THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 370 
 
 ie6e 
 no. 36-47 
 

 ssssarssssttsr 
 
 Universi 
 
 ty of IlUnoisUbrary^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/projectsprojectm43monr 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BULLETIN 
 
 Issued Weekly 
 Vol. XXIII March 29, 1926 No. 30 
 
 [Entered as second-class matter December 11, 1912, at the post office at Urbana, Illinois, under the 
 Act of August 24, 1912. Acceptance for mailing at the special rate of postage provided for in 
 section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 31, 1918.] 
 
 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH CIRCULAR NO. 43 
 
 BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH 
 COLLEGE OF EDUCATION 
 
 PROJECTS AND THE PROJECT 
 METHOD 
 
 By 
 
 Walter S. Monroe 
 Director, Bureau of Educational Research 
 
 PR G 
 
 UWVtKtMTY Of H. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 URBANA 
 
3 7o 
 
 PROJECTS AND THE PROJECT METHOD 
 
 A definition of the term "project." Although the term "project" 
 only recently has become widely used In educational literature, it is not 
 a new word. For many years it has been used by the United States 
 Department of Agriculture to mean "carefully planned investigations 
 in agricultural science covering a considerable period of time." Steven- 
 son 1 states that the first use of "project" as a name for an instructional 
 procedure was by R. W. Stimson who employed the phrase "home 
 project" about 1908 to designate a type of vocational agricultural edu- 
 cation. Within a few years the term "project" began to be used by 
 teachers of manual arts and the sciences to designate a type of instruc- 
 tional procedure, and now it is employed by teachers in other fields. 
 
 A variety of definitions have been proposed for "project" as the 
 term is now used but the one formulated by Kilpatrick 2 appears to be 
 most helpful. He defines a project to be "any unit of purposeful experi- 
 ence, any instance of purposeful activity where the dominating purpose, 
 as an inner urge, (1) fixes the aim of the action, (2) guides its process, 
 and (3) furnishes its drive, its inner motivation." A somewhat different 
 definition is given by Stevenson 3 who states that "a project is a prob- 
 lematic act carried to completion in its natural setting." This definition 
 is not necessarily incompatible with that given by Kilpatrick but it 
 emphasizes different phases. The requirement that the act be "carried 
 to completion" is implied only very indirectly, if at all, in Kilpatrick's 
 statement. 
 
 A concept of learning and teaching. In order to comprehend a 
 formal definition of a project, it is necessary to have in mind certain 
 aspects of the processes of learning and teaching. Learning is a process 
 of activity; what one learns is the product or outcome of his own activ- 
 ity, physical, intellectual and emotional. The activity of another person 
 contributes to one's learning only as it affects his activity. Thus the 
 teacher's task is, first, to stimulate his pupils to engage in activities that 
 will be highly productive of the specific habits, knowledge and general 
 
 'Stevenson, J. A. The Project Method of Teaching. New York: The Macmillan 
 Company, 1921, p. 40. 
 
 2 Kilpatrick, W. H. "Dangers and difficulties of the project method and how to 
 overcome them — a symposium," Teachers College Record, 22:283, September, 1921. 
 
 3 Stevenson, J. A. Op. cit., p. 43. 
 
 [3] 
 
patterns of conduct 4 which he desires to engender and, second, to direct 
 them as they endeavor to participate in these activities so that there 
 will be a minimum of wasted effort. 
 
 The preceding paragraph epitomizes a concept of learning and 
 teaching which is generally accepted in theory even though not infre- 
 quently violated in practice. This concept is opposed to the blank tablet 
 theory of the educational process in which the teacher was assumed to 
 "communicate" or "transfer" ideas, principles and so forth to the pupil 
 who in this way was educated by the acts of the teacher. Although the 
 blank tablet theory of learning was discredited years ago and the prin- 
 ciple that one learns only as the result of his own activity is generally 
 accepted, our pedagogical vocabulary includes many words and phrases 
 whose meaning retains traces of the concept of learning as a passive 
 process in which the teacher rather than the pupil is the active agent. 
 It is not unusual to read that a teacher "imparts" knowledge and is 
 responsible for "making his subject interesting," that he is expected to 
 "explain" or "demonstrate," that his function is to "communicate" what 
 he knows to his students, that the "telling method" is appropriate on 
 certain occasions, that the teacher must "prepare" his students for a 
 new topic and then conform to certain principles in "presenting" it. 
 Even such terms as subject-matter, content, textbook, and curriculum 
 are frequently used in a way which implies that learning is at best a 
 process of passive absorption. 
 
 It is, of course, improbable that any person who has studied modern 
 psychology would agree with these implications if asked explicitly con- 
 cerning them, but contact with students in education courses and with 
 teachers has convinced the writer that the blank tablet theory of learn- 
 ing still functions in the thinking of many persons and in much of our 
 educational practice. This condition appears to be due in part, perhaps 
 largely, to the use of a number of words and phrases which tend to 
 imply that learning is a relatively passive process, the teacher being 
 the active agent. 
 
 Conditions for efficient educative activity. Learning is an active 
 process but it does not follow that all activity is equally educative. In 
 the first place, if certain controls of conduct are to be acquired, the 
 learner must engage in certain activities. Skill in handwriting is not 
 attained by practicing on a typewriter; mastery of the English language 
 as an instrument of expression does not result from solving problems 
 
 4 "General patterns of conduct" is used as a general name for ideals, attitudes, 
 interests, tastes, points of view, and the like. 
 
