VOL.5. No. 3
THERESEARCH INSTRUCTOR Pox COLLEGES
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THE RESEARCH INSTRUCTOR FOR COLLEGES H
m N. HOLMBS, OBEWIN COLLEGE, OBERLIN,Orno
In every college faculty (I am not referring to graduate universities) are men trained to research who are no longer productive. In most instances the instructor is not to blame. Heavy routine teaching duties use up all his time and energy. Yet many of these men could do excellent research if properly encouraged and the scientific world would gain. Better yet, the undergraduates would gain, from the authority, the freshness that contact with research gives to instruction. Live men, eager to produce, are often turned away from the college to the graduate faculty or to industry where they are encouraged to exercise their precious gift of originality. But why should a short-sighted policy deprive more than 700,000 undergraduates in the United States of teachers using the research attitude of mind in their routine courses? Without a staff of productive men, how shall the college meet the challenge of the gifted student? Informational teaching is not adequate, but sound instruction in the research method of approach to all problems will stimulate the gifted student to do his best. Even a freshman will ignite from the right sort of spark, although he will not actually engage in research. To attract research men to our college faculties they must be given sufficient free time, a proper library, special equipment, and, if possible, research assistants. An important educational experiment worth watching in this connection is being tried a t Oberlin College. Partly to provide the writer of this paper with highly skilled aid in his colloid-chemical research, partly to honor Charles M. Hall of aluminum fame, and partly to train men for college faculties a "Charles M. Hall Research Instructorship in Chemistry" was established. A young man who has but recently taken his Ph.D. degree and who has some interest but little or no experience in teaching is appointed Research Instructor for one year only a t $2000.00. Three-fourths of his time is spent in cooperative research on colloid problems with the writer of this paper. For the remainder of his time the young man serves as a teaching apprentice to the entire staff. Thus he learns whether or not he likes the teaching field or is qualified for it. He gets a training in colloid chemistry and his name may appear on a published paper. Furthermore, he has such teaching prestige as the title of Instructor gives. It is hoped that other colleges will try this method of doing two or three good things a t one stroke. Thus research men will be attracted to, or held on their faculties and the teaching profession will gain more good recruits.
