§ 37. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what enquiries he is making into the possible use of teaching machines in Scottish schools, as a means of effective deployment of fully trained teachers.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. R. Brooman-White)The Scottish Education Department has kept in close touch with the experimental work being done in relation to programmed teaching and teaching machines, notably in the University of Aberdeen, and my right hon. Friend is considering with the interests concerned how this work can best be helped forward. It is too early to expect definite results, especially in relation to teacher deployment, but we are anxious to see all possibilities of this kind exploited.
§ Mr. ThomsonI thank the hon. Gentleman for that encouraging reply. Will he consult his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Air about some interesting experiments in the Royal Air Force with teaching machines which show that the same results in certain mathematics courses can be obtained in half the time with the use of machines?
§ Mr. Brooman-WhiteYes, Sir.