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 MiUt^it^t educational iHonograpIj^ 
 
 EDITED BY HENRY SUZZALLO 
 
 PROFESSOR OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 
 TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN 
 TO STUDY 
 
 BY 
 
 LI DA B. EARHART, Ph. D. 
 
 INSTRUCTOR IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 
 TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY LIDA B. EARHART 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 
 u. . 
 
 l:^' 
 
 \ 3 5 
 
 
 E 
 
 [t. 
 
 Of 
 
 .a. 
 
 TO MY FATHER 
 
 JOSEPH EARHART 
 
 THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY 
 DEDICATED
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Preface vii 
 
 Editor's Introduction . . . . ix 
 
 I. The Nature of Logical Study . i 
 
 II. The Nature of Inductive Study 23 
 
 III. The Nature of Deductive Study . 59 
 
 IV. The Relation of Rational Study 
 
 to Text-book Study . . .81 
 
 V. Do Children PossE^^fc ^ ^A bility 
 
 TO Study Logically? /^ . .107 
 
 VI. Are Children Taught to Study 
 
 Logically? 121 
 
 VII. Can Children be Taught to Study 
 
 Logically? 13 1 
 
 VIII. Suggestions for Training Children 
 
 to Study 139 
 
 Outline 177
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The problem of teaching children to study, to- 
 wards the solution of which this volume is offered, 
 was presented before a class in Teachers College, 
 Columbia University, during the year 1905-06, 
 by Dr. Frank M. McMurry, Professor of Elemen- 
 tary Education. It is largely due to his particu- 
 lar encouragement and assistance that the author 
 underto*>k the special investigation of the prob- 
 lem of teaching children to study. To Professor 
 McMurry, and also to Professors G. D. Strayer 
 and Henry Suzzallo, both of Teachers College, a 
 great debt is due for counsel and direction freely 
 given during the years which this study has oc- 
 cupied. 
 
 The attempt to solve this problem necessitated 
 the employment of philosophy on the one side, to 
 establish the nature and function of study, and 
 the use of experimental and psychological method 
 on the other, to determine the ability of pupils to 
 study logically and also the possibility of training 
 them into correct habits of study. Schoolroom 
 visitation and the questionnaire were also em- 
 ployed to throw light upon the teachers' ideas of 
 
 vii
 
 PREFACE 
 
 study, present practice in training pupils to study, 
 and the ability of children to study. The field to 
 be covered proved to be a very broad one, but 
 interest grew as the work proceeded, not only 
 because an entirely new light was thrown upon 
 schoolroom procedure, but also because of the 
 attitude of the teachers themselves towards the 
 problem. Many expressed the earnest wish that 
 results might be worked out which would bring 
 help to them in their efforts to teach their classes. 
 
 To meet the needs of these teachers and others, 
 the original report," Systematic Study in the Ele- 
 mentary Schools," has been rewritten in fuller 
 and simpler form so as to make it more usable 
 and helpful; the present book is the result. It 
 carries the author's greetings to her companions 
 of the schoolroom. 
 
 Those who desire details in regard to the 
 experiments and questiofmaires, and who care 
 to consult the tabulated results, are referred to 
 the book " Systematic Study in the Elementary 
 Schools," Bureau of Publication, Teachers Col- 
 lege. Other books bearing upon special phases 
 of the subject are referred to in the text. 
 
 L. B. E.
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 The failure of the reactionary 
 
 There is a feeling that our schools are over-bur- 
 dening our children with subjects for study, and 
 that a kind of superficial training results. Many 
 believe that we ought to return to the simple 
 curriculum of our colonial fathers, to fewer sub- 
 jects and more particularly to those which are 
 sometimes called "fundamentals," — reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, and the like. This species of 
 discontent has been noticeable for more than a 
 decade. Yet in spite of every form of opposition, 
 the newer subjects of the course of study persist. 
 The reactionary has failed to make any consid- 
 erable headway. New aspects of training, even, 
 have been added to the school's functions. 
 
 The latest conscious function of the school 
 
 Of the new functions which the school is con- 
 sciously assuming, there is one which promises 
 to be epoch-making in the development of teach- 
 ing methods. The deliberate effort to teach chil- 
 dren to study is more than an addition to the 
 school's tasks ; it is a change in the emphasis o£ 
 
 ix
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 school instruction. Hitherto the teacher has spent 
 most of his time in transmitting to the child the 
 symbols of language and the facts of knowledge. 
 To teach the child to read, to write, to figure ; to 
 make him memorize the important facts of his- 
 tory, geography, and literature, — such were the 
 functions of the elementary schools till within 
 recent years. Hereafter the school bids fair to 
 devote its best energies, not to memorization, but 
 to teaching the child how to think, how to direct 
 his own conduct intelligently, how to study with- 
 out constant dependence on the teacher. In the 
 old school the teacher did the thinking and most 
 of the talking, while the child did the memorizing. 
 In the new school the child will do the thinking 
 and most of the talking, while the teacher will re- 
 strict himself to a thoughtful stimulation and di- 
 rection of the process. 
 
 Its effect on the crowded curricukini 
 
 To those who would loudly decry the addition 
 of a new function to the school, it may be said 
 that such an addition does not imply a new bur- 
 den for the child and the teacher. In the specific 
 case of teaching children to study it implies re- 
 lief from the over-crowding of school life, rather 
 than further congestion. If a child learns how to 
 
 X
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 direct his observations, to read his books, to or- 
 ganize his facts, and to apply his knowledge, the 
 school is no longer responsible for teaching him 
 every fact for which life will call. He has power 
 equal to his needs as they confront him in lifft. 
 Now that he knows the uses of his mind and his 
 books, he can make up any chance defect. His 
 days of learning do not end with graduation from 
 school. Under such conditions as these the 
 demand of the course of study will be less for all 
 the facts of a subject than for the typical ones. 
 The independent qualities of mind required to 
 understand and comprehend them will provide 
 the rest. 
 
 Purpose of this monograph 
 
 The newness and the importance of the move- 
 ment for teaching children to study require that 
 teachers and parents be competent to supervise 
 the learning process. They will need to know the 
 nature of independent thinking, its various modes, 
 the conditions favorable to its development, and 
 the methods by which it may be strengthened as 
 a personal power. The monograph here presented 
 will be of large service to all who are interested 
 in the problem. It is based upon extensive in- 
 vestigations of children's habits of mind under 
 
 xi
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 classroom conditions. It is rich in suggestions as 
 to concrete ways in which pupils may be brought 
 to a high degree of ability in the self-direction of 
 their intellectual inquiries. It should, more than 
 any other document now in print, aid teachers in 
 their efforts to train self-reliant men and women.
 
 THE NATURE OF LOGICAL 
 STUDY
 
 THE NATURE OF LOGICAL 
 STUD^^ 
 
 I. The universal nrc essity for study 
 
 Through the whole course of our lives we are con- 
 fronted with situations the successful mastery of 
 which compels mental effort. Whether the tasks 
 laid upon us are assigned in school or outside of 
 school, and whether we wish to do so or not, we 
 must struggle mentally. In the sense that it gives 
 us frequent occasion to study, life itself may be 
 called a school. In this school all are enrolled, 
 from the youngest child to the wisest philosopher. 
 Whittier indicated a few of the out-of-school les- 
 sons in his poem, "The Barefoot Boy" : — 
 
 " Knowledge never learned of schools, 
 Of the wild bee's morning chase, 
 Of the wild-flower's time and place, 
 Flight of fowl and habitude 
 Of the tenants of the wood; 
 How the tortoise bears his shell, 
 How the woodchuck digs his cell, 
 And the ground-mole sinks his well ; 
 I
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 How the robin feeds her young, 
 How the oriole's nest is hung; 
 Where the whitest lilies blow, 
 Where the freshest berries grow, 
 Where the ground-nut trails its vine, 
 Where the wood-grape's clusters shine ; 
 Of the black wasp's cunning way, 
 Mason of his walls of clay, 
 And the architectural plans 
 Of gray hornet artisans ! " 
 
 Some thousands of years ago a number of prob- 
 lems in the form of a series of questions were 
 proposed which the scientists and philosophers 
 have not yet worked out to a final conclusion. 
 The series begins thus : " Where wast thou when 
 I laid the foundations of the earth ? declare, if 
 thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the 
 measures thereof, if thou knowest .-* or who hath 
 stretched the line upon it .-' " ^ 
 
 The present age is full of problems, some of 
 them inherited, and some peculiar to itself. We 
 find people occupied in determining how to reach 
 the north pole, how to navigate the air, how to 
 prevent and cure diseases, how to earn a living, 
 how to keep expenditures within the bounds of 
 one's income, how to train and educate children, 
 how to square conduct with ideals, and how to 
 
 * Job xxxviii. 
 2
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 solve innumerable other puzzling questions of 
 varying importance. 
 
 2. The inadequacy of ijtstincts to solve problems 
 
 Because human beings are not born with a full 
 set of fixed instincts which control their activities 
 in every circumstance when action is required, it 
 is clear that people must often think about what 
 they do. They must determine how they shall act 
 and what associations of ideas they shall make. 
 For example, there is no instinct which will carry 
 us inevitably into our life-work, nor which, when 
 we have chosen our careers, will determine the 
 means by which we shall pursue them success- 
 fully. Neither does instinct settle the general 
 question as to whether honesty or dishonesty is 
 better on the whole, or which of the two is better 
 in some particular case. We are all compelled to 
 be students since we cannot dismiss our problems 
 at will and lead that careless existence which is 
 something less than real living. 
 
 3. The need of learning how to study 
 
 Among the subjects of study with which people 
 might profitably occupy themselves, there is one 
 of great importance which, as yet, has received 
 little consideration, and that is the process of 
 
 3
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 studying itself. Unless by nature we study in the 
 right way, we must either be taught to do so, or 
 else there will be waste of energy, loss of time, 
 and sometimes either incorrect results, or no re- 
 sults at all. Investigation shows that neither chil- 
 dren nor adults naturally study as they should. 
 The right method must be learned in some way, 
 if it is acquired at all. Individuals must either 
 work out a method for themselves, more or less 
 consciously, or they must be taught how to study 
 by others who have already learned. 
 
 4. The nature of study 
 
 We are confronted, then, by these two condi- 
 tions : (i) that all people have occasion to study, 
 and (2) that people on the whole do not study as 
 well as they should. If we attempt to meet the 
 situation by teaching people how to study, we at 
 once find that we must be acquainted with the 
 nature of the process before we can teach it. We 
 need to know the basis of it and the various steps 
 involved in it before we can train others in its use. 
 This is the problem which confronts parents and 
 teachers, since they are the ones who must teach 
 children how to study, and it is for parents and 
 teachers that this book is mainly intended. 
 
 First of all, some definition of the term study is 
 
 4
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 necessary in order that misunderstanding may be 
 avoided and that we may know our problem defi- 
 nitely. Studying in its highest sense is the pro- 
 cess of assimilating knowledge, of reorganizing 
 experience. As ordinarily employed, the term 
 studying often means much less than this, and 
 includes any mental activity directed towards the 
 accomplishment of some end, whether that end 
 be the memorizing of facts in a geography lesson, 
 the learning of a story in reading, or the master- 
 ing of a list of words in spelling. In this com- 
 mon usage of the word it includes the mind's 
 activity that is directed towards the acquisition 
 of ideas, whether these ideas become an organic 
 part of knowledge or not. Learning dates in his- 
 tory, and committing poems and definitions to 
 memory do not always involve the assimilation of 
 knowledge, yet teachers call the effort to accom- 
 plish these tasks by the same name that is ap- 
 plied to the mental efforts of a philosopher who 
 is engaged upon some weighty problem. The two 
 kinds of studying are quite different. The one is 
 more mechanical than the other and results largely 
 in accretion of facts. The other is organic and re- 
 sults in rearrangement and assimilation of ideas ; 
 in short, it involves thinking. It is this latter form 
 of mental activity, which is generally acknow- 
 
 5
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ledgecl to be of a higher type than the first, that 
 is the object of investigation and discussion in 
 this book. 
 
 When teachers are asked what they think study- 
 ing is, many of them say that studying means to 
 imagine, to memorize, to apperceive, to think. In 
 other words, they mean that studying is a psy- 
 chological process. But these answers do not fur- 
 nish much of a clue to the proper method of 
 teaching people how to study because they do 
 not show when or how one shall imagine, mem- 
 orize, apperceive, or think. There must be some 
 other explanation of the process than an enu- 
 meration of the psychological states that may or 
 may not be involved, if we are to understand it 
 fully and to be able to teach it intelligently. This 
 explanation we shall now seek. 
 
 5. TJie kind of thinking employed in studying 
 
 It has been said that proper study involves 
 thinking. The thinking which is employed in 
 studying is reflective or purposive as distinguished 
 from spontaneous thinking. In the latter sort, the 
 ideas are not controlled by the thinker. They 
 come and go at random. But in reflective or pur- 
 posive thinking, there is a definite end in view 
 and the ideas are selected and controlled so as to 
 
 6
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 accomplish this end. When a person gives the 
 rein to fancy and lets his thoughts wander where 
 they will, his thinking is of the spontaneous kind ; 
 but when he sets himself to accomplish some 
 task, to solve a problem, or to find the way out 
 of some difificulty, he controls his thoughts and 
 chooses or rejects the ideas which come into con- 
 sciousness, taking as the basis of his choice the 
 bearing which these ideas have upon the end he 
 is trying to reach. 
 
 6. The origin or source of the problem 
 
 It is just this consciousness of some end in the 
 form of a problem which causes the thinking and 
 governs its course. In the determination of this 
 problem lies the logical basis of study ; hence it 
 is important to know whence and how it is de- 
 rived, and by whom it must be felt as a problem 
 if it is to influence thought. 
 
 a. Failure of habitual modes of thought and action 
 
 Problems frequently arise because for some rea- 
 son our habitual ways of acting or thinking cannot 
 be employed. An entirely new situation, or some 
 change in an old one, may break up our usual way 
 of doing things, and compel us to seek for a plan 
 of action that will meet the new conditions. A 
 
 7
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 flood, a fire, a financial panic, the loss of some 
 tool or utensil, a blockade of the street-car sys- 
 tem, the stopping of a watch, the increased cost 
 of foodstuffs, — any one of these may prove a 
 serious problem and compel thought in order to 
 masterthe new situation. Such apparent dilemmas 
 arise frequently in connection with nature study, 
 geography, arithmetic, and other school studies, 
 as well as in connection with the formal routine 
 of schoolroom procedure. For example, a child's 
 idea of a desert is frequently found to be that it 
 is a place where nothing can grow. When con- 
 fronted with the statement of the fact that cer- 
 tain places, hitherto deserts, are now very pro- 
 ductive, he is face to face with a difficulty which 
 should furnish him with a valuable problem. The 
 pupil who comes upon a verbal noun for the first 
 time may find that it puzzles him to classify it 
 properly as a part of speech. Similarly in arith- 
 metic, there are problems varying sufficiently 
 from those already mastered to cause the degree 
 of thought needed to analyze and master them. 
 
 b. The 7ieed of relating new knozvledge to old 
 
 Sometimes the problem originates in the at- 
 tempt to relate some new fact to the knowledge 
 already possessed, as in the case of the pupil and 
 
 8
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 the verbal noun just referred to. The signifi- 
 cance of the new must be seen before it is of use 
 to the individual who acquires it. " What is the 
 useof this object or idea ?" "What is the purpose 
 of this.-*" "What difference will this make in 
 my ways of doing or thinking if I accept it.?" 
 All such questions look forward to purpose or 
 end. Or, instead of looking forward to see the 
 effects which the new ideas will produce, one may 
 seek out the cause or explanation of them in pre- 
 vious knowledge. Washington was made com- 
 mander-in-chief of the American army at the time 
 of the Revolutionary War. That is the new fact 
 learned. Why was he elected to that position .-* 
 With the ordinary class, this question compels a 
 review of Washington's character and career in 
 order to find the reasons for his selection for so 
 important a position. The warmer air in a room 
 is found near the ceiling. Why .-* Frequently the 
 explanation is to be found in ideas already pos- 
 sessed by the observers. 
 
 c. Conflict of ideas 
 
 Sometimes two sets of ideas or lines of action 
 seem so contradictory that it is difficult to decide 
 which is true and therefore the one to choose. In 
 political campaigns, different speakers will advise 
 
 9
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 for or against the election of a certain man, ac- 
 cording to their political bias, and will present on 
 one side strong arguments to show that he is in 
 every way desirable, and on the other, will give 
 what seems convincing evidence that he cannot 
 safely be trusted with the political office in ques- 
 tion. Which side is right ? 
 
 Again, when one is trying to decide upon a plan 
 of action, arguments present themselves both for 
 and against almost any course proposed. From 
 one point of view it is very desirable to follow a 
 certain plan of conduct ; while, viewed from an- 
 other standpoint, this same plan seems unwise. 
 " To be or not to be. That is the question." This 
 conflict of ideas extends to the mastery of school 
 subjects. When it is a matter of finding expla- 
 nations for facts observed in science lessons, of 
 selecting the right method of solving some prob- 
 lem in arithmetic, of determining the right way to 
 dispose of some part of a sentence in grammatical 
 analysis, of making the correct interpretation of 
 the thought of some author in the study of lit- 
 erature, the opportunities for conflicts are nu- 
 merous. There is frequent occasion for the 
 explanation and reconciliation of apparent oppo- 
 sites. 
 
 lO
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 d. Cariosity as a source of problems 
 
 A prolific source of problems, whether in school 
 or out of it, is curiosity. We wonder why, or hozv, 
 or what, and reach out in other directions for 
 more knowledge. This curiosity may be of an idle, 
 fleeting kind, which, left to itself, would result in 
 little effort and progress. It may be of a primi- 
 tive nature, not being based upon previous know- 
 ledge, A teacher appeals to primitive curiosity 
 when he leads his class to desire to hear a story 
 they have never heard before, or to see some- 
 thing new. He arouses expectation and desire 
 which are directed towards unknown objects. 
 Rightly valued and employed, however, curiosity 
 may be made a valuable agent in education. In- 
 telligent curiosity, which is based upon partial 
 knowledge, which reaches out to some definite 
 end, and which leads to some adequate method 
 of attainment of that end, cannot be overestimated 
 as a means of development and training. Conse- 
 quently, the suppression of curiosity just because 
 it is curiosity, or the rejection of a method just 
 because it appeals to curiosity, is short-sighted. 
 The appeal to curiosity is justifiable, but it should 
 lead to some intelligent end, and not remain upon 
 the level of mere idle wonder. A teacher may 
 
 II
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 have in view the teaching of an important lesson 
 in some subject ; she may lead the children to 
 approach it by appealing to a curiosity initially 
 connected with some superficial fact. The ex- 
 planation of that fact leads into the subject step 
 by step, until, when the lesson period is over, the 
 teacher's aim is accomplished. A lesson on gla- 
 ciers may begin with the observation of markings 
 on rocks, or the discovery of boulders in the soil. 
 The question arises, " How did they come to be 
 there ? " and in answering it the subject of glaciers 
 is taught. A comparative study of cotton and 
 wool might be introduced by the question as to 
 why wool was used before cotton for making 
 cloth. Similarly in other subjects, some fact may 
 be brought to the attention which provokes the 
 curiosity and tends to direct thought into desired 
 channels. 
 
 e. The necessity for activity 
 
 Not only does the need of knowledge, appar- 
 ently for its own sake, frequently give rise to 
 problems, but also the need of knowledge for the 
 sake of some activity which is to be based upon 
 it may become the source of careful thought. 
 What to do, how to do, how to improve the exe- 
 cution of some process, — these are problems fre-
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 quently met, and their solution often includes 
 the physical expression of the theory evolved. 
 Drawing, painting, manual training, physical edu- 
 cation, games, and all other subjects involving 
 bodily activity provide problems of this kind. 
 Drill for rapidity and accuracy in arithmetic or 
 geography calls for the same sort of treatment ; 
 that is, knowledge of the process, and repeated and 
 intelligent exercise in its use. In all these situa- 
 tions involving physical activity, thinking is neces- 
 sary to determine the cause of the difficulty, to 
 select the means to overcome it, and to judge of 
 the efficiency of the latter when they are em- 
 ployed. They are therefore to be classed as 
 thought-provoking situations, as sources of prob- 
 lems. 
 
 f . Feeling as a source of problems 
 
 The value of feeling as a spur to the discov- 
 ery of problems should not be overlooked nor 
 lightly estimated. As already shown, curiosity 
 leads to the recognition of limitations both of 
 knowledge and of skill, and so brings to con- 
 sciousness a tension in experience which leads to 
 study. The negative side of the importance of 
 feeling has often been recognized by teachers in 
 inducing pupils to work in school. They threaten 
 
 13
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 various unpleasant consequences which will be 
 visited upon those who do not complete their 
 work in a certain manner, or before a specified 
 time. The pupils, in order to avoid these conse- 
 quences, bend their unwilling energies to their 
 work and strive to master it. There are many 
 instinctive feelings, both pleasant and unplea- 
 sant, which find their outlet in ways which demand 
 either new knowledge or some change in the 
 usual modes of activity. Some of these instincts 
 are sympathy, sociability, friendship, pugnacity, 
 emulation, love of praise, hatred, jealousy, envy, 
 love of self, and love of physical activity. In ad- 
 dition to the instinctive feelings, there are both 
 feelings and attitudes which are the result of 
 cultivation. But whether instinctive or acquired, 
 these emotive states influence both the origin 
 and outcome of the thought-situation which con- 
 stitutes the problem for study. Sympathy, friend- 
 ship, envy, hatred, love of mental or physical oc- 
 cupation, — these statesof mind, if strong enough, 
 seek appropriate expression, and the question of 
 ways and means arises. Or, if the problem does 
 not arise in the feeling itself, but is accompanied 
 by a strong feeling of some kind, the energy put 
 forth to accomplish this end is influenced. If a 
 boy is sure that something in grammar or arith- 
 
 14
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 metic is worth having, and that it bears upon 
 some felt need, whether of his own or of the so- 
 ciety in which he is interested, he will put forth 
 more intense and continuous effort than he other- 
 wise would. When there is an accompaniment of 
 pleasant feeling of some sort, the fatigue is felt 
 less than when the problem is regarded as a use- 
 less task. 
 
 7. TJie aim of study 
 
 Whether the occasion for thought lies in the 
 need of knowledge or of activity, or in the neces- 
 sity for expressing some emotive state, the aim is 
 to readjust experience so that tension or friction 
 shall disappear and harmony prevail. Each spe- 
 cific situation presents its own peculiar incentive 
 to thought and furnishes the occasion for its ex- 
 ercise. It is clear that the thinking thus occa- 
 sioned cannot be of the spontaneous kind, but 
 must be selective, purposive in its nature. Its 
 course, too, is not complete until the validity of 
 its results has been tested in some way. Conclu- 
 sions and theories must be tried by further expe- 
 rience before their validity can be affirmed posi- 
 tively. When, however, their use has become 
 habitual so that they have reached the mechani- 
 cal stage of application, they present no further 
 
 15
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 aim to thought, and the problem is regarded as 
 solved ; that is, the studying is completed. 
 
