Crimson Attempts Some Constructive Suggestions in New Guide Supplement

Members of the faculty and undergraduates have asked the Crimson for practical suggestions for the improvement of courses which were criticized in the Confidential Guide. Realizing that they are expressing only the undergraduate opinion, the editors of the Crimson offer the following suggestions hoping that they will be of some help in making the courses in question more enjoyable and instructive. The article today deals with section meetings while future articles will discuss assignments and lectures.

Assuming that it is desirable that there should be lectures in every survey course and that there should be two lectures each week in most of the courses now open to Freshmen, the chief function of the section meeting is to coordinate the reading and the lectures, and serve as a clearing house for any difficulties in the minds of the students, and fill any gaps that cannot be covered in the assignments or the lectures. If time permits three minute oral reports on relevant points by members of the class should be instructive, interesting, and a guard against the long-winded bores who are so much in evidence at many meetings.

A high mark for work done in section meetings is often interpreted by both the leader and the student to mean that an A will be given the man who takes the most active part in the discussion. It is, however, almost a rule that the better men will not bother to speak parrot-like what they have read during the week because they are bored and realize that the other members of the section should have read the same thing. On the other hand, a poor man will not expose his difficulties because his misunderstanding will probably be the cause of a lower grade. If the value given to discussion in the sections could be reduced there would result a franker discussion of greater value to the students.

It would perhaps solve the problem to some extent if the better men were placed in separate sections with better instructors. It is not fair to the good man to hold him down on the theory that he will help the poorer men of the section by his greater knowledge.

It is desirable that the section men should have complete responsibility for their section because they are the only ones in close contact with the men. Frequent meetings of the members of the staff are of value to the students because they all should be doing the same things on the same day to allow discussion between members of different sections. There is also more respect for a thoroughly friendly staff than a formally compatible group. Especially should the Ph.D.'s try to remember that the minute matter which was the subject of his thesis is not of extremely great importance in a Freshman course. His job is to point out general trends that will serve as guides throughout college. Figuring on the basis of $100 for each man in the course, large courses such as Government 1, History 1, and French 2, earn many thousands of dollars for the University and should be given enough money to have small sections--preferably about 20 in each group. Frequent examinations help a student to get oriented at the beginning of the course.

In translation courses there is but little value to be received from a review of the work read the night before while much may be gained from a running comment on the work by the instructor with oral translation of only the more difficult phrases