Abstract :
The author considers the first requisite of college training to be a thorough drilling in the fundamentals in physics. A student who is well grounded in the fundamentals is in the best position subsequently to acquire a knowledge of details. The student´s most useful tool to work with is mathematics, but this should be taught to engineers by one who considers it an engineer´s tool, and not a source of amusement. All the mathematical results should convey as clear a quantitative meaning to the engineer as numbers do when they represent an amount of money. A third requisite is the use of mental exercises to develop mental strength. The student should be disciplined by mental exercises in the form of problems which should have some practical significance, so as to show the utility of the mental process, thereby developing interest. Today is the era of specialists; even electrical engineering, as one subdivision of engineering, is again subdivided into so many branches that a student should either make a choice between them, at least in his last college year, or take a special post-graduate course. Different colleges would do well to specialize on different subjects, especially in their post-graduate courses. The writer has urged that at a time when a student must choose his vocation he has little knowledge of what his choice involves, and it is suggested that the regular college courses should include lectures describing the different vocations, the nature of the work involved in each of them, and the prospects of advancement, salaries, etc. Success in teaching can be measured by the interest that the teaching can develop in the minds of the students. It is a mistake to keep the able students back to the level of the poorest in the class. The brightest students should be given every possible opportunity to advance.
