REPORT OF COMMITTEE NO. 12, ENGLISH.

C. W. Park, Chairman, University of Cincinnati; Frank Aydelotte, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; J. R. Nelson, University of Michigan; S. A. Harbarger, New York City. The gradual return of normal academic conditions, following the S. A. T. C. period, is encouraging to the committee, since much work can now be resumed which had to be set aside last year. From communications that have been received since the re-opening of the colleges, it is evident that the temporary suspension of the usual courses has been in some respects beneficial. Instructors show a disposition to revise their subject matter and methods, and they bring to the revision a variety of experience and a fresh point of view, gained in some form of war service. The new start in all lines of instruction makes the time a propitious one for a re-examination and, where desirable, a reconstruction of the curriculum.

Fortunately, just when conditions are most favorable for the introduction of changes in materials and methods, the report of Dr. C. R. Mann on "Engineering Education" is available as a guide in reconstruction. The publication of this work at any time would challenge a testing of every instructor's work by the standards of engineering training which it sets forth. Its appearance at this time is highly significant.

Among the passages in Dr. Mann's report which bear upon the question of English instruction, the following are regarded by the Committee as being especially suggestive.

"With regard to instruction in English, the engineering schools may be divided into two approximately equal groups, the one composed of those schools that maintain the current standard college course; and the other composed of those that are trying to discover a type of work better suited to engineers. In the standard type of course, the student studies a

text-book of composition and rhetoric, learns the rules of correct punctuation and paragraphing, together with the four forms of discourse, and then writes themes on assigned subjects selected by the instructor to give practice in either description, narration, exposition, or argumentation. In some schools the strict adherence to this plan is mitigated by allowing a choice from among several assigned subjects. The accompanying study of literature consists of a brief survey of the lives of the great writers and the analysis of selected passages from their writings. This well-known type of course was developed during the latter half of the past century for the purpose of making English an acceptable substitute for the classics in high schools and colleges.

"Doubtless because the professional engineers have been so frank in their demand for better training in English, about half of the engineering schools are experimenting with their methods of teaching this subject. These experiments are so varied in plan and execution that it is not possible to classify them." (Chapter VII, page 42.)

"Therefore congestion of the curriculum is inevitable so long as each department remains sole arbiter of the content of its courses, and there is no coördination among departments with respect to the amount and the nature of the subjectmatter in courses, and no scrutiny of the results of each department's work by some agency outside the department." (Chapter IX, page 56.)

"At this school (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) English is a required subject for all students throughout the first two years. The first half of the freshman year is devoted to general composition, with the object of eliminating the more common errors of construction and of leading the student to see that excellence in writing comes not so much from the negative virtue of avoiding errors as from the positive virtue of having something to say.

"The work of the second term of the freshman year begins with a class discussion of such questions as: What is the difference between a trade and a profession? What is the mean

ing of the professional spirit? What should be the position of the engineer in society in this new era of the manufacture of power-that of hired expert or that of leader and adviser? Is the function of the engineer to direct only the material forces of nature, or also human forces?

"Having discussed the question: What is engineering? the class proceeds in the same manner to wrestle with such problems as: What is the aim of engineering education? What is the relation between power of memory and power of thought? Is there any connection between a liberal point of view and capacity for leadership? What qualities do practical engineers value most highly in technical graduates? What is the relation between pure science and applied? What is the relation of science to literature? The authors read in connection with the discussion gradually change from engineers to scientists like Huxley and Tyndall, and then to literary men like Arnold, Newman, Carlyle, and Ruskin. The student seems to read this material with no less keen interest than was shown for the writings of engineers; so that through his own written and oral discussion of masterly essays each comes to work out for himself some rational connection between engineering, with which he began, and literature, with which he ends. No orthodox point of view is prescribed; his own reason is the final authority. The aim is to raise questions which it may take half a lifetime to answer, but the thoughtful consideration of which will give a saner outlook on life and on his profession." (Chapter X, pages 63-64.)

"Thus there is a widespread agreement among professional engineers that the college curriculum should aim to give a broad and sound training in engineering science, rather than a highly specialized training in some one narrow line; that considerable attention should be paid to humanistic studies like English, economics, sociology, and history, not merely because of their practical value to the engineer, but also because of their broad human values; and that the young graduate should have some conception of business management and

of the most intelligent methods of organizing and controlling men. (Chapter XIII, page 88.)

"The humanistic studies make up the fourth type of work essential to the training of every engineer. The professional criticisms of the schools indicate that this field offers the greatest opportunity for effective changes in current practice, because lack of good English, of business sense, and of understanding of men are most frequently mentioned by practising engineers as points of weakness in the graduates of the schools. The criticisms point out two types of weakness, namely, lack of technical facility in expression, in business, and in handling men; and lack of appreciation of and interest in literature, economics, and social philosophy. Clearly the humanistic departments are not alone responsible for these weaknesses, for no amount of drill in the technique of language will make a student write and speak clearly if he does not think clearly; and training in clear thinking is as much the function of the teachers of science, mathematics, and engineering as it is the function of the teachers of English. And if the professors in the technical subjects rigidly exclude from their instruction all discussion of human values and costs, is it reasonable to expect the students to appreciate economics and social science? As every one is aware, languages, economics, and social sciences are generally treated as 'extras' in curricula, and are as generally regarded as superfluous 'chores' by the students.

"The difficulty in present school practice evidently lies in the exclusion from the technical work of all consideration of the questions of human values and costs; and, conversely, the isolation of the humanistic studies from all technical interest. The theory has been that engineering at best is tied to materials; but that it can be made less materialistic by ignoring the question of dollars and cents in the technical work, and by teaching science, mathematics, economics, and literature for their own sakes entirely isolated from inherent technical relationships. This conception, however, is gradually giving way, for the experiments described in the last four chapters indi

cate that technical work is more impelling, and is, therefore, more fully mastered, when it includes the consideration of values and costs; while humanistic work becomes significant, and therefore educative, when it starts from and builds upon the professional interest. And after all, the ultimate control of all engineering projects, as of all activities, is vested in some man's decision that the game is really worth while; and this control is likely to be more salutary, the more completely the man who decides comprehends the full import of the values and costs involved." (Chapter XIII, pages 92–93.)

"Because the appraisement of values and costs is the controlling factor in engineering, the final important change from current school practice that is suggested deals with the humanistic studies. The usual method of treating these subjects in short independent courses in the technique of composition, literature, history, economics, and so on, seems less likely than the method proposed (page 92) to develop the desired insight into these profound problems of value and cost. The experiments at Wisconsin and the Massachusetts Institute have progressed far enough to show how successful this type of work is with freshmen in developing powers of both forceful expression and appreciation of good literature. Therefore it seems reasonable to expect that the extension of this work into a consecutive course extending through the entire curriculum and consisting of live discussions and extensive study of the best that has been thought and said concerning the immediate and the ultimate values in life, offers the most promising solution of the problem of culture for engineers. (Chapter XIII, page 99.)

"The statement that individuality counts for as much as learning for the engineer, just as it does for the lawyer or the physician, seems like a veritable platitude. Yet because the engineering schools have always made it their chief aim to impart the technical information needed in industrial production, and because both scientific knowledge and industrial practice have grown so rapidly, the attention of technical schools has been focused chiefly on keeping up to date in