The evaluation of prerequisite courses is the central curricular problem with which the investigations reported in this volume deal. The particular courses chosen for inquiry were those in elementary botany. An evaluation is essayed of the function of these courses in preparing the student for the pursual of sequent courses of a botanical nature in the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics of the University of Minnesota.

Certain types of preparation have, perhaps, always been mandatory for admission into any unit of our educational organization. As various curricula have been developed within any given unit, there have been set...

Purpose.—The objective of the study reported in this chapter was to inquire into the changes that have been made from time to time in the courses in botany and determine from the data anything that might be pertinent to the central problem at hand.

Sources and Method.—The materials used were the available publications issued by the University of Minnesota pertaining to its curricular organization, respectively designated as The University of Minnesota Almanac for the years 1871-1873, The Calendar for the years 1874-1886, The Catalogue for the years 1887-1897, and The University of Minnesota Bulletin for the years 1898-1928....

Purpose.—The first investigation reported in this chapter was directed towards a determination of: (1) the botanical constituents of certain courses in the College of Agriculture and Forestry; (2) the botanical constituents of the elementary courses in botany in the College of Science, Literature, and the Arts; and (3) the degree of relationship between (1) and (2).

Sources and Method.—The sources for the data reported here were in the main syllabi which were prepared for this particular problem by the various instructors of the courses represented. In those elementary courses where the content was practically identical with that found...

The Problem.—The study reported in this chapter was an attempt to determine: (1) the extent of retention of the botanical information acquired by the student in the course in General Botany; (2) the relationship between the amount retained and the initial amount possessed; (3) the nature of the material retained; and (4) any apparent effect of the amount of previous botanical information upon achievement in sequent courses.

Sources and Method.—It seemed desirable, in the consideration of the functioning of elementary botany as a prerequisite course, to obtain some measure of the retention or carry-over of botanical knowledge from...

Problem.—The study reported in this chapter was directed at the determination of the possible effects of certain factors upon the achievement of students in General Botany. The factors considered were: (1) General Botany taken as a requirement or as an election; (2) previous preparation in high school science; (3) interest; (4) sex; and (5) intelligence.

Sources and Method.—The students for whom the data are recorded in this study took General Botany during the fall and winter quarters, 1927-1928. The students enrolled in the College of Science, Literature, and the Arts (including those taking the pre-business course and those...

This study has centered around an evaluation of the function of the course in General Botany in preparing students for the pursual of sequent courses in the College of Agriculture and Forestry. In the foregoing chapters there have been described the techniques employed and the findings, together with their significance in relation to the problem under investigation. A recapitulation of the more important data, subject to the limitations imposed by the conditions circumscribing the investigation, follows:

1. Botany has been considered a basic science in the curricula of the College of Agriculture and Forestry since its organization.

2. From a small beginning...