 8. Thinking, memor'ising, and Jiab it-forming 
 
 In this connection, the relation between think- 
 ing and memorizing, and thinking and habit-for- 
 mation should be noted. In thinking, ideas are 
 associated according to their meaning, and when 
 the process is ended, memorizing is at least par- 
 tially accomplished, and that, too, in its best form. 
 Reviewing the associations thus established com- 
 pletes the process. /This is rational memorizing 
 as distinguished from that which is purely me- 
 chanical. In habit-forming, thinking may be very 
 prominent during the first stages. The form of 
 activity to be learned, the way of responding to 
 a certain situation must sometimes be chosen as 
 the result of reflection, and progress in efficiency 
 must be watched with care until the mind is freed 
 from conscious oversight of the process. Learn- 
 ing long division is a typical form of habit based 
 upon thinking. Each step is thought through 
 carefully, and then thoughtful repetition brings 
 mechanical accuracy. 
 
 i6
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 9. The relation of the problem to the person who 
 
 is to study 
 
 It is self-evident that in normal conditions the 
 tension, the lack of harmony, or want of com- 
 pleteness must be within the experience of the 
 person or persons who are to do the thinking, 
 since the thinking arises from personal motives. 
 A thing is of interest and worth doing, and 
 demands to be done because in some way it 
 affects our own welfare and the equilibrium 
 of our ideas. Professor James, in discussing in- 
 terest, says : " You will understand this abstract 
 statement easily if I take the most frequent of 
 concrete examples — the interest which things 
 borrow from their connection with our own per- 
 sonal welfare. The most naively interesting object-*^ 
 to a man is his own personal self and its fortunes. 
 We accordingly see that the moment a thing be- 
 comes connected with the fortunes of the self, it 
 forthwith becomes an interesting thing. Lend 
 the child his books, pencils, and other apparatus ; 
 then give them to him, make them his own, and 
 notice the new light with which they instantly 
 shine in his eyes. He takes a new kind of care of 
 them altogether. In natural life all the drudgery 
 of a man's business or profession, intolerable in 
 
 17
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 itself, is shot through with engrossing signifi- 
 cance because he knows it to be associated with 
 his personal fortunes." ^ If the problem is to have 
 interest, and is to be a motive power to the child, 
 it must grow out of his own experience, some 
 situation in relation to himself, otherwise no 
 genuine thinking will result. 
 
 For a teacher in the elementary schools to as- 
 sign a lesson without first preparing the class so 
 that the pupils go to their work with a definite 
 problem in view, and that problem one which 
 touches them vitally, one which they have some 
 interest in accomplishing, is to invite mechanical 
 memorizing, and that, as has been said, is not 
 study in the higher sense because it is not the 
 assimilation of knowledge. When the teacher 
 gives the problem to the class, which is usually 
 the case when there is any aim present at all, the 
 pupils may have a motive for thoughtful work 
 and they may not. It depends upon the extent 
 to which they recognize the problem as valid for 
 them, as involving their own needs, as possessing 
 personal interest, as presenting a situation which 
 they accept as theirs. Thoughtful study will de- 
 pend upon their appropriation of the problem as 
 given by the teacher. But if the teacher can so 
 
 1 James, Talks to Teachers, pp. 94, 95. 
 18
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 direct the experience of his pupils that this prob- 
 lem arises in their own consciousness of need, 
 then it is felt to be theirs and the situation is 
 most favorable for thinking. 
 
 lo. The need of dcjiniteness in the aim 
 
 Another point of importance to note in regard 
 to the problem is the fact that it should be as 
 clearly defined as possible before its solution is 
 undertaken. To be aware that there is a crisis or 
 tension in experience is one thing ; to have ana- 
 lyzed the situation so as to see just where the 
 difficulties lie is quite another ; and to determine 
 possible modes of accomplishing the solution is 
 still another. It is as if a person, who had seen a 
 long pendulum set swinging in a north and south 
 direction, should discover after several hours that 
 the record shows a change in direction, and being 
 puzzled, should ask, not " Why does it swing } " 
 because he saw it set in motion, but "Why, hav- 
 ing been started to swing in one direction, does 
 it now swing in another? " Probably several an- 
 swers suggest themselves, some to be rejected 
 at once as manifestly contrary to fact and conse- 
 quently impossible. Only those hypotheses are 
 accepted tentatively for investigation which show 
 some possibility offurnishingan adequate solution. 
 
 19
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 It may be necessary to look into the nature 
 of the problem itself before a solution is sought. 
 Analysis is employed to discover its meaning and 
 its implications ; and reflection, reading, investi- 
 gation may be required to make clear what is to 
 be done, and the ways by which the solution is 
 to be attempted. This process of defining the 
 problem and formulating hypotheses for its solu- 
 tion may require a very short time, or it may oc- 
 cupy an extended period. Children's guesses as 
 to what things are, or why things are so and not 
 otherwise, are simply childish hypotheses in- 
 tended to meet natural situations. The trouble 
 with their studying is that they frequently end 
 their mental efforts with the mere formulation of 
 their problems, rather than accept such formu- 
 lations as starting points on the way to positive 
 knowledge. The clear understanding of the prob- 
 lem furnishes the criterion for the acceptance or 
 rejection of material, and for its organization. The 
 keener the individual's sense of need, and the 
 more intense his desire to acquire a certain body 
 of knowledge, the clearer his statement of the 
 problem will probably be, and the more definite 
 his demand for what he wants. 
 
 20
 
 NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 II. Recog7iition of the problem the first factor in 
 logical stiidy 
 
 This recognition of a problem is a factor in 
 proper study, that is, in study in the sense in 
 which we are here considering it ; and since it 
 precedes the other steps, it may be called the 
 first factor in study. The problem must origi- 
 nate within the experience of the students, or be 
 appropriated by them in order to arouse thought, 
 and it must be defined clearly in order to furnish 
 a definite guide to thought. 
 
 General Summary 
 
 The points presented thus far are as follows : (i ) 
 The necessity for study is universal, as is also 
 the need of being taught to study properly. (2) 
 Studying, in its higher meaning, is mental ac- 
 tivity directed towards the assimilation of ideas, 
 the reorganization of experience. (3) Proper study 
 involves purposive thinking, since it is thinking 
 that is directed toward some end. (4) Back of 
 the psychological steps involved in studying is 
 the logical basis of the process. This is the ten- 
 sion in experience which constitutes the aim or 
 purpose of thinking, and furnishes the criterion 
 for the acceptance or rejection of ideas in theat- 
 
 21
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 tempt to readjust experience. (5) The recognition 
 of a problem is the first factor in proper study. 
 (6) This problem must be felt as such by those 
 who are to study, or else the motive and guide 
 for thought are lacking. (7) In order that the 
 thinking may be accurate, the problem must be 
 clearly defined in the mind of the person who is 
 to do the thinking. Its requirements must be 
 plainly perceived, and some hypothesis formed as 
 a tentative explanation. This hypothesis deter- 
 mines the direction which the solution of the 
 problem will take. It should conform to known 
 facts. It should have some reasonable basis. 
 
 Note. — For a fuller discussion of the ideas in regard 
 to the thought-situation presented in this chapter, see 
 Studies in Logical Theory, by Professor John Dewey.
 
 THE NATURE OF INDUCTIVE 
 
 STUDY
 
 II 
 
 THE NATURE OF INDUCTIVE 
 
 STUDY 
 
 I. The distmction between inductive and deduc- 
 tive study 
 
 The difference between inductive and deductive 
 study is the same as the difference which ex- 
 ists between induction and deduction whenever 
 they are employed. When a person studies de- 
 ductively he seeks to solve his difficulties or 
 satisfy troublesome situations by employing prin- 
 ciples, rules, or some other form of generalized 
 knowledge which he already possesses. In induc- 
 tive study, on the contrary, the generalization, 
 whether it be definition, rule, or principle, must 
 be discovered by the student before he can apply 
 it to the solution of the problem upon which he is 
 engaged. This latter form of study always origi- 
 nates in a relatively concrete situation and tends 
 towards the formation of some general idea or 
 concept which will explain the problem that set 
 the thinking process in motion, so to speak. As 
 
 25
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 will be shown in the following chapter, deductiv^e 
 study may begin either with the data or with some 
 generalization. Inductive study may begin with 
 data or with an untried hypothesis. It cannot 
 begin with a logical generalization or concept, 
 since these are the result of the inductive process 
 itself and therefore cannot be the starting point. 
 
 2. Collecting data a factor in inductive study 
 
 When in the course of experience such a prob- 
 lem as has been described in the preceding chap- 
 ter becomes a part of consciousness, it controls 
 the nature of the mental process which succeeds 
 it, unless it is inhibited from so doing. One of 
 the most prominent aspects of this process is the 
 gathering of material bearing upon the problem 
 in hand. This collecting of data is a most impor- 
 tant factor in study, for through its agency we 
 are furnished the means whereby we may prove, 
 amend, or reject the hypotheses formulated for 
 the solution of the problem, and arrive at more 
 definite theories. 
 
 The material brought together for these pur- 
 poses may be drawn from several sources. It may 
 be a part of previous experience that is recalled. 
 Information may be gained from others by in- , 
 quiry or through reading. It may be gained 
 
 26
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 through the processes of experimentation and 
 observation. 
 
 a. Memory a source of data 
 
 The data culled by memory out of past experi- 
 ence possess varying degrees of value. Even 
 though the ideas relating to the new problem were 
 originally gained by means of direct observation, 
 they may be incomplete because the present prob- 
 lem was not in existence at the time the observa- 
 tions were made, and so exercised no influence 
 upon them. In consequence, the ideas lack full- 
 ness and clearness and are not to be trusted en- 
 tirely. Loss of time and the presence of other 
 mental states tend to weaken ideas, however com- 
 plete and clear they may have been originally. In 
 looking over their old letters or diaries, people 
 sometimes find that their memories of past events 
 have changed radically from the record made at 
 the time the events occurred. Furthermore, the 
 very attempt to recall past experiences in the 
 light of a present problem favors the activity of 
 the imagination, so that ideas are not recalled 
 exactly as they were. Changes are made, some- 
 times quite unintentionally and unconsciously, 
 30 that it is difficult to say where recollection 
 ends and imagination begins. In spite, however, 
 
 27
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 of all these drawbacks to memory as a source of 
 data, the past must be searched frequently to 
 discover what contribution it can make to pre- 
 sent crises in experience ; but it is sometimes 
 necessary to scrutinize the ideas thus obtained to 
 see whether they are correct and complete. The 
 following instance will show what is meant by 
 incomplete observations and the interference of 
 the imagination. When asked what becomes of 
 the blossom of the dandelion, the students in sev- 
 eral classes tried to recall their observations of 
 that flower. All remembered the flower in bloom. 
 Some remembered that the flower closes after 
 blooming, but some had never noticed that fact, 
 and some had forgotten it. All remembered the 
 fluffy white head that appeared later. Not more 
 than one or two had noticed what becomes of the 
 blossom. In every class, several ventured there- 
 ply that the yellow flower turns into the fluffy 
 white ball, — an imaginative reply built upon in- 
 complete observation. 
 
 b. Group-experience a source of data 
 
 When memory fails to furnish the data neces- 
 sary to solve the problem in hand, the individual 
 may try to make up the lack by referring to his 
 classmates, to his teacher, if he be a student in 
 
 28
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 school, to the members of his family, or to any 
 others who he thinks may be in possession of 
 the ideas he needs. The value of resorting to 
 group experience to supplement or correct indi- 
 vidual experience should be recognized by the 
 teacher, and pupils should be encouraged to seek 
 information bearing upon their problems from 
 one another, from parents, or from others who 
 may be able to supply it. 
 
 In addition to one's own knowledge and the 
 knowledge of the social group, the knowledge 
 that is stored in books constitutes an important 
 source of data. In many schools it is almost the 
 only source utilized, the experience and know- 
 ledge of the pupils and of the society in which they 
 live being quite or almost disregarded. The books 
 should not be neglected, but teachers ought to 
 consider the question whether they should always 
 be the first resort in looking for data, or whether 
 they should sometimes be left in the background 
 until other sources have been utilized. 
 
 c. Experimentation and observation as sources of 
 
 data 
 
 In addition to the means already given for ob- 
 taining ideas relevant to the problem to be solved, 
 the field of experimentation and observation fur- 
 
 29
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 nishes abundant data of the greatest value. Ob- 
 servations madQ /or a definite purpose zxq more 
 complete and accurate than mere casual, purpose- 
 less perceptions. The same may be said of ex- 
 periments. There is a vast difference existing 
 between study about nature and study ^nature ; 
 between study about machinery and study of 
 machinery ; between study about the function 
 of adverbs and study of the use of adverbs as 
 they occur in literature or in spoken language. 
 Experimentation and observation may not always 
 be practicable, but the fact that the field work in 
 geography, agriculture, nature study, and arith- 
 metic is increasing shows that more can be done 
 than has been done. The difficulty has been that 
 teachers have not recognized the value of direct 
 observation, or have hesitated to make the trial 
 of conducting experimental or observation les- 
 sons. In solving problems, the experimenting or 
 observing may be done by one pupil or by a 
 group. Individual assignments and group assign- 
 ments are both valuable, and the pupils can work 
 out their results and report to the class. Oppor- 
 tunities for such assignments occur frequently 
 in connection with the subjects studied in school. 
 In geography, facts about clouds, winds, evapora- 
 tion, condensation, and precipitation can readily 
 
 30
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 be observed. In arithmetic, the actual measures 
 are frequently used by pupils. In higher classes, 
 tax receipts, household bills, insurance policies, 
 checks, and notes are sometimes found, but should 
 be used to a much greater extent than is now the 
 case, since the pupils can gain the facts about 
 them from direct observation. The pupils them- 
 selves can obtain much of the material needed, 
 and for their own sakes they should be encour- 
 aged to secure and study it. The wise limits of 
 the use of observation and experimentation as 
 sources of data bearing upon problems to be solved 
 by pupils have not yet been reached, and the 
 teachers of children have a problem of their own 
 in studying the questions of when and how they 
 should be resorted to by pupils who are trying to 
 study independently. 
 
 d. The teacher as a source of information 
 
 In connection with the subject of gathering 
 data several questions are heard frequently. A 
 common one is, Shall the pupils always be ex- 
 pected to find the materials or information needed, 
 or shall the teacher sometimes tell } When the 
 cost in time and effort would outweigh the bene- 
 fit to the pupils either in the knowledge or ex- 
 perience gained, or when the sources of informa- 
 
 31
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 tion are too difficult for the children to master 
 with a reasonable amount of effort, the teacher 
 should give the information to his class. There 
 is a time to tell and a time to refrain from telling, 
 and the teacher must distinguish between the 
 
 two. 
 
 e. Lectures versus books as sources of data 
 
 Another question heard sometimes is in regard 
 to the relative merits of lectures and text-books 
 for students who are advanced enough to listen 
 to lectures. Students sometimes expect and de- 
 sire the instructor to pour out the subject to them 
 in lecture form, and object to being sent to books 
 or other sources to acquire it through their own 
 research. If studying means the realization of a 
 problem and reflection upon it, then books offer 
 a better opportunity for study than do lectures. 
 While one stops to reflect upon some point which 
 a speaker has made, he misses the succeeding 
 portion of the lecture. The case is different with 
 a book. One's attention may be challenged by 
 some problem, and during all of the succeeding 
 study the text waits for the student and he is not 
 losing the following thoughts. When he is ready 
 to go on, the subject matter is there. An in- 
 structor must sometimes resort to lectures to 
 
 32
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 present material obtainable in no other way or 
 for the reasons already given above in regard to 
 celling things to children, but on the whole these 
 are exceptional cases. For pupils in the ele- 
 mentary and high schools especially, the lecture 
 should be the exception and by no means the 
 rule. 
 
 The procedure is better from the point of view 
 of the mental activity of the class, when, instead of 
 the uninterrupted lecture, opportunity is given at 
 times for inquiry and discussion by the students. 
 Then the lecture, like the book, halts until doubt- 
 ful points are made clear, wrong ideas are cor- 
 rected, and the material offered becomes part of 
 the student's data with its value duly recognized. 
 
 f. The nse of original sources by pupils 
 
 Since the use of classics has superseded the old 
 school reader with its fragmentary selections, and 
 since it has been found that pupils can read and 
 enjoy entire literary productions, the idea has 
 been advanced that pupils can profitably make 
 use of source material in the study of history, in- 
 stead of depending entirely upon the accounts 
 given in school histories. It is doubtless true that 
 objects and places of historical interest, letters, 
 diaries, reports, and other official documents, as 
 
 33
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 well as the literature of the period under investiga- 
 tion, may be used much more extensively than they 
 now are, and that the data derived from such 
 sources may have much greater value than those 
 derived from the school texts. Pupils ought to 
 know from what sources historians derive their 
 materials and how histories are prepared. They 
 should also have practice in finding data in origi- 
 nal sources and in selecting and interpreting them 
 when found. The matter may easily be carried to 
 the other extreme, however, and too great a bur- 
 den put upon pupils both as regards the amount of 
 time required and the difficulty of the materials 
 to be used. Experienced historians are doubtless 
 perplexed at times in determining the significance 
 of historical materials; therefore too much in the 
 way of sifting evidence and drawing conclusions 
 should not be exacted of immature pupils. Care- 
 fully prepared texts adapted to the ability of the 
 class will long have their place in education for 
 the reason that they put data within the reach of 
 the pupils in an economical form ; but study of 
 original sources should be encouraged within those 
 bounds of time and ability which experience de- 
 termines to be proper. Probably very few teachers 
 will carry their use to an extreme ; the error is 
 more likely to be on the side of neglecting them. 
 
 34
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 g. TJie fallacy of relying habitually npoji one 
 source of data 
 
 All the resources at our command should be 
 drawn upon in the effort to solve our problems, 
 and in general, it may be said that too great a re- 
 liance upon any one source is unwise. The per- 
 son who knows nothing but books and the person 
 who relies entirely upon his own observations are 
 both depriving themselves of material that is valu- 
 able ; so also does the person who is content with 
 what he already knows as the basis for the solu- 
 tion of problems which arise in his life. There is 
 a one-sidednessin such an attitude which defeats 
 the very purpose of thought, that is, the discovery 
 of truth. 
 
 h. The rejection of irrelevant data 
 
 It frequently happens that in this gathering of 
 data, many ideas enter consciousness which are 
 not relevant to the problem and which, therefore, 
 must be rejected ; but having clearly defined the 
 problem in the beginning, the sorting process is 
 simplified. We cannot prevent the obtrusion of 
 these irrelevant ideas, and it is consequently all 
 the more necessary to learn to discriminate be- 
 tween that which bears upon the problem and that 
 
 35
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 which does not, and to accept or reject accord- 
 ingly. For example, if a person plans a trip to 
 Europe, the details of other trips are recalled or 
 read, or they may be suggested by friends. Many 
 of these ideas will doubtless be valueless, because 
 they have no bearing upon the problems of the 
 proposed trip, while some may be very helpful. 
 Unless the prospective traveler can sift out the 
 latter and neglect the rest, he will probably do 
 some foolish things, and neglect certain wise 
 preparations for his journey. 
 
 i. The necessity of having data representative 
 
 A consideration of very great importance in re- 
 gard to data is that they must be gathered from 
 such a number and variety of individual instances 
 as to be sufficiently representative, and hence reli- 
 able. For example, data in regard to the physical 
 measurements of Europeans would be very unreli- 
 able if obtained from the Anglo-Saxon nations 
 alone, even though many individuals in those na- 
 tions were measured. And similarly, measure- 
 ments to be representative of the English should 
 include all classes of English and not merely a se- 
 lected group. Likewise, to base all study of the 
 phenomena of the adolescent period upon obser- 
 vations limited to high school students would be 
 
 36
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 manifestly unscientific, since high school students 
 are a selected group. Only a small per cent of 
 pupils entering the first grade ever enter high 
 school. There is a weeding-out process all along 
 the elementary school course, so that by the time 
 the high school is reached, those who have sur- 
 vived are a chosen few. Studies based upon them 
 alone would not be truly representative of all 
 young people of the same age. It is thus impor- 
 tant to remember, in considering the reliability 
 of data, that they must represent enough individ- 
 uals and classes to make conclusions based upon 
 them valid. 
 
 Summary : The collecting of data is a factor in 
 logical study. Significant facts may be brought 
 into consciousness by recall, by conversation with 
 others, by reading, by experimenting, or by ob- 
 servation. It is unwise to depend upon any one 
 course exclusively. These ideas, however gained, 
 must be judged on the basis of their relevancy to 
 the problem, and accepted or rejected accordingly. 
 
 3. The organization of ideas a factor in inductive 
 
 study 
 
 A very important element in inductive study 
 is the grouping of related ideas. It is a natural 
 process for ideas to become associated in groups, 
 
 17
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 but in purposive thinking this process must be 
 consciously aided. The ideas accepted because 
 of their bearing upon the problem are examined 
 to discover the nature of their relations to one 
 another. Certain elements of similarity cause cer- 
 tain ideas to form a group, as when concepts are 
 formed. Other ideas are attracted to one another 
 because of the similarity of the relationship which 
 they bear to some other idea. The idea of the 
 navigation laws and the idea of the tax on tea are 
 very dissimilar in nature; but because they both 
 bear a functional relationship to the idea of the 
 Revolutionary War, they are frequently associ- 
 ated in people's minds. Then there is the causal 
 relationship among ideas, when the value of one 
 idea depends upon the value of some preceding 
 idea or series of ideas. For example, the idea of 
 weather-of-a-certain-kind becomes associated with 
 the idea of wind-blowing-from-a-certain-direction. 
 Also, in studying parts of speech, the idea of pro- 
 noun becomes associated with the idea of noun 
 because of their logical relationship. These re- 
 lationships of similarity, of function, of cause and 
 effect, and of place in a logical series, all of which 
 are of importance in the solution of the problem 
 on hand, should be sought out and established. 
 The natural tendency to associate must be sup-
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 plemented by conscious effort. Furthermore, as 
 a matter of convenience and clearness in dealing 
 with ideas, it is frequently helpful, especially with 
 a long or difficult problem involving much mate- 
 rial, to prepare a classification showing the main 
 topics arranged in order, with the subordinate 
 points properly grouped under them. In most of 
 the situations which present us with some prob- 
 lem, no such formal classification is necessary, 
 but undoubtedly much incoherence and lack of 
 logical treatment would be overcome by the more 
 careful arrangement of material employed in at- 
 tempting to work out some hypothesis. 
 
