewey, John. How We Think. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1910. Gould, J. C. " Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII (1917), 298-303. Judd, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. Watson, C. H. "A Plan for Teaching the 'Principle of Work,' According to the Psychological Order," School Science and Mathematics, XXI, 428-36. CHAPTER DC EXAMPLES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF GENERAL SCIENCE Aims and organization. When we come to a con- sideration of actual practices as shown in books and published syllabi, we discover considerable divergence of both aim and organization. This divergence may be indicated to some degree by the following statements by authors and publishers, taken in most cases from prefaces. "A real introduction to the formal sciences. It is built up logically by a study of matter and energy, and the effects of familiar forces upon them." "The unity which is essential to any worthy study of science is here secured by means of the logical connec- tions between topics which compose the course Within the major topics the subtopics are arranged so that there is constant coherence thus giving progression in the nature of the work." "It meets .... fundamental requirements in pro- viding a ground work in physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, physiology and physical geography." "The train of thought, as it were, runs upon, and is guided by two parallel rails, the one physical, Energy, the other sociological, Human Welfare" The book "deals with the earth and the sun in their relations to man." A work of the character of the present discussion is obviously not the place to present a critical review of the 122 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE textbooks of general science. The reader is invited to consult the books themselves for information of this character. It does seem, however, to be worth while to attempt an anonymous classification of courses in general science on the basis of organization. Types of courses. It is found that existing courses going under the name of general science fall into four classes. a) Courses denominated general science but having both subject-matter and organization taken from a single science. These courses are actually special-science courses, though often of a rather elementary type. They are not numerous and tend to be supplanted by other types. b) Courses organized about a single science but including considerable contributing-material from other sciences. This contributing-material consists princi- pally of those items from other sciences which experience has shown to have an important preparatory value, as in teaching the facts about the peculiar behavior of water in freezing, as a preparation for considering the disintegrating effect of frost action upon rocks. The general material may constitute an introduction to the course as a whole, or it may be closely associated with the particular topics for which it has value. The former method is illustrated by the Eclectic Physical Geography, published in 1888, which devotes about 8 per cent of its space to a purely physical and chemical introduction to geography. In courses of this sort the organization is that of the predominating science, and is usually, therefore, of the type designated as "logical." The method and spirit are usually that of special science. EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATION 123 Certain examples might be cited in which the intercalated general material does not have even a preparatory value, and it is obviously dragged in under the misapprehension that a special course thereby becomes general. c) A year's work in science may be organized as two independent parts, one containing physical subject- matter and the other biological. In some cases there is little correlation between the two parts, and the separa- tion may be further emphasized by having the two parts of the course taught by different teachers; in other cases one teacher may handle the entire course, but each science is restricted to a certain part of the school year. Published courses of this type are commonly charac- terized by chapters each of which consists of subject- matter from a single science only, organized in the " logical" manner, and presented with the spirit and method of special science, but with a few chapters presented from the point of view of civic or economic value. The chapters related to a single science are in the main grouped together but without any formal division between them being emphasized. In fact there is often some effort to provide a natural transition from one chapter to another. Courses with such an organization are general in the sense that several sciences are included within the work of one year; they are special from the point of view that they actually constitute several successive short courses in particular sciences, sometimes as unrelated as if they occurred in successive years of the course. They realize the preparatory value in that they bring into the first year much material that may contribute to the successful pursuit of later science study. Indeed the preparatory 124 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE value appears to be the chief objective. There is, however, a very real danger that since these courses take a great deal of subject-matter from certain special sciences, and handle it exactly as it is handled in the special sciences, and with the same "logical" point of view, the pupils will feel that they have so nearly covered the ground of the advanced course that it will be merely a repetition and therefore a waste of time. In such cases general science would serve as a substitute for more advanced work rather than as an introduction to it. d)- Into the fourth and last group fall those courses which have been organized about some unifying idea found in the environment of the pupils. In possibly every case this idea is the notion that after all the object of science instruction is so to relate the pupil to his environment that he shall be able to adjust himself to it most readily and therefore live efficiently, rationally, and appreciatively. A course which thus brings together materials from various fields of experience and combines them into a single coherent course with a central organiz- ing principle may be properly called a synthetic course. Organizing principles in synthetic courses. The basis of organization in synthetic courses offers consider- able variety, depending upon the aspects of the environ- ment which each author has sought to emphasize. They may be roughly grouped into three classes. i. Some courses are organized in such manner that the health and welfare of the individual are the central features, and all parts of the course are designed to lead up to this central idea. Naturally, these courses resemble in some degree the traditional physiology courses of the high school and tend to approximate to EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATION 125 Type b) as described in the preceding section. They may be designated as the individualistic type of course. 2. A second group of courses emphasizes the study of home, school, and community, and this may be called the social-civic organization. Such an organizing prin- ciple necessarily brings into a course a great deal of interesting and important material, and courses of this type are likely to be successful. At the same time it must be recognized that certain topics which are more directly connected with other interests will probably be omitted or introduced in rather strained relationships. It should be observed also that children in the adolescent period are precisely at the stage of develop- ment when the early centralization of their interests in the home and the immediate community is being replaced by interests in a much broader environment. General science should give opportunity for the development of these broader interests and therefore can ill afford to set for itself any narrow limits. 3. The third type of organization is similar to the second in that it takes up the phenomena of the social- civic environment, but it does not confine itself to these limits. It selects its units from any part of the environ- ment that may appear to demand treatment. Personal and public hygiene, sanitation, community activities, home interests, vocations, recreations, and purely intel- lectual interests are alike available. Such courses are usually organized about a small number of larger units suggested directly by the environment, and these serve to give it coherence and continuity of the sort previously described. This may be called the general environ- mental organization. 