Price $J.OOPer Year Gbe "Untverstts of (CbicagoFOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER Single Copies5 CentsUniversity RecordPUBLISHED BY AUTHORITYCHICAGOtlbe mniversftE of Gbtcago jprcssVOL HI, NO. 40. PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY AT 3:00 P.M. DECEMBER 30, 1898.Entered in the post office Chicago, Illinois, as second-class matter.CONTENTS. 2. Close connection of Senior and Graduate coursesI. Briefs on Propositions to be Considered by the would lead to inconveniences.University Congregation at its Eleventh 3. Work of members of Faculty would be in-Meeting, January 3, 1899 . 251-253 creasedII. The University Elementary School - - - 253-254 A ~-, '. .. .. ., . ,. n . ,,III. Programme of the Twenty-seventh Convocation, L Existing evils could be remedied m some otherWinter 1899 254 Way.J_Briefs on Propositions to be Considered by the University Congregation at its Eleventh Meeting, January 3, 1899.I. That courses in the Senior Colleges should begiven five hours a week instead of four. (Committee:Messrs. Judson and Terry.)For the affirmative:1. Present requirement of 12 hours inadequate.Shown by1) Ease of work,2) Number of fourth courses taken,3) Simultaneous work in professional schools,4) Policy of many other institutions.2. Leisure students gain by twelve-hour systemmay be devoted to intensive study or general culture,but there is small evidence that it is largely so used.3. Work is not likely to be definitely increasedunder twelve-hour system.4. Members of Faculty under obligation to giveinstruction ten hours or equivalent each week. Eighthours not equivalent to ten under present conditions.For the negative:1. Senior students should have time for intensivestudy and general culture. II. That a degree shall be conferred by the University upon those who complete the work of the JuniorColleges.Mr. Small for the affirmative :1. Sharp distinction between Junior College andSenior College methods has been the settled policyof the University from the beginning.2. It is accordingly fitting that completion of themore elementary curriculum should receive appropriate recognition.3. The Junior College certificate has proved unsatisfactory, both to administrative officers and tostudents.4. A degree or title would be prized by the students,whereas the present certificate is not valued.5. There can be no question that the curriculumhas been so enriched during the last generation thatcompletion of the Junior College course means moreliberal culture than the Bachelor's degree represented in the first half of the century; hence adegree at that point would not be premature.6. The end of the Junior College course is one ofthe natural termini of the school career. Manystudents will finish study at this point. Havingaccomplished a prescribed amount of work, they may252 UNIVERSITY RECORDjustly claim the distinction which a subordinate academic degree confers.7. Schools affiliated or cooperating with the University are already able to offer the equivalent of theJunior College curriculum. The larger high schoolsare likely to extend their courses correspondingly inthe near future. They would adopt a degree proposed by the University. They may adopt an embarrassing variety of degrees if the University doesnot take the initiative.Mr. Hendrickson for the negative:1. From what source is there demand for such adegree ?2. It is undesirable to offer students an inducement to cut short their college study by the reward ofa degree at the end of two years.3. The better universities and colleges have for thepast decade striven to give more uniform significanceto existing degrees. To introduce another, susceptible of even greater abuse than the Bachelor's degree,would only add to the confusion and difficulties of thepresent situation.4. Discussion cannot look toward immediate action,since it is inconceivable that such a measure could beadvocated or passed except in conjunction with a sufficient number of prominent colleges to give the proposed degree standing and recognition. do not furnish information that can be used in thisbrief. Of the remaining 18915 are given by 7 Professors in 6 DepartmentsIII. That more Courses of Instruction in the JuniorColleges shall be given by older members of the Faculties.Mr. Capps for the affirmative :The relative proportion of men of experience givinginstruction in(the Junior Colleges has diminished inthe last few years, to the detrimenta) of the quality of the work in general in this department of the University, and6) of the departments which have most largely madeUse of younger instructors. The newly entering student often finds himself under less competent instruction than he enjoyed in the preparatory school. Itshould be practicable for each instructor of professorial rank to give at least one course in the JuniorColleges each year.Mr. Blackburn for the negative:[The statistics given here are taken from the Announcementsissued November 25, 1898.]1. Courses are offered for the current year to Juniorstudents in 17 departments (exclusive of Elocutionand Physical Culture). The courses offered numberin all 205, in regard to 16 of which the announcements 18 " " 8 Associate Professors in 6 "40 " " 14 Assistant Professors in 11 "71 " " 20 Instructors in 10 *'15 " " 2 Associates in 3 "18 " " 5 Assistants in 4 "3 " " " Docents9 " " FellowsProfessors -Associate ProfessorsAssistant ProfessorsInstructorsAssociates -AssistantsAbout 36 per. cent, of the Junior courses, therefore, are given by those who hold a rank of AssistantProfessor or higher, and about 36 per cent, by Instructors. Of the former there are 29 that haveJunior courses, of the latter, 20. Only 19 per cent, ofthe Junior courses are in the hands of Associates andAssistants. The