 [4] 
 
In arithmetic; the study of history contributes very little if any to a 
 knowledge of a science; a pupil does not acquire skill in adding by doing 
 examples in division. Each type of activity leads to certain character- 
 istic outcomes, and in general a given skill or item of knowledge can 
 be acquired only by engaging in a certain activity or activities which 
 meet certain requirements. 
 
 In many cases two or more types of activities may lead to the same 
 outcomes but one type may be more efficient than the other. For ex- 
 ample, there are several methods of teaching handwriting, each being 
 based on a certain series of exercises, but there is probably one best 
 series of exercises, or at least there are certain better series of exercises. 
 Similarly, achievement in spelling, silent reading, and other fields is 
 probably attained more efficiently through some series of experiences 
 than through others. Furthermore, the attainment of the maximum 
 efficiency in learning is dependent upon the distribution of the learning 
 activities as well as upon their nature and amount. 
 
 The effectiveness of a given activity such as practicing an exercise 
 on the piano, doing a list of examples in arithmetic, reading a textbook, 
 writing a theme, cooking a meal and the like is conditioned by the 
 learner's attitude. In order to produce the desired changes, it is neces- 
 sary that his attitude be such that he derives satisfaction from the 
 activity. If he is not interested, he will learn little or nothing. Further- 
 more, it appears that phases of the activity are dependent upon the 
 learner's attitude. For example, in studying a textbook, a pupil who 
 has a definite purpose, who is interested in understanding the state- 
 ments of the author, engages in mental and emotional activities that 
 are not included in the experience of one who merely reads the pages 
 with an attitude of indifference or antagonism. 
 
 Two methods of stimulating participation in appropriate learning 
 activities. The teacher faces the problem of securing pupil-participation 
 in appropriate learning activities under conditions that are favorable 
 to maximum efficiency. The traditional instructional procedure, which 
 is still followed by most teachers, is suggested by the term "assignment 
 method." According to this procedure, exercises assigned by the teacher 
 constitute the basis of the learning activities of the pupils in school. In 
 making assignments teachers are expected to secure an appropriate 
 "mind-set" and to motivate the doing of the exercises. After the doing 
 of the assigned exercises is begun, the teacher directs the learning activ- 
 ities of his pupils and assigns such supplementary exercises as may 
 appear to be needed. 
 
 [5] 
 
The "project method" represents a distinctly different approach to 
 the stimulation of pupil-participation in appropriate learning activities. 
 No assignments are made. Instead, the pupils are given an apportunity 
 and are encouraged to do things they want to do. This does not mean 
 that they are allowed to do as they please and are subject to no re- 
 straint nor direction. Spontaneous proposals by the pupils which do 
 not appear to lead to highly educative activity may be discouraged or 
 even vetoed by the teacher. On the other hand, the teacher may stim- 
 ulate purposing by the pupils and even suggest projects but direct assign- 
 ments have no place in the project method. 
 
 The phrase, "problem method," has been used to designate a type 
 of instructional procedure which is sometimes confused with the project 
 method. There is, however, a fundamental difference. Under the 
 problem method the exercise is assigned; under the project method 
 it is proposed by the pupils. The actual activities of the pupils 
 and the outcomes, both mental and material, may appear to be the same 
 but the teacher's point of view is different. The problem method is the 
 assignment method applied to certain types of exercises. 5 
 
 Before entering upon the consideration of the relative merits of the 
 assignment method and the project method, it will be helpful to elabo- 
 rate the definition of a project and to consider descriptions of a few 
 typical ones. 
 
 Types of projects. In elaborating his definition of a project, Kil- 
 patrick describes four types: 
 
 I. Construction projects. "Experiences in which the dominating 
 purpose is to do, to make or to effect." 
 
 II. Enjoyment projects. In these the student purposes participa- 
 tion in an activity because he desires the enjoyment or satisfaction 
 which it appears to afford. 
 
 III. Problem projects. In order for a problem to become a project, 
 the student must purpose the solving of it, usually without an assign- 
 ment being made. 
 
 IV. Learning projects. In this type of project the purpose "is to 
 acquire some item or degree of knowledge or skill." 
 
 Recognition of these types gives the term project a more compre- 
 
 5 Some writers on methods of teaching believe the problem method to be superior 
 to the project method. The point is made that the problem method permits the teacher 
 to plan the work for his class in advance and hence secure a more efficient organization. 
 It is also maintained that most if not all of the advantages of the project method may 
 be secured. For a discussion of the problem method and illustration, see: 
 
 Parker, S. C. Types of Elementary Teaching and Learning. Boston: Ginn and 
 Company, 1923, Chapter X. 
 
 [6] 
 
hensive meaning than is usually associated with it. Probably a reader 
 may ask if we do not have learning projects and possibly enjoyment 
 projects when certain types of assignments are properly motivated. 
 Although it is likely that authorities would not agree in answering this 
 question, it appears that Kilpatrick would say that an assigned exercise 
 becomes a project when the pupil purposes the doing of it, provided 
 this purpose "fixes the aim of the action" and guides the efforts the 
 pupil makes to realize this aim. 
 
