The Hidden Persuaders

Although it would be overly optimistic to expect the practice of education to duplicate the theory, it seems reasonable that the one bear a faint resemblance to the other. In respect to the grading of senior honors theses, the difference between the theory and the practice is so vast as to be almost incredible and easily intolerable.

Faculty members generally agree--on an abstract level--that undergraduate education is best served when the student and the professor can discuss the material at hand on a man to man basis. They agree--in theory--that a grade or a written comment is an unsatisfying substitute for the give and take of a first hand discussion and explanation. But somehow or other, the theory as well as the professor disappear every year at this time--professors have an annoying habit of going incommunicado both before and after they have graded senior honors theses.

Professors, moreover, are somewhat uncomfortable when called upon to defend this rite of Spring whereby graders are generally anonymous, grades frequently secret, and theses oftimes hidden. One traditional explanation is proferred by several uneasy English professors who recall that once upon a time an undergraduate grabbed one of their colleagues by the lapels and demanded some sort of satisfaction for an obvious injustice. Each department has a favorite explanation of its own, but professors are usually agreed that the necessity of having to explain, or even defend, a grade is an upsetting procedure.

If a professor could legimately forget his duty to education and responsibility to his students, then this defensive attitude might be justified. A senior who has spent many months on his thesis deserves the benefit of discussing it with the grader. And if the senior is unhappy about his grade, then the professor, who believes he has graded the senior fairly, should be more than glad to explain the mark and answer the student's questions as best he can.

Fortunately, some professors have recognized that the secrecy surrounding a thesis grade is unfair to the student and unworthy of a teacher. In History and Literature, the senior receives the names of his two graders, along with their grades and comments. In radical and somewhat guilty opposition to this realistic approach, are the other Departments. In Philosophy, no information is released "officially." A senior in Romance Languages writes his thesis, and then hears no more of it. The Classics Department "normally" gives back no grades and no information, while the departments of Government, History, and Economics give back the overall grade with "varying" amounts of commentary from the anonymous grader. In mathematics, the grade is returned "officially" and the grader's name can generally be ascertained "unofficially." English Department theses are returned with anonymous comments of varying length.

Usually, just how much a senior learns about his thesis depends upon whether or not his tutor considers the secrecy ridiculous. Unfortunately, comparatively few faculty members are willing to admit that the present system is generally unwise and inconsistent. Even fewer are willing to do anything about the situation.

Nevertheless, it is hoped that other departments will follow the example of History and Literature. If the Departments have the courage of their cum-magna-summa convictions, and if the professor wants to teach his students not hide from them, then the secrecy surrounding senior honors theses should be removed.