Method is more closely associated with personality and with native
ability than is subject matter. So much more must preparation in this
field be general in nature. It must mainly concern the general
principles of the scientific method. Specific problems and minor
details will have to be worked out in actual practice. The final
method found most satisfactory by any teacher, will be to some extent
unique, but will be largely determined by three factors; the aptitudes
of the teacher, himself, the group that he is teaching, and lastly,
the consideration of the individual pupil. Ability to adapt ones
procedure so as to most nearly meet these requirements, will come
about only through experience. Ability to profit by experience, the
human attribute which makes possible the progress of civilization, is
a no less valuable asset to a teacher than to any other member of
society.
Balliet points out that science teaching has passed through three
stages in the past generation. The first stage is characterized by the
textbook method, occasionally supplemented by illustrative experiment,
performed by the teacher. The second stage is characterized by
individual laboratory experiment, a manual for a guide, and by a lack
of application of the principles except for a few traditional cases.
The third stage improves upon the second by leading the pupil, after
formulating his generalizations, to apply them to the facts and
phenomena of nature. "But", continues Balliet, "we must advance to a
fourth stage. We must not only apply the generalizations, but make the
_explanation_ of the facts and phenomena of nature--the interpretation
of nature--the very goal of science teaching." All problems should be
chosen then in the light of this last aim. The problems must be
natural, not in any way artificial, and they should be those of the
immediate environment of the pupil. To meet these obligations may be
in some cases difficult, but it should not be impossible.
In biological science there is a rich field permitting a considerable
choice in method. There are observations, projects, experiments,
excursions, individual reports, book readings, quizzes, and
conferences. In a single well chosen problem or project nearly all of
these will be employed. Biology lends itself ideally to the problem
method of teaching. By using some every day problem of the pupil, his
interest is assured. Even a seemingly simple problem if skilfully
directed, will ramify into several fields of biology before its
solution is completed. And the number of practicable problems is
almost limitless, but not all are equally good for the purpose, so the
teacher must often tactfully modify the pupils choice. Original
choices are likely to be too complex for the pupil to solve at his
stage of progress, so must be simplified, without his feeling that he
has been interfered with, without causing a wane in his interest. It
is clear that the real problem in the problem-method is the teacher's.
Practically, it is quite impossible to handle _individual_ projects in
large classes. In the writer's experience, he has had on the average
80 different pupils per day in four separate classes. It is clearly
beyond the power of any teacher to direct simultaneously eighty
different projects, and it would be a physical impossibility to
furnish the necessary laboratory apparatus. So, for this reason the
teacher may find it necessary to divide, as diplomatically as
possible, the classes into congenial groups, each with its problem, so
that the total number of problems will be so limited that each one may
be given adequate attention. It seems that such must be the limitation
of the problem-method under the conditions prevailing in the public
schools today.
The procedure in solving a problem will consist of these steps in the
order named, 1) understanding of the purpose, 2) the procedure or
method of attack, 3) observation of results, 4) and the use of these
in making some generalizations or arriving at some conclusions. Then
there must follow a testing of these generalizations or conclusions by
further experimentation. Accuracy must be the keynote of all work,
accuracy in recording experiments, accuracy in observation, accuracy
in drawing, which serves as a shortcut method of description. Neatness
is very desireable but should never supercede thinking and
understanding. If the problem has stimulated some accurate logical
thinking on the part of the pupil, then time spent on it has been well
spent. If, besides, it has yielded some valuable useable information,
the solving of the problem has been a marked success. The laboratory
method has been such an emancipation from the textbook slavery that
there is some tendency to elevate it to an end in itself, whereas it
must serve only as a very valuable _means_ to an end. "The ideal
laboratory is only a reasonably good substitute for the out-of-doors."
So far as preparation in the methods of science teaching is concerned,
much good may be accomplished in teachers courses and in practice
teaching. But it must necessarily be of a general nature, for the
unique individual method, determined by the interaction of teacher and
pupil and the reaction of both to subject matter can evolve only hand
in hand with teaching experience.
Before proceeding further it might be well, by way of summary, to
remind ourselves that the minimum qualifications for a teacher of
biology must include the following; a) a large fund of the most
interesting and most valuable facts of biology, b) a full realization
of the values and vital relations of biology to humanity, c) ability
to develop a course meeting the unique needs of the community,
d) familiarity with purchase and useability of laboratory equipment,
e) knowledge of the history of science, f) spirit of and sympathy with
research, g) a knowledge of physical science as related to biology,
h) and knowledge of the laboratory method and its value in the
promotion of accurate logical constructive thinking.