him in everything to the last ditch, who was keenly
interested in every ambition he had for making a big thing of his work.
He at last could see Introductory Economics given as he wanted to have
it given--realizing at the same time that his plans were in the nature
of an experiment. The two textbooks used in the first semester were
McDougall's "Social Psychology" and Wallas's "Great Society." During
part of the time he pinned the front page of the morning paper on the
board, and illustrated his subject-matter by an item of news of that
very day.
His theory of education was that the first step in any subject was to
awaken a keen interest and curiosity in the student; for that reason he
felt that pure theory in Economics was too difficult for any but seniors
or graduates; that, given too soon, it tended only to discourage. He
allowed no note-taking in any of his courses, insisted on discussion by
the class, no matter how large it was, planned to do away with written
examinations as a test of scholarship, substituting instead a short oral
discussion with each student individually, grading them "passed" and
"not passed." As it was, because of the pressure of Government work, he
had to resort to written tests. The proportion of first sections in the
final examination, which was difficult, was so large that Carl was sure
the reader must have marked too leniently, and looked over the papers
himself. His results were the same as the reader's, and, he felt, could
justifiably be used as some proof of his theory that, if a student is
interested in the subject, you cannot keep him from doing good work.
I quote here from two letters written by Washington students who had
been under his influence but five months.
"May I, as only a student, add my inadequate sympathy for the loss of
Dr. Parker--the most liberal man I have known. While his going from my
educative life can be nothing as compared to his loss from a very
beautiful family group, yet the enthusiasm, the radiance of his
personality--freely given in his classes during the semester I was
privileged to know him--made possible to me a greater realization of the
fascination of humanity than I obtained during my previous four years of
college study. I still look for him to enter the classroom, nor shall I
soon forget his ideals, his faith in humanity." From the second letter:
"To have known Mr. Parker as well as I did makes me feel that I was
indeed privileged, and I shall al
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