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Chemical Digest
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TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO STUDY That failures in college are generally not due to lack of intelligence but rather to neglect on the part of teachers to give adequate instruction in the art of study is the belief of Prof. Guy M. Whipple,' of Minnesota. This conclusion was reached through information gained from failing students in one of the larger universities. Among 324 students on probation one in six declared their failures to have resulted in part, a t least, from the absence of such instruction in their high-school careen, while approximately one in three stated that the cause of their failures lay in the difficulty found in adjustment to conditions prevailing a t college, The latter factor is shown by the author to be closely related to the first since the change to the college environment is largely found in methods of classroom instruction and in the conditions under which the preparation for classes is done. That the art of study ought to be learned in the preparatory schools is not questioned. High-school students are well able to grasp and to practice the fundamental principles of study and yet we are confronted with the fact that, save in exceptional cases, the high schools fail to give their charges the needed practice in the art. "Consequently, the college must undertake it or pay the penalty of a lower-than-need-be level of student efficiency." The question whether the students desire this training was answered for the author by an illuminating experience. He says: I was asked to talk to a group of a dozen high-school students on how to study. When1 was finally convinced that they really wanted this talk, I consented toundertake it. I was surprised and delighted a t their reception of my efforts; they listened attentively, discussed the matter intelligently, asked a number of salient and even difficult questions, and furthermore took the trouble several months later to visit me, in order t o report how much their school marks had improved as a result of putting into practice same of the suggestions we developed. That was my first experiment in traixing pupils how t o study. I t cured me of my notion that students were indifferent t o the problem, that they would adopt a more or less bored and cynical attitude toward what I feared sounded like preaching.
Sometime later after the material of this talk had been expanded into book form the principal of a high school conducted an experiment to measure the effect of the instruction given in this book upon a freshman class. The class was divided into a training and a control section and the
I.Educ. Rer., 19, 1-12 (Jan.. 1929).
school records of these groups were compared at the completion of the semester. An episode of scientific value is described which, as the author states, "nearly wrecked the whole undertaking:" Several students in the mntrol section had become indianant because thev were eetting none of the special instruction that was being given to the training group; a numher of them got their heads together, discovered from one of their mates what book was heina. used in the training group, sent off an order for it to the publishers and were reading it on the sly!. . . . . . . . . .Answer enough, I think you will agree, t o the question: Do students really desire training in how to study?
A second question raised is whether the better endowed students can profit from this training. Special training, thus far, has generally been directed toward the incompetent student. Many prominent educators believe that instruction in studying ought to be given to all students who really want to improve their methods of work. Practice experiments in psychology have shown that subjects who are competent at the beginning usually gain more from the practice than those who are less competent at the start. The objection that no suggestions for effective studying may be made that are not known to bright students is met by the reminder that better ways of doing something that one has already been doing reasonably well are likely to o c w even to a college professor. The author believes that an intelligent student may gain much to his advantage through this training and he recommends that courses in the art of study he given to all students. A third phase of this experimental work grew out of the observation that although the majority of high-school pupils can understand every important rule for effective studying, the application of these rules to the actual processes of studying is quite a different thing. Accordingly, a series of successful study exercises were devised to train in following the rules which are used. These exercises served to make the rules more real, enabled the students to practice them and started them on the road to correct habits of mental work. There was no doubt that these exercises increased the interest of the students in the work and assisted the teachers in keeping concrete illustrations of the technic of study before the students.. . . . . . . . . .The instruction of students in the rules for etTective studying must be supplemented by some device for guaranteeing the practice.
Attention is called to the work reported by Prof. JonesGf Buffalo in which special pre-collegiate classes consisting of the prospectively poorer freshmen, were instituted three weeks before the university opened in the fall, in which classes there was given an intensive preliminary training in study. The training comprised mainly these six things: Personnel 3.. 6, 182-91 (1927)
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A stiff regimen of composition writing, Drill in rapid reading, with tests of comprehension, Drill in mathematical problems, Lectures on note-taking, mental hygiene, attentiveness, memorizing, etc., IXill in note-taking, and Assigned readings.
