Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886 [PAGE 155]

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147 since full information concerning the general studies may be obtained from the reports of the several Professors in charge of those studies. The means of imparting information employed in these technical classes are of several kinds: 1. Text-Books.—Since there are but four Schools of Architecture in the United States, none of which are twenty years old, very few textbooks have yet been prepared for the use of architectural students. Translations of similar French or German works are not often suitable, owing to our different system of construction, of professional practice, and of instruction. But these are used when possible, a daily recitation being required from each student in most cases, mere memorizing of the text-book being discouraged, while the actual knowledge of the student is tested by the solution of numerous practical problems in construction, making applications of his knowledge as fast as acquired. 2. Blue-Print Lectures.—The material is carefully prepared, being condensed as much as possible, then written on transparent paper with a type-writer, using a black ribbon. These originals are then copied by the well-known blue process, making as many copies as are required, with the advantage over other copying processes that these copies may be taken at different times. This is really a stereotyping process. These lectures really form a concise text book with the advantage that each new edition can be revised and corrected, and that new pages can be inserted in place of old ones, as may be required to keep the lectures up with the progress of the times. They are used for recitations and for reference, and applications are made to practical problems, as in case of text books. 3. Extemporaneous Lectures.—Points are frequently touched upon in recitation which possess extraordinary interest from contemporary circumstances or they may require a more complete elucidation than is possible in a text book or formal lecture. This instruction is then' imparted by extemporaneous lectures or talks, which specially emphasize the essential points. This affords opportunity for the mention of new ideas in construction, new discoveries in archaeology, etc., and relieves the tedium of formal recitations, and is also found to be an excellent means of arousing the interest and enthusiasm of the student. The communication of the personal enthusiasm of the instructor to the student is one of the prime factors of University education, and finds its opportunity here. For imparting facts and the solid basis of professional education, dictated or extemporaneous lectures alone possess but little value for the average student, in my opinion and experience. Very few educated men possess the ability of making a good abstract of a lecture during its delivery; the desire of obtaining as much as possible almost invariably results in the loss of the really important ideas, or in a belief that the unaided memory will retain them. The system of dictated lectures is very slow, requires a great deal of time for copying, leaves small opportunity for recitation or the