126 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Standardization of organization. It is clear that the synthetic type of course is coming rapidly into favor to the exclusion of the other types. This is to be expected, since it is so much more closely in accord with the ideals of general science than are the other types of courses. As to the organization within the synthetic course, the social-civic organization and the general environ- mental organization are most in favor at the present time. One student of general science has attempted to determine the norm of present practice with regard to both subject-matter and organization by an analytical study of textbooks. 1 Fourteen books were submitted to analysis as to selection of subject-matter with results similar to those already reported (p. 104), and upon the basis of this analysis an attempt was made to construct an outline of organization representing present average practice. The result is shown, somewhat abbreviated, in Table XI. The outline represents a course that is of the synthetic type, with a general environmental organization. It agrees very closely with an organiza- tion of materials that has been used almost from the beginning of the general-science movement. An example. As a means of illustrating further the organization of a general-science course of the general environmental type, there is herewith presented a somewhat more complete outline of the general features of the course as carried on by the writer. This is not presented as the only possible organization, but merely as an organization that has worked, both in his own 1 Weckel, "Are Any Principles of Organization of General Science Evidenced by the Present Textbooks in the Subject ?" School Science and Mathematics, XXII, 44-55; also General Science Quarterly, VI, 386-95. EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATION 127 TABLE XI I. ATMOSPHERE Physical properties and mechanics of gases Chemical composition, molecular theory, gases of the air, oxidation Atmospheric moisture Weather Respiration in plants and animals (frequently included under IV) II. WATER Physical properties Chemical composition Mechanics of liquids Distillation Evaporation Water supply Sewage disposal House-piping Hot water-heating (often included under VI) m. EARTH Its relation to the universe Soil IV. LIFE ON THE EARTH Plants Animals Bacteria, yeasts, and molds Hygiene and sanitation V. FOODS AND NUTRITION Foods Digestion Diet Adulteration VI. MACHINES, WORK, ENERGY Work of running water Work of simple machines Measurement and kinds of energy Heat Light Sound Electricity and magnetism 128 THE TEACHING OP GENERAL SCIENCE hands and in the hands of others, but nevertheless a working hypothesis subject to amendment at every point. It has been found convenient and workable to adopt a grouping of units based upon the chief factors of environment, viz., the atmosphere, water, the earth's crust, living things, energy, and the place of the earth in the universe. Conceivably, it is not impossible to begin a course with any one of these great divisions. At the same time the first division in the order in which they are given above, the atmosphere, is peculiarly adapted to secure interest and raise problemsyrom the first day of the course. Most boys and girls feel that they know considerable about water or the soil beneath their feet, or about plants and animals. They are rather blase about these facts. If they are to be awakened from the condition of mental inertness into which they have fallen with regard to their surroundings, it is necessary that they shall be confronted at the start with something which, while intimately connected with their everyday existence, presents puzzling and unusual features. It has been pointed out by others that problems are not so readily recognized in familiar phenomena as in less familiar ones, since the former are taken for granted. 1 Most people will wish to ask more questions about wireless telegraphy and aeroplanes than about telephones and automobiles. Experiments of a striking, mysteri- ous, or dramatic character are desirable under many conditions as a means of destroying lethargy and of awakening interest. Now the air is in one sense a very familiar substance, but it is at the same time a very mysterious one. Almost every child has at some time 1 Judd, Psychology of High School Subjects, pp. 331, 333. EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATION 129 speculated about its nature or accumulated a stock of poorly defined problems about it. Also, it lends itself to certain striking experiments, as the exclusion of water from space occupied by it, the weighing of air, and the various experiments with air pressure. The atmosphere is therefore chosen as the starting-point of the course. If the questions that arise are not answered offhand by the teacher, but are reserved for investigation when possible by the class, the rapidity with which problems accumulate is surprising. Study of air temperatures leads to questions about the seasons, and about the obvious connection between the atmosphere and the weather, to problems regarding the real nature of the air and its composition, and to discussion of the nature and importance of the dust of the atmosphere. Discussion of weather, humidity, and other topics gives rise to questions and problems about water, some of which must be deferred as not essential to progress with the main problems. When return to these is made, one is immediately launched upon a series of problems arising in connection with water vapor and ice, cooling by evaporation, pumps, buoyancy, water supply, sewage, and the general climatic and geographic importance of water. The work that may be done by running water introduces first to the study of work and energy, and secondly to the origin of soils, their transportation and loss. The study of energy is taken up not technically but as an answer to the question as to how man calls the forces of nature to his assistance in getting his work done. Mention of the sun as the source of terrestrial energy leads to questions regarding our neighbors in 130 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE space, backed up by the usual eager interest of children in the heavenly bodies. The study of the earth's crust is purposely restricted, so far as practicable, to the superficial part the soil which has significance to the pupils. Such matters as the structure and character of rocks; development of rivers, valleys and mountains, volcanoes and earth- quakes, are designedly omitted here for later consider- ation in physiography, excepting in so far as they are forced into consideration by the pupils. Lastly, if the life of the soil is introduced, the way is open to consider agricultural crops, foods and nutrition, and other problems regarding plants and animals, as well as man himself. It is not insisted that the scheme or organization outlined above is a perfect and final one. Neither is it believed to be the only possible type. What is insisted upon is the necessity of adopting an organization that is derived from the pupils and the world they live in, that recognizes their expanding interests, that provides problems for their thinking and gives opportunity for problems of their own, and that pursues a line of thought which is natural and possible for the pupils. A synthetic course with such organiza- tion, both psychological and logical in its adaptation to purposes of elementary instruction, will go far toward solving some of the vexing problems of science teaching. Criticism and reform. In earlier chapters some criti- cisms of science teaching were made and some roads to reform were pointed out. Let us now examine the synthetic general-science courses from the viewpoint of these chapters. EXAMPLES OF ORGANIZATION 131 a) Only one or two sciences are ordinarily represented in the high-school training of any one individual, result- ing in narrow and one-sided development. General science gives him a broad foundation upon which to base later school work or to interpret life. b) There is almost total lack of correlation between the several sciences. General science supplies this lack in considerable part by sending the pupil to any advanced-science work with a usable knowledge of the elements of the other sciences. c) Much science work is not suited to modern needs, since it is remote from practical, everyday situations. General science finds its subject-matter and its starting- point in everyday experiences. d) The organization of the science curriculum is illogical and unscientific. ./General science offers a starting-point and an experimental ground for preparing a psychological organization of the curriculum in which it is the first term. e) The method of science is too often the method of verification of simple assertion. The method of general science is the method of investigation. /) General science attempts to drive directly at the most clearly defined objectives of science teaching, emphasizing the education of the pupil rather than instruction in subject-matter. REFERENCES Barber, F. D. "Fundamental Considerations in the Reorganiza- tion of High School Science," School Review, XXIV (1916), 724-34; also, General Science Quarterly, I (1917), 102-11. Carpenter, H. A. "General Science in the Junior High School at Rochester, N.Y." Part II, "Courses of Study," General Science Quarterly, II (1917), 255-66. 