 The project method a point of view, not a teaching formula. The 
 word "method" tends to suggest a procedure, a formula for the conduct 
 of recitations and for this reason the phrase, "project method," is mis- 
 leading. The project method is not a teaching formula; it is a point of 
 view, a philosophy of education. According to it the specific habits, 
 knowledge and general patterns of conduct specified by our educational 
 objectives are to be acquired by children as by-products as they strive 
 to realize their purposes. 6 
 
 The project method has been described as a "method of living." 
 This appears to mean that, when the method is employed, the school 
 conditions approach those under which children learn as they endeavor 
 to realize purposes outside of the school. Hosic has described the project 
 method as "providing opportunity for children to engage in living, in 
 satisfying, worth-while enterprises — worth-while for them; . . . guid- 
 ing and assisting them to participate in these enterprises so that they 
 may reap to the full the possible benefits." 7 
 
 In seeking to arrive at an understanding of this point of view, one 
 should bear in mind that it is not new in the sense that the term, project 
 method, is new. Elements of it may be found in the writings of Rous- 
 seau and Pestalozzi; it is illustrated by Dewey in the University Ele- 
 mentary School described in his book "The School and Society" written 
 in 1899. Phases of the project method are to be found in many discus- 
 sions of teaching, especially those dealing explicitly with motivation. 
 In fact it has been suggested that the project method represents a 
 coherent synthesis of many of the best ideas about teaching which have 
 been evolved since 1900 or a little earlier. Bagley 8 has stated that con- 
 sidered as such "it already ranks as a constructive achievement of the 
 first magnitude." 
 
 This statement does not apply to "learning projects." 
 
 7 Hosic, James F., and Chase, Sara E. Brief Guide to the Project Method. Yonk- 
 ers-on-Hudson : World Book Company, 1924, p. 7. 
 
 8 Bagley, William C. "Projects and purposes in teaching and learning," Teachers 
 College Record, 22:288, September, 1921. 
 
 [7] 
 
The point of view of the assignment method. When employing 
 the assignment method, the attention of the teacher is focused upon 
 controls of conduct (specific habits, knowledge and general patterns of 
 conduct) which it appears desirable to have children learn; and exer- 
 cises are formulated and assigned which are expected to furnish the 
 basis for the necessary learning activities. The essential point of con- 
 trast between this method and the project method is that under the 
 former the pupil is engaged in doing assigned exercises, while under the 
 latter the basis of the pupil's learning activities is his own purposes 
 which he is attempting to realize. It is true that a pupil may purpose 
 the doing of an assigned exercise and when this occurs the assignment 
 method tends to be equivalent to the project method so far as the pupil 
 is concerned. The teacher's point of view or attitude, however, is funda- 
 mentally different; he is guided by educational objectives concerning 
 the efficacy of learning exercises rather than by the interests, desires 
 and purposes of his pupils. 
 
 The reader should bear in mind that points of view or attitudes 
 toward the education of children are being contrasted rather than class- 
 room procedures although these also will tend to differ. Furthermore, 
 the two points of view are not mutually exclusive, at least as repre- 
 sented in educational practice. The project method does not mean that 
 the pupils are free to do as they please. They are guided in their 
 purposing and at times even restrained. Published accounts of school 
 projects show that in the course of the work exercises are not infrequently 
 assigned. The exercises usually relate to the purpose the pupils are 
 attempting to realize and may be given very tactfully and perhaps indi- 
 rectly, but they call for activity that probably would not occur in the 
 absence of the assignment. 
 
 On the other hand, the assignment method as now conceived in 
 theory and represented in much of our educational practice is not 
 opposed to utilizing children's purposes as a basis of educative activity. 
 Current discussions of motivation, which is a phase of instructional 
 procedure associated with the assignment method, insist that the teacher 
 should endeavor to get his pupils to purpose the doing of the exercises 
 assigned. Teachers who approach their work with the attitude of the 
 assignment method frequently succeed in getting their pupils to purpose 
 the doing of some or even most of the exercises they assign. The secret 
 of their success is their skill in motivating learning activity and in this 
 phase of their work they may approach the project method so far as 
 procedures are concerned, although their point of view is essentially 
 different. 
 
 [8] 
 
The attitude represented by the often quoted statement that "It 
 <loesn't matter what a boy studies as long as he doesn't like it" is fre- 
 quently associated with the assignment method but it is incompatible 
 with this method as now conceived. Other things being equal, it is 
 desirable that the pupil enjoy doing the exercises assigned. The advo- 
 cates of the assignment method, at least the more progressive ones, 
 maintain that the teacher should capitalize children's purposes in moti- 
 vating the doing of learning exercises. Furthermore, they would have 
 the teacher adapt his learning exercises to the interests of his pupils 
 and in doing this the assignment method approaches the project method. 
 In fact some of the advocates of the latter method would probably 
 insist that it becomes the project method. Kilpatrick's inclusion of 
 "learning projects" and "enjoyment projects" appears to evidence the 
 recognition of the possible necessity of exercises that are "assigned" by 
 the teacher, but doubtless he would have the assignments made indi- 
 rectly so that the pupils would not be aware that the teacher was impos- 
 ing his purposes on them. 
 
 Illustrations of projects. Many cases of educative activity have 
 been described in our educational literature under the title of "projects." 
 The Twentieth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Edu- 
 cation, Part I, 9 presents a compilation of 285 descriptions under this 
 title but in most cases the activity of the pupils appears to be based on a 
 problem or some other type of assigned exercise. A number of sample 
 projects are described in Hosic and Chase, "A Brief Guide to the Project 
 Method." 10 Collings 11 lists by title the projects worked out in a four- 
 year experiment in a rural school and describes a number of representa- 
 tive ones. The following is a brief summary of the description of a 
 "Corn Fair" which was carried out by a group of upper-grade children. 
 