The outcome was shown to be especially favorable in raising the mllege performance of the lowest fifth of the high-school seniors. The author points to the report of Book3in which it was estimated that:
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. . ninety per cent of the information acquired by students is obtained by reading, and that the majority of freshmen known to be doing poorly in college are also defective in reading ability.. . . . .The effect of eight weeks special instruction in rapid reading is estimated t o have been an improvement of 102 per cent in ability to read and 60 to 97 per cent in ability t o prepare a standardized assignment. Book shows further that the net outcome of how-to-study instruction, given a class of university freshmen as measured in terms of credit points earned per semester, to be an increase of approximately 50 per cent in academic credits. The experiments described are sufficient proof that "college freshmen need training in reading, in conserving their time, and in planning their college work." The author goes further in considering what may widely be included in the training for effective study. Certain desirable features in a campaign for better studying may be grouped around eight main rubrics that students need to know as follows: A . Knnving what physical a d mechenical conditions are fawrable to studying. Under this heading is stressed the need of keeping in good physical condition, of paying attention t o ventilation and light, of providing tools of study as pencils, drawingsets, dictionaries, etc. B. Knowing where, when, and hmu long to study. This would include the budgeting of time. C. Knwing hmu to concentrak attenfion. Stress should be laid on getting started promptly, on development of attitudes of persistence, of intent t o learn, of avoidance of worry, excitement, and distractions. D. Knowing the general rules of procedure in studying. These should include understandig the aim; quick reviews; learning d e s and definitions before trying to use them; suiting pace and style of reading to material in hand; enlarging vocabulary daily; making use of aids t o study in library (card catalogs, encyclopedias, etc.); locating one's own weak points and giving special attention t o them. E. Knowing how to think ooer and apply what has been learned. The students should get away from sheer memory and convert information into material t o be put into personal use. He should work out his own illustrations of principles; maintain a questioning attitude; try t o anticipate conclusions presented by lecturer or author; make outlines of reading; consider both sides of all controversial questions. F. Knowing how to learn in the classroom. This includes taking notes, and following the contributions of fellow students persistently and critically,
Sck.P Soc., 26, 242-8, 52934 (1927).
G. Knowing what to commit to memory and how lo do it economically. This will aim to show what sort of material should he memorized and what should not, and will include the most common rules for committing to memory economic;illy. H. Kno?uing hmu to prepare for, and how to toke, emminalions. This instruction should include the time to begin reviewing, the attitude to be assumed when confronted by the examination, the way to organize replies to questions, re-reading papers before suhmitting them.
The author concludes by saying that "Such instruction in methods of Study is needed; it is welcomed by the students; it ought to be done in the secondary schools hut is not and, consequently, the college must assume the responsibility." R. M. P.
THE HIGH-SCHOOL TEACHER AND RESEARCH'.Z On what fields of research can a high-school teacher of chemistry work? Some possible fields are: (a) unapplied chemical research as carried on by science departments in various colleges; (b) applied research in cooperation with some industry; ( c ) research in purely educational fields; (d) research in education applied to teaching of chemistry. A high-school teacher working in unapplied chemical research is competing a t a disadvantage in a field already crowded with college professors and graduate students. Colleges have the needed frequently costly equipment for this work, while the high-school man has meager equipment and hardly dares ask the school to furnish any special apparatus. Too, his papers would probably receive scant attention from the editors of scientific publicatious. Any such work should best be done in cooperation with a college professor whose prestige would insure careful consideration of any papers submitted for publication. In applied chemistry the high-school chemistry teacher would have to work in connection with some industrial plant which would demand the non-publication of results. Too, he has little time to work in a factory laboratory. Outside activities of the school, such as science clubs, helping with athletic events, football coaching, etc., would prevent his regularly working in any factory. Such work would have little in common with his teaching load. But this work would broaden him by exposing him to the industrial viewpoint. Research in purely educational fields, such as testing, leads the teacher from the chemistry fields into administrative work. His scientific viewpoint, however, would make him stand out in contrast:to the "usual run" Rufus D. Reed, Neo-Chenzlo-Ion, 3, 18, 20 (Nov., 1928). %Thisis the second of a series of articles on Research by Dr. Reed. See THIS JOURNAL, 5, 1694 (Dee., 1928) for abstract of first article. 1
