Two Examples of Experimental Research in Connexion with the Teaching of Arithmetic

Extract

There can be few teachers who, when taking part in a discussion on the relative merits of two methods of teaching a given topic, have not wished that it were possible to produce in evidence a clear, accurate and unbiassed account by the child himself of the way in which the particular method under discussion affects him. As it is, we are forced to rely on the experience and insight of the teacher—experience, which is at best very limited, and insight which, if it is often true and sympathetic, can never fully penetrate into the child mind, and is moreover scarcely ever free from a prejudice in favour of one method or the other.