VOL. 2, No. 2
A PLEAPOR INTEREST
141
A PLEA FOR INTEREST* RUTHSTEPHEN, SUMMITSCHOOL, ST.PAUL, MINN.
I have just finished reading with much interest Dr. Ferguson's article' on "The Course in High School Chemistry." I agree most heartily with him on one point, namely, that i t is impracticable to have high school pupils get experimental data in the laboratory sufficient to derive the laws and theories of chemistry for themselves. Although this is the way in which the laws were discovered, one year is not sufficient time for the student to do thoroughly what has taken the human race hundreds of years to accomplish. Furthermore, I doubt very much if young people seventeen and eighteen years of age are mature enough to follow through a mass of data in order to formulate some of our principles. It is unwise to teach ahstract material to these young students if i t is beyond their undeveloped powers of appreciation. It merely confuses and causes needless distaste for the subject. For the reason just stated I differ with Dr. Ferguson when he deplores the present tendency to emphasize "the chemistry of industry, of commerce, of the soil and of the household" in contrast to the older course of study which stressed "laws, theories and fundamental principles." "The tendency. . . . . . . .seems to be to make all work appear like play and as a result we are developing a play-crazy generation." Personally, I cannot understand why subject matter which is interesting or useful is necessarily lacking in educative value. It is those subjects which grip one with interest which affect one throughout life. After all, education is the establishment of worthwhile interests. Librarians have said that the books of fiction which are read least are those which are studied in high school courses of English. This means that the pupil has no desire to read and *This paper resulted from a note at the end of Dr. Ferguson's article found in
THISJOURNAL, 1 188 (1924). Dr. Ferguson has been asked to reply to this paper in the March issue of THISJOURNAL. ' THISJOURNAL, 1 183 (1924).
reread the masterpieces which should thrill him. To me, this indicates failure in education. Unless our teaching of chemistry leaves the student with the desire to explore farther than we are able to take him in an elementary course it too is a failure. He will not do this if it is not intensely interesting to him. Dr. Ferguson maintains further that "the ability to correlate facts, to make accurate observations, to draw logical conclusions, to stick to a thing and see it to the end are qualities and habits which a course in real chemistry given by a real teacher will develop." These qualities are highly desirable but the statement needs proof. In general do pupils have these qualities to a greater degree after they have had one year in high school chemistry than they did before? If they do, I have not noticed it. After all, it is not a question of principles versus facts but a question of giving a student the scientific point of view through a few facts which are useful and which stimulate interest.