 4. The results of the selection atid organization 
 
 of data 
 
 As a result of the selection and organization 
 of data, the hypothesis, which in the beginning 
 was merely a more or less intelligent guess, is 
 much more positive in its nature and has become 
 a theory. Starting with an hypothesis based 
 merely upon the facts immediately connected 
 with the problem, there has been a wide search 
 for data, a careful elimination of the irrelevant, 
 and an organization of that which has been found 
 to bear significantly upon the solution of the 
 problem. During this process, the original hypo- 
 
 39
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 thesis may have been altered, rejected, or con- 
 firmed as a whole or only to a certain extent. 
 For example, the pupils who in the beginning of 
 a recitation hazarded a guess as to what a verb is, 
 ought to be able to correct any error in the guess 
 or to show wherein they were correct in their 
 statements. Without these two steps, collecting 
 and organizing, the hypothesis would have re- 
 mained a mere guess. Both hypothesis and theory 
 must be looked upon as tentative conclusions and 
 must be put to the final test of application before 
 being accepted as principles. 
 
 5. Scientific doubt a factor in inductive study 
 
 In the paragraph on the selection of data, it 
 was said that data relevant to the solution of the 
 problem should be accepted. This statement 
 must be modified somewhat. The data must be 
 not only relevant, but reliable. Whatever is ac- 
 cepted should be accurate. It frequently happens 
 that material is presented in the working out of 
 a situation which would apparently meet every 
 difficulty, but it lacks the most necessary char- 
 acteristic, — that of accuracy. If the problem to 
 be solved is of any importance to the person who 
 engages in its solution, it is obviously of consid- 
 erable importance to that person that he accept 
 
 40
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 none but reliable data. He must, then, scrutinize 
 with care that which he accepts, and his attitude 
 in general must be that of doubt. The greater the 
 significance of the problem the more important 
 doubt, scientific doubt, becomes as a factor in 
 study, since freedom from error depends largely 
 upon its existence and exercise. Because much of 
 the information which is obtained from people, 
 whether through their books or their spoken utter- 
 ances, is based upon incorrect ideas obtained from 
 others, upon faulty experiments, imperfect ob- 
 servations, or false reasoning, and because it is 
 sometimes willful misrepresentation of facts to 
 accomplish some ulterior motive, those who avail 
 themselves of such sources without investigating 
 the truth of the information imparted are fre- 
 quently led into error. Ordinary gossip and un- 
 principled newspapers which are published for 
 political purposes are extreme instances of un- 
 reliable sources of information. But even books 
 which are written thoughtfully, with every inten- 
 tion of being accurate, contain statements which 
 are biased or untrue. The path of learning is 
 strewn with discarded ideas, theories, hypotheses, 
 which fuller knowledge has shown to be false. 
 The attitude of scientific doubt which opposes 
 blind acceptance of information makes for ad- 
 
 41
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 vance in true knowledge. It should be cultivated 
 so as to counteract the tendency of people in gen- 
 eral, especially of young people and of others in- 
 experienced in proving hypotheses and in working 
 out carefully the solution of problems, to accept 
 without question the statements found in books, 
 papers, and magazines, even though they may 
 have learned to exercise some discrimination in 
 regard to what they hear. There are reasons for 
 this attitude of receptivity, but they are not suffi- 
 cient to warrant the continuance of unquestion- 
 ing belief, since that frequently leads to inaccu- 
 rate solutions of problems, and distorted views 
 of facts. 
 
 Our judgment as to the validity of data of- 
 fered by any author is influenced, or should be 
 influenced, by his sources of information. In sci- 
 entific studies, direct observation and experi- 
 mentation are valued as insuring accuracy. In 
 historical subjects, the use of written evidence, 
 or original sources, is a basis for acceptance of 
 statements. In either case, if the author has 
 gained his information through hearsay, there is 
 greater doubt of his reliability as an authority 
 than if he had employed research to obtain his 
 ideas. It is impossible to test every statement 
 made by the people to whom we go for informa- 
 
 42
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 tion, and we must therefore either reject all 
 statements which we cannot verify, or place suf- 
 ficient confidence in the men consulted to accept 
 their presentations. There is a place for the ex- 
 perts in various lines of knowledge; and when 
 men are known to have worked in a scientific 
 spirit within their respective fields of research, 
 that is adequate reason why their results should 
 be accepted as authoritative, for the time being 
 at least. There is no loss of self-respect to the 
 student in such acceptance. As for verifying 
 data, there is still sufficient opportunity for that, 
 since not all people are experts, and not all the 
 problems are yet solved. 
 
 The reliability of data can be tested in differ- 
 ent ways. It may be necessary to consult the 
 original sources, and the training in this work, 
 spoken of in connection with the collecting of 
 data, serves a valuable purpose in enabling the 
 student to verify evidence when its reliability is 
 in doubt. Close observation is sometimes all that 
 is necessary ; or reflection, comparison, and, in 
 some cases, experimentation may at times be 
 employed. We may recall the results of our own 
 experience and use them as a test for the new ; 
 or we may compare one man's statements with 
 those of another in whose methods of working 
 
 43
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 we have confidence, for in weighing evidence it 
 is not so much the men as their methods of 
 working which are to be accepted as authorita- 
 tive. But, after all is said and done, some doubt 
 is still in place. 
 
 6. The tentative nature of hypotheses and theories 
 
 It is very important in studying to recognize 
 the fact that both hypotheses and theories are 
 tentative in their nature, although they may dif- 
 fer greatly in degree of probability. An hypo- 
 thesis is a guess. It may be more or less scien- 
 tific, but it is still a guess. A theory, on the 
 other hand, is an hypothesis which has been 
 carried through the stages of investigation, and 
 perhaps experimentation, and which has been 
 modified or confirmed by the process. It is based 
 upon the study of data, and consequently pos- 
 sesses a greater degree of certainty. 
 
 Theories may vary in probability. Where data 
 are lacking, or where there is grave doubt as to 
 their validity, the formation of judgment or the- 
 ory may be quite suspended for the time being. 
 When evidence is ample in amount and variety 
 and is of such a nature as to warrant it, a very 
 positive, definite theory may be formed. Between 
 these two extremes are theories of varying de- 
 
 44
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 grees of certainty. Some theories or judgments, 
 therefore, are more tentative in nature than 
 others, but all theories must be looked upon 
 as tentative until verified by experience. When 
 thus verified, they become principles, and serve 
 as positive bases for decisions in future think- 
 ing. 
 
 Whenever evidence is doubtful, and yet is ac- 
 cepted because of lack of opportunity for proving 
 it, or for any other reason, the conclusions based 
 upon such data should be regarded as hypotheti- 
 cal rather than theoretical, until doubts of the 
 validity of the data can be removed. Sometimes 
 the material used as the basis for judgment is 
 accurate, but it is not sufficient because it does 
 not meet every requirement of the problem. Con- 
 clusions based upon incomplete data should also 
 be held to be lacking in positiveness. While such 
 judgments have value in that they furnish tem- 
 porary explanations, their incompleteness should 
 be recognized, so that the mind of the student 
 may be left open for further progress. Not to 
 recognize them as partial, as tentative, is to be- 
 come fixed and dogmatic and to close the door 
 to investigation and development. It is equally 
 detrimental to character and learning to accept 
 judgments based upon doubtful or inadequate 
 
 45
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 evidence as final in their nature and to make no 
 further efforts towards positive theories. 
 
 Summary : As a precaution by which the way 
 to accuracy of results should be hedged, scientific 
 doubt, or the consideration of the accuracy and 
 reliability of data, must be valued as a factor in 
 study. The data selected in the process of study- 
 ing because of some bearing upon the problem 
 must be known to be reliable before there can be 
 assurance of validity in the conclusion. This is 
 true of all data, regardless of their source or the 
 method by which they are obtained. But even 
 most reliable data are still properly subject to 
 doubt. Both hypotheses and theories should be 
 regarded as tentative in their nature, and as such 
 subject to further investigation and proof. 
 
 7. Verification, or the application of theory, a fac- 
 tor in study 
 
 Since it was the need of readjustment of some 
 phase of experience which furnished the problem 
 for thought, the verification of the theory formu- 
 lated must consist in its application to the spe- 
 cific situation which gave rise to the thought-pro- 
 cess, or to similar situations. The process of logi- 
 cal study is not completed until the theory has 
 
 46
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 been expressed in some form so as to test its va- 
 lidity ; therefore expression, or the application of 
 theory, must be regarded as an element in study. 
 
 Application of theory is the only means by 
 which we can be sure that the tension in experi- 
 ence has been removed and the problem solved. 
 Conclusions which cannot stand this test must, 
 of course, be revised or thrown aside, and those 
 which meet the requirements in a satisfactory 
 manner may be accepted. Furthermore, the ap- 
 plication of theory, if repeated, tends towards 
 facility in its use, and makes it more thoroughly 
 a part of the person who thus employs it. 
 
 As was stated in an earlier paragraph, the ap- 
 plication of theory may be carried out very care- 
 fully, close attention being given both to process 
 and results. If repeated frequently enough with- 
 out too great a lapse of time between the appli- 
 cations, the process reaches the mechanical stage 
 and becomes a habit which requires little or no 
 conscious effort for its execution. The occurrence 
 of any favorable opportunity for its use then calls 
 it into activity unless it is inhibited for some new 
 and special reason. 
 
 The testing of theories may take the form of 
 usins: the conclusions as bases for further think- 
 
 47
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ing ; it may consist of some act of construction, 
 the execution of some design embodying the ideas 
 worked out in the thinking process ; or it may 
 manifest itself in oral or written expression, in 
 some social activity, or in some other way. A 
 person does certain things because of the con- 
 clusions reached ; or by an act of will he refrains 
 from doing because his thinking has led him to 
 decide that it is best not to act. Both definite 
 choice and intelligent action are based upon the 
 mental product ; they test the value of that pro- 
 duct, and serve as a corrective for careless or 
 inaccurate thinking. 
 
 In general, the more genuine the problem has 
 been to the individual who has been studying, 
 the more vital will be the conclusion reached, 
 and the keener the desire to put the results into 
 practice as soon as possible for the sake of veri- 
 fication. In life outside of school, the opportunity 
 for application is sometimes delayed, but if the 
 judgments are strong and clear, they will survive 
 delay and will even force an occasion for use. In 
 school, conditions can frequently be so arranged 
 that pupils may apply the results of study im- 
 mediately ; but even there delay is sometimes 
 inevitable. This possibility of postponement is a 
 strong argument in favor of making circumstances 
 
 48
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 as favorable as possible for the formation of clear, 
 vigorous judgments. 
 
 Summary : In review of this topic, it may be 
 said that application in some form constitutes 
 the test of theory and is therefore a part of the 
 study process. It is indispensable as a means of 
 verifying, correcting, and fixing conclusions, and 
 of giving facility in their use. Application fre- 
 quently follows the formulation of theory imme- 
 diately, though it must sometimes await an oppor- 
 tunity. This possibility of delay increases the 
 necessity of strength and clearness in judgments. 
 
 8. The place of memorizing in inductive study 
 
 It is sometimes advisable to remember things 
 in a certain wording or order, and for that reason 
 memorizing forms an important element in study. 
 Whatever conscious memorizing is done to give 
 permanence to thought, naturally follows the 
 completion, or at least the partial completion of 
 the thinking process involved in the working out 
 of a situation. The very act of establishing rela- 
 tionships of meaning among ideas tends to make 
 the ideas thus associated easy of recall, so that 
 by the time a certain problem has been thought 
 through carefully, the ideas involved are already 
 partially memorized in their proper order. Think- 
 
 49
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ing the steps over repeatedly, reviewing the rela- 
 tions already established, completes the memoriz- 
 ing process. Thus memorizing is seen to be a 
 very thoughtful procedure. Its misuse arises in 
 the attempt to substitute it for thought instead 
 of basing it upon thought, and in making it the 
 sole, or at least the main factor in study. 
 
 All memorizing takes place through the form- 
 ing of associations of some kind. These associa- 
 tions may be of a very mechanical and arbitrary 
 nature, as when we learn words in columns, or 
 commit sentences to memory with no idea of their 
 meaning. Such associations are not the result of 
 thought. Mechanical or arbitrary memorizing has 
 its place in school work, since words must be 
 spelled, the principal parts of verbs learned, and 
 other matter of similar nature so fixed that it may 
 be recalled readily when needed. This memoriz- 
 ing involves concentration of attention, the per- 
 ception of the correct order, and then repetition 
 to fix the idea in the perceived order. 
 
 The memorizing which is a factor in the higher 
 form of studying is based upon associations of 
 meaning among the ideas involved in the study. 
 In this case committing to memory is based upon 
 analysis. Similar or contrasting ideas are asso- 
 ciated, as are also groups of ideas relating to some 
 
 50
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 one subject ; also ideas bearing the relation of 
 cause and effect, and ideas in a logical series. 
 Thus, if a history lesson is to be memorized, it is 
 better to memorize the important facts or topics 
 which have been thought out and associated than 
 it is to learn to recite the words glibly without 
 having had any glimpse into the significance of 
 the ideas expressed. In learning a poem, memo- 
 rizing is usually well advanced when the thought 
 of the poem has been mastered. In geography 
 the causal relations, and in mathematics the logi- 
 cal order, may form the basis of the memorizing 
 process. 
 
 There is a double clue to the recall of matter 
 thus associated. One may recall a mere fact, as, 
 for example, that there is much rainfall in Ireland ; 
 or, one may have forgotten what the climate is, but 
 may be able to repeat the reasoning process which 
 resulted in the statement about the amount of 
 rainfall in Ireland, and so may again arrive at the 
 fact. Some people, having reached a conclusion, 
 may remember it absolutely ; while it may always 
 be necessary for others to recall the reasoning 
 process in order to recall the conclusion reached. 
 We find thus three kinds of memorizing : first, the 
 memorizing of a purely arbitrary order ; second, 
 the memorizing of conclusions or statements based 
 
 51
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 upon reasoning ; and third, the memorizing of the 
 chain of reasoning rather than of the results of 
 the reasoning, so that in recalling, the reasoning 
 process must always be repeated in order to bring 
 to mind the statements the recall of which is 
 desired. 
 
 Summary : In general, it may be said that 
 while mechanical memorizing has a certain place 
 in school work, it should be limited to its own 
 legitimate sphere. Thoughtful memorizing is of 
 a higher type and should be employed much 
 more extensively than it now is. It is accom- 
 plished by placing emphasis upon associations of 
 meaning rather than upon associations of place. 
 When employed consciously it follows the other 
 steps in proper study. 
 
 9. The preservation of self in and through study 
 
 The studying which has been described in the 
 preceding pages affords an opportunity for self- 
 preservation and self -development which mechani- 
 cal study can never yield. While preservation and 
 development of the individuality are not a sepa- 
 rate factor in study, they should be present in 
 study and should be advanced to some extent, at 
 least, through its agency. 
 
 Human beings vary greatly in native endow- 
 
 52
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 ment. This variation manifests itself in differ- 
 ences of interests, of capacities for working, and 
 in ways of working. Any method of study which 
 disregards individuals, disregards also these fun- 
 damental differences. It subordinates the human 
 being to the subject-matter, and aims for the ac- 
 quisition of facts rather than for the assimilation 
 of knowledge. In proper study, the individuality 
 of the student has a chance to assert itself. One 
 may respect his own ideas if he has tested them 
 and has found that they satisfy the requirements. 
 He need not yield ready acceptance to all that he 
 hears or reads or thinks, but may reject what is 
 false or irrelevant. He need not lose his identity 
 or his respect for himself even though he does ac- 
 cept the ideas of others, provided the acceptance 
 follows judgment of value. He need be no one's 
 tool or blind follower, but may learn to esteem ideas 
 because of their worth rather than because of their 
 source. He needs to learn the distinction between 
 beliefs and convictions, but having the latter, he 
 may have courage in the face of any amount of op- 
 position. To be alone in one's views is not neces- 
 sarily to be in error, while to fall in with popular 
 views is to place one's self very frequently in the 
 wrong. Even though a number of people should 
 start to solve the same problem and should employ 
 
 53
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 in general the factors of study here presented, their 
 procedure would vary from stage to stage because 
 of differences which would manifest themselves 
 at every step. 
 
 A very important element in the development 
 and preservation of self is the exercise of initia- 
 tive ; the higher form of study affords excellent 
 opportunities for the manifestation of this activ- 
 ity. The recognition of a problem, the selection 
 and discrimination of data, the organization of 
 ideas, the deferring of j udgment, the formulation of 
 theory or hypothesis, the consideration of the 
 truth or falsity of statements, and the final test- 
 ing of theory involve its use. The highest ideals 
 formulated by educational theory include the 
 right training of whatever initiative man has been 
 endowed with ; hence so excellent an opportunity 
 for its proper use as is furnished by logical study 
 should not be neglected. 
 
 Summary : In studying, it is an important con- 
 sideration to preserve and develop one's person- 
 ality, to exercise initiative, and not to subordi- 
 nate one's own ideas to those of others without 
 due consideration ; otherwise one becomes a men- 
 tal nonentity ; a " passive recipient," and the 
 whole process of study loses its value as a means 
 of training and as a means of arriving at truth. 
 
 54
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 General Swnniary 
 
 The points made thus far in this chapter are, 
 in brief, as follows : (i) A second factor in study- 
 is the gathering of data bearing upon the prob- 
 lem. This material may be gathered from many 
 sources, but only that which bears a relation to the 
 problem should be accepted. (2) The organization 
 of material into groups of related ideas is a third 
 factor of study. It tends to take place naturally, 
 but should be carried on consciously with close 
 attention given to the relationships established. 
 As the result of the second and third steps we 
 are able to formulate a theory which is intended 
 to satisfy the problem. (3) A fourth factor in 
 study is the exercise of scientific doubt, or judg- 
 ing as to the soundness of statements. When- 
 ever significant facts bearing upon the problem 
 are presented to consciousness, their validity 
 should be determined in order that the theory 
 based upon such evidence may have value. All 
 hypotheses and theories must be considered as 
 tentative judgments until verified by experience. 
 The value of such judgments is that application 
 or further investigation is encouraged, and the 
 tendency to form positive judgments upon a 
 slight or faulty basis is discouraged. (4) In order 
 
 55
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 to verify the conclusions reached in the process 
 of logical thinking, a fifth factor in study is 
 needed. This is application, or the execution of 
 theory. Through the use of this factor of study 
 theories are rejected, corrected, or accepted ac- 
 cording as they meet the conditions of the ori- 
 ginal problem which gave rise to the thought 
 situation, or of similar problems. Through use, 
 also, the theory is fixed as an element of know- 
 ledge and the expression becomes habitual. (5) 
 To fix knowledge in a certain form memoriz- 
 ing is necessary, and this process, accordingly, 
 makes a sixth factor in study. Thoughtful mem- 
 orizing is accomplished in part during the course 
 of the thinking process. It is completed by con- 
 sciously attending to the relationships to be fixed 
 in mind and by reviewing them in their logical 
 order. (6) Throughout the process of inductive 
 study, there is opportunity for the preservation 
 and development of the individuality of the stu- 
 dent. This is as it should be, since training in 
 process is fully as much needed in life as the ac- 
 cumulation of facts, though the facts are not to 
 be despised. Inductive study calls for individual 
 effort and individual judgment and affords oppor- 
 tunity for the exercise of initiative. Training in 
 its use is training in the use of native power and 
 
 56
 
 NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 ability to the best advantage. Like results need 
 not be expected, therefore, in all cases, since 
 minds differ in native endowment, in the nature 
 of the store of knowledge already acquired, in the 
 ways of judging data, and in the modes of making 
 application.
 
 THE NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE 
 
 STUDY
 
 Ill 
 
 THE NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE 
 
 STUDY 
 
 I . Necessity of understanding the problem 
 
 In the deductive process of studying there is 
 the same need of recognition and analysis of the 
 problem as in the inductive study. Without a 
 clear understanding of the situation, there is no 
 criterion for the selection of the theory or prin- 
 ciple which is to furnish the solution, since its 
 relevancy is not apparent until the problem has 
 been made plain. 
 
 2. Deductive study which begins with the data 
 
 In making use of theories, principles, laws, 
 definitions, or other forms of general knowledge 
 already existing in the minds of the students, two 
 kinds of problems arise. In one kind, the facts, 
 or data, are present and call, not for the formu- 
 lation of a new theory, but for the use of one 
 which is known. Examples of this form of think- 
 ing are seen in recognition, interpretation, iden- 
 
 6i
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 tification, and in other uses of general knowledge. 
 Effort in such cases is directed towards identi- 
 fying the facts or data present in consciousness 
 with some group of facts for which a satisfactory- 
 theory already exists. Through this identification 
 we read into the fact the significance or meaning 
 of the principle which is applied to it. The math- 
 ematician who sees that the facts given in his 
 problem involve a certain principle or rule ; the 
 scientist who identifies some plant or animal as 
 belonging to some group he already knows ; and 
 the pupil who recognizes some part of speech as 
 a noun and consequently attributes to it the 
 properties of nouns, — all these are employing 
 principles, theories, or classifications which they 
 have found already existing in consciousness as 
 the result of previous thinking. 
 
 A very frequent opportunity for deductive 
 study of the kind just named is found in the di- 
 agnosis of diseases. The physician is sometimes 
 confronted with symptoms which are so pro- 
 nounced and so characteristic that he recognizes 
 them at once as indicating a certain disease. At 
 other times, the symptoms are more obscure, or 
 exhibit some peculiarity, so that the physician 
 must delay judgment until he has been able to 
 obtain more data by watching the development of 
 
 62
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 the symptoms. The chemist is constantly employ- 
 ing this deductive process in his analysis of com- 
 pounds. He makes his examination to ascertain 
 the reactions manifested by a certain specimen, 
 and then classifies it according to the facts he 
 has been able to discover, because, according to 
 the science of chemistry, the reactions mani- 
 fested by the specimens he has tested are char- 
 acteristic of certain substances already known 
 and named, and the specimen, therefore, must 
 belong to this class. 
 