inference from these figures is thatthe Junior courses are in general in the hands ofthose who hold a fairly high rank in the Faculty.2. The number of years since graduation is asfollows :28 (lowest, 17)- 15 (lowest, 11)13 (lowest, 8)- 11 (lowest, 4)9 (lowest, 6)4 (lowest, 1)The inference from these figures is that the Juniorcourses are in the charge of teachers of experience.3. The seventeen departments that offer 205 Juniorcourses offer 261 Senior courses and 349 Graduatecourses. If the higher officers of instruction offermore Junior courses, it follows that more Senior andGraduate courses will b© assigned to Instructors, Associates, and Assistants. It is not necessary to pointout that the University should make provision forthorough instruction not only in the 200 courses offered to Juniors, but also in the 600 offered to Seniorsand Graduates.4. The passage of the resolution offered can beurged only on the assumption that if more Juniorcourses were in charge of the older members of theFaculty, the work would be better done. But this isby no means certain in an institution where, as in alluniversities of high rank, appointment to the higherpositions is based on some special qualification. Formost of the Junior courses general good scholarshipand skill and faithfulness in teaching are of morevalue than mastery of a specialty. On the otherhand, special scholarship and acquaintance with research methods are called for in the later courses,when the student begins to specialize.5. In view of the facts given above, it is plain thatin general the older members of the Faculty areUNIVERSITY RECORD 253already giving to Junior courses quite as large a shareof their time as could wisely be given. It is doubtfulif more time could be given to them without neglectof other courses, and there seems to be no reason forthe passage of the resolution by the Congregation.If there seems to be a disposition in any particulardepartment to disregard the earlier work of the student and to give it less care and attention than it deserves, such cases can well be left to the Presidentand the Senate, who are charged with the care ofeducational questions.IV. That the present Seminar Policy in the University is not satisfactory.Mr. W. B. Harper:1. A true seminar policy would seem to have beenviolated, when the number of students has beenallowed to become too great ; when a lecture coursehas been substituted; when certain undergraduatestudents have been admitted ; when too many seminars have been announced (at the same time) in agiven department ; when an instructor has planned tocarry two seminars at one time ; when too small anamount of work has been demanded of the students.2. The cases in which these abuses have occurredhave been few, and have diminished in number duringthe last two years.3. a) A strictly seminar-method is used in manyfour and five-hour courses, b) Some departmentshave abandoned the two-hour seminar, c) In somedepartments, e. g.: Political Science, Political Economy, Semitic, most, if not all, of the seminars areoffered by the instructor as a third course.4. In general, no considerable abuse of the policyseems at present to prevail.The University Elementary Schoolgeneral outline of scheme of work.introduction.General Standpoint.The school as a whole is organized on the basis ofusing as many connections as possible between everyday life and experience and the more formal work of theschool. It is assumed that the processes that educate,the material that instructs, and the mental workingsthrough which knowledge and discipline arise arethe same within that they are without the schoolwalls. Consequently the introductory work is a simple continuation, so far as possible, of the forms ofexperience and modes of expression with which thechild is already familiar. Differentiation is graduallyintroduced, and at all times points of contact witheveryday experience are kept up. Growth in character, involving of necessity advance in knowledge andcontrol of mental powers is the end.The problem of the school is thus to secure thatorganization of equipment and facilities which willgive the children typical and varied contacts with thematerials of experience, so arranged as to further consecutive and orderly growth. What the school cansupply which the informal life of the home and theneighborhood lack is arrangement of materials andmodes of action ; such an arrangement that the information which is of most value shall be gained whilethe trivial is eliminated ; such that there shall be constant growth of insight into the principles whichunderlie experiences ; and that there shall be increasing command of methods of work, —of inquiry, discussion, and reflection. The school building is treatednot as a collection of rooms in which lessons arelearned and recited, but as a well-equipped and organized environment for carrying on certain modes ofwork, and thus securing certain experiences and theformation of certain habits. It consists of carpentershop, laboratory, studio, gymnasium, library, kitchen,and dining-room; a miniature textile factory forweaving and sewing, etc. The recitation room is themeeting room — the visiting room — in which thechildren and teachers exchange experiences, questions, and ideas. It is the belief that most is learnedwhile there is least conscious attention to the processof learning; that most discipline is secured when attention is given to ends intrinsically valuable.Correlation.When the natural forms of experience are carriedover in the schoolroom, it is found that the problemof " correlation " largely solves itself — it disappears.The bonds that tie various studies and truths togetherare the same that hold together the various occupations in which the child