 In discussing a visit to a "Harvest Show" in a neighboring town, 
 the pupils proposed organizing a similar enterprise for their own com- 
 munity. 12 At subsequent conferences of the group the project was 
 planned, the teacher making occasional suggestions. First a general 
 program was agreed upon and committees were appointed for the fol- 
 lowing activities: (1) Exhibits, (2) Speakers, (3) Dinner, (4) Prizes 
 
 Published by the Public School Publishing Company of Bloomington, Illinois, 
 1921. 
 
 10 Published by the World Book Company, Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York, 1924. 
 
 "This is a brief account of a project described in: 
 
 Collings, Ellsworth. An Experiment with a Project Curriculum. New York:. 
 The Macmillan Company, 1923, p. 101-16. 
 
 "Four neighboring schools were invited to participate in the "Corn Fair." 
 
 [9] 
 
and Judges, (5) Date, and (6) Demonstrations. In carrying out the 
 plans, programs and posters were printed. Each pupil planned and made 
 one or more exhibits. Certain ones practiced demonstrations to give 
 at the fair. 
 
 At the first conference after the "Corn Fair," the project was dis- 
 cussed. The teacher remarked that the affair had been successful; 
 everything working out as they had planned. She, however, suggested 
 certain improvements that could be made if another one were held. 
 The pupils also made a number of suggestions. At the request of the 
 editor of the local paper for an account of their "Corn Fair," each of 
 the children prepared an article, and at a conference the various accounts 
 were read and the one considered best by the children was selected to 
 send to the editor. 
 
 It is apparent from Collings' account that throughout this project 
 the teacher was in the background. The pupils planned the various 
 things to be done and did the work. A few suggestions were offered by 
 the teacher, but many more came from the pupils. The group criticised 
 suggestions made by its members. The purpose also was the children's. 
 The teacher probably assisted in its development, and perhaps may 
 have been somewhat responsible for its initiation, but it was clearly a 
 pupil project and not imposed upon the class by the teacher and the 
 school. 
 
 Collings 13 also describes how a project grew out of a question asked 
 by a member of a primary group as to why Mrs. Murphy grew sun- 
 flowers along the rear of her vegetable garden. Inability of the group 
 to answer this question resulted in a visit to Airs. Murphy's garden to 
 ascertain the answer and to learn how the sunflower differs from other 
 flowers. In addition several references on the topic were read and each 
 pupil prepared a report of the visit. Some of the other projects carried 
 out by the pupils of the primary group are suggested by the follow- 
 ing titles : 
 
 How Mr. Long makes molasses. 
 
 How the dandelion spreads so rapidly. 
 
 How tomatoes are canned at the local canning factory. 
 
 What are the different kinds of birds in our community? 
 
 How Mr. Murphy cares for his sheep in the winter. 
 
 Finding out how wheat flour is made at McNatt. 
 
 The illness of two members of the intermediate group formed the 
 basis of a study of the causes of typhoid fever. 14 This in turn led to a 
 
 "Collings, Ellsworth. Op. cit., p. 50. 
 "Collings, Ellsworth. Op. cit., p. 54. 
 
 [10] 
 
study of the prevalence of diseases in the community and how to combat 
 the house-fly. A report of the study of the prevalence of diseases formed 
 the program of a community meeting at the school building. 
 
 Hotchkiss 15 describes a project that grew out of a pupil asking, 
 "Why is Africa called the Dark Continent?" In attempting to secure 
 the answer to this question, it became apparent that the class did not 
 have an adequate concept of the topography, climate, vegetation, and 
 so forth of this continent and plans were suggested and discussed for 
 making Africa better known to the class and to other children in the 
 school. It was decided to construct a large sand map on which would 
 be represented all of the information about Africa the class could 
 assemble. 
 
 A seed store project 16 was initiated during a study of seeds by ask- 
 ing the children "if they would like to have a seed store in school and 
 they, of course, were most enthusiastic." The class made (1) "a seed 
 store of big blocks," (2) "boxes for seeds," (3) labels for the different 
 kinds of seeds, and (4) baskets in which to gather the seeds. 
 
 A study of municipal sanitation grew out of the question, "Why 
 should a city have pure water?" 17 When it was found that the class 
 could not answer this question, a committee consulted the city engineer 
 and arranged for a visit to the city water plant. Another committee 
 visited the city health office and gathered data on health conditions in 
 the city. 
 
 The lack of satisfactory information concerning vocations resulted 
 in junior high-school pupils taking the initiative in collecting this much 
 needed information for the school library. "Each pupil volunteered to 
 obtain personal interviews from at least five prominent persons in the 
 professions, trades, commercial lines, management, manufacturing, or 
 farming, and to report these to the class for discussion. A series of 
 questions was agreed upon by the class. Committees were formed to 
 take charge of each type of interview, as lawyers, physicians, and so 
 forth and to work over material collected and to formulate one compre- 
 hensive report on its vocation." 18 
 
 The beginning of a construction project is described as follows: 
 "One noon a boy came to me early and said: 'Eight of us boys from 
 
 15 Hotchkiss, E. A. The Project Method in Classroom Work. Boston: Ginn and 
 Company, 1924, p. 55-71. 
 
 10 The Twentieth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 
 Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company, 1921, p. 6. 
 
 "Ibid, p. 140. 
 
 "Ibid, p. 166. 
 