132 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Judd, C. H. Psychology of High School Subjects. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. Parker, S. C. Methods of Teaching in High Schools. Boston: Ginn & Co., 1915. Twiss, G. R. The Principles of Science Teaching. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1917. Weckel, Ada. "Are Any Principles of Organization of General Science Evidenced by the Present Textbooks in the Subject ?" School Science and Mathematics, XXII (1922), 44-51; also General Science^ VI (1922), 386-95. CHAPTER X THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER Discussion of any innovation in the curriculum immediately and properly raises questions regarding the relation of the innovation, not only to the pupils, but also to the teachers. This is peculiarly true in science, due to the fact, pointed out in a previous chapter, that the teachers of science are prepared as teachers in special departments of science rather than in science as a whole, and are therefore often not in position to respond easily to new demands. The phase of the problem that has been most empha- sized, probably, in the discussion relative to teachers of general science, has to do with preparation in subject- matter. It has been felt by many that the breadth of preparation demanded by general science, if not impos- sible, is at least incompatible with the demand made for intensive training and with the general demands of the high school. It will be in place to consider the scientific and professional qualifications expected in general - science teachers, in comparison with the qualifications which the situation in the average high school demands of the teachers of other sciences; to discuss somewhat critically the opportunities for teacher-preparation now existing; and to point out the probable sources of supply of general-science teachers. The general-science teacher. It will be granted that if general science demands a wholly unique type of teacher, a type that does not exist in numbers at present 133 134 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE in the school, and a type which is not usable in other science departments, the subject must be restricted to those schools where a special teacher of general science can be employed. On the other hand, if the qualifications for general-science teaching approximate those which are generally desirable in science teachers, it is equally obvious that no serious difficulty should be encountered in securing teachers who are as well prepared for teaching general science as for teaching science under any other form of administration. Orr and his colleagues have lately attempted to state the qualifications of the general-science teacher. They postulate the following characteristics as highly desirable. 1. Knowledge. The teacher should be widely versed in science, but his knowledge need not be exhaustive in any particular field. 2. Mental quality. A desirable equipment is an alert, active interest in the natural environment, coupled with the habit of keen observation. 3. Executive quality. The purpose and capacity to organize and use material gained from the environment are important requisites. 4. Sympathy with pupils. The teacher of general science should know the pupils' interests, and understand their limitations, capacities, needs, and desires. 5. Independence. The teacher should be free from bondage to conventional and traditional classroom methods. The teacher should understand that many results in general science cannot be measured by formulae or by definite standards. Such independence calls for courage. THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 135 6. Resourcefulness. The general-science teacher must be able to work with limited equipment, and be capable of devising ways and means of gaining material. 1 It will be noted immediately that the qualifications given in this summary might very well be mentioned as desirable qualifications for any science teacher, though exception might.be taken to the general applicability of the first mentioned. Doubtless not all the desirable qualifications of a general-science teacher are here included, since the list is intended only to emphasize those qualities which should be most prominent. How- ever, it may serve very well as a starting-point for our discussion. Breadth of knowledge. The first point mentioned breadth of knowledge would commonly be seized upon as differentiating rather sharply between general-science teachers and other science teachers. It is conceded that the scientific preparation of the general-science teacher should be broad. If he is to be at home in all phases of general-science instruction, it must include earth science, botany, zoology, physics, chemistry, human physiology and hygiene, and some acquaintance with the industries which rest upon science, as agriculture and manufactur- ing. That is, the teacher of general science should have secured an elementary knowledge of the field of science. This very broad preparation demanded of the general- science teacher is often compared with the much nar- rower, and correspondingly more intensive, training commonly offered to prospective students by college departments. *Orr, Whitman, and Kelly, General Science, Teachers' Manual, pp. 40, 41. 136 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE The typical high school. It is not a question of what the institutions training science teachers may offer or recommend, but of what the high-school situation demands. The essentials of preparation for teaching general science should be compared with the essentials for teaching the conventional courses in science in the average or typical high school. It was pointed out in a preceding chapter (chap, ii) that so far as data are available, it appears that the most common type of American high school is a small school. In one state, data regarding which are given, about 80 per cent of the pupils are in schools having less than four hundred pupils and about 70 per cent in schools with less than two hun- dred pupils. If we assume that, in the latter schools at least, not more than one science teacher can be employed in each school, we have the striking conclusion that in this state 90 per cent of the schools, containing 70 per cent of the pupils, and about 80 per cent of the science teachers of the state, are schools in which one person usually gives all the instruction offered in science. The number of courses in science offered in these schools varies from none at all in certain of them, to a practically complete list in others, the latter possiblity being facilitated in some cases by a rotating arrangement through which the sciences are made to alternate in successive years. We must therefore consider as typical high schools those smaller schools in which there is but one teacher of science, but which may offer any or all of the sciences. It is perfectly clear that the prospective teacher who wishes to be prepared to instruct in a typical high school must prepare to give instruction in all the sciences. THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 137 If, then, we compare the demands of general science with the demands of conventional science in the typical high school, we find that so far as breadth of training in the subject-matter of science is concerned, they are identical. Both require an acquaintance with the whole field of science. Special science teachers. Instead of general science making the most extensive demand for preparation, it is in fact less exacting than the conventional sciences since the science teacher must in any case be prepared to provide a full year's instruction in any one or all of the sciences while but a fraction of this subject-matter could possibly find place in a general-science course. It may safely be assumed that any teacher who actually possesses the knowledge of science essential to the con- duct of such courses in science as ordinarily fall to the part of a high-school science teacher, should have no difficulty with the subject-matter of general science. Even in those few schools where division of labor in the science departments is possible, great breadth of training remains desirable. The interrelations of the sciences are so many and so intimate that it is extremely doubtful if we ought to regard anyone as equipped to instruct in any one science who does not have a working knowledge of the elements of the other sciences. While general science may demand a broader knowl- edge of the subject-matter than the teacher-training agencies have sometimes given, it demands no more than is indicated by the exigencies of the high schools as essential for typical preparation for teaching high-school science. It merely reinforces other influences leading toward a broader preparation for science teaching. 