Abstract
IT is scarcely too much to say that the only real scientific knowledge is that obtained through personal experience. Lectures and text-books have their places in a scheme of instruction in science, but they only convey information at second-hand, whereas original experimental work creates and fosters the inquiring spirit characteristic of a progressive mind. What students need to be taught is that they must be not so much receptive as constructive; and the way to give force to this view is to insist upon their taking an active share in investigation at every stage Of their careers. It is in the highest degree satisfactory to know that this principle is being acted upon in the courses of scientific instruction followed in many of our schools and colleges—more, particularly in the Schools of Science and Higher Elementary Schools of the Board of Education. But a large class of students of a higher grade are introduced to scientific subjects on the, old-fashioned plan, the reason in most cases beingf that they have no time to pursue a course of work constructed on rational lines. Metaphorically, they endeavour to enter the field of science by a short cut instead of following the route of patient and persistent observation, and in the end they, find themselves without the certificate of admittance into the Delectable City. Medical students are the greatest sinners in this respect, but the fault lies not so much with them as with their masters and examiners. So many subjects have to be taken that it seems almost hopeless to look for greater opportunity for investigation or for the development of a spirit of research in students whose knowledge of practical chemistry is obtained by a few hours' test-tubing. In the teaching of physiology, also, there is a great gap between rational methods and existing practice, and Dr. W. T. Porter, associate professor of physiology in trie Harvard Medical, School, directs attention to it in an article which we reprint, slightly abridged, from the special educational number of the Philadelphia Medical Journal. Dr. Porter shows, in addition, how large classes of students may le carried along the well-known roads that lead to scientific power, and gives the results of one year's experience with a method of instruction different from that usually employed. His paper thus contains a statement of a course which has been proved to be practicable, and has been accepted by the, Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. The methods described need not, however, be limited to medical education, as they are based upon principles which, mutatis mutandis, can be applied to instruction in any science. The paper is thus worthy of consideration by every one interested in the extension of natural knowledge.
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PORTER, W. The Teaching of Physiology . Nature 63, 427–431 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/063427b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/063427b0