 [HI 
 
the class belong to a club at the church and we want a bulletin board. 
 Could we make one? Of course we want to pay for the lumber.' I said. 
 'Yes, if you will do it all.' And before they were through, they discov- 
 ered the doing it all meant more than paying for the value of the lum- 
 ber and the actual work of making the board." 19 This group found it 
 necessary to determine what kind of lumber to use, how much lumber 
 to buy, and the design of the bulletin board. 
 
 The relative efficiency of the assignment method and the project 
 method. A method of teaching is not good or efficient because it is new 
 and has advocates who advertise it extensively; a method of teaching 
 is not inefficient or undesirable because it is old and may be labelled 
 "traditional." The merits of an instructional procedure are determined 
 by its effectiveness in engendering specific habits, knowledge and general 
 patterns of conduct. Hence the logical way to determine the relative 
 efficiency of the assignment method and the project method would be 
 to have the two methods employed under similar conditions and the 
 resulting effects upon the achievements of the pupils measured. 
 
 Collings 20 has reported an experiment in which he compares the 
 project method applied to the entire curriculum of a rural school with 
 the usual course of study and methods of instruction. In the experi- 
 mental school no subjects were taught. The pupils, forty-one in number. 
 were divided into three groups. The method of creating purposes and 
 selecting those to be utilized as a basis of learning activity is described 
 by Collings under the head of "curriculum principles." The essentials 
 of the procedure are (1) the suggestion of purposes (potential projects) 
 by both teacher and pupils, (2) a discussion by the members of the 
 group, including the teacher, of the value and feasibility of the proposed 
 projects, and (3) the selection of one for group participation, the ma- 
 jority determining the choice. 
 
 At the close of the experiment, which extended over a period of 
 four years, the following tests were given in both the experimental school 
 and two control schools. 
 
 Thorndike-McCall: Reading Scale. Form I (grades four to eight inclusive). 
 
 Haggerty: Reading Examination. Sigma I. Test I (grades one to three inclusive). 
 
 Van Wagenen: American History Scales. Information Scale A. 
 
 Hillegas: Scale for the Measurement of Quality in English Composition. 
 
 Woody: Measurements of Some Achievements in Arithmetic.. Series B (grades 
 four to eight inclusive). 
 
 19 The Twentieth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, 
 Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company. 1921. p. 166-67. 
 
 20 Collixgs, Ellsworth. An Experiment with a Project Curriculum. Xew York: 
 The Macmillan Company, 1923, p. 346. 
 
 [12] 
 
Collings: Tests for Measuring the Four Fundamental Operations in Arithmetic 
 
 (for the first four grades) 
 Starch: Spelling Scales, Forms 1 and 2. 
 Thorndike: Scale for Measuring Handwriting. 
 Hahn-Lackey: Geography Scale. 
 
 National Intelligence Tests. Scale A, Form 1 (grades four to eight inclusive). 
 Haggerty: Intelligence Examination, Delta I (grades one to three inclusive). 
 
 In addition Collings considered such items as, "percent of pupils 
 enumerated in district enrolled in school," "attendance, truancy, cases 
 of corporal punishment," "percent of parents visiting the school during 
 the school year," and changes in community life. 
 
 The average of all test scores for the experimental school was 38 
 percent greater than the corresponding average of the control schools 
 taken together. Although the tests used do not yield highly accurate 
 scores and measure only certain achievements, the results tend to be 
 convincing, especially when considered in connection with the data 21 
 relating to the conduct of pupils, the attitude of parents and the life of 
 the community. However, when one inquires concerning the equivalence 
 of the experimental school and the two control schools, he finds that 
 several factors, other than the curriculum and the associated instruc- 
 tional procedures, differ. Among those listed by Collings are (1) library 
 and equipment, being distinctly superior in the experimental school, 
 (2) number of teachers (a second teacher was employed in the experi- 
 mental school at the middle of the first year), 22 (3) weekly community 
 meetings in which the pupils participated were "an integral part of the 
 procedure" of the experimental school in contrast with about six com- 
 munity meetings of the "adult type" in the control schools, (4) a dis- 
 tinctly greater amount of supervision of the experimental school. In 
 addition to the factors that Collings lists, one suspects that the teachers 
 in the experimental school together with Collings, 23 who was the super- 
 visor, exhibited much greater zeal and enthusiasm and invested more 
 energy in the work than did the teachers in the control schools. 
 
 In view of these and other variable factors, it does not appear that 
 this experiment answers the question concerning the relative merits of 
 the assignment method and the project method in general. The data 
 appear to justify the assertion that the project method as employed in 
 the experimental school was successful, but they probably do not prove 
 
 21 These are distinctly favorable to the experimental school. 
 
 22 This condition is partially offset by the fact that the enrollment in the experi- 
 mental school was 41 and only 29 and 31 in the control schools. 
 
 23 Collings was the County Superintendent and therefore had an official relation- 
 ship with the teachers. 
 
 [13] 
 
that under "normal" conditions the project method would be more effi- 
 cient or even as efficient as the conventional curriculum and the assign- 
 ment method. 
 