 3. Deductive study which begins with general 
 
 knowledge 
 
 In the process of study just described, the 
 thought may be said to move backward from the 
 specific facts to the principle or general truth 
 underlying them. In the second form of deduc- 
 tive study, the movement is from the principle to 
 the data. It is because of a knowledge of general 
 truths that one is able to prophesy, to calculate 
 and foretell results of activities which have not 
 yet occurred. The architect who plans a house 
 or the engineer who plans a bridge must keep 
 many laws in mind as he determines the particu- 
 lars of his structure. The amount of pressure 
 exerted, the materials which will best resist it, 
 
 6;
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 the most advantageous arrangement of this ma- 
 terial, — all these and many other details are 
 based upon rules or laws which must be observed 
 if the results are to be satisfactory. We some- 
 times hear of attempts being made to forecast 
 the political career of the United States, the 
 predictions being based upon conclusions drawn 
 from the study of nations which have gone 
 through the various stages of development and 
 decline. For example, we are told that a pro- 
 longed period of national prosperity results in 
 moral decline, and that the moral decline is fol- 
 lowed by political decay. When business is 
 highly prosperous, certain social conditions are 
 pointed out as evidences of a decline of the 
 moral tone of the nation, and the warning note is 
 sounded that such conditions are the forerunners 
 of national ruin. 
 
 In the study of geography, this form of de- 
 ductive study may be employed very often. For 
 example, if the conditions governing the produc- 
 tion of rice are known, any country may be 
 studied to see if such conditions exist in it, and 
 the conclusion as to whether rice can or cannot 
 be grown there can be based upon such an in- 
 vestigation. Similarly, the conditions favorable 
 to manufacture and commerce may be treated 
 
 64
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 with reference to any city or country and the 
 proper conclusions drawn as the result of the 
 application of general truths to particular in- 
 stances. 
 
 4. General knowledge prerequisite to deductive 
 
 study 
 
 When any new subject is taken up by a stu- 
 dent, he must in some way gain a knowledge of 
 the general laws or truths belonging to that 
 branch of learning before he can resort to de- 
 ductive study. He cannot intelligently employ 
 principles which he does not possess, and as we 
 are dealing here with thoughtful study, we shall 
 limit the discussion to the intelligent use of for- 
 mulated knowledge. In pursuing such a subject 
 as physics, a person cannot apply the law of fall- 
 ing bodies, the law of equality of action and re- 
 action, or the general conclusions in regard to 
 pulleys and levers until in some way he has 
 gained possession of them. Any subject must be 
 treated inductively until a body of principles is 
 acquired for deductive use. Because of this fact, 
 each subject, however ancient it may be, and 
 however long its truths may have been formu- 
 lated, is new for each individual learner. Its 
 truths are fresh discoveries for him, and in mak- 
 
 65
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ing these discoveries he is repeating history. He 
 may be able to arrive at his conclusions without 
 the use of illustrative material or experiments, 
 but he may be greatly aided, and the time re- 
 quired much reduced, by the use of such mate- 
 rial or processes. 
 
 5. Using generalizations in related fields 
 
 When subjects are carefully related, or when 
 one subject is a form of application of the prin- 
 ciples belonging to another, the principles de- 
 rived in one subject may be carried over into the 
 related one and employed there. Thus the laws 
 of physics are employed in various applied arts, 
 such as the different kinds of engineering, archi- 
 tecture, and hydraulics, and it is not necessary 
 for a student to rediscover them in order to use 
 them. Having learned them in physics, he can 
 employ them wherever necessary. The same is 
 true in regard to applying the general knowledge 
 of chemistry in a subject like domestic science, 
 where the constituents of foods must be known, 
 also the effects of the various food elements. 
 Furthermore, the preparation and preservation 
 of various kinds of foods directly involve the ap- 
 plication of the principles of chemistry. 
 
 66
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 6. The study of typical forms 
 
 This idea of carrying over principles or con- 
 clusions from one field to another finds its appli- 
 cation in the so-called "type study" of biology, 
 geography, and other subjects. In geography a 
 typical river system, mountain system, agricul- 
 tural district, commercial or manufacturing city 
 is studied intensively, and the facts which the 
 teacher knows to be characteristic of the various 
 classes represented are emphasized so that the 
 pupils get clear ideas of them. When other moun- 
 tains, rivers, agricultural areas, or cities are 
 studied, by analogy the pupils apply to them the 
 conclusion which they reached through the in- 
 tensive study of the type form. The study of 
 types is an attempt on the part of the instructor 
 to use a shortened form of the inductive-deduc- 
 tive method, and it will prove successful only 
 to the extent to which the pupils are able to 
 grasp and apply the features which are gen- 
 eral. 
 
 7. The use of analogy in moral training 
 
 Analogy is frequently employed in studying 
 those subjects which have to do with the moral 
 
 67
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 nature of man. In this field experimentation may 
 be dangerous either physically or morally. The 
 burnt child dreads the fire, but to expose him 
 to the risk of burning in order that he may ac- 
 quire the dread may be to expose him to too 
 great a danger. One would hardly encourage a 
 pupil to be dishonest in order that the advan- 
 tages of honesty may be discovered ; or cause him 
 to lie to teach him the evils of untruthfulness. From 
 history, from the surrounding social life, from 
 fiction, and from imagined characters or actions, 
 materials for study can be obtained which will 
 enable pupils to see the truths which they ought 
 to know. It may be possible to obtain data by 
 observation, or they may be brought out in discus- 
 sion. The inductive process occupies a relatively 
 smaller place in those fields which pertain to the 
 humanities than in the natural sciences. In 
 ethics, in sociology, in religion, there is but little 
 resort to experimentation, and wisely so because 
 of the great risk attending such procedure in 
 these lines, and because both past and present 
 afford abundant materials which can be made the 
 basis of analogy. This form of study is safer and 
 more economical in various ways, and is therefore 
 to be preferred to the experimental method. 
 
 68
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 8. Doiiht as a source of problems 
 
 Doubt in some form gives frequent occasion 
 for the examination of creeds and principles. 
 Every realm of belief, whether ethical, religious, 
 political, or scientific, is assailed by doubt at some 
 time or other, and men are called upon either to 
 defend their own beliefs, or to demonstrate that 
 the doctrines of others are false. The socialist 
 maintains that it would be best for society if gov- 
 ernment should own and operate the agencies 
 for the production and distribution of commodi- 
 ties. His statement is called into question, and he 
 tries to prove that he is right. He may also assail 
 his opponent's contention that individual owner- 
 ship is best for society. Thus we have the two 
 sides of doubt, — proving the truth of statements 
 and proving their falsity. Many a man, when called 
 upon for proofs, discovers that what he has been 
 holding as true has been accepted upon the au- 
 thority of others, and has not been the result of 
 his own thinking and observation. In other words, 
 he has cherished a belief rather than a convic- 
 tion, A challenge in the form of doubt brings in- 
 vestigation, and may result in the confirmation of 
 the belief or in its rejection or amendment. 
 
 The student must see his problem, in which- 
 
 69
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ever form it comes, and must see what is re- 
 quired of him, whether it be the application or 
 testing of a principle already at hand, or the dis- 
 covery of the theory which will furnish the pro- 
 per solution. Intelligent procedure depends upon 
 the analysis and definition of the problem, hence 
 the necessity of these. 
 
 9. The need of collecting data 
 
 In whatever form the problem requiring de- 
 ductive study may present itself, it will usually, 
 if not always, require the collecting of data. In 
 case a concrete situation is given, and the prin- 
 ciple which will explain it is sought, it frequently 
 occurs that much more needs to be known about 
 the situation than appears at first, before a right 
 solution can be found. When a man is brought 
 to trial for having taken the life of some fellow 
 man, it is not enough for the members of the jury 
 to know merely the fact that he has caused the 
 death of some person. They must know many de- 
 tails of the circumstances attending the commis- 
 sion of the act before they can determine fairly the 
 degree of the prisoner's guilt, or, indeed, whether 
 he is guilty of murder at all. The deed may have 
 been entirely accidental ; or the man who is on 
 trial before the jury may have acted in self-de- 
 
 70
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 fense when he committed the act; or his deed 
 may have been dehberate and willful murder, with 
 no extenuating circumstances. It would not be safe 
 to classify the act and determine the punishment 
 without having learned enough about the case to 
 decide intelligently. This investigation means 
 gathering and weighing evidence or data. 
 
 The need of collecting data is still more evi- 
 dent when the studying process begins with rules, 
 laws, or principles, or some other form of gen- 
 eralized knowledge, and seeks to discover their 
 application. The scientist who, knowing the con- 
 ditions necessary for the culture of the date palm, 
 wishes to find out if it will thrive in the United 
 States, must try to find a place where the neces- 
 sary favoring conditions are all present, and where 
 no harmful element is found to offset their in- 
 fluence. The final proof of the correctness of his 
 reasoning is the actual growth of date palms in 
 the region selected. If the scientist has taken 
 into his account all of the necessary factors, he 
 will select a favorable place and his plants will 
 thrive ; but if he has overlooked some important 
 element, as plenty of moisture for the roots, he 
 may plant his trees where there is an insufficient 
 water supply, and his venture will fail. 
 
 In the matter of doubt, when one's own beliefs 
 
 71
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 are assailed, or when one attacks the behefs or 
 statements of another, there is much searching 
 for data which shall serve to confirm one's own 
 view or to confound that of the opponent. Evi- 
 dence is much sought after in all such cases 
 where one does not rest upon mere dogmatic 
 assertion of authority, as did the learned doctors, 
 who, instead of experimenting to discover if oil 
 will freeze, sought to find out by referring to the 
 writings of Aristotle. 
 
 lo. 77^1? sources of data 
 
 The same means of collecting data may be em- 
 ployed in deductive study as in inductive, and it 
 is therefore not necessary to enlarge upon them 
 here, as they have already been explained. Briefly 
 stated, they are observation, experimentation, 
 memory, imagination, reading, and consultation 
 with others. All of these may be resorted to in 
 solving problems by the process of deductive 
 study. It will frequently be necessary to collect 
 data, but the sources employed will vary with the 
 nature of the problem involved. Unless one knows 
 the problem and is familiar with the sources of 
 materials available for the students who are at- 
 tempting to solve it, it is difficult to lay down 
 specific directions for particular cases. Some- 
 
 72
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 times experimentation must be employed to de- 
 monstrate some principle ; sometimes books must 
 be searched for principles, or for facts illustrat- 
 insf them ; sometimes the information desired is 
 best gained from classmates, teachers, or people 
 outside of school. The nature of the problem 
 will control largely or entirely the method of 
 collecting data, and as problems vary, so also will 
 the sources employed vary. 
 
 II. The organization of ideas a factor in deduc- 
 tive study 
 
 Grouping together ideas which relate to one 
 part of a subject or topic, and then arranging 
 such groups in the order of dependence, whether 
 logical or psychological, gives clearness to the 
 whole subject, and is a great convenience in 
 working with ideas, and in memorizing matter. 
 The lawyer or debater frequently arranges his 
 arguments in the way first described. He first 
 makes his general statement, and then his various 
 points in explaining and sustaining it. He is thus 
 enabled to give an orderly presentation of his 
 material, and in such a way that the audience may 
 get the proposition and the main points in the 
 argument. Sermons are often arranged accord- 
 ing to this same plan. The minister announces 
 
 73
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 a text which is a statement in general terms, and 
 then takes up the argument and application under 
 several heads. A careful listener can get these 
 main points, and from them can afterward re- 
 trace the course of the lecture, argument, or 
 sermon. 
 
 Similar organization is sometimes possible and 
 helpful in deductive study, which makes use of 
 investigation, experimentation, reading, or other 
 sources. A problem may be so simple as not to 
 require it, but there are times when it is neces- 
 sary and helpful, and therefore pupils should have 
 practice in using it. 
 
 1 2. Judgijig the soundness of statements or the 
 adeq7iacy of a theory a necessary factor in de- 
 dtictive study 
 
 In deductive as in inductive study there is oc- 
 casion for the examination of data to determine 
 their accuracy. Whenever statements are em- 
 ployed as a means of arriving at a conclusion, or 
 of demonstrating one already reached, there is 
 occasion for judging their soundness. One will 
 not always doubt the truth of the evidence sub- 
 mitted, yet there are times when doubt should 
 be present, and when statements should be care- 
 fully sifted to determine their rehability. 
 
 74
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 In deductive study, the theory, also, must un- 
 dergo criticism, as we must judge of its applica- 
 bility, its adequacy to the solution of the problem. 
 A theory or principle may be relevant but not 
 adequate, and it is therefore necessary to dis- 
 criminate between that which is sufficient to fur- 
 nish the desired solution and that which is not. 
 
 13. Suspension of jjidgment an element in de- 
 ductive study 
 
 Sometimes a final judgment as to the theory or 
 principle must be deferred, either because the 
 problem itself has not been completely analyzed, 
 or because no adequate theory has been formu- 
 lated, or because we are not able to find the right 
 theory. We must then either accept a judgment 
 or classification tentatively, or we must try to re- 
 move the difficulty which has prevented the de- 
 finite acceptance of a solution as adequate and 
 final. This may be done by further study of the 
 conditions of the problem itself, by an inductive 
 study of the theory, or by further search for a 
 theory which has already been formulated. 
 
 14. The testing of theory in deductive study 
 
 The test by which the adequacy of a theory is 
 determined is its application to the situation which 
 
 75
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 caused the search for the theory. As long as theo- 
 ries are never appHed to problems, it matters little 
 which ones are selected; but little progress is 
 made by this plan. The more genuine and vital 
 the problem, the greater the need of the applica- 
 tion of whatever theory is selected after careful 
 examination. Thus the chemist or physician who 
 attempts to produce a serum for tetanus or rabies, 
 proceeds upon certain principles believed to have 
 been established through the discovery of other 
 serums. Having obtained the serums according 
 to principle, he usually applies them first to some 
 animals to test their efficacy. The bridge-builder 
 or the boat-builder who seeks to meet a new or 
 peculiar situation, not only searches for his theory 
 or principle, but frequently tests it in the manu- 
 facture of a model before using it in the actual 
 situation. The final test, however, is its use in the 
 connection for which it was intended. 
 
 15. Memorizing in connection with deductive 
 
 study 
 
 Memorizing based upon thought-associations, 
 or associations of meanings, is present in deduc- 
 tive study also. It may not always be as promi- 
 nent or as necessary as in inductive study, since 
 frequently the results of previous memorizing are 
 
 76
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 employed and thus the process is tested. In the 
 new work, the relation of the data giving rise to 
 the problem to the theory which solves it may 
 call for memorizing to fix the relation for future 
 use. Teachers often neglect this part of the school 
 work. The pupils learn to reason out situations 
 in arithmetic or geography, and often let the mat- 
 ter rest there. There are many results which 
 should be kept permanently, and therefore the 
 associations should be made strong enough to en- 
 dure. After all the reasoning, there must be a 
 residuum of things known exactly and perma- 
 nently. Memorizing, then, cannot safely be omit- 
 ted. 
 
 l6. Self-expression and self-development through 
 deductive study 
 
 Whenever there is a genuine problem present 
 which is felt as such by the student, and when- 
 ever the factors of logical study are employed 
 freely by him, there is opportunity for the expres- 
 sion and development of self. It requires initiative 
 in deductive study as well as in inductive to discover 
 the problem, see its implications and conditions, 
 and find and test the solution. Where, however, 
 the process is purely formal, and is carried on 
 under the direction and dictation of another, the 
 
 17
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 higher thinking powers of the student remain in- 
 active, and consequently undeveloped. Such for- 
 mal use of theory is seen in the application of 
 rules, principles, or definitions in mathematics, 
 grammar, or physics, when the pupils have little 
 idea of the meaning of the problems and possibly 
 none at all of the rules, definitions, and principles. 
 Carefully conducted experiments have shown 
 that pupils in the elementary schools are capable 
 of using all of the factors of logical study. Obser- 
 vations have shown that they are given little op- 
 portunity to use them. The teacher is the most 
 active element in the schoolroom, and she usually 
 controls much or all of the work. She herself 
 knows very little about thoughtful study, and 
 consequently she cannot give much intelligent 
 training in its use. The result of such a situation 
 is that the child is controlled instead of being 
 trained and directed. He depends upon the 
 teacher to a large extent and is afraid to exercise 
 initiative for fear of consequences ; or else he avoids 
 it because it involves too much energy, or because 
 he distrusts his own efforts. Any one who is a 
 frequent visitor in the schoolroom will testify that 
 the pupils either are given little opportunity to 
 exercise initiative, or else that there is a lack of 
 training in its use. Like other activities, it needs 
 
 7S
 
 NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 training, and thoughtful study affords an excel- 
 lent opportunity for such training. 
 
 General Stimmary 
 
 In conclusion we may say that the factors pre- 
 sent in inductive study are present in deductive 
 study also, though they may be modified to suit 
 the changed purpose of the study, which is to 
 apply principles rather than to formulate theory.
 
 THE RELATION OF RATIONAL 
 STUDY TO TEXT-BOOK STUDY
 
 IV 
 
 THE RELATION OF RATIONAL 
 STUDY TO TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 In the preceding chapters, the steps or factors 
 in logical study, both inductive and deductive, 
 have been described and illustrated. The discus- 
 sion has been general in its nature, as it was 
 thought best to show the broad significance of 
 study before confining the attention to the form 
 it takes under certain limitations. 
 
 Schoolroom conditions and traditional proce- 
 dure are the limitations which hedge in the pupils 
 in the years devoted to so-called study. In the 
 ordinary schoolroom we find a group of pupils 
 of nearly the same age, pursuing the same subjects 
 from the same books, and with freedom of physi- 
 cal activity at least greatly restricted. The ques- 
 tion is pertinent here as to whether the factors 
 present in purely logical study are possible in the 
 study of the text-book. Some reflection upon the 
 nature of text-book work shows that to a large 
 extent these factors may be employed, though in 
 a modified form. 
 
 83
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 I. Consciousness of the author s problem or pur- 
 pose the first factor in text-book study 
 
 First of all, in systematic text-book study as in 
 other study, there is the necessity of some prob- 
 lem. In ordinary experience aside from books, 
 the problem is found in some life-situation, but in 
 the book the author provides it, and the student 
 must find and appropriate it. An author may 
 have written a chapter of psychology to show 
 the nature, kinds, and uses of interest ; of geo- 
 graphy to show how the mountains of Europe 
 affect the climate and drainage of that conti- 
 nent ; or of history to show how New England 
 came to be settled by the Puritans. The problem 
 was present in the author's mind and was worked 
 out by him in some section of his book. The 
 student must rediscover it, and appropriate it as 
 his own in order that he may benefit by his study. 
 His questions to himself must be: "What was 
 the author's purpose in writing this?" "What 
 is the main thought of this section?" "What 
 underlying idea runs all through this chapter, 
 connecting the various parts?" "What impor- 
 tant question is answered in this paragraph or 
 chapter?" "What would be a good heading for 
 this paragraph ? " Through some such self-ques- 
 
 84
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 tioning and self-directing of thought, the author's 
 purpose or problem is revealed, whether in geo- 
 graphy, history, grammar, arithmetic, or some 
 other subject. 
 
 It will frequently be the case that the teacher 
 will bring the class to a consciousness of the 
 problem during the lesson assignment ; it may be 
 with the help of the book, it may be without the 
 book. Then with curiosity whetted, the class 
 studies the book for further information in regard 
 to the problem and its solution. As pupils grow 
 older and more capable of independent work, 
 they should assume more independence in find- 
 ing the problem from the text itself. Less pre- 
 sentation by the teacher should be necessary. 
 
 2. GatJierijig data a factor in text-book sttidy 
 
 When the author's aim has been grasped, the 
 gathering of data is necessary in text-book study, 
 just as it is in any situation where there is a prob- 
 lem to solve. The author supplies much of the 
 material that is to be used when a text is studied, 
 and the student must look upon the book as data 
 presented with the idea of solving the author's 
 problem. The student is not limited to the au- 
 thor's text, however, but may draw upon his own 
 experience and upon his imagination. He may 
 
 85
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 read books, papers, and magazines, and may talk 
 with people who are informed in regard to the sub- 
 ject he is studying. He may perform experiments 
 and make observations. In any or all of these ways 
 he may supplement the author's text and add 
 largely to the material bearing upon his problem. 
 The criterion for acceptance here, as in other 
 study, is the relevancy of the facts to the problem. 
 That which is irrelevant should be rejected, and 
 only the relevant accepted. If, for example, the 
 problem is, " How the mineral products of the 
 Western states have influenced the development 
 of those states," then students engaged upon such 
 a problem may neglect all the statements made 
 by the author which do not bear upon it, but they 
 must sift out and accept that which contributes 
 to its solution. 
 
 It may be urged by some that this gathering 
 of data will consume more time than the class 
 has at its disposal. However, rejecting irrelevant 
 matter saves time; and the examining of other 
 sources than the book can be divided among the 
 members of the class so that the labor is divided. 
 The interest arising from the presence of a prob- 
 lem will also quicken the efforts of the pupils and 
 so save time. 
 
 86
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 3. TJie organizatio7i of ideas in text-book stiidy 
 
 The process of organizing ideas differs in text- 
 book study from the organizing that is done 
 when the student must seek and accept data 
 which have not already been organized. Text- 
 books present a certain form of organization, and 
 the student must discover it in order to see fully 
 the author's treatment of his problem. This in- 
 cludes finding the main points in the chapter 
 or paragraph involved in the problem, and in 
 grouping the related minor points about these 
 main points. This organization of the text may 
 be extended or otherwise changed by the use of 
 supplementary material which the student has 
 gathered and accepted as bearing upon the au- 
 thor's problem. An example of organization of 
 text-book material is the following : Examination 
 of a section in a text-book in United States his- 
 tory shows the author's problem to be the ex- 
 planation of how slavery was introduced into the 
 United States. Further study shows a number 
 of details which group themselves into a few 
 points : — 
 
 How slavery was introduced into the United States. 
 
 1. Reasons for its introduction. 
 
 2. The introduction of negroes as slaves. 
 
 87
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 a. Time. 
 
 b. Place. 
 
 c. Agency. 
 
 3. The introduction of indentured servants. 
 
 a. Reason for practice. 
 
 b. Character of these servants. 
 
 c. The end of white slavery in America. 
 
 Such organization not only shows the author's 
 mode of treatment of his subject, but it also en- 
 ables the student to handle his material more 
 conveniently. It brings out the main points 
 clearly, and about these can be grouped the 
 needed details. The irrelevant and the unimpor- 
 tant are weeded out. As a result of organization, 
 the author's theory as to the solution of his prob- 
 lem should have been grasped by the person 
 who is studying. The act of making such an out- 
 line involves a partial memorizing. The teacher 
 will probably find that it does not require as long 
 a time to memorize such an outline as it does to 
 try to learn the words of the text verbatim in 
 the old way, and the value of the result is 
 greater. 
 
