the methods of instruction employed shall be the best
attainable.

IV. METHODS OF TEACHING

Instruction in technical engineering subjects is given by lectures,
recitations from textbooks, assigned reading, laboratory work,
surveying, field-practice, problems in design, memoirs, and
examinations. Each of these will be briefly considered.

=Lecture system=

The term "lecture system" will be used to designate that method of
instruction in which knowledge is presented by the instructor without
immediate questioning of, or discussion by, the student. In the early
history of engineering education, when instruction in technical
engineering subjects was beginning to be differentiated from other
branches of education, the lecture was the only means of acquainting
the student with either the principles or details of engineering
practice, since textbooks were then few and unsatisfactory. But at
present, when there are so many fields of technical knowledge in which
there are excellent books, the lecture system is indefensible as a
means either of communicating knowledge or of developing intellectual
strength.

It is a waste of the student's time to present orally that which can
be found in print. At best the lecturer can present only about one
third as much as a student could read in the same time; and, besides,
the student can understand what he reads better than what he hears,
since he can go more slowly over that which he does not understand.
The lecturer moves along approximately uniformly, while some students
fail to understand one part, and others would like to pause over some
other portion. A poor textbook is usually better than a good lecturer.

It is a fundamental principle of pedagogy that there can be no
development without the activity of the learner's mind; and hence
with the lecture system it is customary to require the student to take
notes, and subsequently submit himself to a quiz or present his
lecture notes carefully written up. If the student is required to take
notes, either for future study or to be submitted, his whole time and
attention are engrossed in writing; and at the close of the lecture,
if it has covered any considerable ground, the student has only a
vague idea of what has been said. Further, the notes are probably so
incomplete as to afford inadequate material for future study.

If the subject matter is really new and not found in print, the
lecture should be reproduced for the student's