 Logical evidence. Since the experimental evidence is not conclu- 
 sive, it will be helpful to note certain logical considerations. In the first 
 place one may properly raise the question whether the realization of pur- 
 poses in which skills and information are used as tools may always be ex- 
 pected to result in the degree of mastery that is specified by our educa- 
 tional objectives. If we grant that the execution of a project represents a 
 highly efficient initial learning of skills and information, it does not neces- 
 sarily follow that projects alone will provide sufficient learning activity for 
 the attainment of the desired degree of mastery or that project activity is 
 the most efficient learning activity for the attainment of all objectives. 
 When the student's purpose is merely one for which certain controls of 
 conduct are needed as tools, the learning of them may stop short of the 
 degree of mastery considered desirable. Of course if one accepts Kil- 
 patrick's definition of a project and the type of project in which the 
 student purposes the acquiring of certain specific habits or other con- 
 trols of conduct, he would be forced to admit that when such a project 
 was formed by a student, the ensuing project activity would represent 
 the optimum learning activity, provided it conformed to the laws of 
 learning. 
 
 The significance of the provision attached to the preceding state- 
 ment is illustrated in the acquisition of skills necessary for the efficient 
 operation of a typewriter. A student who purposes the acquisition of 
 these skills will probably not exhibit efficient learning if he is simply 
 provided with a typewriter and permitted to achieve his purpose in his 
 own way. It is not likely that, undirected, he will choose the best prac- 
 tice exercises or distribute his periods of practice in the best way. The 
 dominating purpose is not sufficient to insure efficient learning. Direc- 
 tion by the teacher, including the assignment of definite exercises or 
 at least the suggestion of exercises and the distribution of practice 
 periods, appears necessary for maximum efficiency. However, the pres- 
 ence of a dominating desire to learn contributes greatly to the efficacy 
 of the learning process. 
 
 On the other hand, it should be noted that as one practices in ac- 
 quiring motor skills, memorizes a formula, rule, poem, dates in history 
 or other facts, solves problems, reads a textbook or engages in other 
 learning activities, he derives certain by-products in addition to the 
 direct outcomes. The latter tend to be obvious to both the teacher and 
 learner, but the by-products (ideals, attitudes, interests, tastes, perspec- 
 
 [14] 
 
tives and the like) tend to be intangible and frequently give little evi- 
 dence of their existence. However, in general, as a pupil studies 
 arithmetic, he is acquiring attitudes and interests as well as learning 
 arithmetic; as he studies history, he learns facts, meanings, concepts 
 and the like but he also is building up general patterns of conduct. 
 
 It has been asserted that the project method creates conditions 
 which are distinctly favorable to the production of by-products, espe- 
 cially those commonly designated as initiative, resourcefulness, self-con- 
 fidence, cooperation, willingness to assume responsibility, persistence, 
 interest in the field of activity and the like. The extent to which the 
 conditions essential to the engendering of such patterns of conduct are 
 more apt to be secured under the project method than under the assign- 
 ment method is a question on which there are differences of opinion. 
 In the judgment of the writer, the method to which the teacher sub- 
 scribes is in general less important than his sensitiveness in detecting 
 opportunities for engendering patterns of conduct and his skill in 
 handling the opportunities that arise. 
 
 Relation of the project method to the curriculum. We have been 
 accustomedto think of the curriculum of the school in terms of certain 
 subjects — reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, history, algebra, Latin, 
 physics, manual training, and so forth, — each of which represents certain 
 controls of conduct to be acquired, that is, certain facts to be memorized, 
 certain abstract and general meanings to be comprehended, certain 
 rules and principles to be mastered, and the like. It has been consid- 
 ered important that each child study the prescribed subjects and cover 
 the prescribed content of each. During recent years this concept of the 
 function of the school has been modified, especially in the kindergarten 
 and primary grades, but many teachers as well as the great majority 
 of the general public still consider it vital that the school have a definite 
 curriculum and the "ground" prescribed by it be covered by all pupils 
 who are rated as "passing." 
 
 The project method implies a concept of school work which when 
 contrasted with that of a definite curriculum may be called revolution- 
 ary. Since under the project method the activity of the pupil is devoted 
 to the realization of his purposes, the "ground" he covers is determined 
 by them. In view of the differences in the interests of children, it is 
 obvious that, unless they are subject to more rigid direction than is 
 compatible with the project method as interpreted by most of its ad- 
 vocates, the pupils completing a division of our school system will differ 
 in the content of their achievements. 
 
 [15] 
 
Until recently the desirability of a definite content for each school 
 subject and hence a uniform content for all students who take the same 
 subjects have not been considered as debatable questions by most edu- 
 cators. On the other hand an increasing number of students of educa- 
 tion are now maintaining that uniformity of content is not essential and 
 perhaps, all things considered, not desirable. As is the case in many 
 controversies, there appears to be some truth on both sides. In general 
 it is desirable that a school formulate a curriculum, but the degree of 
 its definiteness and of conformity to it may properly vary with the 
 maturity of the students, the training of the teachers and the expertness 
 of the supervision of instruction. Other things being equal, a definite 
 curriculum and conformity to it appear least desirable in the kinder- 
 garten and the graduate school of the university. Definite curricular 
 requirements are probably most desirable from the fourth grade through 
 the ninth and are more desirable in the "tool" subjects than in the 
 "content" subjects. 
 
 If all of the school activity of pupils is based on projects, their 
 learning will not conform to a definite curriculum unless their purpos- 
 ing is directed by the teacher to a greater extent than the project method 
 assumes. At some stages of school work, and in some phases at all 
 stages, certain departures from a definite curriculum may be justified 
 and any undesirable gaps may be eliminated by the assignment of 
 appropriate learning exercises. The extent of these gaps, and hence 
 the need for the assignment of learning exercises will depend upon the 
 resourcefulness and skill of the teacher in directing the purposing of 
 his students. Under favorable conditions such as existed in Collings' 
 experiment (see pages 12, 13), there may be no undesirable gaps. 
 
