Plea for a reform of the university teaching in Scotland : submitted to the Scottish Universities Commission / by James Finlayson.

  • James Finlayson
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Plea for a reform of the university teaching in Scotland : submitted to the Scottish Universities Commission / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    The great opposition likely to be raised to any such proposal will probably be based on the fear of its proving too successful in atti-acting both teachers and students. YI. MUSEUMS AND LIBRARIES. If practical instruction is ever to take the position it deserves in University teaching, the condition and admin- istration of our Museums require serious attention. The educational value of such collections has been but 'little developed. The recent address of Mr. Jonathan Hutchin- son on this subject is most suggestive (see British Medical Journal, 1888, vol. ii, p. 1257). Museums for the education of students have to be constructed, equipped, and managed on different principles from others. By the use of printed labels, with the necessary explanations and diagrams or drawings, the influence of museums in education might be greatly vivified, especially if tutorial classes, or occa- sional demonstrations on specified subjects were held there by the professors or other lecturers. In the case of Materia Medica, for example, this is clearly the proper method of learning for the student; but the museum, in that case, must be one with specimens actually available for the student to handle while reading up the descrip- tions ; this need not interfei'e with the more elegant specimens kept separately for the admiration of the pro- fessor and his class. The combination of the tutorial method, by questioning and demonstrating, would greatly assist the students. In Pathology also, the influence of a properly equipped museum, with adequate descriptions, notes, and illustra- trations, would be invaluable; mere numbers and letters referring to a catalogue are inadequate; the student should have actual printed labels with adequate descrip- tions. Occasional demonstrations to small groups of
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