138 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Professional attitude. From the point of view of method and general professional attitude, a new subject, as general science, is necessarily somewhat more exacting than an older and more or less standardized subject. In all of the older sciences certain arrangements of material and types of procedure, often embodied in textbooks and laboratory manuals, have come to be rather generally accepted and may therefore be followed with the assurance which accompanies the knowledge that one is following the conventional practice. There is, of course, great opportunity and need in these subjects for originality, but the mediocre teacher can rather easily follow some established course on conventionally safe lines with a minimum of constructive thinking. The teacher who is satisfied with things as they are can get on in the established subjects, not brilliantly, perhaps, but at least acceptably. In general science, on the other hand, the essence of the movement is dissatisfaction with past conditions, and the teacher is compelled to venture into new fields. Recognition of the faults of the present system of science teaching and a desire to rectify them, originality and initiative in developing new procedures, and an experimental attitude regarding teaching as well as science, are prominent characteristics of the successful general-science teacher. If it be objected that these are among the character- istics of successful teachers of any science, it must be said that this is only another fact indicating that general science does not demand a unique type of equipment in teachers, but rather it merely emphasizes the importance of the type of preparation that is really most desirable THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 139 for all science teachers. Teachers who do not possess breadth, initiative, or an experimental attitude toward their work can scarcely be expected to succeed in general science, but it is interesting to note that contact with general science often uncovers these very qualities in individuals in whom such qualities were not before recognized. 1 General science thus exerts a very stimu- lating influence with respect to all the science work of a school. Summary. If we choose to go back to Orr's state- ment, we may summarize as follows, adding two points to those mentioned by Orr: (i) knowledge of the field of science in its elements, and any further special knowl- edge in one or more departments as may be practicable; (2) interest in and understanding of environment, and a keen appreciation of scientific problems in the environ- ment of the pupils; (3) capacity to organize materials in such manner as to appeal to the pupils' interests, ration- alize their environment, and instruct them in the prin- ciples of science; (4) an understanding of the needs, capacities, and limitations of pupils, no less keen than the understanding of the importance of the science; (5) inde- pendence of traditional types of organization and method of procedure, when these interfere with securing the greatest value for the pupils; (6) resourcefulness, not only in adapting material equipment to the purpose of instruc- tion, but equally in bringing the common phenomena of nature and industry in to educative use; (7) recognition of the inadequacies of present science instruction, and dis- satisfaction with results formerly achieved; (8) a vision 1 Gould, " Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 298-303. 140 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE of possibilities to be attained by application of the experimental method to the development of education, as well as of science. The teacher who does not see anything in general science, or in any other science course, will commonly get nothing out of it. After all, expressed in their simplest form, the qualifications of a general-science teacher are these: a broad knowledge of science, a proper professional attitude, and the ability to teach children. These are precisely the qualities needed by the teacher of science anywhere. The teacher-training institution. There is in our American system of schools no type of institution for the training of high-school teachers. Actually most high-school teachers are graduates of colleges of liberal arts, and conversely, more of the graduates of these colleges go into teaching than into any other one pro- fession or employment. But the college of liberal arts is organized primarily for the purpose of affording a liberal education, in contrast with a professional or vocational education, and is commonly not willing to be considered a training-school for teachers. The college departments are each organized with reference to an increasing special- ization of work leading up to research. The college com- monly includes a department of education, or is associated with a school of education, and in later years both state certificating regulations and the rules of the college have in many cases required the prospective teacher to take a certain number of courses in education, but this work is postponed to the junior or the senior year. There is commonly no machinery whereby anyone who is interested primarily in the problems of secondary THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 141 education is brought into advisory relation with the students before the junior year at the earliest. The regulations of the college commonly require what amounts to a major subject and a related minor. Advice is secured principally from someone in the major depart- ment, and the department of education comes in contact with the student, as indicated above, only when the general character of his preparation is rather definitely fixed. It is particularly difficult to persuade the student to take up needed elementary courses in neglected departments during the later years of his course, and the objection on the part of the student is increased if, as is often the case, freshman courses carried by an advanced student, yield only partial credit. The student's course. The result of this system is that a candidate for a teacher's diploma intending to teach science has commonly devoted from one-sixth to one-third of his college course to a single department, and a considerably larger part of it to a group of closely related departments, but other sciences may be omitted entirely. Thus at one university with which the writer happens to be familiar and which is probably typical in this particular, the student must have one-sixth of his work in his major department, and may have one-third in this department. He must have one-fourth, and may have one-half of his entire college course in the group of departments closely related to the major department, as in the natural-science group or the physical-science group. There is no method by which one who majors in one science group is compelled to take any work in the other science groups. 