 4. The necessity of defa'red judgment in the 
 sttidy of books 
 
 The same caution which is necessary in logi- 
 cal study in general, in regard to accepting hy- 
 
 ^2>
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 potheses and theories as provisional rather than 
 final conclusions, is necessary also in the study 
 of books. The same conservatism, also, in form- 
 ing such theories is necessary. Forming hasty 
 judgments and jumping at conclusions are of 
 frequent enough occurrence in dealing with lit- 
 erature, history, and other such subjects, to show 
 the need of greater discretion in this direction. 
 It frequently happens that judgments of per- 
 sons, or actions, or of events, are formed before 
 the situation has been sufficiently worked out by 
 the author to make the formulation of theory 
 possible. To anticipate the course of history so 
 as to introduce the results of a movement at the 
 place where its beginning is described is not 
 always feasible or advisable, and final judgment 
 of its significance should be deferred until ade- 
 quate knowledge has been acquired. Any other 
 judgments must be regarded as mere hypotheses, 
 and pupils should learn to regard them as guides 
 and not as proved conclusions. Final judgment 
 of character in literature or history must await 
 the development of events sufficiently to warrant 
 it. The results of some treaties and laws are so 
 far-reaching that immediate judgments as to 
 their value would probably be erroneous. Geo- 
 graphy, also, frequently calls for the use of cau- 
 
 89
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 tion in drawing conclusions. To judge of climate 
 on the grounds of latitude alone, and to think 
 that because the people of the Western states are 
 far removed from the Atlantic seaboard, they are 
 therefore uncultured and live in a primitive way, 
 are manifestly rash acts of judgment, yet such 
 judgments are not uncommon. Further data 
 would doubtless cause the correction of one hy- 
 pothesis and the abandonment of the other. 
 
 If children are permitted to do so, they fre- 
 quently ask their teachers for reasons and expla- 
 nations, showing that they are aware of lack of 
 fullness in their books and that they desire fur- 
 ther data. Here again it happens that the form- 
 ing of a positive theory must await the right op- 
 portunity for the acquisition of knowledge. In 
 the end, the ideas gathered may not be sufficient 
 to warrant the formulation of theory, and if any 
 judgment is formed it must be an hypothesis. 
 But the elements of tentativeness in both hy- 
 potheses and theories must not be lost sight of. 
 The need of final verification must always be 
 kept in mind. 
 
 90
 
 TEXTBOOK STUDY 
 
 5. The consideration of the soundness of state- 
 vients a factor in the study of a book 
 
 The attitude of scientific doubt wliich mani- 
 fests itself in the consideration of the soundness 
 of statements and the validity of data of any kind 
 is quite as essential a factor in text-book study as 
 in any other. If it was necessary to scrutinize 
 statements with a critical eye when the text-book 
 was but one of several sources from which facts 
 were sought, it is the more necessary to exercise 
 care when the book becomes the main source of 
 data bearing upon the problem. Histories, gram- 
 mars, geographies, and other texts have been 
 known to contain inaccurate material, and even 
 the truth is at times so startling as to cause a 
 challenge in the mind of the readers. For exam- 
 ple, a certain text in grammar gives the follow- 
 ing definition of a phrase : " A phrase is any 
 combination of words that does not include both 
 subject and predicate." ^ Then any group of 
 words selected at random might form a phrase, 
 if only no subject and predicate are included. 
 This second definition makes the weakness of 
 the first one more clear: "A phrase is a group 
 of related words without subject and predicate, 
 
 1 Welsh, Lessons in English, p. 34. 
 91
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 and having the use of a single word." ^ The fol- 
 lowing statement in regard to the Russian peas- 
 ants is taken from a geography text-book pub- 
 lished before the recent Russo-Japanese War and 
 still in use : " It was not until 1863 that serfdom 
 was abolished. Hence it is no wonder that the 
 masses are without education ; but great pro- 
 gress is now being made." ^ A certain text-book 
 in United States history, in treating of the open- 
 ing events of the Civil War, says : " But the at- 
 tack on Fort Sumter changed the whole situa- 
 tion. Doubt was at an end on both sides. Vir- 
 ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, 
 forced now to take one side or the other, soon 
 joined the Confederacy."^ The question might 
 well be asked, " What was the situation in the 
 Border states where both sides were represented ? 
 Was all doubt ended there by the attack on Fort 
 Sumter .'' " Furthermore, the statements, " We 
 are to remember that, though the war was caused 
 by slavery, it was not at first about slavery, 
 but about secession,"^ and "The Southerners 
 were naturally more military than the Northern 
 
 1 Webster, Elements of English Grammar, p. 39. 
 
 2 The Werner Grammar School Geography, Part i, p. 244. 
 
 8 Eggleston, Household History of the United States, p. 310. 
 * Eggleston, Household History of the United States, p. 311. 
 
 92
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 people," * are somewhat startling to the pupils 
 who have been taught up to this time that slavery 
 was the cause of the war and have heard little 
 or nothing of secession, and who have believed 
 the Northern soldiers to have been in every- 
 way equal to the soldiers of the South. Such 
 statements should challenge pupils to question 
 and investigate their worth. The author's ac- 
 counts or explanations may be compared with 
 one's own experience. His use of sources and 
 his method of treating problems need to be con- 
 sidered to determine whether he works cautiously 
 or is hasty in his judgments. It is often worth 
 while to ask the questions, " What is the writer's 
 authority for the statements he makes .^ " "Does 
 he base his conclusions upon observations, upon 
 written evidence, or is he relying upon hearsay .'' " 
 These questions are frequently in order in the 
 study of history, geography, and the natural sci- 
 ences. Other books and sources of information 
 may be consulted as a means of verification or 
 correction. Caution is especially necessary if 
 magazine articles and newspapers are used as 
 texts in studying certain subjects or phases of 
 subjects. 
 
 It is not intended that pupils shall question 
 
 1 Eggleston, Household History of the United States, -p. 312, 
 
 93
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 everything they read or hear. Usually they will 
 not need to have doubts as to the reliability of 
 the statements made. But the attitude of ready 
 acceptance of everything needs to be replaced 
 by the attitude of mind which questions that 
 which seems out of harmony with previous ex- 
 perience, which is startling in its nature, which 
 seems to lack sufficient evidence, or which seems 
 too general in its scope. Such instances, and pos- 
 sibly others, furnish occasion for thought and 
 investigation as to the validity of the material 
 offered. In this respect, text-book study does not 
 differ from any other study in which data are 
 presented to throw light upon some situation. 
 Judgment as to the soundness of statements is 
 usually necessary, though due credence should be 
 given to the results of the labors of experts in 
 the several fields of knowledge. 
 
 6. TJie need of verification or the application of 
 theory in the study of the text-book 
 
 The use of verification as a factor in studying 
 books is frequently modified by the fact that the 
 author makes his own application of the theory 
 he has advanced. But because the books are text- 
 books they are limited as to the amount of space 
 that can be devoted to any part of a subject ; 
 
 94
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 consequently, the space which is given to verify- 
 ing theories is usually small, and the amount and 
 variety of material presented for giving facility 
 in their application are often inadequate. There is 
 much that can and should be done to apply the 
 theories, presented in the books and rediscovered 
 by the pupils, to life-situations in which pupils 
 participate. Real occasions for the use of arith- 
 metical ideas and correct grammatical construc- 
 tions are possible, and lend a vitality to the prin- 
 ciples presented in the text-book as the examples 
 given by the author of the book cannot. All of 
 the forms of expression described under this 
 topic in the consideration of logical study are 
 applicable in text-book study, whether it be oral 
 or written expression, constructive work, social 
 activity, some application to the affairs of ordi- 
 nary life, or even the use of the theory as the 
 basis for further thought. To test the matter, let 
 the reader who has followed the discussion of 
 proper study to this point read Silas Marner, some 
 play of Shakespeare, a chapter in some history 
 or other book which contains thought material, 
 and make use of the various steps of study in his 
 reading. Let him note the effects of such effort 
 upon his idea of the right way to study. After 
 such a test, he will be better able to state whether 
 
 95
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 he considers the plan feasible and whether the 
 results are worth the effort. One need only re- 
 cognize the value of application as a factor in 
 higher study and look for opportunities for em- 
 ploying it, and frequently some appropriate form 
 will be found. As was said in a previous chapter, 
 the time for using the theory may be delayed 
 until a favorable opportunity arrives, but often 
 the verification may be made as soon as the theory 
 is clearly understood. Strength and clearness of 
 the ideas are very necessary in order that these 
 may function when there is an opportunity for 
 them to do so. It must not be overlooked that 
 strong feehng associated with an idea aids its 
 recall and adds to its effectiveness when recalled. 
 A purely intellectual idea of a lie is not hard to 
 gain, but if the lie can be shown to be stupid, 
 cowardly, and harmful, there is a greater proba- 
 bility of its being avoided because of the feelings 
 associated with the idea. 
 
 7. Memorizing as a factor in stndy 
 
 With ideas selected and associated through 
 the use of the factors of study already discussed, 
 memorizing of the logical type has been provided 
 for to some extent. Its further use in the study 
 of material selected from text-books does not 
 
 96
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 differ from the memorizing described under logi- 
 cal study. Its use is both possible and advisable 
 in such a connection. /But mechanical memoriz- 
 ing, so commonly employed, is to be avoided,^ In 
 thoughtful study, either the results of reasoning 
 should be memorized, or the chain of reasoning 
 which led to the results. For example, after hav- 
 ing discovered the rule for changing common 
 fractions to decimal fractions, the pupils may 
 memorize the rule, or the steps by which it was 
 developed. 
 
 8. Some phases of deductive study of books 
 
 To any one who is at all acquainted with text- 
 books, it must be clear that there is frequent 
 occasion for deductive study in connection with 
 them. The solution of problems in mathematics, 
 parsing and sentential analysis in grammar, the 
 explanation of geographical phenomena, the in- 
 terpretation of history, the consideration either 
 of form or of thought in literature, the classifica- 
 tions of science, — all involve the calling up of prin- 
 ciples, rules, theories, or other general forms of 
 knowledge, and the application of them to con- 
 crete instances. There is the same need for dis- 
 covery of problem, and for analysis of data as in 
 «iny other study. There is the same need for the 
 
 97
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 exercise of discrimination in the selection of the 
 rule or principle which is to be applied, or of the 
 class to which the individual is to be assigned. The 
 problems may vary in the number of steps of log- 
 ical study involved, but some of the steps will be 
 present always, while others may be present at 
 times. There will always be data to be examined, 
 the problem to be recognized, and some form 
 of general knowledge to be applied to the data. 
 It may not always be necessary to collect outside 
 data, to judge of the validity of the statements 
 given, to organize the material, to suspend judg- 
 ment, or to memorize. The steps involved will 
 vary with the nature of the problem. When the 
 proof of a proposition or the application of a 
 principle or rule is required, facts or data must 
 be collected and examined with reference to their 
 bearing upon the statement which is to be tested. 
 Such examples are found all through geometry : 
 e.g. "The sum of the angles of any triangle is 
 equal to two right angles." In a similar way the 
 axioms in mathematics are tested : e. g. " Things 
 equal to the same things are equal to each other ; " 
 and " If equals be added to equals, the results 
 are equal." Some of the questions found after 
 each chapter in Fiske's " History of the United 
 States " call for the same kind of activity : e. g. 
 
 98
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 " Should all things that ought not to be tolerated 
 be forbidden by law ? " " Was it right for the New 
 Englanders to disobey the navigation laws ? " 
 "Is general disobedience of law and authority 
 ever justifiable?" "Why have so many people 
 come to America to live, and so few left it to live 
 elsewhere ? " In some of the examples given, 
 proof of some general statement is called for. In 
 others, concrete facts are stated, and underlying 
 principles which will explain them are required. 
 In both kinds of problems, generalized knowledge 
 already in possession of the pupils is employed, 
 and hence the study is deductive. 
 
 The criticism has been made that this form of 
 logical study has been over-emphasized in school, 
 and that pupils have been expected to apply gen- 
 eral ideas which they do not clearly understand. 
 Since both inductive and deductive study are pos- 
 sible in school work, it may be said in general 
 that when pupils are found to lack the general 
 knowledge needed for the solution of problems, 
 the inductive form of study should be employed ; 
 but that when the pupils possess the principles 
 needed for explanation or interpretation, the de- 
 ductive form of study should be used. The two 
 methods may thus be used in the same study period 
 in connection with the same lesson, or they may 
 
 99
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 not thus occur. It depends upon the nature of the 
 lesson and the mental equipment of the pupils 
 how frequently and closely they are associated. 
 
 9. TJie relation of proper text-book study to ini- 
 tiative and self-development 
 
 Although the use of books does not afford the 
 same opportunity for the use of one's own powers, 
 nor provide the same motives and interests as the 
 study which arises from life-situations, where the 
 problems are felt to be of moment, yet it does 
 furnish a means for self-development and self- 
 expression if it is rightly used. It is for the 
 purpose of furthering this right use that the ex- 
 planations of this chapter have been given. If one 
 would be helped by the use of books, he must mas- 
 ter them and not be mastered by them ; that is, 
 he must weigh, judge, and test before he accepts 
 statements, or else he will lose his own individual- 
 ity. It requires the exercise of initiative to dis- 
 cover the problems in books, just as it does to 
 discover them in logical study aside from books. 
 It requires it, also, to select data, accept, reject, 
 and organize them, and grasp the author's theory. 
 One of the highest expressions of the self will be 
 found in the testing of statements and in the re- 
 cognition of judgments as tentative because of 
 
 100
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 faulty or inadequate data. And so, also, in the 
 form of application which the student employs, 
 there is opportunity for the development of per- 
 sonality, provided the student be free to exercise 
 choice as to its form. 
 
 If text-book study be limited to rote learning or 
 to deductive study, the opportunities for the exer- 
 cise of initiative and self-expression are greatly 
 limited. Since the school's recognized function is 
 to further the wise development of these powers 
 of the pupils, it should not neglect so valuable an 
 agency as the higher form of study offers. If study 
 could be directed in genuine life-situations where 
 problems of real importance to pupils abound, the 
 opportunities for self-expression and development 
 would be most favorable. But text-book study is 
 not devoid of possibilities in this direction and 
 these possibilities should be recognized and util- 
 ized. 
 
 lO. Are all of the factors employed in all study ? 
 
 Before leaving this discussion of the use of sys- 
 tematic study in connection with school work, 
 the question should be considered as to whether 
 all of the factors of higher study are necessary in 
 all study. The answer must be a decided nega- 
 tive. First of all, as was pointed out in the first 
 
 lOI
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 chapter, a great deal of school work does not deal 
 with the assimilation of knowledge, but with the 
 mastery of technique ; for example, spelling, me- 
 chanical work in arithmetic, and the formal side 
 of reading. There the mechanical side prevails 
 and the readjustment of ideas based upon their 
 thought-relations is not involved. In the second 
 place, much of the subject-matter which does in- 
 volve the relationship of ideas based upon mean- 
 ing is of such a nature as to present little of value 
 in the way of problems. It is intended to enter- 
 tain, or to cultivate taste and sentiment rather 
 than to furnish food for thought. Some school 
 histories, books about nature, and a good deal of 
 the reading matter and literature put before pupils 
 belong to this class. They present few logical 
 problems of value and call for little purposive 
 thinking. Whether they should do so to a greater 
 extent than is now the case is a question worthy of 
 consideration, as is also the question as to whether 
 the logical possibilities, slight though they are, 
 should not be more fully realized. Even in sub- 
 jects or subject-matter which call for systematic 
 study, there are great differences in the nature 
 and importance of problems presented from time 
 to time. Not all problems are worth the time and 
 effort involved in the use of all the factors of 
 
 1 02
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 study ; and some problems may not require the 
 use of all these factors in order to be solved sat- 
 isfactorily. Frequently minor problems present 
 themselves during the study of larger ones. It is 
 sometimes necessary to ignore them entirely or 
 to postpone their consideration until some other 
 time. If their solution is indispensable to the main 
 problem in hand, then time and attention must be 
 given to them as to other problems. 
 
 It may be said, further, that some problems 
 may involve several or all of the factors of sys- 
 tematic study and yet be solved quickly, while 
 other problems may require a long time for solu- 
 tion, being taken up for consideration from time 
 to time as circumstances determine. For some 
 reason the gathering of data may be deferred, 
 and meanwhile the problem may rest unsolved ; 
 or delay may be due to some other cause. In gen- 
 eral it may be said that the length of time spent 
 in studying problems varies. Several may be dis- 
 posed of in one study period, or one may extend 
 through a long period, being considered from 
 time to time as opportunity offers. 
 
 General Sufmnary 
 
 The proper study of text-books does not differ 
 from logical study, but is identical with it. In 
 
 103
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 studying books, the student must discover the 
 author's problem, and must see what data are given 
 which bear upon it. There is the same need of 
 gathering data, and of testing and organizing them 
 that is present when the problem arises from 
 some experience aside from the book. It is clear 
 that books are not always able to offer the final 
 word in the solution of problems, and that the 
 conclusions hazarded by authors cannot always 
 be accepted without verification. In such cases, 
 judgment must be deferred. There is just as 
 much need of testing theories derived from the 
 study of books as there is of testing any other 
 conclusions in order to give certainty and facility. 
 The study of books calls for memorizing, though 
 the memorizing employed should be based upon 
 associations of meaning and not upon mere me- 
 chanical relationships. In deductive study, cau- 
 tion must be exercised that pupils understand 
 the principles which they are to apply. Such 
 text-book study as has been here described is 
 highly favorable to the development of the per- 
 sonality, since it calls for the exercise of initia- 
 tive and of all one's powers, instead of being based 
 solely upon rote memory. It has been shown, 
 also, that while all of the factors of proper study 
 may be employed in the study of a text-book les- 
 
 104
 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 son, it is not always necessary for all of them to 
 be present. The problem may not require it, or 
 the pupils' ability may be such that they can 
 safely omit one or more of the factors.
 
 DO CHILDREN POSSESS THE 
 ABILITY TO STUDY LOGI- 
 CALLY ?
 
 DO CHILDREN POSSESS THE 
 ABILITY TO STUDY LOGI- 
 CALLY ? 
 
 I. The importance of knowing whether children 
 
 can study 
 
 Having seen the nature of logical study and 
 having followed the application of its various 
 steps to the mastery of a lesson in a book, it is of 
 great importance to know whether children are 
 capable of studying in the manner described. 
 Can children see the author's problem, or find 
 the underlying thought running through a les- 
 son ? Can they collect material bearing upon this 
 problem ? Can they find the important points in 
 a chapter, or paragraph, or other section, offering 
 a problem ? Can they question statements, and 
 see discrepancies in the material presented ? Can 
 they, in general, employ the various factors of 
 logical study ? If mechanical study is the only 
 kind of which children in the elementary schools 
 
 109
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 are capable, then the whole discussion of study 
 down to this point is irrelevant so far as they are 
 concerned. 
 
 2. Factors injluencmg the preparation of the ex- 
 periments to detet'mine the ability of pupils to 
 study 
 
 The attempt to find an adequate answer to the 
 question in the preceding paragraph involved the 
 consideration of many serious difficulties. The 
 grades, the number of children, the location of 
 the schools, the subjects to be used in testing, 
 the nature of the exercises, and the manner of 
 conducting them, — all these and various other 
 points had to be determined before the tests 
 could be given. The situation was made even 
 more complicated by the desire to train part of 
 the classes in systematic study after the first tests 
 had been given, and then to give all pupils, both 
 trained and untrained, a second series similar to 
 the first, with the purpose of finding out what 
 differences were to be observed in the results 
 obtained from the two classes of pupils. 
 
 3. The subject and classes chosen for the tests 
 
 The subject of geography was chosen for the 
 tests, both because it furnishes abundant oppor- 
 
 IIO
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 tunities for proper study, and also because it is a 
 subject which is quite sure to be taught in all 
 of the higher grades of the elementary schools. 
 History is not taught so generally as geography, 
 and for this reason was not selected for the ex- 
 periments. The ideal procedure would have been 
 to train the pupils in the method of study in 
 connection with all of their school subjects, and 
 to test them in all of these ; but while the teacher 
 might have trained them in all branches offering 
 opportunities for logical study, the testing would 
 have been too arduous and too time-consuming, 
 especially since more than a thousand pupils were 
 tested. 
 
 The tests were given to pupils of the sixth and 
 seventh grades only. Pupils in these grades are 
 supposed to be able to express themselves suffi- 
 ciently well in writing to be able to work upon 
 the material given. The eighth grade was not 
 chosen because of the possibility of wishing to 
 give similar tests during the following year, in 
 which case the eighth-grade pupils would not 
 have been available because they would have left 
 the elementary school. 
 
 In order to make the results as general as pos- 
 sible, the tests were given to as many classes as 
 could be obtained for the purpose. More than 
 
 III
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 twelve hundred pupils wrote upon the first series, 
 which was given early in the year 1907, When 
 the second test was given three months later, 
 several classes dropped out, and the number was 
 reduced to about eleven hundred. In each pair 
 of tests, only those results were considered which 
 were obtained from pupils present in both of 
 them. Between the time when the first series of 
 tests was given and the time when the second 
 one was written, part of the classes were trained 
 in the use of the factors of study, while the others 
 were left without any change in their mode of 
 working. The second series of tests, accordingly, 
 made it possible not only to compare each class's 
 record with its former one, but also to compare 
 the results obtained from the trained classes with 
 those obtained from those not trained. 
 
 4. The Jiature of the tests 
 
 The first test in each series was probably the 
 most difficult. It consisted of a short selection 
 from one of the geography text-books and was ac- 
 companied by the following requirement: "Here 
 is a lesson from a book such as you use in class. 
 Do whatever you think you ought to do in study- 
 ing this lesson thoroughly, and then tell (write 
 down) the different things you have done in 
 
 112
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 studying it. Do not write anything else." It was 
 hoped that the results would show whether any 
 pupils were employing the factors of logical study, 
 and to what extent they were employing them. 
 
 In another test, the pupils were given a ques- 
 tion with this direction : " Do not answer this 
 question, but write down everything you think you 
 ought to do in finding the answer to it." For the 
 first series in the sixth grade, the question was, 
 " Why is Pittsburg such an important commercial 
 and manufacturing city ? " For the second series, 
 it was the following : " Tobacco used to be grown 
 almost entirely in the Southern States, but now 
 it is grown extensively in the Northern States as 
 well. Why has this change come about }" In the 
 first series for the seventh grade the question 
 was, " Why do terrible famines occur in India 
 every few years .■'" In the second series, the pu- 
 pils were asked, " If you were a voter and a gov- 
 ernor was to be elected in your State, how would 
 you decide which of the candidates to vote for .-' " 
 
 This test, like the first one, instead of making 
 some definite requirement of the pupils, empha- 
 sized the subjective side of the problem. In the 
 first test the pupils were to tell what they had 
 done ; in this one they were to tell what they 
 would do. The object was the same, that is, to 
 
 113
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 discover to what extent the pupils were employ- 
 ing the factors of logical study. 
 
