stery of the art of study. To eliminate this danger, it is well that
the pupils be requested frequently to make out their own lists of
questions, and, as speedily as possible, both the questions made by the
pupil and those made by the teacher, should be replaced by topical
outlines. By taking care that the questions are logically
arranged,--that is, that a general question refer to the topic of the
paragraph, and other subordinate questions to the subordinate details of
the paragraph,--the transition from the questions to the topical outline
may be readily made. Simultaneously with this will go the transition in
recitation from the question-and-answer type to the topical type; and
when you have trained a class into the habit of topical
recitation,--when each pupil can talk right through a topic (not around
it or underneath it or above it) without the use of "pumping" questions
by the teacher,--you have gone a long way toward developing the art of
study.

The transfer of this training, however, is quite another matter. There
are pupils who can work up excellent topical recitations from their
school text-books but who are utterly at sea in getting a grasp on a
subject treated in other books. Here again the problem lies in getting
the pupil to see the method apart from its content, and to show him that
it really brings results that are worth while. If, in our training in
the topical method, we are too formal and didactic, the art of study
will begin and end right there. It is here that the factor of motivation
is of supreme importance. When real problems are raised which require
for their solution intelligent reading, the general worth of the method
of study can be clearly shown. I do not go so far as to say that the
pupil should never be required to study unless he has a real problem
that he wishes to solve. In fact, I think that we still have a large
place for the formal, systematic mastery of texts by every pupil in our
schools. I do contend, however, that the frequent introduction of real
problems will give us an opportunity to show the pupil that the method
that he has utilized in his more formal school work is adequate and
essential to do the thing that appeals to him as worth while. Only in
this way, I believe, can we insure that transfer of training which is
the important factor from our present standpoint.

And I ought also to say, parenthetically, that we should not interpret
too narrowly this word "motivation."