142 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE The school of education. Of later years, and especi- ally in the larger institutions, there has been a develop- ment of the departments of education into separate administrative entities, known commonly as schools of education or colleges of education. These schools of education are in some cases provided with large independ- ent faculties instructing in a variety of subjects, while in other cases the " school " is little else than a depart- ment of education under another name. The first concern of a school of education is instruc- tion and research in general education, and its instruc- tional activities in this direction result in the training of educational experts and administrators, as principals and superintendents. The students who are in training for work of this sort are actually majoring in education, whatever may be their technical classification on the records of the institution. Few of them become science teachers. Departmental courses. A second concern of the school of education is the training of departmental teachers for the high school, including of course the training of science teachers. The school of education does not, however, commonly offer instruction in the subject-matter of physics, botany, chemistry, agricul- ture, and so forth. In most cases it accepts the subject- matter instruction of the college of liberal arts and adds to that the professional instruction deemed necessary. If these students are registered in the school of education and expect to receive their degrees from it, the school is in a position to prescribe the selection of subject-matter courses, but not to determine the content of these courses. If, as is very commonly the case, the prospective science THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 143 teacher is taking his degree from the college of liberal arts, the school of education comes into contact with the teacher so late in his course that it can do little else than determine the character of his strictly educational courses and it therefore functions merely as a department of education. There is thus little opportunity for the school of education to directly influence the prospective science teacher in favor of the broad training in science that is so eminently desirable. Professional courses. In addition to the general courses in education and educational psychology, the school of education commonly offers courses in the special technique of teaching the several subjects, as courses in the teaching of botany, of chemistry, or of geography. Unfortunately few institutions may be found which offer courses in the teaching of science. The instructors in these departmental courses are in some cases members of the faculty of the school of education with their primary interest in the educational problems of their departments. In many other cases they are members of the corresponding department of the college of liberal arts, attached to the education faculty for this purpose only. This naturally tends to accentuate the narrowly departmental view in the preparation of teachers, particularly since sometimes the person giving the instruction has had no high- school teaching experience. 1 There are schools of education in which most of the preparation of departmental high-school teachers is directly under the control of the school, even to the 1 Swift, "College Courses in Methods of Teaching High School Subjects," School and Society, VI, 691-99. 144 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE extent of offering subject-matter courses when deemed necessary, but these are exceptions rather than the rule. It is obvious that although schools of education and departments of education commonly favor a broad training for science teachers, the actual machinery that has been set up for the purpose of administering such training tends strongly toward narrowly departmental ideals. The normal schools. Of the normal schools, it must be said that they have not in the past furnished any large proportion of the science teachers. One reason for this undoubtedly is that they themselves have been pretty largely of secondary-school grade. Also, their energies have been devoted to filling the demand for primary teachers, almost to the exclusion of anything else. In the case of those normal schools which have developed into institutions of collegiate grade, there appears to be no reason why they should not send into the high schools very successful teachers, as many of them have done. Under the best conditions they have the advantage over the college that all their work in subject-matter as well as in education is done with the professional point of view. They have the advantage over the school of education in that both education and subject-matter courses are under one administration and may be organized harmoniously for a single purpose. The normal schools are under the disadvantage that the point of view in most of their work is and must necessa- rily remain that of the elementary school. The number of courses, particularly subject-matter courses, looking toward secondary-school practice must remain limited. It is doubtless safe to assume that the normal schools, THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 145 while continuing to supply some teachers of science and of general science, particularly to the junior high schools, will not supplant other instrumentalities for the training of high-school science teachers. On the basis of present indications it must be assumed that in the future as in the past the preparation of high- school science teachers will be largely in the hands of the colleges and universities, though it may be supposed that the schools of education will exert an increasing influence in shaping the curricula. Teaching and research. If science teachers are to secure in the college of liberal arts the greater breadth of training that is obviously demanded by the situation, it seems clear that this college must make certain administrative changes. It will be necessary to recog- nize the fact that secondary-school teaching and research are two distinct occupations, and that the demands of training for the two are often in opposition. Research demands that the student cultivate an ever narrowing field, advancing to the limits of the known in some selected region and finally pushing out into the unknown. Secondary teaching requires that the teacher shall have a usable knowledge about a great many things, but it does not require the knowledge of the specialist in any one of the departments of science. The research man must be a specialist first and foremost, and if he can also have general knowledge of all related departments, it is a distinct advantage; the teacher must have knowledge of many departments, and if he can also be a specialist in one department it should be an advantage. Breadth and specialization. In view of the present breadth of the field of science, the demand for breadth 146 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE and the demand for specialization are bound to stand in some degree of opposition to each other. It is always difficult and usually impossible to realize both in the same person. Thus it follows that it is highly desirable that we should as early as practicable differentiate between the student who is to search for new knowledge as an investigator, and the student who is to diffuse knowledge throughout the citizenship of the country as a teacher, in order that we may set each upon his proper way. If both types of individuals are to be trained in the same school, and in the same departments, it is important that this school should explicitly recognize the double function, and that it should set up machinery adapted to differentiate the two groups and properly to direct both of them. Also, it must so organize its courses that it is as easily possible to meet the needs for breadth on the one hand as it is to secure specialization on the other. The alternative would be found in transferring the control of the preparation of teachers entirely to a special school organized for the purpose, as the school of education, with liberty for this school to set up its own scientific departments. The administrative problem. In view of the fact that the preparation of science teachers has commonly been less broad than the needs of the situation demand, the question of where general-science teachers maybe found is a very real problem to administrative officers, for it must be admitted in the first place that most institutions are not specifically turning out general-science teachers. When the movement toward general science originates with the teachers it may be supposed that they have THE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 147 at least the point of view and attitude toward their work that conduces to success in general science, and it is natural to expect that the work will be carried forward by those who have initiated it. When, in any school system, it is the superintendent or the principal who initiates the movement, the teacher must be sought for, either within the organization or without. Since few teachers have been trained specifically for general science, it becomes a pertinent question as to the most promising sources for the supply of general-science teachers to meet the increasing demand. Teachers in service. The first source to be men- tioned, and possibly the most important, is that of teachers in service. We have been training teachers of science in rather narrow fields, we have been using them rather broadly, and it happens that there is in the schools a very considerable number who, either from accident of training or by force of experience, have ac- quired a broad knowledge of science. Among these may be found teachers who have successfully taught a wide range of science, who have learned to relate education to life, who recognize the need for improvement and reorganization in science teaching, and who have an experimental attitude toward their professional work. Naturally the number of these is likely to be somewhat greater in the medium-sized schools, where there is a single science teacher in the school, than in either the larger schools where specialization tends to destroy perspective, or in the very small schools where low salaries and a multitude of non-science subjects added to the work of the hapless science teacher discourage anything beyond routine. 