engages and the various surroundings with which he comes in contact outsidethe school. There is a common fund of experienceout of which all grow and to which all contribute.When subjects are not isolated from actual connection with the child's own life, forced correlationof one subject with another is not called for. Whenever a need, a motive, is felt for any special line offacts in any particular direction— as in number work,reading, writing, etc. — there is no hesitation in givingspecial work in that particular line. The necessity254 UNIVERSITY RECORDwhich the child feels, and the possibility of usingwhat is gained to enrich and further some other subject, furnish all the threads of connection that arerequired.More particularly, the various forms of constructivework, in kitchen and shop afford natural modes of experience, and give rise to problems that can be pursuedin more technical and formal fashion in other classes.At the same time, they afford abundant and continuedopportunities for applying whatever skill, practical orintellectual, is elsewhere gained. They introduce thechildren to materials, to tools, to processes and modesof handling materials which connect naturally andinevitably with arithmetic and geometry, geography,mineralogy, physics, chemistry, etc. Moreover, wheninterrelation is made on the basis of need andpossibility of application, certain subjects naturallyfall together ; as, for instance, geography with historyon one side and science on the other ; number withconstructive activities and with science ; language,both in reading, spelling, and writing, with all othersubjects. Finally, art in music, line, and color is anindispensable mode of expressing and communicatingvalues anywhere realized in experience.Differentiation of Studies.In the organization of the Elementary Schoolthree stages, or periods are recognized. These,however, pass into one another so gradually that thechildren are not made conscious of the gaps. Thefirst extends from the age of four to eight or eightand a half years.* In this period the connection withthe home and neighborhood life is, of course, especially intimate. The children are largely occupied withdirect social and outgoing modes of action, with doingand telling. There is relatively little attempt made atintellectual formulation, conscious reflection, or command of technical methods. As, however, there iscontinual growth in the complexity of work and inthe responsibilities which the children are capable ofassuming, distinct problems gradually emerge in sucha way that the mastery of special methods is necessary.Hence in the second period (from eight to ten)emphasis is put upon securing ability to read, write,handle, number, etc., not in themselves, but as necessary helps and adjuncts in relation to the more directmodes of experience. Also in the various forms ofhand work and of science, more and more conscious* This year the school (through the generosity of the Castlefamily) has children of four and five years of age, for thefirst time; consequently the sub-primary work is not asyet sufficiently formulated to be included in this report. attention is paid to the proper ways of doing things,methods of reaching results, as distinct from the simpledoing itself. This is the special period for securingknowledge of the rules and technique of work.In the third period, lasting until the thirteenthyear, the skill thus acqtiired is utilized in applicationto definite problems of investigation and reflection,leading on to recognition of the significance andnecessity of generalizations. When this latter point isreached the period of distinctly secondary educationmay be said to have begun. This third period is alsothat of the distinctive differentiation of the variouslines of work, history and science, the various formsof science, etc., from one another. So far as the methods and tools employed in each have been mastered,so far the child is able to take up and pursue each byitself, making it, in some sense, really a study. If thefirst period has given the child a common and variedbackground, if the second has introduced him to control of reading, writing, numbering, manipulatingmaterials, etc., as instruments of inquiry, he is nowready for a certain amount of specialization withoutdanger of isolation or artificiality.Programme of the Twenty-seventh Convocation,Winter 1899.January i, Sunday.January 2, Monday. — A holiday.January 3, Tuesday.8 : 30 a.m. Lectures and Recitations of the Winter Quarterbegin.8: 30 A.M.-12 : 30 p.m. ) Matiiculation and Registration of Incoming Stu-2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ) dents.10:30 A.M. Quarterly Meeting of the College Divisions.Attendance required.4 : 00 p.m. The Eleventh Meeting of the University Congregation.Congregation Hall — Haskell Oriental Museum.7: 00 p.m. The Congregation Dinner.The Quadrangle Club.January 4, Wednesday.9 : 00 a.m. The Graduate Matutinal.The President's House.3 : 00 p.m. Meeting of all Candidates for Degrees with theExecutive Officers.Cobb Lecture Hall — Chanel.8:00 p.m. The Twenty -seventh University Convocation.The Procession.The Convocation Address : " American Imperialism.1' The Honorable Carl Schurz,New York City.The Conferring of Degrees.The President's Quarterly Statement.Studebaker Hall(203 Michigan av.).January 8, Sunday. — Convocation Sunday.8: 30 a.m. Bible Classes. Haskell Oriental Museum.4: 00 p.m. The Convocation Vesper Service.The Convocation Sermon. The ReverendProfessor Herrick Johnson, D.D., Mc-Cormick Theological Seminary.Quarterly Report by the Secretary of the Christian Union. Kent Theater.7 : 00 p.m. Union meeting of the Y.M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A.Haskell Oriental Museum — Association Hall.