 The last test in each series called directly for 
 systematic study of a lesson. It consisted of a slip 
 containing subject-matter from a text-book, and 
 an accompanying slip containing the directions 
 and requirements, both slips being given to the 
 pupils at the same time. The pupils were to find 
 the answers to the following questions, number- 
 ing them as the questions are numbered : — 
 
 1. What is the subject of this lesson ? 
 
 2. Write a list of the principal topics in it. 
 
 3. What do you think is the most important 
 thing in this lesson ? 
 
 4. What are your reasons for thinking this so 
 important ? 
 
 5. What other facts do you know about any of 
 these topics ? 
 
 6. What questions would you ask in regard to 
 anything in this lesson that is not clear to you or 
 that you would like to know more about.'* 
 
 This test was placed at the end of the series, so 
 that it might not serve as a clue in the writing of 
 any of the other exercises. 
 
 114
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 5. The ability of pupils to find what a lesson is 
 
 about 
 
 The results of the tests indicatethatwhile these 
 pupils do not find the subject of the lesson to any 
 great extent when studying without definite di- 
 rections, they are capable to a considerable ex- 
 tent of finding it when they are required to do so. 
 
 6. The ability of pupils to organise subject-matter 
 
 In judging of the adequacy of a list of princi- 
 pal topics, two questions were kept in mind : Do 
 the topics cover the entire lesson? Do they in- 
 clude the main points only, or are they too de- 
 tailed ? Some pupils gave topics which were very 
 good as far as they went, but they left out some 
 important section of the lesson. For example, in 
 the last test of the second series, a number of 
 children omitted to include a topic which would 
 cover the last paragraph, the paragraph which 
 tells about the homes of the different races, and 
 how the homes of the races are separated from 
 one another. On the other hand, some pupils pre- 
 pared a topic for nearly every sentence in the les- 
 son. Such lists as these could not be reckoned as 
 adequate because they were either too meagre, or 
 because they were too detailed in nature. How- 
 
 iiS
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ever, even such lists show some degree of abihty, 
 and taken into consideration with those consid- 
 ered adequate, they show that these children are 
 able, in varying degrees of efficiency, to analyze 
 a lesson and find the essential facts in it. 
 
 7. The ability of pupils to exercise doubt 
 
 On the whole, the pupils accepted the subject- 
 matter placed before them without questioning 
 its accuracy. The tests do not reveal any power 
 the children in these classes may possess of see- 
 ing discrepancies between what they read and 
 what they know. Whether they really possess this 
 power and would exercise it if permitted or re- 
 quired to do so is a point left undecided by these 
 exercises. 
 
 8. The ability to supplement the text of the lesson 
 
 The evidence in regard to the ability of pupils 
 to supplement the text, that is, to seek data from 
 other sources than the book, is stronger than it 
 is regarding the factors already considered. The 
 supplementing is shown by the fact that the pu- 
 pils drew upon memory for additional data, used 
 their imaginations to picture scenes, resorted to 
 books and maps, and asked questions relevant to 
 the lesson, but not answered in it. They named, 
 
 116
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 also, various ways by which they would increase 
 their knowledge of the lesson if they had oppor- 
 tunity ; e. g.y read books, or question people who 
 know. About thirty per cent of the pupils gave 
 additional facts relevant to the lesson, and about 
 one third asked questions calling for more know- 
 ledge about it. Many questions were so indefinite 
 that their real purpose was obscure, but many 
 excellent questions were asked. The evidence is 
 very strong that pupils can collect data from out- 
 side sources intelligently and profitably. 
 
 9. The ability to see proble7ns relating to the lesson 
 
 The power of the pupils to sense the author's 
 problem is revealed in a curious way. In writing 
 the first test, a number of pupils began to write 
 a list of the important topics in the lesson, and 
 gradually changed their statements to questions, 
 indicating that they had confused the statements 
 of facts with the questions which called for them. 
 They were feeling the author's questions or prob- 
 lems which had brought about the statements in 
 the text. 
 
 In some papers, statements or topics only were 
 given. In others, there were questions only; but 
 a good many were of the mixed type shown above. 
 
 The questions asked in the first and last tests 
 
 117
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 of each series indicate strongly that pupils can 
 feel the author's problem, and can see problems 
 growing out of the lesson presented, that is, sup- 
 plementary problems. 
 
 lo. The ability to group related ideas 
 
 The tests showed almost nothing about the 
 power pupils may have to organize subject-matter. 
 However, a series of experiments conducted by 
 the writer with a fourth-grade class, and observa- 
 tions of other classes, show conclusively that 
 pupils can be trained to see the large points in a 
 lesson, and to group the related ideas about these 
 large centres. 
 
 II. TJie formulation of hypotJieses by pupils 
 
 An unexpected result of the tests was the 
 manifestation of the ability of the pupils to form 
 hypotheses as a basis for solving the problem pre- 
 sented to them. More than a score of children in 
 each of the two grades volunteered explanations 
 which were quite relevant. This was especially 
 noticeable in the sixth-grade test about tobacco 
 growing in the North, and in the seventh-grade 
 test about famines in India. 
 
 Some of the explanations given by the sixth 
 grade are as follows : i. Change in climate 
 
 ii8
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 either in the South or in the North. 2. South 
 needs land for cotton. 3. Better facihties for 
 manufacture and transportation in the North. 4. 
 Cheaper to grow tobacco in the North than to 
 have it shipped from the South. 5. Increased 
 demand for tobacco. 6. Changes in economic con- 
 ditions in the South due to the Civil War. 7. 
 People of the North have learned how to culti- 
 vate tobacco. 8. Possibly a better quality can be 
 grown in the North than in the South. 
 
 In regard to the frequent famines in India, the 
 seventh-grade pupils hazarded the hypotheses 
 that they might be due to climatic conditions, to 
 the nature of the surface, to poor soil, to unfavor- 
 able winds, to inability to obtain sufficient water 
 for irrigation, to occasional floods, to some insect 
 which destroyed the crops, to oppressive govern- 
 ment like that of Turkey, to density of population, 
 to lack of knowledge of farming, to indolence, to 
 lack of foresight or thrift, or to lack of adequate 
 means for transportation and communication. 
 
 Not all the theories advanced were as relevant 
 or sensible as those just given ; but the fact that 
 so many were given is indicative of the ability of 
 children in these grades to form hypotheses 
 which are worth considering as possible explana- 
 tions of the problems demanding solution. 
 
 119
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 General Summaiy 
 
 On the whole, the different kinds of tests in 
 geography given pupils in the sixth and seventh 
 grades show that these pupils can employ the 
 various factors of higher or logical study to a 
 considerable extent. They were evidently not 
 conscious of the steps in systematic study; yet 
 supplementing their account of what they had 
 done or would do in study by the results pro- 
 duced when they were called upon to employ the 
 various factors, a sufficiently large number gave 
 evidence of their use to warrant the conclusion 
 that these pupils can find the subject or leading 
 thought of a lesson ; they can organize the ma- 
 terial presented ; they can supplement the text- 
 book intelligently ; they can ask intelligent ques- 
 tions involving valuable problems ; and they can 
 to some extent formulate sensible hypotheses 
 for the solution of problems. The ability to work 
 in characteristic ways is shown by the sources 
 employed for information, by the theories ad- 
 vanced, by the questions asked, and, to a lesser 
 degree, in various other ways.
 
 ARE CHILDREN TAUGHT TO 
 STUDY LOGICALLY?
 
 VI 
 
 ARE CHILDREN TAUGHT TO 
 STUDY LOGICALLY? 
 
 I. The waste of effort show7i by the tests 
 
 In the preceding chapter it was shown that a 
 sufficiently large number of pupils in the grades 
 tested employed the steps of logical study to 
 warrant the conclusion that it is within the power 
 of pupils of at least the fifth and sixth grades 
 to make use of them. Aside, however, from the 
 indefiniteness of the language employed, which 
 often quite concealed the pupils' meaning, the 
 tests reveal the fact that there is great waste in 
 studying. In the first test of the first series, four- 
 teen per cent described their procedure in study- 
 ing in indefinite terms, saying they would "think," 
 "study," " try to understand." About thirty-eight 
 per cent of the pupils thought the thing to do was 
 to write a more or less literal version of the text, 
 and about twenty-nine per cent memorized the 
 text to some extent. Nearly one fifth of the whole 
 number showed, either by doing notbing at all or 
 
 123
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 doing something not required, that they did not 
 know what to do. These figures show that a good 
 deal of effort was undirected, and that much was 
 misdirected. The pupils wavered between indefi- 
 niteness and mechanical study. They did not 
 clearly know the right things to do, and there 
 was a great scattering of effort in various fruit- 
 less kinds of work. 
 
 The second test in the series shows a very high 
 per cent of those whose ideas were so indefinitely 
 expressed that the meaning could not be deter- 
 mined. It shows, also, great expenditure of effort 
 in unnecessary ways. While about one third of 
 the pupils showed by their answers that they 
 could take adequate measures to solve the prob- 
 lem given, thus indicating that it is possible for 
 pupils of the age of these to do such work, the 
 question is, What about the two thirds whose 
 work was not adequate .'* Some solutions were dis- 
 tinctly inadequate, from about one fourth to one 
 third, and the rest of the papers were so indefi- 
 nite that no judgment could be formed as to their 
 worth in this particular. 
 
 The third test reveals a still greater degree of 
 inefficiency than either of the other two. In the 
 last test of the first series, more than 73.6 per 
 cent of the pupils failed to find the main thought 
 
 124
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 in an ordinary geography lesson; in the corre- 
 sponding test of the second series, more than 86.2 
 per cent failed to find it. More than two thirds in 
 each of these two tests failed to make an ade- 
 quate list of the principal topics, though the mat- 
 ter presented was simple enough for some pupils 
 to make excellent lists. The greatest difificulty 
 experienced by the pupils was in connection with 
 the requirements to find the most important thing 
 in the lesson, and to give reasons for thinking it 
 so important. An appreciable per cent chose a 
 minor point in the lesson, and several chose some- 
 thing not in the lesson at all. Many named more 
 than one thing as being the most important thing 
 in the lesson, some even including practically 
 every point of the lesson. Such answers had to be 
 classified as indefinite. Many gave a topic which 
 was so general, so unlimited, that their answers, 
 too, were marked indefinite. The reasoning gave 
 the poorest results in these tests. It was based 
 frequently upon some personal consideration. A 
 thing was considered most important because it 
 was interesting to the writer; because he had 
 never known it before ; because he had known it 
 before ; because he might need it in his geogra- 
 phy lesson ; because he might need to talk about 
 it some day. Or, having named several items as 
 
 125
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 being most important, a pupil would then ad- 
 vance reasons for the importance of one of them. 
 The lack of clearness in expression and the 
 misdirection of mental activity are shown in the 
 responses to the fifth and sixth requirements of 
 the last test. In response to the question, "What 
 other facts do you know about any of these 
 topics.?" more than fifty per cent of the answers 
 in each test were irrelevant, were taken from 
 the text which was being studied, or bore no re- 
 lation to the requirement, 
 
 2. Reasons why the factors of logical study are 
 not employed more generally 
 
 If enough pupils use the various factors of 
 proper study to show that it is possible for chil- 
 dren of their age to employ them, the questions 
 arise. Why do not many more of the pupils 
 employ them.? Why are they not in common 
 use .? In trying to solve this problem, a study 
 was made of the present schoolroom situation by 
 means of visits to some seventy classes, and by 
 a questionnaire given to one hundred and sixty- 
 five teachers, with the object of trying to find 
 what their ideas in regard to study are, and what 
 they try to have their pupils do when they teach 
 them to study. As far as could be avoided, no 
 
 126
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 clue was given to the teachers writing this qties- 
 tionnaire which could in any way influence their 
 answers. The aim was to discover the things 
 which stood out prominently enough in con- 
 sciousness to secure expression when the process 
 of study was being described or illustrated. Had 
 direct questions been asked about the various 
 factors of study, probably many of the teachers 
 would have felt the influence of suggestion in 
 shaping their replies. 
 
 The questiomiaire as a whole reveals that these 
 teachers themselves are lacking the proper con- 
 ception of the process of higher study; that they 
 tend to exalt memorizing ; and that they do not 
 as a class accord recognition to any factor or 
 factors as being essential to study. In several 
 instances, the factors which they have recog- 
 nized to a considerable extent were employed 
 largely by the pupils in their studies ; and the 
 factors which the teachers have overlooked in 
 their reports were used but little by the pupils 
 in their tests. 
 
 3. A second means of investigating present pro- 
 cedure in teaching children to study 
 
 With the purpose of investigating still further 
 the extent to which pupils are being taught to 
 
 127
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 study in the higher sense of the word, seventy 
 recitations were observed in various cities of the 
 United States. During the year 1905-06, a qties- 
 tiomiaire was sent out to a number of principals 
 of schools. This qiiestio7tnaire was to be filled 
 out by the principals after certain recitations 
 had been observed. While information was de- 
 sired mainly in regard to how the teacher treated 
 the thought-content of the lesson in the assign- 
 ment, what he expected the pupils to do with it 
 in preparing the lesson, and how he disposed of 
 it during the recitation period, other items were 
 added, not only to supplement the chief purpose, 
 but also that they might prevent the main points 
 from being so prominent that the report upon 
 them would be more or less biased. 
 
 At the time that this qiiestiojinaire was sent 
 out, the writer was doing some experimental work 
 with a fourth-grade class in reading; conse- 
 quently, the principals were asked to observe 
 reading classes in the intermediate department, 
 including fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. Reports 
 were received from Duluth, Minn., Madison, 
 Wis., Passaic, N. J., and Baltimore, Md. The 
 writer visited a number of schools, both public 
 and private, in New York City, and several classes 
 in the public schools of Passaic, N, J. The sub- 
 
 128
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 jects in which recitations were observed were 
 reading, history, arithmetic, geography, and lan- 
 guage. 
 
 The data obtained were tabulated according to 
 subjects, and while there is much that is valuable 
 in a recitation which is not susceptible of tabula- 
 tion, for example, the spirit of the teacher and 
 the class-room atmosphere, still it is worth while 
 to note some of the things done or left undone 
 in the way of training pupils to work indepen- 
 dently and logically. 
 
 4. General summary of the questionnaires, and 
 
 observations 
 
 Careful examination of the results of the ob- 
 servations and both questionnaires compelled the 
 conclusion that, although pupils possess ability 
 to employ the various factors of proper study, 
 the teachers lack a clear conception of what such 
 study is. The teachers who wrote the question- 
 naires do not themselves employ these factors to 
 any great extent ; and the teachers observed in 
 the class-rooms are not training their pupils to 
 use them. The teacher is the centre and moving 
 power in nearly all of the work, and the require- 
 ments laid upon the pupils involve mechanical 
 effort to a large degree. The aim of the work as 
 
 129
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 a whole seems to be the mechanical acquisition 
 of subject-matter. 
 
 The development of the power to work inde- 
 pendently, intelligently, and economically is al- 
 most entirely ignored. The teachers do not know 
 of what such study consists and consequently 
 give little thought to its cultivation. They would 
 probably do so if they had definite ideas as to its 
 nature, for they are frequently heard to lament 
 the fact that their pupils do not know how to 
 study or to think. Unfortunately, the books on 
 method give little or nothing in regard to method 
 of study. They deal almost exclusively with the 
 teaching side of the school-room situation, and do 
 not say anything at all about training pupils to 
 study, or else what they do contain is stated in 
 such general terms that it benefits the teacher 
 very little.
 
 CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT 
 TO STUDY LOGICALLY?
 
 VII 
 
 CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT 
 TO STUDY LOGICALLY? 
 
 I. The attempt to train pupils in the use of the 
 factors of logical study 
 
 In Chapter V the statement was made that 
 part of the classes tested in both the sixth and 
 seventh grades were trained in the use of the 
 factors of higher study between the first and 
 second series of tests, the idea being to discover 
 what difference such training would produce in 
 the results of the second series. It must be stated 
 frankly that the conditions governing this at- 
 tempted training were far from ideal. Two of the 
 five classes trained in the sixth grade and three 
 of the four classes trained in the seventh grade 
 were in schools of practice where the pupils were 
 not under the care of one teacher continuously ; 
 but were taught by pupil teachers or special 
 teachers part of the time. Under such circum- 
 stances, the influence and training of even a 
 strong teacher would not have full opportunity 
 
 133
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 to produce their effect, and not all of these teach- 
 ers were strong, either in their mental grasp or 
 their teaching ability. At least two were very- 
 weak. 
 
 Then, too, with but one exception, not one of 
 the teachers of these classes had attended the 
 lectures in which Professor F. M. McMurry of 
 Columbia University had advanced the theory of 
 systematic study; so that they lacked both the lec- 
 tures and the accompanying discussions of them 
 by experienced teachers. They were taught the 
 theory of study at second hand by those who had 
 attended this class, and an interval of three 
 months was a short period for them to learn the 
 theory and then apply it to classes with sufficient 
 success to produce marked results. 
 
 To add to the difficulty, there was almost no 
 literature on the subject to put into their hands 
 to help them in understanding the theory and its 
 requirements, and there were no schools practic- 
 ing the theory which could be observed and used 
 as guides. A copy of a paper read by Professor 
 F. M. McMurry before the Department of Super- 
 intendence of the National Educational Associa- 
 tion in Louisville, Ky., in March, 1906, on the 
 subject, "Some Suggestions for the Improvement 
 of the Study Period," was sent to each teacher 
 
 134
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 who undertook the training work. In addition, 
 there was sent a copy of the theoretical discus- 
 sion of the steps in systematic study which was 
 part of an essay on "The Study of the Reading 
 Lesson in the Fourth Grade," prepared by the 
 writer of this book. 
 
 Under the compulsion of circumstances the 
 work of training was undertaken even with such 
 adverse conditions, and the courage and good 
 will of the school teachers and school principals 
 who aided in the task are gratefully recognized. 
 
 If the training of the pupils was successful, the 
 percentage of pupils in the trained classes who 
 used the factors of logical study in writing the 
 second series ought to be greater than the per- 
 centage who used them in the first series ; and 
 the number of trained pupils who wrote indefinite, 
 general, or irrelevant answers should be lower in 
 the second series than in the first. An examina- 
 tion of the results shows that the changes are 
 not always in the direction of greater proficiency 
 for the trained classes, though even under ad- 
 verse conditions they excelled in a number of 
 particulars. 
 
 Of the answers which are sufficiently definite 
 to show what the pupils did in studying, those 
 which approach nearest to higher study are in 
 
 135
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 regard to finding the subject, finding the impor- 
 tant points, verifying the statements, and supple- 
 menting the lesson. 
 
 2. Summary of tJie comparisons of the trained 
 
 and the ^mtrained groups 
 
 The three tests show that on the whole the 
 trained sixth grades made a better record in the 
 second series than the untrained sixth grades. 
 The trained seventh grades excelled the other 
 seventh grades in finding the subject and in se- 
 lecting the main points of the lesson, both in the 
 first and in the last tests of the series, but their 
 record as a whole was not as strong as that of 
 the trained sixth grades. It is doubtful whether, 
 save in the two particulars mentioned, which are 
 both very important, their record was any better 
 than that of the untrained seventh grades. 
 
 3. An experiment in teaching ptipils to study a 
 
 reading lesson 
 
 Confirmatory evidence of the ability of pupils 
 in the elementary school to study may be seen 
 in the results obtained from a reading class in 
 the fourth grade in the Speyer School, the prac- 
 tice school of Teachers College. A series of six- 
 teen lessons was given by the writer to this class 
 
 136
 
 CHILDREN AND LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 in the spring of 1906, to determine whether the 
 pupils of the fourth grade possess the ability to 
 employ the factors of logical study, and whether 
 they can be taught to use them independently 
 and habitually. The lesson periods were from 
 twenty-five to thirty minutes long, and there was 
 no study period. The text used for reading was 
 a version of the Odyssey edited by Mrs. Lida B. 
 McMurry. 
 
 This series of lessons showed plainly that pu- 
 pils in the fourth grade are capable of finding 
 problems for themselves, of organizing the les- 
 son, of asking intelligent questions, of forming 
 sensible hypotheses, of exercising judgment as to 
 the statements made by the author, of mastering 
 formal difficulties for themselves, and, in various 
 ways, of exercising initiative wisely and profit- 
 ably. It showed, too, that when pupils work in 
 such a way they work with zeal and accomplish 
 much more than is done when they must spend 
 time upon useless details and mechanical meth- 
 ods of working. 
 
 General summary of the tests and experimejits 
 
 The fourth grade was selected for these tests 
 because it is usually the lowest grade in the in- 
 termediate department of the elementary schools, 
 
 137
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 and it was thought that whatever abilities such 
 pupils possess might reasonably be looked for to 
 at least as great a degree in all of the interme- 
 diate and grammar grades. The results of this 
 series of lessons, coupled with the results of the 
 tests in geography given to the sixth and seventh 
 grades, indicate strongly that pupils in the ele- 
 mentary schools in grades including the fourth, 
 as well as higher classes, are able, not only to 
 employ the factors of logical study, but also that 
 by means of systematic effort they can be made 
 to improve in their employment of them.
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING 
 CHILDREN TO STUDY
 
 VIII 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING 
 CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 I. The teacher s attitude tozvard the subjects to be 
 
 taught 
 
 Teachers have asked whether, under the con- 
 ditions in which they must do their work, it is 
 possible to train pupils to study thoughtfully. 
 They must prepare their classes to face exami- 
 nations set by the school authorities, and subject- 
 matter means just so much material which must 
 be learned by the pupils by the quickest possible 
 process in order to cover the field before exami- 
 nation time. As a consequence subjects are not 
 regarded as means by which pupils may be In- 
 structed and trained, but as so many things to 
 be disposed of in the shortest time. But suppose 
 we assume that pupils trained to study can not 
 only master the subjects in less time, but can do 
 so with much more profit to themselves, then 
 what should be the teacher's attitude toward the 
 subject-matter of his grade .? Clearly the mate- 
 
 141
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 rial should assume a new importance. Not only 
 may it be mastered against the day of examina- 
 tions, but it becomes a means of valuable train- 
 ing in ways of working which constitute a real 
 preparation for life. In preparing for class-work, 
 the teacher should not merely study the lesson 
 for his own command of the facts. For the sake 
 of the class he must try to discover the possi- 
 bilities afforded by the lesson for training the 
 pupils in thoughtful ways of working. Which 
 steps can the pupils employ readily in the case 
 of a given lesson ? With which will they need 
 help ? Which must they employ ? Which may be 
 safely omitted ? These questions are a few of the 
 many which will surely suggest themselves to a 
 teacher who undertakes to give his class syste- 
 matic training in the higher form of studying. 
 Like most new modes of working, it may in the 
 beginning require a great deal of time to deter- 
 mine the possibilities of the material, but prac- 
 tice will bring facility. The teacher will be able 
 to see quickly whether the lesson calls for induc- 
 tive or deductive study ; whether the problem is 
 or is not quite apparent ; whether the book offers 
 sufficient data, or whether it must be supple- 
 mented ; what organization is possible or advisa- 
 ble ; whether the lesson contemplated should end 
 
 142
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 in a positive theory or in a suspended judgment ; 
 whetlier memorizing is necessary ; and what 
 forms of verification are profitable and possible. 
 