148 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE A considerable number of the science teachers with the broader perspective have already interested them- selves in general science to the extent of reading the literature of the subject as opportunity offers, and some of them have secured inspiration and point of view by enrolment in one of the many courses on the teaching of general science which have been offered at a number of colleges and universities. These courses have most com- monly been offered in the summer sessions in connection with schools of education or departments of education, and have been administered from the professional point of view. Thanks to all of these conditions, the number of experienced teachers who may be considered to be pre- pared to teach general-science courses at least as well as other science courses are taught, is not inconsiderable, and the number of those with actual teaching-experience in the subject is rapidly increasing. The universities. Among teachers who are in prep- aration it is less easy to find promising candidates for general-science positions, due to the conditions discussed in the preceding sections. Naturally, the several science departments are principally engaged in training students in the general direction of specialists, and while many of these students are admirably fitted for the depart- mental work of large high schools, they are not commonly qualified to teach general science. However, a number of schools and departments of education are taking up the training of teachers of general science, offering special courses on the subject; and other institutions are pre- paring to do so. One is inclined to believe that the training of general-science teachers, and possibly of teachers of science for small high schools, will soon be TEE GENERAL-SCIENCE TEACHER 149 one of the recognized activities of schools of education. Certain normal schools are doing the same type of work very acceptably. The small colleges. In the small colleges the oppor- tunity for specializations is commonly somewhat limited by the smaller number of courses and instructors in any one department. This operates practically to encourage greater breadth of election in these institutions than in the universities. If attention is given to educational problems, the better small colleges should supply many capable teachers of general science, as they are now supplying many excellent science teachers to the high school. Former general-science pupils. An interesting fea- ture of the teacher situation at the present time results from the fact that for the first time considerable numbers of students are in college who had general science as first- year pupils in high school. Some of these are avowedly making preparation to become teachers of general science. We have then for the first time appreciable numbers of prospective teachers who have themselves studied general science and who may be expected to shape their college courses with a better knowledge of the situation than has characteristically been the case in the past. From among these should come excellent future teachers of general science. REFERENCES Brown, J. F. "The Training of Teachers for Secondary Schools." New York: The Macmillan Co., 1911. Committee of Seventeen, Report of, on the "Professional Prepara- tion of High-School Teachers," Proceedings of the National Education Association, 1907, pp. 521-668. 150 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Coulter, J. G. "The Training of Elementary Science Teachers," School Review, XXIV, 26-36. Ganong, W. F. "Reflections, upon Botanical Education in America," Science, XXXI, 321-24. Gould, J. G. " Some Personal Experiences with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 298-303. Orr, W., Whitman, W. G., and Kelly, H. C. General Science, Teachers' Manual. Boston: Massachusetts Board of Educa- tion, Bull. No. 2, 1917; General Science Quarterly, I, 37-46, 88-101, 180-88, 228-32. Robison, C. H. "Training of Science Teachers," Proceedings of National Education Association, LIV (1916), 734-3 5- Swift, F. H. "College Courses in Methods of Teaching Higti School Subjects," School and Society, VI, 691-99. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL SCIENCE The periodical literature on general science is so widely scattered that it has seemed worth while to attempt to compile a bibliography of the subject. This bibliography is intended to serve as an index to papers appearing up to the end of 1921. A part of it was published in General Science Quarterly and criticism was invited. Such corrections as were suggested have been incorporated and it is believed that the bibliography is now practically complete. References to books are not included but many of these are cited in the lists of references appended to the chapters. BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, I. M. "Some Experiments in High-School Instruction," School Review, XXII, 26-44. Atwood, W. W. "The First-Year General Science Course in High School," School Review, XIX, 119-23. Austin, R. O. "The Need and Scope of a First Year General Science Course," School Science and Mathematics, XI, 217-24. Avery, Lewis B. "General Science in the High School," School Science and Mathematics, XI, 740-44. Bakke, H. Noel. "Scoring General Science Text and Course," General Science Quarterly, V, 61-65. Balliet, Thomas M. "Training of Science Teachers, " Proceedings of the National Education Association, LIV (1916), 735-37. Barber, Fred D. " The Physical Sciences in Our Public Schools, " Normal School Quarterly (Bloomington, Illinois), October, 1913, pp. 1-32. . "The Present Status and Real Meaning of General Science," School Review, XXIII, 9-24; School Science and Mathematics, XV, 218-24, 302-7. 15* 152 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Barber, Fred D. "Fundamental Considerations in the Reorgan- ization of High-School Science, "School Review, XXIV, 724-34; General Science Quarterly, I, 102-11. . "The Reorganization of High-School Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVIII, 247-62. Bayer, Elizabeth. "Some Suggestions for a General Science Course," School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 773-78. Beals, R. G. "General Science from a Principal's Viewpoint," School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 242-47. Berninghausen, F. W. " General Science for the First Year of the High School," General Science Quarterly, I, 162-66. Bigelow, M. A. " General Science, Nature-Study and Biology, " Nature Study Review, XI. 241-46. Bradbury, Robert H. "The Future of Chemistry in the High School," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 769-79; XVII, 25-31. Bray, W. J. "A Study of the First-Class High Schools of Missouri," Normal School Index (Kirksville), VI, 49 ff. . "A Study of Science Teaching in Missouri High Schools with Special Reference to General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XV, 685-90. Briggs, Thomas H. "General Science in Secondary Schools," Teachers' College Record, XVII, 10-30. Brown, Garfield A. "Possibilities of Home Work in General Science," General Science Quarterly, III, 319-30. Brownell, Herbert. "A Word of Warning in Connection with General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 127-29. "Some of the Pedagogy of General Science," General, Science Quarterly, I, 140-45. "Textbooks in General Science and the Use of Labora- tory Manuals for Teaching Projects," General Science Quar- terly, III, 40-44. . "The Role of Laboratory Work in General Science and the Teacher Training it Involves," General Science Quarterly, IV, 389-99- Buchholz, J. T. First- Year Science in the High School, " Normal, Echo (Arkansas State Normal School, Conway), n, 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY 153 Caldwell, O. W. "General Science or Special Science," School Review, XXIII, 134-35- . "Investigations Regarding General Science," High School Quarterly, January, 1916, pp. 94-101. . "An Interpretation of the New Point of View in Science Teaching," General Science Quarterly, I, 131-36. . "General Science as a College Entrance Subject," General Science Quarterly, IV, 46065. CaldweH, O. W., and Committee. "Report on a Four- Year High-School Science Course." Proceedings of the