ment in enhancing
the quality of teaching as a single, clear-cut aim, provided there is
a clear recognition of the relative importance of the ends set up, and
provided a definite plan is evolved to attain them.

The aim or aims of a subject or a lesson, once formulated, must always
be kept before the students as well as before the teacher. Every pupil
must know the ends to be attained in the course he is taking, and as
work progresses he must experience a growing realization that the
class is moving toward these ends. The subject matter of the course,
the method of instruction, the assigned task, now glow with interest
which springs from work clearly motivated. The average student plods
through his semester from a sense of duty or obedience rather than
from a conviction of the worth of both subject matter and method.

=Value of clearly defined aims=

Not only must the general aim be indicated to the student, but he must
also be made acquainted with the specific aim. Where students have
been acquainted with the specific task that must be accomplished in a
given period, concentration and cooperation with the instructor are
easier; the students can, at stages in the lesson, anticipate
succeeding steps; their answers have greater relevancy, their thought
is more sequential and flows more readily along the path planned by
the instructor. A specific aim for each lesson makes for economy, for
it is a standard of relevancy for both student and teacher. The
student whose answer or observation is irrelevant is asked to recall
the aim of the lesson and to judge the pertinence of his contribution.
The instructor given to wandering far afield finds that a clearly
fixed aim is an aid in keeping him in the prescribed path. Too many
college hours, especially in the social sciences, find the instructor
beginning with his subject but ending anywhere in the field of human
knowledge. These wanderings are entertaining enough, but they
dissipate the energies of the students and produce a mental flabbiness
already too well developed in the average college student.

=Motivation in college teaching=

A second factor which contributes much toward the effectiveness of
college teaching is the principle of motivation. So long as most of
the college course is prescribed, course by course, students will be
found pursuing certain studies without an intelligent understanding of
their social or mental worth. Ask the student "doing" prescribed logic