AN EXPERIMENT ON THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE LIBRARY SOURCES AS COMPARED TO THE USE OF A BASIC TEXTBOOK IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE
THE STUDY reported in this article presents some evidence in regard to the textbook problem in junior high school science instruction. A compari son was made of the effects of instruction on achieve ment and learning activities of students in eighth and ninth grade science classes with and without the use of a basic textbook. School library facilities were available to all students; thus , the contribution or the influence of the textbook was sought. John Amos Comenius (1592-1670) was a firm be liever in the value of the textbook?, ''Comenius wanted each pupil to have his own copy of the text, and all pupils to have the same text covering the the entire subject matter of the course. " (11) Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) also had firm but differing views regarding the text as an agency of instruction. He had a hatred for books, because, as he said, ".. .they merely teach us to talk of what we do not know," and because they "... come between the child and the things of nature." (12)