Plea for a reform of the university teaching in Scotland : submitted to the Scottish Universities Commission / by James Finlayson.

  • Finlayson, James, 1840-1906.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Plea for a reform of the university teaching in Scotland : submitted to the Scottish Universities Commission / by James Finlayson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    III. A choice of teachers in each subject, if such can be obtained, should be provided or permitted, by the appointment of recognised lecturers within the University, or by the recognition in some way of lectures outside the University, or by the affiliation of Colleges. In particular, teachers of tutorial classes in languages, &c., and of practical classes in scientific subjects, should receive every encour- agement, compatible with the resources of the University, so as to induce good men to apply for recognition. IV. Attendance on a Systematic, or on a Practical, or on a Tutorial Class should count equally as fulfilling the requirements of the prescribed course, except in those'cases where the Practical Classes are made compulsory, in which case they, at least, must be taken. V. Examinations for degrees should be on the Subjects duly specified ; and the Examining Boards should be so constituted as not to be dominated by the Professors, or by a group of teachers of any kind. VI. The management of the Museums and Libraries should be made to fit in with the other machinery for the education of the students, and certain Professors or Lecturers within the University should have the right to utilise them in their teaching. These statements may seem too general and vague. The following draft illustrates their application to the curriculum for medical degrees, as to which only I can speak with the confidence arising from familiarity. For other degrees similar schemes could be drawn up. In some cases the Tutorial Classes would be relatively moi-e important, just as the Practical are in others. In framing the Ordinances for medical degrees, the Commission have a free hand. The General Medical Council only insists on a preliminary examination and on four years of study thereafter. Even these requirements are expressed in the form of Recom- mendations ; some of these Recommendations are at present quite ignored by the Scottish Universities.*