necessary and because, being of
more concrete nature, they may be given in a form easier for the
beginner to get. In this period a good deal of the terminology can be
gradually familiarized. Then should come the more elementary
analytical studies and fundamental principles, followed by a
discussion of a number of practical problems. In conclusion should
come a more systematic survey of general principles, of which most
students now get but a superficial idea. The work in the specialized
elective courses would then be built upon much firmer foundation than
is the case at present.

=Methods of teaching=

The main methods that have been developed and tested in the teaching
of undergraduate classes in economics may be designated as the lecture
method, the textbook method, the problem method. Any one of these may
be used well-nigh exclusively, or, as is more usual, two or more may
be combined in varying proportions; e.g., lectures with
"supplementary" (or "collateral") readings, with or without an
occasional meeting in a quiz section. Along with these main methods
often are used such supplementary methods as topical reports requiring
individual library work; laboratory exercises, as in statistics,
accounting, etc.; individual field work to study some industrial
problem; and visits, as a class, and with guidance, to factories and
industrial enterprises.

The choice of these particular methods of teaching is, however,
largely conditioned by the teacher's antecedent choice between the
deductive or the inductive forms of presentation. This is an old
controversy ever recurring. But it should be observed that the
question here is not whether induction or deduction is a greater aid
in arriving at new truth, but it is whether the inductive or the
deductive process is the better for the imparting of instruction to
beginners. In teaching mathematics, the most deductive of the
sciences, use may be made of such inductive aids as object lessons,
physical models, and practical problems; and _per contra_, in the
natural sciences, where induction is the chief instrument of research,
elementary instruction is largely given in a deductive manner by the
statement of general propositions, the workings of which are then
exemplified. The decision of the question which is the better of these
two pedagogic methods in a particular case, depends (_a_) partly on
the average maturity and experience of the class; (_b_) partly on the
mental quality