The variety, amount, and complexity of the data available in geology tend in themselves toward generalizations in teaching—toward the deductive rather than the inductive method. A certain amount of generalization is desirable, but its over-emphasis develops bad habits of mind on the part of the student, and requires radical readjustment of his ideas in subsequent field investigations. To retain a proper emphasis on inductive methods, it is necessary to limit the amount of data presented. Good results have been obtained by using the "case system," now common in the teaching of law—that is, by starting with a specific fact or situation as a basis for developing principles.
Another advantage in the restriction of data is the opportunity thus afforded for spending more time in the study of original reports rather than of the short textbook summaries. The student thus learns where the best primary sources of information are, how to find them, and how to extract essentials from them.
Field Work
Field work is an essential part of any course of geologic training. Not only should it be taken at every opportunity during the regular school year, but no summer should be allowed to pass without geologic practice in the field. Opportunities for such work are offered in the summer field courses given by various institutions. In recent years it has usually been possible, also, for the student with elementary training to take part in summer geological survey work for state, national, or private organizations. In fact, after two or three years of geologic training, it is comparatively easy for the student to earn at such intervals during the year a fair fraction of his year's expenses.
The ideal arrangement, from the writer's viewpoint, would be about an equal division of time between indoor and outdoor study. The alternation from one to the other supplies a much needed corrective to clear thinking. It is impossible to bring all the subject materials into the classroom and laboratory; such study must inevitably be more or less deductive and generalized. If the student at frequent intervals is not able to acquire and renew a mental picture of field conditions, there is likely to be a faulty perspective even in regard to principles, and a considerable gap between the theoretical and applied phases of his knowledge. It may be possible in the classroom, for instance, to discuss faults in great detail with the aid of maps, diagrams, and pictures; and yet it is extremely difficult to get a real three-dimensional conception of the problems without actually standing on the ground.
Specialization in Studies
With the increasing size and efficiency of human operations has come an inevitable tendency to specialization. Where, in the past, the necessary geologic work might be passably done by the mining engineer, the local superintendent or operator, it is now being intrusted to specialists. Even within the more strictly engineering phases of the mining engineer's work, there is the same tendency toward specialization; his work is being divided up among the electrical engineers, the mechanical engineers, the hydraulic engineers, and others. The opportunities for geologic work, therefore, are distinctly in the direction of specialization. The student in determining the field he shall enter needs to take this fact into account and to prepare accordingly, but not at the sacrifice of the broad basal training. Only a small part of the specialization can be accomplished in college. The remainder will come with experience.
In the future there is likely to be increasing specialization among the different educational institutions in the phases of applied geology which are taught. Geographic location has a good deal to do with this tendency. Where an institution is located near a coal or oil field, it is likely, as a matter of course, to specialize to some extent in the application of geology to these resources. Or, the specialization may arise from the fact that the teachers have had special training in certain phases of applied geology, and such training naturally and properly determines the emphasis to be placed. Courses in engineering geology are finding a natural development in the leading engineering colleges.
In view of the fact that it is impossible for any one institution to cover all phases of applied geology, because of lack of time, and in view of the fact that even if this were attempted the results would be very unequal, because of the varied experience of teachers or because of geographic location, it would seem wise definitely to recognize these limitations and for each institution to play up the work it can do best. With freedom of migration among universities, a student by moving from place to place can thus secure any combination of specialized courses which best fits his requirements.