 Thus we appear to be justified in concluding that the project method 
 and a fixed curriculum are necessarily incompatible. The project method 
 may be employed, sometimes extensively, without undesirable de- 
 partures from a curriculum typical of those now adhered to by our 
 schools. However, the adoption of the project method as the typical 
 instructional procedure will usually make it impossible to follow a pre- 
 scribed curriculum. 
 
 Relation of the project method to the level of intelligence. Our 
 study of the intelligence of children has led to the conviction that in- 
 structional procedures should be adjusted to their capacity to learn. 
 In general a given procedure is not equally effective with all children 
 of a given age or even with all who belong to the same school grade. 
 This is true of the project method, although it represents a general pro- 
 cedure and thus some adaptation to individual differences may be made, 
 
 [16] 
 
but one may properly raise the question, "Is the project method equally 
 appropriate for all levels of intelligence?" 
 
 Intelligence is commonly defined in general terms as "capacity to 
 learn" or somewhat more specifically as "capacity to do school tasks," 
 but, either as phases of this capacity or as additional elements, intelli- 
 gence includes traits to which we are accustomed to assign such names 
 as curiosity, interests, initiative, resourcefulness, perseverance, enter- 
 prise and the like. Children who are low in the scale of intelligence are 
 usually lacking in curiosity concerning their environment, have few 
 interests, exhibit little initiative, are not resourceful, seldom persevere 
 and are not enterprising. On the other hand bright children tend to 
 exhibit the opposite tendencies. It is therefore apparent that bright 
 children are more likely to have purposes which they wish to realize 
 and, when they do not, may be easily stimulated to purposing by the 
 teacher. We recognize this fact by describing bright children as leaders. 
 On the other* hand children possessing only average or less than average 
 intelligence have few interests, and as a rule it will be difficult for the 
 teacher to stimulate a dominating purpose that will "fix the aim of 
 action, guide its processes and furnish the necessary driving force." 
 
 The considerations of the preceding paragraphs appear to justify 
 the conclusion that the project method is more easily employed with 
 pupils on the higher levels of intelligence than with those on the lower 
 levels. It seems doubtful if many of the latter group can be stimulated 
 to purpose the doing of a sufficient number of things to provide much 
 of the activity required to educate children of limited intelligence. When 
 less capable pupils are grouped with those on the higher levels of intelli- 
 gence, this conclusion may need modification because the brighter pupils 
 will exercise leadership. In such cases, however, those on the lower 
 levels of intelligence will profit least from projects because the others 
 will do most of the work. 
 
 Conclusion in regard to the relative merit of the assignment 
 method and the project method. It has doubtless been apparent to the 
 reader of the preceding pages that in the judgment of the writer both 
 the assignment method and the project method have merit. There ap- 
 pears to be no doubt but that, as employed by some teachers, the project 
 method is a highly efficient instructional procedure. It, however, does 
 not follow that if the assignment method were completely replaced by 
 it, the efficiency of our schools would be increased. Sometimes, espe- 
 cially when fundamental skills are to be mastered, the assignment 
 method seems superior. Hence, it appears reasonable to conclude that 
 (1) a teacher should afford opportunity for his pupils to realize their 
 
 [17] 
 
purposes, provided they appear to be worth while; (2) a teacher should 
 encourage purposing and cultivate embryonic purposes; (3) on the 
 other hand, the teacher should expect to employ the assignment method 
 whenever his pupils fail to propose appropriate projects. In many cases 
 this will mean that the assignment method is the predominant instruc- 
 tional procedure. 24 
 
 24 The statements of two writers are quoted in support of this conclusion. 
 
 "I am inclined to believe that, if provision is made for giving children scope and 
 opportunity to work out many of their spontaneous purposes, there can well be some 
 measure of controlled and directed activity to take care of the types of learning which 
 our adult judgment deems essential and which the child may not happen to hit upon 
 accidentally. Until further evidence is available, I should say that it is better that he 
 should be encouraged to accept this control as a matter of course, than that we should 
 attempt to delude him into the belief that he is making a free choice when in reality 
 the choice is made by someone else. . . . Instead of decrying adult control as a neces- 
 sary evil, we see it now as an essential virtue through the agency of which, and pri- 
 marily through the agency of which, human progress has been made possible. The great 
 educational problem is to use it wisely but not to abuse it; to recognize where it should 
 stop but not to abandon it entirely even in theory." (Bagley, William C. "Projects 
 and purposes in teaching and learning/' Teachers College Record, 22:295-96, Septem- 
 ber, 1921.) 
 
 "In general I believe this principle will be found to hold. If the knowledge or 
 skill is of such a character that undesirable results follow directly from failure, purpose- 
 ful activity may be depended upon to build up slowly, by trial and error methods, 
 correct habits and adequate degrees of skill. But if the operation of the habit or skill 
 is obscure, so that cause and effect may not be easily and directly traced, mere activity, 
 except by chance, will not produce the desired result. 
 
 "Our civilization is the product of an age-long evolution in which the best solu- 
 tions for our common problems have been slowly and laboriously built up by the master 
 minds of the ages. The basic function of the school is to transmit this social inheritance 
 to the oncoming generation. Other things being equal, the more efficiently this duty is 
 discharged, the greater will be the contribution to the social progress which the new 
 generation will make. 
 