Central Association of Science and Mathematics Teachers, XIII, 21-23; republished, School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 166-68. . "Reorganization of Science in Secondary Schools," Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 26, 1920. Carpenter, Harry A. " General Science in the Junior High School at Rochester, N.Y." Part I, "Organization and Aims," General Science Quarterly, I, 46-53. . " General Science in the Junior High School at Rochester, N.Y." Part II, "Courses of Study," General Science Quarterly, II, 255-66. . "General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 214-22. Chandler, Elma. "Elementary Science in the High School," School Review, XVII, 89-96. Clark, Bertha M. "Humanism and Efficiency," Educational Review, May, 1914, pp. 486-98. . "Democracy Its Common Heritage and Its Common Obligations as Taught by General Science," General Science Quarterly, IV, 335~42. . "Aims and Purposes of General Science, " General Science Quarterly, IV, 291-95. Clark, Bertha M., and Committee. "General Science a Factor in Race Betterment," General Science Quarterly, V, 123-29. Clute, W. N. "Some Objections to Project Teaching," General Science Quarterly, II, 379-80. Collister, M. C. " The Pupil's Interest as a Foundation in Science Teaching," General Science Quarterly, V, 219-26. 154 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Cooper, H. C. "An Introductory Science Course for Secondary Schools, " School Review, IX, 440-45. Coulter, J. G. "An N.E.A. Report on High-School Science," School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 732-33. . "A Four- Years' Course in Science in High Schools," School and Society, I, 226-34. . "The Training of Elementary Science Teachers," School Review, XXIV, 26-36. . "Proposed Status of Science Instruction in the Junior- Senior High School Organization," Educational Administra- tion and Supervision, I, 639-45. . "The Organization of Elementary Science," School and Home Education, 1915, pp. 369-76. Coulter, J. M. "The Mission of Science in Education," School Review, XXIII, 1-8; School Science and Mathematics, XV, 93-100- . "Correlation of Science Studies in the Elementary Schools," School Review, IV, 65-69. Daggett, P. H. "What Text Shall I Use in General Science," North Carolina High School Bulletin, VIII, 122-24. Davison, H. F. "Home-made Apparatus," General Science Quarterly, I, 177-79- Dewey, John. "Methods in Science Teaching," General Science Quarterly, I, 3-9; also Proceedings of the National Education Association, 1916, pp. 729-34. Douglas, A. A., and Bakke, H. N. " General Science in the State of Washington, " School Science and Mathematics, XXI, 61-64. Downing, E. R. "The Scientific Trend in Secondary Schools," Science, XLI, 232-37. . "Nature-Study and High-School Science," School Review, XXIII, 272-74. . "Some Data Regarding the Teaching of Zoology in Secondary Schools," School Science and Mathematics, XV, 36-43. . "Supervised Study and the Science Laboratory," School Review, XXV, 646-51. . "Preparation of Teachers for Nature-Study and Elementary Agriculture by the Normal Schools," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 609-21. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1$5 Downing, E. R. "The Aims of Science Teaching and Changing Enrollment," General Science Quarterly, II, 251-53. Earley, A. "Some Problems of Elementary Science," General Science Quarterly, I, 172-77. Eikenberry, W. L. "The General Science Course in the Univer- sity High School," School Review, XX, 217-27. . "First- Year Science in Illinois High Schools," School Review, XXI, 542-48. . "Introduction to Agriculture," Proceedings of the High- School Conference of the Universities of Illinois, 1913, pp. 62-71. . "Some Facts about the General Science Situation," School Review, XXIII, 181-92. . "Further Discussion of General Science," School and Society, I, 417-20. Elhuff, Lewis. "Relation of General Science to Later Courses in Physics and Chemistry," General Science Quarterly, I, 17-22. Fairbanks, H. W. " Physical Geography versus General Science, " School Science and Mathematics, X, 761-72. Finley, C. W. "Some Studies of Children's Interests in Science Materials, " School Science and Mathematics, XXI, 1-24. Finley, C. W., and Glenn, E. R. "A General Science Demonstra- tion Desk with Filing System for Storing Apparatus," General Science Quarterly, V, 39-43. Gerry, H. Lester. "Natural Science in the Secondary School: A Digest of Recent Literature," General Science Quarterly, V, 1-15. Glenn, Earl R. "Physics in the Grades below the High School, " School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 666-73. . "General Science References for Pupil and Teacher," General Science Quarterly, III, 1-30. " General Science References, " General Science Quarterly, IV, 478-500. . "The Reorganization of Science in the Secondary Schools of Great Britain and America," General Science Quarterly, V, 65-69. Goddard, H. N. "General Science in the Junior High School," School Science and Mathematics, XXI, 52-60. Gordon, Neil E. "A Textbook for General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XX, 419-22. 156 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Gould, J. C. " Some Personal Experiences with General Science, " School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 298-303. Gray, J. C. "A General Science Course of Elementary Physics and Mathematics Combined," School Science and Mathe- matics, XII, 377-80. Greene, H. A. "The Status of the Sciences in North Central Schools in 1916," School Science and Mathematics, XVIII, 418-24. Greenlaw, Frank W. " Obstacles in the Path of General Science, " General Science Quarterly, I, 35-36. Grier, N. M. "Huxley and General Science, " School and Society, VI, 141-42. Haas, Celia F. "A Brief Outline of the Methods and Aims of Elementary Science as Taught in Atlantic City, N.J., High School," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 138-40. Hanna, J. C. " The Place of General Science in the High School, " School Science and Mathematics, XX, 516-26. Hartman, Carl. " Some Practical Suggestions about the Introduc- tion of General Science," Texas School Journal, XXXV, 21-23. . "The General Science Situation hi Texas," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 141-46. Hatch, K. L., and Committee. "Relation of General Science to Agricultural Instruction," General Science Quarterly, IV, 263-67. Heald, F. E. " General Science in the Agricultural High School, " General Science Quarterly, HI, 160-65. Herrold, Rose E. "Bibliography of the Project Method," General Science Quarterly, IV, 283-91. Hessler, J. C. "General Science in the First Year," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 407-11. . "How Can I Teach General Science?" School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 518-23. . "They Physical Sciences in High School and College," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 567-82. . "Contribution of the CoUege to High-School Science Teaching," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 511-15. BIBLIOGRAPHY 157 Hodgdon D. R. "The Psychological and Pedagogical Basis of General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 305-22; also, General Science Quarterly, III, 65-81. Hofe, George D. von. "General Science Is Project Science, " School Science and Mathematics, XV, 751-57. . "Giving the Project Method a Trial," School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 763-67. . "History of the General Science Movement," General Science Quarterly, I, 200-206. HoUiday, Carl. "The Use of the General in Education," School and Society, IV, 976-80. Hook, Flora E. "General Science in East Side High School, Newark, " School Science and Mathematics, XVI, 796-804. Horn, Ernest. "What Is a Project?" Elementary School Journal, XXI, 112-16. Houck, Helen P. "Laboratory Work in General Science," General Science Quarterly, VI, 292-95. Howe, C. M. "What Eighty Teachers Think as to the Aims and Subject Matter of General Science," General Science Quar- terly, II, 445-58. . Can and Should General Science Be Standardized?" School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 248-55. Hunter, G. W. "The Collecting Instinct," General Science Quarterly, III, 133-40. . "The Relation of General Science to Biological Science in the Secondary School," General Science Quarterly, IV, 381-89- Huntingdon, E. D. "Elementary Science or General Science," School Science and Mathematics, XVII, 47-52. Jessup, W. A., and Coffman, L. D. "North Central High Schools," Thirteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, pp. 73-115. Johnson, Jr., A. C. "Selection and Arrangement of Material in a General Science Course, " General Science Quarterly, I, 83-88. Jordan, D. S. "Science in the High School," Popular Science Monthly, XXXVI, 721-27. Judd, C. H. "The Meaning of Science in Secondary Schools," School Science and Mathematics, XII, 87-98. 