The Principles of Teaching Based on Psychology

"The aim of this book is to make the study of teaching scientific and practical--scientific in the sense of dealing with verifiable facts rather than attractive opinions, practical in the sense of giving knowledge and power that will make a difference in the actual work of teaching. It follows the example of the better books on education in basing principles of teaching upon the laws of psychology; it makes use of modern scientific psychology and especially of recent investigations in genetic and dynamic psychology; it seeks to make use also of the direct studies of teaching itself which have been made by qualified experts; it is arranged as a manual to guide the student in applying principles himself rather than as a series of discussions to be thought out or, more often, to be simply absorbed. Scientific principles are the back-bone of knowledge of teaching but concrete exercises are its flesh and blood. For the work of the student of teaching is to get practical control of principles by using them. The author offers no excuse for using over a third of his pages for such exercises; indeed, they should occupy more than two-thirds of the student's time. They aim in some cases to test and increase the student's knowledge of principles; in others to insure the habit and power of application of general principles to the particular problems of the school-room; in others to give training in judging the theories, methods and devices which each year's output of educational literature brings to a teacher's attention. In all cases they aim to make thought about teaching more logical and scientific"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)