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Appendix C.
L-REPORT BY MR. H. L. GARRETT, B. A., ON THE VISUAL INSTRUCTION COURSE GIVEN AT KOWLOON SCHOOL.
During the past 7 weeks I have delivered lectures as out-lined in the Handbook supplied. The apparatus has on the whole worked well. The attendance has been mainly confined to the senior scholars, though a limited number of friends have been present.
At the conclusion of the course I held an examination of the senior students-14 in number, with the following results. Eight students passed, and six were failures, though the papers of the latter were not altogether without merit. I also held an oral examination among the junior students who attended, and was much pleased with their answers, which shewed intelligence and interest in the subject.
As a general criticism of the written examination I may state that there was a general tendency to rambling answers, not directly related to the questions.
From the results obtained in the examination and from general observations made in the course of delivering the lectures, I am confident that Visual Instruction of this nature, is likely to form a most valuable means of education. I would submit however two points which seem worthy of consideration.
1. The difficulty of assembling children at a suitable hour. It is impossible to darken the room during the day time sufficiently for the purpose of using a lantern; and in the case of children living at a distance, the earliest time at which it was possible to commence the lectures, viz., 6.15, involves no small inconvenience.
2. The difficulty of taking any notes during the lectures. In the case of my lectures, they were purely extempore, as I merely used the book as a guide to the slides. Con- sequently many of the students missed valuable points, which would not have been the case had they been able to take notes. Viewing these facts, I should venture to suggest that some form of shaded lamp be provided, which without lessening the effect of the lantern would be sufficiently clear to see to write by.
II. REPORT BY MR. A: O. BRAWN ON THE COURSE GIVEN TO THE
DIOCESAN SCHOOLS AND FAIRLEA.
I have given 13 lectures to the above schools, and am satisfied that the pupils' interest in the Home Land has been aroused and their knowledge of it has considerably increased. These I take it are the objects of the Lantern Lectures. My satisfaction is based upon the letters I have received and the eagerness with which the children looked forward to the Lectures. I have a few comments to make upon the Slides, Arrangement of Lectures, Exercises for the pupils, and the Working of the Lautern,
1. Slides are splendid but a view of Hongkong harbour would advertise its shipping importance better than Queen's Road. A picture of the Black Country at night would be impressive, and a view of a canal would reveal another aspect of English life.
2. Arrangement seems nearly perfect though it requires two lectures to each section, and two successive lectures on English scenery followed by two on historic centres are rather tedious to children. So important and interesting a river as the Thames deserves a lecture to itself. So after two lectures voyaging to England and two in seeing the sights of London, I took the children up the Thames to its source, thereby using in addition to the slides on the Thames in Section III some from Section IV relating to Windsor, Eton and Oxford, some from Section V relating to the Cotswolds, and one from Section VI relating to Huntley and Palmers, Reading.