CHAPTER V

THE ORGANIZATION OF IDEAS, AS A THIRD FACTOR IN STUDY



_A. The different values of facts, and their grouping into "points"_


_Extent to which teachers treat facts as equal in value_

In several branches of knowledge in the primary school it is customary
for teachers to attach practically the same importance to different
facts. This is the case, for instance, in spelling, where a mistake
counts the same, no matter what word be misspelled. It is largely the
case in writing. In beginning reading one word is treated as equal in
value to any other, since in any review list every one is required. In
beginning arithmetic this equality of values is emphasized by
insistence upon the complete mastery of every one of the combinations
in the four fundamental operations. Throughout arithmetic, moreover,
failure to solve any problem is the same as the failure to solve any
other, judged in the light of the marking systems in use.

The same tendency is less marked, but still evident, in many other
subjects, some of them more advanced. In geography, teachers seldom
recognize any inequality of value in the map questions, even though a
question on the general directions of the principal mountain systems
in North America be followed by a request to locate Iceland. The
facts, too, are very often strung along in the text in such a manner