good students, those who have grasped redox to its fullest significance, for them there is excitement! "Is NO* like SO2? It seems to me as if it ought to be. I'm going to try its reaction with permanganate." "Can ferrous-ferric changes be brought about by bubbling NO or NOn into the solution? If I use KCNS to trace the presence of the ferric ions I can tell all right." "Coooer and concentrated HNO.. vield " NO*. -, but the labor* tory preparations mentioned in the texts are different. I'm going to see which is better."
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That is why thismethod of conductingalaboratory has such merits. The slow pupils can go along and get by; and for the good students, the sky is the limit. The safety inherent in semimicro laboratory procedures can increase a teacher's courage in the inductive teaching. Even if quite potent chemicals are mixed together, the amount of material used will cause no damage. The hazard of investigating poisonous gases is also reduced, and the cost factor is most favorable to the semimicro method. For 45 students glassware and chemicals cost less than $50 a year whereas the bill was $500 for a comparable class using the macro technique. Has inductive teaching been used successfully with college preparatory classes? Yes. I s it only for the superior student? No. The answers to these questions we have studied carefully for the past ten years and in every class taught inductively the mean scores on standardized chemistry tests and on the College Entrance Board examinations were higher. Statistical treatment of the scores of the lower IQ group (IQ 80100 on the Calif. Test. of Mental Maturity) revealed
To the Editor: As a commentary on the interesting article by Dr. Hans Schindler on the history of the separatory funnel, I should like t o call attention t o a stopperless separatory funnel designed by K. NAKANISHI[K. Nakanishi, B. K. Bhattacharyya, and L. F. Fieser, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 75, 4415 (1953)l and illustrated in the drawing. The funnel is useful in quantitative work, since it is free from losses entailed in opening a stopper and because in the inverted position it is leak proof. I n the horizontal position the funnel can be shaken fairly vigorously, and it is useful in extractions where a gas is evolved during shaking, HAWARDUNIVERSITY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
LOUISF. FIESER
that they made a marked improvement under inductive instruction. Inductively taught students themselves have found their college worrk easier in the physical sciences, and have spent less time in preparation of assignments than did their deductively taught fellow students. Many more college chemistry majors have come from the inductively taught classes though all classes were matched for intelligence and socioeconomic background as the study was conducted. According to Morris,' "The secondary school program should be so organized that the educational opportunities offered should match, utilize and challenge the students' abilities," and the inductive course certainly does. Weaver5 thinks the "ideal chemistry course would be an experience of learning by doing," and again inductive chemistry measures up to the standard. BoeckBhas found that inductively taught classes are superior to deductive-descriptive classes "in the crucial problem of attainment of knowledge of and ability to use the methods of science with an accompanying scientific attitude." I n summary, we agree with Curtis:' It seems unquestionable t b t ~ tthe inductive method provides better opportunities for teaching the elements of the scientific method. The inductive method makes the laboratory part of the course a fascinating adventure. The teacher who gives it a fair trial will never discard it. Instead, he will make it s. major supplement in all his science teaching. Chem. Eng. News, 34,3258 (1956). MORRIS,VANCLEVE, WEAVER, ELBERT,The Science Teacher, 19, 287 (1952). ' BOECK,CLARENCE, Sn'. Edue., 37, 81 (1953). ' CURTIS,F. D., The Science Teacher, 17,222 (1950).
To the Editor: I should like t o comment that, while the demonstration of the flammability of vapor as listed in THIS JOURNAL, 34, A375 (1957) works with a short trough, it is much more effective if the trough is 10 to 15 feet (rather than inches) long.
To the Editor: Anyone who deals in words should enjoy John H. Wilson's recent article, "Our constantly changing language" (J. CHEM.EDUC.,34, 447 (1957)). But there are several points that seem worth clarification. The word cybernetics does have a history. Wiener says the following about it in his book, "The Human Use of Human Beings": Incidentally, I found later that the word had already been used by Ampire with reference to politiod science, and had been introduced in another context hy a Polish scientist, both uses dating from the earlier part of the nineteenth century." (Page 15, Anchor edition.)