 2. The teacher's attitude toward the class 
 
 Having done as much of this preliminary 
 work as is necessary, the teacher needs to keep 
 his mind open and flexible, so that he shall not 
 dominate absolutely the efforts of the class. It 
 often happens that the teacher gets his mind so 
 fixed upon his own plan or his own idea that he 
 is totally blind to anything of value in the plans 
 or ideas suggested by the pupils. If the pupils 
 are to be trained, their plans and ideas must be 
 the starting point. They constitute the stock in 
 trade, the raw material with which the work 
 must be done. Guided at first by the teacher, 
 and gradually more and more by their own de- 
 veloping experience, the pupils must learn to 
 judge of the value of their own work, their own 
 recitations, their own theories. To be helpful in 
 this respect, the teacher must be on such terms 
 with his pupils that his presence does not stand 
 in the way of free mental activity. A teacher 
 who frightens his class, who is over-serious, or 
 who is sarcastic, will not be able to make much 
 progress in training pupils to study, since his 
 
 143
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 attitude retards rather than accelerates thinking 
 on the part of the class. Fairness, frankness, the 
 spirit of cooperation, a brisk procedure which 
 brings a sense of accomplishment, — these are 
 helpful to pupils, and experience shows that pu- 
 pils respond to such qualities in their instructors. 
 
 3. The need of training in many directions 
 
 In undertaking to teach children to study, it 
 must be kept clearly in mind that they will not 
 learn the process so as to apply it generally un- 
 less they learn it in connection with many kinds 
 of work involving thought. To narrow the train- 
 ing to the reading, arithmetic, geography, or any 
 other one subject will not necessarily produce 
 trained students except in the subject employed. 
 The training must be general if the application 
 is to be general. 
 
 4. Consciousness of factors not necessary with 
 very young children 
 
 Another point to be kept in mind in training 
 the very young children is that it is quite as un- 
 necessary and just as time-consuming to make 
 them conscious of the reasons for the various 
 steps in studying as to make them conscious of 
 the reasons for the various processes which they 
 
 144
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 learn to employ in arithmetic, or for the various 
 correct forms of speech which they are taught 
 to use. They learn to do many things uncon- 
 sciously in the early days, the reasons for which 
 are wisely postponed until the days of better 
 understanding. The reasons are not always nec- 
 essary to the mastery of the process, and even 
 though the pupils might be made to understand 
 them, the expenditure of time and energy re- 
 quired with little children is out of proportion to 
 the results obtained. They can learn with much 
 greater ease a few years later, and therefore the 
 rational side of many processes can safely be 
 neglected until that time. 
 
 5. Learning to find the problem 
 
 Little children will learn how to study by being 
 trained into right habits of studying by the teacher. 
 In their early oral work in literature, reading, or 
 nature study, the process of training may begin, 
 and as the children gain in power and maturity, 
 more and more may be expected of them. To de- 
 cide upon the name of a story they have heard 
 requires reflection upon the story as a whole, and 
 judgment as to the most striking characteristics. 
 To find a better title to the reading lesson than 
 the author has given, to find a more interesting 
 
 145
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 title, or at least to find a different one that is 
 suitable, will require similar effort, and makes a 
 good beginning in mastering thought. 
 
 In addition to finding the subject of a lesson 
 and finding its large divisions, young children can 
 be trained to see what question or questions the 
 author has answered in a paragraph or section. 
 Teacher and pupilsmay work together at this until 
 the latter get the idea, and then a lesson may be 
 assigned to give practice in their new way of work- 
 ing. Children naturally ask questions calling for 
 more information, more facts or more reasons, and 
 need guidance in making choice of such questions 
 for class use. Questions related to the lesson but 
 not answered in the book, or questions growing out 
 of the thought given in the text, should be en- 
 couraged, and pupils should be trained to dis- 
 criminate between those which are valuable and 
 those which are not. They also need to learn how to 
 express the questions well. A seventh grade which 
 had less than a month of this work grew quite 
 discriminating as to the nature and form of ques- 
 tions suggested by the members of the class. These 
 pupils objected to questions as being too long, as 
 lacking clearness, as telling the answer, as being 
 too simple, as being clumsy or poorly worded, and 
 so on. They were giving themselves some excel- 
 
 146
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 lent training in the art of questioning, and were 
 mastering their texts, since they had to judge of 
 the correctness of the answers given to the ques- 
 tions which they asked. Grades much lower in 
 rank can do something in this direction. 
 
 Children can also be trained to analyze a situ- ' 
 ation or problem and discover what the thing is 
 which is to be known or done, and what the facts 
 are which they can employ in solving the problem. 
 Take an example in arithmetic like the following : 
 A little girl bought two quarts of milk at four cents 
 a pint. How much did the milk cost .-• When such 
 problems are first begun in class, the teacher asks 
 all the questions, as "What is it that is to be found 
 out.?" "What does the problem tell you.?" "How 
 can you use what you know so as to find out the 
 answer.?" and any other questions that are neces- 
 sary. But unless the teacher helps the child to^ 
 help himself, he is likely to remain a helpless depen- 
 dent. He should learn to make his own analysis. 
 He may even need to write down in one column 
 what he knows and in another what he does not 
 know, and then try to find some clue which leads 
 to the solution. In sentential analysis, in parsing, 
 in arithmetic and other branches of mathematics, 
 in geography, just such opportunities for self- 
 questioning, for analysis of the problem, present 
 
 147
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 themselves, and unless they are utilized, we shall 
 continue to have pupils in higher grades and higher 
 schools who wait for the instructor to ask all the 
 questions and direct all thought. It is necessary 
 for the teacher to do all or most of the question- 
 ing with little children, but pupils of the fourth 
 and fifth grades have demonstrated that they are 
 able to assume much of this responsibility them- 
 selves. They need oversight, direction, help in 
 various ways, but it should be help which leads 
 to greater power in breaking up situations or 
 problems and finding right solutions, not help 
 which perpetuates dependence. 
 
 6. The function of the lesson assignment 
 
 In this connection, the lesson assignment as- 
 sumes new importance. It is not merely a time 
 when the pages containing the new lesson are in- 
 dicated. It is the teacher's opportunity to pre- 
 pare the class for right study. If the pupils need 
 i/help in finding the aim, the lesson assignment 
 should pave the way for its discovery. This func- 
 tion of the assignment holds true for all the steps 
 manifestly involved in the mastery of a lesson by 
 a class during a study period. This assignment 
 may occupy a separate period, or it may be made 
 in connection with some lesson out of which the 
 
 148
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 new lesson develops, and with which it is closely 
 related. Opportunity for the assignment of re- 
 lated lessons occurs frequently and should not be 
 overlooked. 
 
 7. Learning to supplement the text 
 
 A form of supplementing the text which little 
 children can begin to use, is the employment 
 of other books upon which they make reports to 
 the class. Or, indeed, the other material may 
 be drawn from any one of many sources ; from 
 books, people, observation, or experimentation. 
 But some supplementary assignment, however 
 simple and easy, is given to the class, or to some 
 individuals in the class, and is to be prepared and 
 reported upon in a future recitation. The child 
 becomes responsible for something definite, and 
 his work assumes a new value in his eyes. Whe- 
 ther he is interested in the task for its own sake 
 or does it through a sense of compulsion, he will 
 still be the gainer. The point is that he learns 
 to use outside sources, to cull the material re- 
 lating to the topic, to arrange it in order, and to 
 give it to the class. As he masters the use of the 
 topical outline, this supplementary work becomes 
 increasingly valuable, for then the pupils' reports 
 are more orderly and reliable. These individual 
 
 149 
 
 iX
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 assignments enable a teacher to save much time 
 for his class, since instead of having all of the 
 class look up all of a subject, he can divide the 
 work, and so get it done more thoroughly and 
 with less expenditure of time by the class as a 
 whole. A certain eighth grade prepares many of 
 its history and geography lessons in the manner 
 above described. When a boy is called upon to 
 recite, he writes his subject and a brief outline 
 upon the blackboard, and then recites to the 
 class, following the order of his topics. The other 
 members may or may not question him. If he 
 has made some important omission, the teacher 
 questions him. He may bring books containing 
 maps or illustrations for the class to examine, and 
 does not hesitate to draw a sketch in a simple 
 way if it is necessary. This work has its begin- 
 nings in the lowest primary grades, where the 
 children are made responsible for something 
 which they can easily find out and which they 
 must bring for the benefit of all the class. 
 
 8. Judging the value of material 
 
 In connection with the work in supplementing, 
 comes the idea of training pupils to judge whe- 
 ther the information they find or present is true. 
 Little children tell some very surprising things 
 
 150
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 sometimes, and we often overlook them because 
 we say the narrators have not yet learned to draw 
 an exact line between the real and the imaginary. 
 But when actual facts are called for and these 
 marvelous contributions are offered, the child 
 should be met with the question, " Do you know 
 that to be true or are you making believe?" 
 Even older people have sometimes to reflect that 
 they are dealing with theories and not with facts. 
 Then, too, children frequently read so hastily and 
 so imperfectly that they get the facts of the book 
 quite distorted. They need to be trained to an ac- 
 curate rendering. In regard to hearsay evidence, 
 they can learn to be discriminating, and to reject 
 the wildly improbable. In many ways which will 
 come to the careful teacher as he looks for oppor- 
 tunity, the pupils in the lower grades can be led to 
 realize that the material which they present must 
 be selected with discrimination, and that it must 
 be true. Reading must be carefully done, obser- 
 vations must be exactly taken, and things heard 
 must be sifted before reports are made. Gradu- 
 ally, as more responsibility is put upon the pupils 
 for the selection of the sources of data, the chil- 
 dren ought to be made discriminating in their* 
 judgment of these sources. They should consider 
 why one newspaper should be consulted rather 
 
 151
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 than another; why one historian or geographer 
 should be preferred to others ; and why certain 
 people's reports are more to be relied upon than 
 others. If they have been alert and critical in re- 
 gard to the work done in class from day to day, 
 this new expression of their judgment should not 
 be arduous. Criticism of sources will often come 
 naturally, as, for example, the criticism of newspa- 
 pers and periodicals of sensational type; of writers 
 whose statements are founded on slight evidences 
 and permeated by an unfriendly spirit. These are 
 only suggestions as to the possibility of training 
 children in the critical judgment of materials. 
 Doubtless the teacher will find many ways of di- 
 recting and training his classes in proper atti- 
 tudes toward data and conclusions. Under the 
 criticism which he is led to make of himself, in 
 addition to that offered by his mates, a pupil v/ill 
 gradually learn to refrain from wild guessing, 
 even if he makes no advance on the positive side 
 of sound thinking. 
 
 9. Learning to organize data 
 
 While preparing some story for oral reproduc- 
 tion or for dramatization, the pupils can decide 
 which part must be told or played first, which 
 next, and so on. In the third and fourth grades, 
 
 152
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 this exercise leads to the formation of an outline 
 for a topical recitation or to serve as a guide in 
 composition. In all such work the teacher should 
 guide the children toward being critical of their 
 own titles, topics, and outlines, commending that 
 which is good and pointing out that which is bad 
 with a statement of the reasons for the judgment. 
 The teacher must not demand perfection in these 
 first attempts, but should accept the pupils' ef- ^y 
 forts without too much correction on his part. 
 As their critical judgment develops, better results 
 can be demanded. 
 
 These exercises, begun with material already 
 presented before the class, prepare directly for 
 individual study of books. As the pupils learn 
 the various steps, they should be given oppor- 
 tunity to use them independently with suitable 
 material, and should be tested in class that the 
 progress they are making in their use may be 
 seen. These topical outlines should be prepared 
 independently by older pupils in preparation for 
 class recitation, as a basis for composition, as a 
 convenient means of note-taking, and for any 
 other purpose where a concise and orderly sur- 
 vey of the content of a given piece of subject- 
 matter is necessary. In the higher grades, the 
 use of the written outline may be superseded by 
 
 153
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 the purely mental outline. Not all pupils may be 
 able to make and hold a topical analysis without 
 notes, but how much they can really do is not 
 known because we have not trained them to use 
 the power they possess, 
 
 lO. Traijiing pupils to work quickly 
 
 Pupils not only need to master the contents of 
 their books systematically and thoroughly, but 
 they need to master them quickly. There are 
 many students, in school and out, who spend 
 hours poring over subjects which they might 
 grasp in minutes rather than hours if only they 
 had learned the habit of working quickly. Teach- 
 ers can train pupils into rapidity even with the 
 first oral work in studying, just as they train 
 them into quick recognition of combinations of 
 letters or figures in reading or arithmetic. When 
 the study of books is begun, economy of time 
 can still be insisted upon, and if a class, or indi- 
 viduals in a class, work too slowly, special exer- 
 cises for increasing rapidity may be employed as 
 in other subjects. Competition of row against 
 row in the time required to prepare a good out- 
 line, to find the subject, to find the first large 
 point, and the like, will accelerate effort. The 
 time which is necessary for the whole class to 
 
 154
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 find the main idea of a paragraph can be noted. 
 Pupils can be encouraged to keep a daily record 
 of the time required to prepare the lesson in the 
 subject which consumes too much time, and to 
 see how much they can lower the time record 
 and still make thorough preparation. The main 
 thing is to rouse their interest and cooperation 
 in the effort to learn to study both quickly and 
 well. Slowness is frequently a habit, and should ^^ 
 be replaced by a rate of performance which se- 
 cures good results in less time. The teacher's 
 thought and ingenuity will help if only he recog- 
 nizes the situation and determines to improve it. 
 Much of the trouble comes, with adults, at least, 
 from thinking that every word must be inspected. 
 They have not learned to sweep through a para- ^. 
 graph to find the salient thought which it offers 
 and to disregard the rest. Consequently, they 
 waste time and wear themselves out uselessly. 
 Habit holds them slavishly. Those who are taught 
 to study when young may escape such slavery. 
 
 1 1 . The value of the ptizzle problem 
 
 An important help in training pupils in analy- 
 sis and in the use of the various steps of study 
 is the " puzzle problem." Such a problem appeals ^^ 
 to the natural interests of children. It inspires to 
 
 155
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 combat, so to speak, and arouses the desire to 
 conquer. The answer is not especially important, 
 however interesting it may be as a sign of vic- 
 tory. It is the intricacies of the process which 
 engage the attention, and challenge one's best 
 efforts. There must be very careful analysis in 
 order to get the exact situation, and means and 
 end must be carefully compared. Such problems 
 used to abound in the old mental arithmetic, and 
 in the miscellaneous problems found here and 
 there in the written arithmetics. The newer books 
 have "puzzle problems" in more practical form, 
 so that the answers have more value ; but when 
 in the old books the dog pursued the hare, or the 
 frog crept out of the well, or the proportions of 
 the head, tail, and body of the fish were con- 
 cerned, the answer had absolutely no value, and 
 all interest centred in the process^ 
 
 Ordinarily, the practical, e very-day problems 
 are best for a class, and should constitute the 
 main part of all applied work. The catch problems, 
 and the less practical "puzzle problems," serve 
 as a stimulus, and can be used occasionally to 
 give zest to the regular work. 
 
 ^ 
 
 156
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 12. The position of the answer: its effect upon 
 
 study 
 
 In this connection, it is not inappropriate to 
 speak of the position of the answer in the book, 
 or in a lesson assigned on the blackboard. If the 
 answer follows the question, an impossible situa- 
 tion is created for the pupils. The pupils are ex- 
 pected to realize the need of the answer and then 
 to find it, — and there it is before their eyes ! 
 Why realize its need, and why find it when they 
 already know it } It would be better to have it at 
 the back of the book or in a separate book. Often 
 it is best not to have it accessible at all and to 
 have all pupils prove their work by employing 
 the results they obtain. A class which has easy 
 access to answers is usually a class which is not" 
 strong in its reasoning. Such pupils are not at 
 all sure of themselves. They frequently juggle 
 with figures until they get an answer that agrees 
 with the one in the book, but they cannot explain 
 their procedure, nor give reasons for the steps 
 taken. Conditions which lead to such intellectual 
 helplessness and dishonesty should be avoided as 
 much as possible. 
 
 157
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 13. The number of steps employed in solving any 
 
 problem 
 
 When the theory of the five formal steps of in- 
 struction was first introduced into this country, 
 a number of teachers gained the idea that all of 
 the steps must be employed in all teaching. The 
 result was that the teaching became mechanical 
 and formal, the teachers were greatly and un- 
 necessarily overworked, and there was not enough 
 gain to the pupils to counterbalance the expendi- 
 ture of energy. If teachers attempt to force pupils 
 to use all of the steps of thoughtful study in the 
 solution of every problem, there will be a similar 
 breaking down of the whole idea. The work will 
 become hopelessly formal and will presently be 
 abandoned. Common sense must prevail ; and 
 the nature of the problem, the ability of the pu- 
 pils, and the materials available for use in solving 
 the problem must influence the steps involved. 
 
 It has been shown in earlier chapters that it is 
 J necessary to all thoughtful study that there be 
 a problem in the mind of the student. This step, 
 then, the realization of a problem, must be pre- 
 sent whether the study be inductive or deductive. 
 Data of some sort must be present, from what- 
 ever source obtained, but the amount necessary, 
 
 158
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 as well as the sources employed, will vary. Some- 
 times very little organization will be required, 
 while at others there will be need of very care- 
 ful and comprehensive organization. In solving 
 some problems, the element of doubt may not 
 enter at all as a factor, while at other times there 
 may be need of close scrutiny of both hypothe- 
 sis and data. Some problems are so simple, and 
 the material attainable is so convincing, that a 
 final judgment may be given quickly ; but this is 
 not always possible. It may be necessary to de- 
 fer for a time a definite conclusion ; indeed, final 
 answers are sometimes never possible to the - 
 student who first discovers the problem. The 
 theory of world formation is still an hypothesis, 
 though it is long since men first began to reflect 
 upon the making of worlds. 
 
 Memorizing, too, will vary. It may not be re- 
 quired at all; the order of the steps thought 
 out may be memorized ; the conclusions may be 
 learned in the pupils' own wording ; or memo- 
 rizing may be necessary as in learning poems, 
 rules, definitions, and other forms. It should be 
 based upon understanding, and then carried out 
 with vigor. Close attention and energy devoted 
 to the formal side, after the ideas have been 
 mastered, will make the process relatively easy. 
 
 159
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 j/^As to verification, there should be enough of 
 it, in some form, to satisfy the problem. In alge- 
 bra and other forms of mathematics, this verifi- 
 cation is carried out by employing the answer 
 found and seeing if it satisfies the conditions laid 
 down in the examples given. In the case of cer- 
 tain social theories, one may point to actual situa- 
 tions as a verification or may follow out imagi- 
 nary results. Enough to satisfy the problem makes 
 a good working rule for verification. In the past, 
 our sins in this respect have been those of omis- 
 sion rather than those of commission. We are 
 more likely to require too little than too much 
 verifying, and to fail in improving valuable op- 
 portunities for training in testing results. The 
 consequence is that pupils are left satisfied with 
 very immature theories, and with little or no 
 conception of the necessity and value of proof. 
 
 14. TJie order in whicJi the factors of study are 
 
 employed 
 
 Either reflection or experience will show a 
 teacher that the factors of proper study will not 
 always be employed in the same order. For ex- 
 ample, doubt may be present at almost any stage 
 in the solution of a problem ; and some memo- 
 rizing may be necessary when a part of the work 
 
 160
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 has been accomplished in order to hold the re- 
 sults already achieved. In working out some 
 long or involved rule or definition by the induc- 
 tive method, it is often best to work out one 
 part at a time and fix it firmly in the mind before 
 proceeding to another section of the problem, •' 
 Furthermore, the collecting of data is not limited 
 to a certain place in study. The student may 
 need to search for facts to enable him to define 
 his problem clearly, or to help him formulate a 
 theory for the solution of the problem, or to test 
 the theory when it has been formulated. Hard 
 and fast rules as to the order of the steps in 
 thoughtful study can hardly be laid down. Re- 
 cognition of the problem has been called the first 
 step, but even this first step may be accompa- 
 nied by doubt, by the collecting of data, and 
 possibly by some of the others. 
 
 Whenever data are employed, the necessity 
 for the exercise of doubt and for organization 
 may arise ; and whenever theories are formulated, 
 there may be occasion for decision as to whether 
 the conclusions are final or merely tentative. 
 Naturally, verification must follow the forming ' 
 of conclusions or theories. The path can only be 
 marked out broadly for the use of the steps, and 
 the conditions present when some individual prob- 
 
 i6i
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 lem is under consideration will influence the vari- 
 ations from the path. 
 
 To illustrate the variation in procedure, we 
 may think of the problems connected with fish- 
 ing as they are studied by the pupils who live in 
 the fishing towns on the New England coast and 
 as they would have to be studied by children 
 living inland. The latter would probably have to 
 gather much information about fishermen and 
 fishing before they could even realize the nature 
 of the problems ; while the pupils living in the 
 midst of the trade can more easily appreciate 
 them, since they know the situation at first hand. 
 These children of the coast, too, can gather their 
 data from observation and consequently need 
 not suspect their sources of information of being 
 unreliable, as the other class of children might 
 be obliged to do. They are also in a better posi- 
 tion to verify conclusions. The whole situation 
 is more favorable for them than for pupils remote 
 from the sea. But when the problem relates to 
 life on the plains or in the mountains, then the 
 situation above described is exactly reversed, and 
 the order of the steps of study would be mate- 
 rially changed for both sets of pupils ; also, the 
 extent to which some of the steps would be em- 
 ployed. 
 
 162
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 15. External aids to study 
 
 There are several external aids to study which 
 pupils should master as they have need of them. 
 c^ne of these is the use of the dictionary. Chil- 
 dren should know how to find a word, pronounce 
 it, and select the one meaning which is appli- 
 cable to the situation in which the word is used. 
 To use the dictionary and pronouncing vocabu- 
 laries properly, the pupils must know how to in- 
 terpret the accent marks and also the common 
 diacritical marks. Where several meanings are 
 given, they must learn to choose the appropri- 
 ate one. If they are looking for the meanings of 
 words to satisfy a conscious need, they will be 
 more likely to choose the correct definition, or 
 the suitable synonym. . 
 
