THE AIMS OF A COLLEGE COURSE IN SCIENCE ARTHURA. BLESS,UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
The effectiveness of our teaching depends to a great extent on how clear to us are the objectiwes of a given course. The aims of a college course i n science are here discussed from the educational slandpoint and some g m r a l suggestions are made as to how these aims may be attained.
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What is it that we wish to accomplish in a course in science? This question is as old as teaching itself, and will probably never be answered to the satisfaction of everybody. It is perhaps as well. A question settled once for all and for everybody, is most likely dead and uninteresting. The problems involved in the teaching of a subject can never be that. Not only the importance of the problem, but, it is hoped, the interest of the teachers, and their individual differences will prevent the complete solution of the problem, and will keep it alive. Even though the problem cannot conveniently be settled there is nevertheless a need for every teacher to make clear for himself what it is that he wishes to accomplish with his teaching, and how he can best do it. If I were very bold, I would even suggest that this problem be reviewed every year, for time does bring about changes. It would be a great pity if the opinion of the teacher, in certain particulars a t least, is not changed from year to year. The following pages contain some reflections on this subject. These reflections are general enough so t h a t they may fit more than one individual, and they are specific enough to contain,some suggestions, which may be of value to the teacher. The obvious answer that presents itself to the above query is the teaching of the principles and the laws of nature. However, this answer is somehow far from being satisfactory. This answer assumes that all we need in our teaching is to impart a certain amount of information. It is possible to see the utilitarian value of such a procedure in the case of the very few who follow the elementaxy course in physics or chemistry with more detailed studies of the subject, or in the case of an engineer whose aim is definitely to apply the principles of these sciences to his problems. But it is difficult to see how students not in the above-mentioned classes would benefit from such a course. Information does not, as a rule, stay very long with one. The knowledge of physics or chemistry, acquired by a student, falls off exponentially with time, and very little is left even before he is through with formal studies. If one gets nothing but information out of a course in science it is doubtful if the time is very profitably spent. Even in the case of the engineer and the future specialist it is difficult to see how one could afford t o give them information and nothing else, for we are quite definite in our condemnation of the trade-school i d e a ~preparing f the student for the fist job that he is likely to have a t the end of his training. 889
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This brings up the question-What is it that we wish to accomplish with any course in the college or high-school curriculum? After all, sciences are only a part of a certain training, and unless we know what the training is for, we would hardly be able to adjust our teaching of a subject so that i t bears some important and proper relation to the whole. College education is not acquired by taking a certain number of subjects. If we are in sympathy with college education, the subject we teach must bear a certain definite relation to the whole, and should not be something incidental or apart from the general scheme of college training. The question now is even harder-What is i t that we wish to accomplish with the college training? Here we are treading on dangerous ground. Although some of the scientists in "Who's Who" are classed as educators, this classification would be strongly resented by our friends in the field 01 education. They may grant us the right to call ourselves "scientists," but hardly can we assume the title of "educator," and who but an educator is in a position to answer what college education is for? There is a tendency among members of the education fraternity to view with disfavor the opinions of "laymen," who are trespassing on what they believe to be their territory. Dr. R. A. Millikan was recently criticized by a member of a college of education for voicing an opinion concerning the qualifications of a teacher. Dr. Millikan, it appears, was speaking out of his field. I t is therefore a t the risk of incurring the displeasure of "professional educators" that I am voicing the opinions.below. My only defense and justification is that, however little they may be yvorth, these opinions are my own and I need them in order to discharge my duties to the best of my abilities. Another risk of giving an opinion about the aim of college education is the danger of stating a platitude; but most truths are platitudes, so this danger cannot serve as a deterrent. Recently, a dean of a college collected a number of opinions of his faculty concerning the aims of a college education. These opinions give one a very good idea of the heterogeneity of our ideas about college training. There were about twenty different aims listed. However, while the diversity is gratifying some answers deserve condemnation. One statement in particular arouses my antagonism. I am all the more bitterly opposed to it since most of the students share the belief. The opinion that arouses my ire is that college education has for its purpose the training of the individual for getting a good job. This opinion is not only shared by students but by many faculty members as well. Very often the courses are so modified as to meet the future demands of the job for which the student is getting ready. This modification is often made so specific as to remind one of the trade-school training in plumbing and allied subjects. I can imagine no idea which seems to me more opposed to the principle of a liberal education than this one. Moreover, it is an extremely selfish idea. If this were
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so, then education could be classed as a huge graft or racket, or whatever they call these activities in Chicago. If I were to go to a state treasurer and ask him for a gift of, say, two thousand dollars because this gift would enable me to get a better job, or to open a bigger and better store, I would be most certainly, and very properly, kicked out of the office. But when a student comes to a state university and gets two thousand dollars worth of training for the purpose of enabling him to get a better job, or to make a better living as a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or whatnot, this is called education. I fail to see how society is in greater need of lawyers, doctors, and dentists, than of plumbers, mechanics, and barbers. I can see no reason why some professions should be subsidized and others should not. Whatever the aim of college education may be, it certainly is not to provide one with a job. Much has been written concerning the objectives of college education, and the opinions apparently are divergent; a t least on the surface. It