 "From this point of view the school must not only see to it that the child acquires 
 the fundamental skills, but also that he wastes no time in doing so. If compulsory drill 
 exercises under expert teaching will short-circuit the slow evolutionary development 
 which comes from the use of skill in purposeful activity, then not to drill a child is to 
 handicap both him and society. . . . 
 
 "I can find nothing intrinsically wrong with drill. Under right conditions and done 
 with the proper motives, it is one of the most efficient forms of educational activity. It 
 is true that all persons do not need drill. Even in Gary in all the elementary grades 
 there were children who had spent their entire educational lives in the Gary schools, 
 yet who were able to spell perfectly the tests for their grade. There are individuals 
 who without drill are able to drive an automobile or an aeroplane the first time they 
 try it, who, in other words, learn so readily by doing that they need no other training. 
 The essential point to notice, however, is that the number of such individuals is small. 
 On the basis of such measurements as have been made we can say with some definite- 
 ness that the number of children who are "natural-born" spellers is approximately ten 
 percent of the total. For the other 90 percent the acquisition of adequate skill involves 
 either a prolonged period of purposeful activity or some form of direct drill." (Courtis, 
 
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The technique of the project method. The basic difference between 
 the project method and the assignment method is that in the former 
 the pupils propose things to do while in the latter the teacher assigns 
 exercises to be done. Hence, the technique of the project method con- 
 cerns the procedures employed in order to stimulate pupils to want to 
 do things having a high educative value. Occasionally as in the project 
 involving the construction of a bulletin board, (sec page 12) the teacher 
 may be approached by the pupils with a request to be allowed to do 
 something, but usually he will find it necessary to stimulate his pupils 
 to form purposes. It will seldom be wise for him to approach the group 
 with the direct inquiry, "What would you like to do?" Although this 
 is what the teacher desires to know, he should seek the answer indirectly. 
 
 In the experiment described by Collings (see pages 12, 13), a confer- 
 ence period was provided in which the pupils as well as the teacher asked 
 questions. Some of these related to their physical environment, others 
 to current events. A number represented the natural interests of the 
 children. Frequently a project grew out of a question asked by a pupil 
 during the conference period. The basis of the teacher's success appears 
 to have been tactful suggestions plus keenness in detecting and in under- 
 standing embryonic purposes. After the purposing of projects becomes 
 fashionable in a school or in a group, the teacher's task is made easier. 
 
 When all of the work of a group is not placed on a project basis, 
 the teacher's technique should be essentially the same in principle, 
 although it need not be as elaborate. The important requirement is 
 that he demonstrate a sympathetic receptiveness to proposals of projects 
 and that he be alert in detecting symptoms of embryonic purposes. 
 Many projects have started with a question asked by a pupil; if he is 
 sincere, it represents a desire to know, a purpose. A teacher can easily 
 discourage a questioning attitude on the part of his pupils by ignoring 
 their questions or by pronouncing those of which he does not approve 
 as irrelevant or silly. The ridicule and even sarcasm which not infre- 
 quently greet strange and awkwardly worded questions have undoubt- 
 edly killed or discouraged many developing purposes. It is obvious 
 that the project method requires that the teacher respond courteously 
 and sympathetically to any sincere question asked by a pupil. 25 
 
 Stuart A. "Teaching through the use of projects or purposeful acts," Teachers Col- 
 lege Record, 21:142-44, 146, March, 1920 ) 
 
 '"For an interesting account of projects developed from questions asked by 
 pupils, sec: 
 
 Linke, Edith A. "An experiment in teaching in response to children's questions," 
 Teachers College Record, 21:55-67, January, 1920. 
 
 [19] 
 
A question, even if sincere, seldom represents a "dominating pur- 
 pose." Usually it indicates only the beginning of one. Hence, if the 
 teacher immediately answers the question to the satisfaction of the pupil, 
 a dominating purpose will not develop because the desire has been sat- 
 isfied. The concept of the project method implies that the pupils are to 
 realize their purposes with a minimum of assistance from the teacher. 
 Under this method he is a director of their learning activities to a 
 greater extent than when exercises are assigned. He may make sug- 
 gestions and even assist in the project, but when any of the planning 
 or the ensuing work is done for the pupils, their opportunity to learn 
 is limited and their interest in the project may be lessened. 
 
 A large number of the published descriptions of projects imply 
 that the teacher 26 initiated the project by asking the class, "Would you 
 like to do r" In such cases the pupils may form a domi- 
 nating purpose but it not infrequently happens that the project becomes 
 merely an assignment. Whenever a teacher approaches a class with a 
 definite project in mind and then endeavors to have his pupils purpose 
 the doing of it, his instructional procedure tends to become that of the 
 assignment method. Furthermore, after the pupils have formed a pur- 
 pose, the teacher must permit them to devise plans for its realization. 
 A teacher employing the project method will seldom if ever be able to 
 plan in advance the particular projects that his class will undertake. 
 Instead he must utilize the purposes exhibited by his pupils. 
 
 26 See especially the descriptions given in the Twentieth Yearbook of the National 
 Society for the Study of Education, Part I. Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Pub- 
 lishing Company, 1921. 
 
 NOTE — Because of the fact that excellent bibliographies concerning the project 
 method are contained in most of the references given in this circular, especially in The 
 Twentieth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, 
 no bibliography is included in this publication. 
 
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