 A second aid is the table of contents of a book. 
 Pupils looking for material usually need to be 
 trained to use the table of contents, or even to 
 discover its existence. They need practice in find- 
 ing the appropriate chapter, and then the part of 
 the chapter relevant to the subject which is under 
 consideration. Training in the use of an alpha-: 
 betical index is also necessary. It is time well 
 spent to teach the use of these various aids, and, 
 when experience shows it to be necessary, to 
 
 163
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 give special drill in the use of the dictionary, 
 pronouncing vocabulary, table of contents, and 
 index. 
 
 {/ The encyclopaedia offers a new difficulty be- 
 cause of its exhaustive treatment of various top- 
 ics. Pupils need to learn how to find the volume 
 needed, the topic in the volume, and the part of 
 the article desired. The treatment of the mate- 
 rial when found has already been described, as 
 that is study of content. 
 
 When the pupils are old enough to use libraries 
 where Poole's or other annual indexes of current 
 literature are found, a new aid to study must be 
 mastered, and either the teacher or some library 
 assistant should give the necessary instruction. 
 
 ♦•The use of the card catalogue of authors and 
 titles may be learned in the same lesson. All 
 these aids to study are a part of literary life. We 
 frequently assume that knowledge of their use is 
 universal, and consequently give the rising gen- 
 eration no help in processes which in themselves 
 are not natural but must be learned. Training in 
 these external aids greatly extends the power of 
 pupils to acquire new material for themselves, 
 and enables them to work much more rapidly. 
 
 164
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 i6. Hindrances to training pupils to stndy 
 a. Individual differences in ability 
 
 Doubtless many teachers will think that in 
 their particular conditions nothing can be done 
 towards teaching their pupils to study because' 
 the obstacles are too great. They may urge as 
 one objection that their pupils vary greatly in 
 ability, and that therefore they cannot hope to 
 give effective training in systematic study. It 
 is not clear why inequality of ability should be a 
 hindrance to training in proper study any more 
 than it is a hindrance to any kind of teaching or 
 training. No class of children have equal abilities 
 in any one line, and yet teachers attempt to train 
 classes in many directions. The objection urged 
 applies equally to all work, and need not prevent 
 training in study, since it does not prevent train- 
 ing in other lines. 
 
 Proper study gives the bright pupils a fitting 
 opportunity to use their powers, since they may 
 exercise initiative, search widely for materials, 
 experiment, make reports, and in various ways 
 employ their activities. They derive a benefit from 
 being bright which mere memorizing never be- 
 stows. The slower, duller pupils will lose nothing 
 by using their powers intelligently. At the worst, 
 
 i6s
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 they can only fall back upon memorizing, a pro- 
 cess to which they have been accustomed. 
 
 b. The limitations of the teacher 
 
 The teacher will find his own limitations to lie 
 .. in mastering the theory of study, in applying it 
 to his own study, and in teaching others to em- 
 ploy it. But these same hindrances have existed 
 in connection with every advance in method and 
 also in connection with every new subject intro- 
 duced into the curriculum. They are transient. 
 Not all teachers can learn to train pupils with 
 the same degree of success, but with study and 
 with thoughtful trial, progress can be made. 
 There is no royal road in this special kind of 
 work, any more than there is in others ; but the 
 obstacles can be overcome, to a great degree at 
 least, by intelligent, persistent effort. Practice will 
 make it much easier to lead the pupils to see prob- 
 lems and to become more self-helpful in solving 
 them. Furthermore, as the children grow in the 
 use of right methods of study, the teacher's work 
 should become easier and more pleasing. The 
 child will do his share of work and the teacher 
 will be supervising interesting thought, not drill- 
 '^ ing on barren words. 
 
 i66
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 c. TJie tendency to overestimate small points 
 
 One tendency which teachers will need to 
 guard against will be the tendency of the pupils 
 to attach too much importance to small points, 
 to quibble over little things, and to spend too 
 much time upon non-essentials. Because of their 
 immaturity and lack of experience, children lack 
 perspective and so are willing to spend time upon 
 unimportant subjects. Their judgment needs ^ 
 developing. Consequently they need to consider 
 such questions as these : Does the point you are 
 considering bear upon the subject we are dis- 
 cussing .? Is it important enough to justify our 
 spending much time upon it } It may be neces- 
 sary at times for the teacher to sweep the whole 
 discussion aside with the statement that it is not 
 valuable, and to direct the class to the considera- 
 tion of other data or problems. An experienced 
 teacher, in speaking of the difficulties lying in 
 the way of permitting children to exercise initia- 
 tive, said that he thought the initiative would 
 have to be directed. He is doubtless right. Some- 
 where between absolute direction at one extreme, 
 and absolute freedom of initiative at the other, 
 the wiser course will be found. 
 
 167
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 d. The lack of logical arrangement of subject- 
 matter in books 
 
 The arrangement of material in text-books will 
 sometimes be found to constitute a barrier to 
 proper study because the subject-matter is not 
 well organized. Paragraphs are so confused that 
 the author of the book as well as any one else 
 would have great difficulty in writing paragraph 
 headings. There is no logical order but rather a 
 rambling, disconnected mass of statements. It is 
 difficult to use such texts as supplementary ma- 
 terial, and still more difficult to use them as 
 sources of problems, since the authors themselves 
 were apparently not aware of any. This lack of 
 organization offers a genuine difficulty to pupils. 
 If texts are selected which are well arranged, 
 some of the difficulty will be overcome. It may, 
 however, sometimes be necessary to use inferior 
 texts because they are the best to be obtained. 
 
 When the subject-matter is poorly arranged, 
 the teacher ought to do more teaching and to rely 
 less upon the book. The latter becomes more of 
 a reference book, a source for data bearing upon 
 the problems developed in class. The pupils will 
 be better able to sift out relevant material from 
 a somewhat incoherent text than to discovei 
 
 i68
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 problems when the author himself was not keenly 
 conscious of them. Both teacher and pupils are 
 at a disadvantage in using such books, but they 
 exist as sources for information both in school 
 and out, and the best must be made of them. 
 
 17. Effect of proper study upon schoolroom 
 
 procedure 
 
 Any course of procedure which influences 
 greatly the spirit of a school must affect the 
 discipline of that school to a marked degree. 
 Studying for the purpose of satisfying needs, of 
 solving problems, must result in a different atti- 
 tude towards subject-matter on the part of both 
 teacher and pupils. It involves cooperation and 
 a spirit of good fellowship between teacher and 
 class. Out of these spiritual and mental attitudes 
 must come a kind of schoolroom procedure which 
 is very different from the rigid, repressive dis- 
 cipline which allows no initiative to pupils, and 
 which centres all in the teacher. With the inter- 
 est of the class aroused, the teacher has less oc- 
 casion to resort to compulsion or to penalties in 
 order to have lessons prepared. Nor should dis- 
 cipline be so difficult when pupils are working 
 for purposes growing out of their own interests. 
 Pupils will need to have freedom to consult maps, 
 
 169
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 charts, and books of reference if they are to col- 
 lect data bearing upon their problems. They 
 may need to learn to do this in a proper way and 
 at proper times, so as to cause as little disturb- 
 ance as possible to class exercises. Some pupils 
 need to realize that it is often best to find what 
 their own text-books have to say on a subject be- 
 fore they go to the reference shelves for other 
 books. But on the whole, with a working spirit, 
 there will be an atmosphere of work, and that 
 need not be unruly. It is for the teacher to see 
 that energy is not dissipated and that the free- 
 dom of a busy class does not degenerate into a 
 state of disorder which makes fruitful effort im- 
 possible to those who wish to study. 
 
 It has been shown in preceding chapters that 
 the class exercises cannot consist solely of a series 
 of questions propounded by teachers and answered 
 by pupils, or of mere memory recitations of text. 
 There will of necessity be questioning by the pu- 
 pils themselves, the suggestion and discussion 
 of theory, the weighing of statements made by 
 different members of the class, and, in short, 
 participation in a variety of ways by the class. 
 /The pupils should be expected to exercise initi- 
 ative in discovering and solving problems relat- 
 ing to the school, whether they be problems per- 
 
 170
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 taining to lessons or to discipline. They require 
 encouragement and training in the wise develop- 
 ment of such initiative. It is an important duty 
 of the teacher to meet this requirement. Pupils 
 should be held responsible for the recitations 
 of their mates. They should demand that such 
 recitations be made in tones loud enough to be 
 heard. They should challenge incorrect and irrel- 
 evant statements, instead of leaving all criticism 
 to the teacher, who, to be sure, usually assumes 
 it at the beginning of the term and never dele- 
 gates it. Responsibility should be placed upon 
 the pupils more and more as they develop in 
 ability. Children are not unwilling to exercise 
 activity in the ways mentioned. The difficulty in 
 many cases is that they are not expected or per- 
 mitted to do so. 
 
 A large share of the teacher's responsibility 
 is responsibility which belongs rightfully to the 
 class. This point has already been touched upon 
 in a preceding paragraph, but will bear repeti- 
 tion. The teacher who asks all the questions, 
 finds all the large points, makes all the summa- 
 ries and outlines, decides whether the problem is 
 solved or not, is doing the work which pupils 
 should do. Children in an average fourth grade 
 can perform many of the activities just men- 
 
 171
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 tioned. A fifth grade can do still more, and 
 higher grades will be found even more capable. 
 
 The field is open for experimentation in these 
 and other lines in teaching children to study. 
 The conclusions and suggestions here presented 
 are based upon observations made in a large num- 
 ber of classes, and some good results have been 
 witnessed. Experience has shown that even a lit- 
 tle effort put forth brings a rich reward, though 
 as yet the whole movement is in its beginning. 
 Some teachers of only average ability have tried 
 to train very ordinary classes into habits of sys- 
 tematic study, and have seen most encouraging 
 results within a few weeks ; so that no teacher 
 should refuse to attempt to train his class be- 
 cause he thinks that only a chosen few can study 
 successfully. The need of such training is urgent, 
 and those teachers who will grapple boldly with 
 the problems involved in it, who will discover 
 the best ways of working with pupils, the diffi- 
 culties to be avoided or overcome, and who will 
 put the results of their efforts before the teach- 
 ing world in some accessible form will be render- 
 ing valuable service. For the most part, however, 
 each teacher will have to work out his own de- 
 vices, based upon the fundamental principles. 
 In conclusion, one caution is urged upon teach- 
 
 172
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 ers, and that is that they avoid making this train- 
 ing too formal. One teacher thought the best way 
 to train her class was to teach it to recite the 
 steps of logical study in order. She quite missed 
 the point of the whole idea. If the children learn 
 what the steps are from their frequent use of 
 them, no harm is done ; but simply to memorize 
 them makes the whole theory a lifeless form. 
 
 It is difficult to write suggestions, because as 
 soon as written they appear very rigid and lack- 
 ing in adaptability. Let it be remembered that 
 the teacher must read the spirit into what has 
 been said, and that he must not lose touch with 
 it as he teaches. If only he will do that, he will 
 be able to work out much more for himself than 
 the writer has been able to suggest. 
 
 General Summary 
 
 (i) The teacher who undertakes to teach his 
 pupils to study must regard the subject-matter of 
 instruction as a means of training in right habits 
 as well as a means of acquiring knowledge. (2) 
 He must establish friendly relations with the 
 pupils, and must cooperate with them. (3) The 
 training cannot be confined to one subject if it is 
 to be general in its application. It must be asso- 
 ciated with all possible situations. (4) Little 
 
 173
 
 TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 children should be trained to study without con- 
 sciousness of the method. Right habits are the 
 first consideration with them. As pupils grow 
 older, they may be made conscious of the factors 
 of proper study, so that they may better under- 
 stand how to direct their own efforts. (5) In the 
 earlier stages of training pupils to study, the 
 teacher will need to work with the class, and 
 he will throw the pupils upon their own resources 
 as their ability to use the factors of study de- 
 velops. (6) This training will include all of the 
 phases of study at some time, but not all of 
 the factors will necessarily be employed in every 
 lesson. (7) The order in which the factors of 
 study are employed is not fixed. (8) In training 
 pupils to study, the use of such external aids as 
 the dictionary, the encyclopaedia, pronouncing 
 gazetteers, indexes, tables of contents, and card 
 catalogues must be included in the process. (9) 
 While various obstacles oppose themselves to the 
 successful issue of training pupils to study pro- 
 perly, very few of them are peculiar to this branch 
 of training, and none are insurmountable. (10) 
 The teacher must accustom the pupils to assume 
 responsibility, to exercise initiative, to participate 
 in the work of the class and school, to ask ques- 
 tions, and to be critical of their own efforts and 
 
 174 
 
 ■e .-
 
 TRAINING CHILDREN TO STUDY 
 
 those of their classmates. The teacher must to 
 some extent eliminate himself. He must con- 
 tribute less, and must demand greater contribu- 
 tions from the class. He must perform less of the 
 work, and must train the pupils in thoughtful 
 ways of working. 
 
 Note. — The following books contain helpful ideas on 
 method of study : — 
 
 F. M. McMuRRY, How to Study and Teaching How 
 to Sttidy. 
 
 F. M. McMuRRY, "Some Suggestions for the Im- 
 provement of the Study Period," Proceedings of 
 the N. E. A. 1906. 
 
 John Dewey, School and Society ; Moral Principles 
 in Education. 
 
 W. C. Bagley, The Educative Process, chap. xxi. 
 
 E.L.TuORNUiKE, Principleso/Teaching,chaps.ix,x. 
 
 William James, TalAs to Teachers.
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 (for study and discussion, consisting of chapter, main and sub-head- 
 ings as given in body of work) 
 
 I. THE NATURE OF LOGICAL STUDY 
 
 Page 
 
 1. The universal necessity for study i 
 
 2. The inadequacy of instincts to solve problems . 3 
 
 3. The need of learning how to study 3 
 
 4. The nature of study 4 
 
 5. The kind of thinking employed in studying ... 6 
 
 6. The origin or source of the problem 7 
 
 a. Failure of habitual modes of thought and ac- 
 
 tion 7 
 
 b. The need of relating new knowledge to 
 
 old 8 
 
 c. Conflict of ideas 9 
 
 d. Curiosity as a source of problems . . . .11 
 
 e. The necessity for activity 12 
 
 f. Feeling as a source of problems 13 
 
 7. The aim of study 15 
 
 8. Thinking, memorizing, and habit-forming . . .16 
 
 9. The relation of the problem to the person who is 
 
 to study 17 
 
 ID. The need of definiteness in the aim 19 
 
 II. Recognition of the problem the first factor in logi- 
 cal study 21 
 
 General Summary 21 
 
 177
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 II. THE NATURE OF INDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 Page 
 
 1. The distinction between inductive and deductive 
 
 study 25 
 
 2. Collecting data a factor in inductive study ... 26 
 
 a. Memory a source of data 27 
 
 b. Group-experience a source of data .... 28 
 
 c. Experimentation and observation as sources 
 
 of data 29 
 
 d. The teacher as a source of information . .31 
 
 e. Lectures versus books as sources of data . 32 
 
 f. The use of original sources by pupils ... 33 
 
 g. The fallacy of relying habitually upon one 
 
 source of data 35 
 
 h. The rejection of irrelevant data 35 
 
 i. The necessity of having data representative . 36 
 
 3. The organization of ideas a factor in inductive 
 
 study 37 
 
 4. The results of the selection and organization of 
 
 data 39 
 
 5. Scientific doubt a factor in inductive study ... 40 
 
 6. The tentative nature of hypotheses and theories . 44 
 
 7. Verification, or the application of theory, a factor 
 
 in study 46 
 
 8. The place of memorizing in inductive study . . 49 
 
 9. The preservation of self in and through study . .52 
 General Summary 55 
 
 III. THE NATURE OF DEDUCTIVE STUDY 
 
 1. Necessity of understanding the problem .... 61 
 
 2. Deductive study which begins with the data . . 61 
 
 178
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 Page 
 
 3. Deductive study which begins with general know- 
 
 ledge 63 
 
 4. General knowledge prerequisite to deductive study 65 
 
 5. Using generalizations in related fields .... 66 
 
 6. The study of typical forms 67 
 
 7. The use of analogy in moral training 67 
 
 8. Doubt as a source of problems 69 
 
 9. The need of collecting data 7° 
 
 10. The sources of data 72 
 
 11. The organization of ideas a factor in deductive 
 
 study 73 
 
 12. Judging the soundness of statements or the ade- 
 
 quacy of a theory a necessary factor in de- 
 ductive study 74 
 
 13. Suspension of judgment an element in deductive 
 
 study 75 
 
 14. The testing of theory 75 
 
 15. Memorizing in connection with deductive study . 76 
 
 16. Self-expression and self -development through de- 
 
 ductive study 77 
 
 General Summary 79 
 
 IV. THE RELATION OF RATIONAL STUDY TO 
 TEXT-BOOK STUDY 
 
 1. Consciousness of the author's problem or pur- 
 
 pose the first factor in text-book study . . 84 
 
 2. Gathering data a factor in text-book study ... 85 
 
 3. The organization of ideas in text-book study . . 87 
 
 4. The necessity of deferred judgment in the study 
 
 of books 88 
 
 5. The consideration of the soundness of statements 
 
 3 factor in the study of a book 91 
 
 179
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 Pagb 
 
 6. The need of verification or the application of 
 
 theory in the study of the text-book ... 94 
 
 7. Memorizing as a factor in study 96 
 
 8. Some phases of deductive study of books ... 97 
 
 9. The relation of proper text-book study to initia- 
 
 tive and self-development 100 
 
 10. Are all of the factors employed in all study? . . loi 
 General Summary 103 
 
 V. DO CHILDREN POSSESS THE ABILITY TO 
 STUDY LOGICALLY? 
 
 1. The importance of knowing whether children can 
 
 study 109 
 
 2. Factors influencing the preparation of the experi- 
 
 ments to determine the ability of pupils to 
 study no 
 
 3. The subject and classes chosen for the tests . .110 
 
 4. The nature of the tests 112 
 
 5. The ability of pupils to find what a lesson is about 115 
 
 6. The ability of pupils to organize subject-matter 115 
 
 7. The abihty of pupils to exercise doubt . . . .116 
 
 8. The ability to supplement the text of the lesson 116 
 
 9. The ability to see problems relating to the lesson 117 
 
 10. The ability to group related ideas 118 
 
 11. The formulation of hypotheses by pupils . . .118 
 General Summary 120 
 
 VI. ARE CHILDREN TAUGHT TO STUDY 
 LOGICALLY ? 
 
 1. The waste of effort shown by the tests . . . .123 
 
 2. Reasons why the factors of logical study are not 
 
 employed more generally 126 
 
 180 
 
 I
 
 t 
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 Page 
 
 3. A second means of investigating present proce- 
 
 dure in teaching children to study . . . .127 
 
 4. General summary of the questionnaires, and ob- 
 
 servations 129 
 
 VII. CAN CHILDREN BE TAUGHT TO STUDY 
 LOGICALLY ? 
 
 1. The attempt to train pupils in the use of the fac- 
 
 tors of logical study I33 
 
 2. Summary of the comparisons of the trained and 
 
 the untrained groups 136 
 
 3. An experiment in teaching pupils to study a read- 
 
 ing lesson 136 
 
 General summary of the tests and experiments . 137 
 
 Vm. SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING CHILDREN 
 
 TO STUDY 
 
 1. The teacher's attitude toward the subjects to be 
 
 taught 141 
 
 2. The teacher's attitude toward the class . . . .143 
 
 3. The need of training in many directions . . .144 
 
 4. Consciousness of factors not necessary with very 
 
 young children I44 
 
 5. Learning to find the problem I45 
 
 6. The function of the lesson assignment .... 148 
 
 7. Learning to supplement the text 149 
 
 8. Judging the value of material 150 
 
 9. Learning to organize data 152 
 
 10. Training pupils to work quickly IS4 
 
 11. The value of the puzzle problem I5S 
 
 12. The position of the answer: its effect upon 
 
 study 157 
 
 181
 
 OUTLINE 
 
 Page 
 
 13. The number of steps employed in solving any 
 
 problem icg 
 
 14. The order in which the factors of study are em- 
 
 ployed 160 
 
 15. External aids to study 163 
 
 16. Hindrances to training pupils to study .... i6» 
 
 a. Individual differences in ability i6t, 
 
 b. The limitations of the teacher 166 
 
 c. The tendency to overestimate small points . 167 
 
 d. The lack of logical arrangement of subject- 
 matter in books 168 
 
 17. Effect of proper study upon schoolroom proce- 
 
 dure 1(5^ 
 
 General Summary ..... 173
 
 CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
 U . S . A
 
 RIVERSIDE EDUCATIONAL 
 MONOGRAPHS 
 
 GENERAL EDUCATIONAL THEORY 
 Dkwkt's moral principles in education 36 
 
 Eliot's EDUCATION FOR EFFICIENCY 36 
 
 Eliot's TENDENCY TO THE CONCRETE AND PRACTICAL IN MOD- 
 ERN EDUCATION. Ill Press. 
 
 E merson's EDUCATION SB 
 
 riSKE's THE MEANING OF INFANCY 36 
 
 Hyde's THE TEACHER'S PHILOSOPHY 36 
 
 Palmer's THE IDEAL TEACHER 36 
 
 Prosser's THE TEACHER AND OLD AGE 60 
 
 Terma.n's THE TEACHER'S HEALTH 60 
 
 Thobndike's INDIVIDUALITY. 36 
 
 ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS 
 
 Bbtts's new IDEALS IN RURAL SCHOOLS 60 
 
 Bloomfield's VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE OF YOUTH 60 
 
 Cubberlet's CHANGING CONCEPTIONS OF EDUCATION 36 
 
 Cubberley's the improvement OF RURAL SCHOOLS 35 
 
 Perry's STATUS OF THE TEACHER 36 
 
 Snbdde.n's THE PROBLEM OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 36 
 
 Trowbridge's THE HOME SCHOOL 60 
 
 Weeks's THE PEOPLE'S SCHOOL 60 
 
 METHODS OF TEACHING 
 Bailey's ART EDUCATION. Iji Press. 
 
 Betts's THE RECITATION 60 
 
 Campaonac's THE TEACHING OF COMPOSITION 36 
 
 Cooley's language teaching IN THE GRADES 35 
 
 Dewey's INTEREST AND EFFORT IN EDUCATION 60 
 
 Earhabt's TEACHING CHILDREN TO STUDY 60 
 
 Evans's TEACHING OF HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMATICS 35 
 
 Halibdrton and Smith's TEACHING POETRY IN THE GRADES 60 
 
 Hartwell's THE TEACHING OF HISTORY 35 
 
 Palmer's ETHICAL AND MORAL INSTRUCTION IN THE SCHOOLS.. 36 
 
 Palmer's SELF-CULTIVATION IN ENGLISH 36 
 
 Slzzallo's the TEACHING OF PRIMARY ARITHMETIC 60 
 
 rfnzZALLO's THE TEACHING OF SPELLING 60 
 
 iii6
 
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