seems, however, that most that has been said may be boiled down to the following simple terms: College education has for its a i m the development of the intellectwcl faculties, the understanding of the civilization of the dey, and a training which would enable one to contribute to this ciyilization. A training of this kind would enable one to talk to the sages of the day, which is Ruskin's definition of education; it would enable one properly to appraise the condition in which he finds himself, and show the proper reactions, which was President Thwing's criterion. Such a training would give one a fuller, richer, and more significant lif$ which is the objective of education, according to so many educators. If our teaching of sciences is to be successful, it must contribute to the intellectual development of the students, i t must give them a better understanding of the life in which we live, and i t must contribute to the moral and intellectual qualities which lead to creative efforts. The study of physics and chemistry lends itself very readily to intellectual development. We contribute to this objective easily enough through the problems that we assign, and through the proof of the theorems that we require. These means are helpful to sharpen the brain of the individual student and to develop his capacity for logical thinking. The information we give concerning physics and chemistry must be supplemented by the application of the laws of natural philosophy to the development of our civilization. Such a procedure would contribute to the student's understanding of the life we lead, and to his better appreciation of the subject. I would like to stress particularly the f a d that when we are teaching a subject we must show it in relation to other branches of human activities. The experimental college a t Wisconsin, whatever our opinion may be concerning its efficiency, had a t least one right idea, namely, that to understand it properly a civilization should be studied in all its ramifications, and in all
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its aspects. To study the laws of natural philosophy without pointing out the part the application of these laws has played in the history of mankind would he doing an injustice to the subject, and to the student. Recently, the Forum bad a series of articles by prominent social leaders concerning the twelve most important dates in the history of mankind. While some of the dates given by these eminent men seemed all-important to me, others were not very significant. It would he fair, I believe, to devote a t least half a dozen of them to the discoveries of chemical and physical principles. One of the philosophers gave a number of dates coinciding with the promulgation of important philosophical doctrines. I am very much in doubt whether a given philosophy ever plays an important part unless the life and habits of the society make the acceptance of these ideas possible. It is a true saying that a good law is merely a record bf the definite needs of society. It is equally true that a philosophy is a record of inarticulate yearnings of the people of the day. These yearnings, however, are greatly influenced by the manner in which people live, and this, in turn, is profoundly influenced by the application of the natural laws. To give the proper perspective to the relationships existing between our physical principles and the life we lead is without a doubt an important part of the study of physics and chemistry. To teach sciences by merely assigning certain pages and certain chapters every day is very inadequate. I t would be best, and more in keeping with our problem of education if we omitted many topics, concentrating.our attention on the important ones and spent some time in showing the relatipn and application of these principles to our every-day life and to the development of our ideas. The most difficult, though the most important, task that we are facing is how to teach our subject so as to contribute to the capacity of the student for creative efforts, for the ultimate test of college training is not how much the student receives while in college, but how much he gives later on. The extent to which the graduates contribute to the intellectual and social progress of the age is a true measure of the value of the training a college gives. The qualities needed for such activities are, I think, the same as the qualities needed for a research worker, and which have been very clearly and concisely stated by A. W. Hull recently a t a meeting of the A. A. P. T. He considered the following qualities to be essential for a man engaged in research: character, conscious ignorance, active curiosity, and a retiring disposition. Properly interpreted, these cover the ground pretty thoroughly. A proper mental and moral attitude toward society and its problems, an open-minded and courageous willingness to follow truth wherever i t may lead, a humbleness of mind in the presence of unsolved mysteries, an eagerness for unraveling the unknown, a frame of mind which regards the task on hand not merely as means to an end hut as the very aim of life, this is the foundation on which creative effortsrest.
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The modem American college has a number of extra-curricular agencies, which aim to promote the moral and social welfare of the student. However, the contact of the student with his professor is often so intimate that the influence of the teacher is likely to outweigh the combined influence of all the extra-curricular agencies and activities. The inspiration which this contact with the teacher brings is of extreme importance to the development of the student. That is where the personality of the teacher plays such an important part. We must recognize the fact, however, that no teacher will inspire a student unless he himself is inspired, and the teacher cannot stimulate the student to creative effort unless he himself is so stimulated. Herein lies for teaching the great value of research on the part of the faculty, for nothing is so refreshing and stimulating as creative efforts, whatever their form may be. However, besides the more or less indirect intluence of the personality of the teacher on the student, the manner of presentation of our subject is very often capable of affecting the students. One of the most important duties of the teacher is to convey the spirit of the science, its methods and manners, and its intense aliveness. The student must he made to realize that there are a great number of things in nature, which though very simple are not yet perfectly understood or definitely solved, and the solution of which is awaited eagerly by many because of the importance to mankind of the solution of the problem. It would be a great pity if the student taking the first course in chemistry or physics is left under the impression that the textbook covers all that is to be known a9,out the subject. Above all, we must make them realize the fact that there is a game called, "finding the truth," the playing of which brings its own rewards without regard to other possible compensations; that our whole civilization rests largely on the foundation which the seekers of truth have established through their playing this game, as the history of science shows.