158 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Kelly, H. C. "The Springfield Plan," General Science Quarterly, I, 191-200. Kilpatrick, E. "General Science in the High School," Oregon Teachers 1 Monthly, 1915, pp. 629-35; Report of Committee of Oregon State Teachers 1 Association. Kilpatrick, W. H. "Project Teaching," General Science Quar- terly, I, 67-72. . "The Project Method," Teachers 1 College Record, XIX, 319-35. . "The Wider Study of Method," General Science Quar- terly ,VI, 277-84. Kilpatrick, W. H., and Others. "Dangers and Difficulties of the Project Method a Symposium," Teachers 1 College Record, XXII, 283-321. Lewis, E. E. "General Science in Iowa High Schools," School Review, XXIV, 426-35. Libby, E. M. "How Shall We Organize Our General Science?" General Science Quarterly, I, 180-90. Loevenguth, J. C. " General Science in the Junior High School, " General Science Quarterly, II, 367-79. Loomis, A. M., and Carr, I. F. "A Course in General Science for Vocational Home Economics Schools," General Science Quarterly, VI, 284-92. v Lott, D. W. "A Twenty-Minute Project," General Science Quarterly, I, 122-26. . "The Conscious Development of Scientific Ideals in Secondary Science Education," School Science and Mathe- mathics, XVII, 417-26. Lunt, J. Richard. "An Illuminating Gas Project," General Science Quarterly, I, 213-15. * . "Method of Vitalizing the Study and Teaching of General Science, " General Science Quarterly, V, 199-206. Lyon Harold. "Student Interest in Subject Matter," General Science Quarterly, II, 387-89. McAuley, Faith. "Results of an Experiment to Determine the Content and Appeal of First-Year Science," School Science and Mathematics, XI, 14-15. BIBLIOGRAPHY 159 MacCaughey, Vaughan. "Natural History in the Educational Program," Education, XXXVI, 220-24. McClellan, J. H. 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"General Science," School Science and Mathe- matics, XIII, 499-500. . "General Science-Summary Opinions under Revision," School Science and Mathematics, XIV, 600602. . "Science Teaching by Projects," School Science and Mathematics, XV, 225-32. . "Projects in Science, "Teachers 1 College Record, XVII, 31-39- . "The High-School Science Situation," General Science Quarterly^ I, 137-40. 'Aims and Methods of Science Teaching," General Science Quarterly, II, 249-50. . "The Project of a Frozen Water Pipe," General Science Quarterly, III, 107-11. Workman, L. L. "How to Use the Kitchen Range," General Science Quarterly, III, 227-31. . "A Project in Ventilation," General Science Quarterly, HI, 33-34- Worun, A. A. "General Science in Michigan," General Science Quarterly, II, 267-84; also School Science and Mathematics, XIX, 136-49- INDEX Academies, Science in the, i Agassiz, A., 7 Aims: in education, 35-52; in general science, 53-69, 121-22; in science teaching, 35-69; of teachers, 35~36 . Analyses of textbooks, 97-103 Applied science, 31-32 Attitude of public toward science, 15-16 Attitudes, Cultivation of, 37, 39, 47-48 Bagley, W. C., 37, 52, 86, 93 Barber, F. D., 108, 120, 131 Bergen, J. Y M 6 Bibliography, 12, 24-25, 33-34, 52, 68-69, 93-94, 1 08, 120, 131-32, 149-50, 151-65 Bigelow, M. A., 45, 46, 52, 62, 69,93 Botany, 5, 9-10, 17 Branom, M. E., 79 Briggs, T. H., 68, 93 Brown, E. E., i, 2, 3, 12 Brown, J. F., 149 Brown, Marion, 6, 12 Brownell, H., 93 Caldwell, O. W., 27, 28, 52, 68 Carpenter, H. A., 54, 108, 131 Charters, W. W., 52, 120 Chemistry, 8, 10, 17, 20, 28 Colleges, Influence of, on high schools, 7-9 Colleges, Small, 149 Colton, B. P., 7 Committee of Seventeen, 149 Committee of Ten, 18, 66 Continuity between science courses, 16-18 Correlation of science courses, 19-20 Coulter, J. G., 150 Coulter, J. M., 46, 52 Courses in general science: how made, 55-56; standardization of, 56; types of, 122-25 Criticism of science teaching, 13-25, 130-31 Curriculum, 27-31 Daggett, P. H., 97, 99, 108 Davenport, C. B., 9 Davenport, Eugene, 52, 68 Deduction, 74-76 Dewey, John, 52, 68, 70, 93, 114, 1 20 Discipline of mind, 37, 39, 43 Downing, E. R., 6, 9, 12, 14, 16, 24, 25, 71, 93, 103, 108 Dresslar, Fletcher B., 25 Education, Schools of, 142 Educational investigation, 30-31, 50-52, 95-103 Eikenberry, W. L., 21 Eliot, C. W., 18, 19, 25, 52 English High School, of Boston, 2 Enrolment in science classes, 13-14 Environment and organization, 115-18 Experimental education, 30-31, 50-52, 53-57, 95-97 Finley, C. W., 107, 108, Flexner, Abraham, 25 Frank, O. D., 10, 12, 103, 108 Franklin, Benjamin, i, a 167 i68 THE TEACHING OF GENERAL SCIENCE Ganong, W. F., 150 Generalizations, 62-63 General science: as an experiment, 53-57; influence on other courses, 56-57; origin of, 10-12; progress of, 12 General science teacher, 133-50; qualifications of, 133-40; sources of, 140-49 Glenn, Earl R., 33 Gould, J. C., 57, 69, 119, 120, 139, 150 Gray, Asa, 5, 6 Habits, 37, 39, 41-42 Hall, E. H., 93 Hanna, J. C., 10-12 Herrold, Rose E., 93 High school, The typical, 21-23, 136-37 High schools: early, 2, 3; n in- fluence of colleges upon, 7-9 size of, 22 Hofe, George D. von, 12 Howe, C. M., 69 Huxley, T. H., 7 Ideals, 37, 39, 45 Induction, 74-76 Information, 37, 42, 51, 58-59 Inglis, A., 38, 43, 50, 52 Introduction to science, 63-64, 65-68 Judd, C. H., 48, 52, 120, 128, 132 Kelly, H. C., 69, 93, 135, 150 Kilpatrick, W. H., 79, 86, 93 Knowledge, 37, 39, 40, 42, 58-59 Koos, Leonard, 19, 35, 52 Laboratory: directions, 91; equip- ment of, 89-91 ; exercises, types of, 88-89, 91; problems, 87-89; 91-92; the, 87-92 Lewis, E. E., 97, 99, 108 Lloyd, F. L., 45, 46, 52, 62, 69, 93 Lott, D. yi., 54 Lunt, J. R., 54 Mann, C. R., 3, 12, 25, 93 Meister, Morris, 76 Method: problem, 57-59, 71-78; project, 78-88 Methods of teaching, 32-33, 70-94 Natural history, i, 2, 4, 7, 9 Natural philosophy, 2, 3-4, 8 Nature study, 66-67 New York High Schools for boys, 2 Normal schools, 144-45 Objectives: in education, 35-52; in general science, 53-69; in science teaching, 35-69 Observation, 73-74, 75 Organization and aims, 121-22 Organization: basis for, 115-16; examples of, 122-30; for in- struction, iii-i2, 113-14; logical, 109-14; of general science, 116-20, 121-32; of textbooks, uo-ii, 112-13; principles of, 109-20; psycho- logical, 114-20 Orr, William, 69, 93, 134, 135, 139, J 5o Parker, S. C., 93, 120, 132 Peabody, James E., 27, 34 Perspective, 37, 38, 39, 47-48 Philadelphia Academy, i, 2 Physical geography, 17 Physics, 4, 8, 10, 17, 28 Physiology, 17 Preparatory value of general science, 63-68 Problem method, 57-59, 71-78, 79, 81-93 Problems and laboratory, 87-89, 91-92 INDEX 169 Professional attitude of teachers, 138 Professional courses, 143-44 Project method, 78-88 Projects, Types of, 78-81 |X Psychological determination of curriculum, 29-31 Purpose, 79, 81, 84, 85 Recreation, 37, 39, 45~46 Reform in science teaching, 26-34, 130-31 Rhynearson, E., n Robison, C. H., 150 School of Education, 142 Science classes, Enrolment in, 13-14 Science in schools, History of, 1-12 Science teaching: criticism of, 13-25; objectives of, 35-69; reform of, 26-34 Sciences represented in general science, 98, 101, 102 Scientific method, 76-77 Size of high schools, 22 Smith, A., 93 Snedden, David, 65, 69, 94 Spalding, V. M., 6 Specialization, 21-23, 136-37, 145-46 Standardization of general science, 106-8, 126-27 Stevenson, J. A., 94 Stewart, E. A., 20, 25 Stockton, J. E., 94 Stout, J. E., 12 Subject-matter: classified, 104-6; of general science course, 95-108; suitability of, 23 Swift F. H., 150 Synthetic general science courses, 124-30 Tabulation of: aims in education, 36, 37> 39J contents of text- books, 98, 101, 102, 104, 105, 1 06; science curriculum, 17; science enrolment, 14; sizes of high schools, 22; textbooks in general science, 96 Tastes, 37, 39, 45-47 Taylor, Arvilla, 10, 12 Teachers of general science: qualifications of, 133-40; sources of, 140-49 Teacher-training institutions, 140- 49 Textbooks: analyses of, 97-106; of general science, 96 Thinking, Training in, 43~45, 59, 70-93 Time given to science, 18-19 Topics in general science text- books, 104-6 Trafton, G. H., 108 Training function, The, 37, 41-42 Training teachers for general science, 140-49 Training, Transfer of, 43-44, 58-59 Twiss, G. R., 45, 52, 94, 132 Types of general science courses, 122-25 Universities and science teachers, 148 Values: intellectual, 61-62; pre- paratory, 63-68; socializing, 60; utilitarian, 60 Watson, C. H., 120 Webb, H. A., 56, 62, 69, 97, 99, loo, 103, 108 Weckel, Ada, 126, 132 Whitman, W. G., 69, 93, 135, 150 Woodhull, J. F., 3 Zoology, 6-7, 9, 17 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. !-'S5asssS s f ik- ^^^&=*.ffi I D UU^U f UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY