Economics 98 To Schedule Written Exam

Juniors enrolled in Economics tutorial--Ec 98--will take a written examination this May in the second half of an experiment to find the right testing method for the course. This winter Economics juniors became the first undergraduates to take oral examinations.

The Economics Department is one of the few to require examinations in tutorial work.

The Economics 98 staff met Thursday and, according to H. Francois Wilkinson, head tutor in Economics next year, agreed that an examination would not make Ec 98 more of a rigid course than a tutorial program. The staff felt that some sort of exam--oral or written--was necessary to help in grading.

On the question of oral vs. written exams the instructors were not in complete unanimity. The staff decided however, to give a two-hour exam in the reading period with general questions composed by all the tutors. Each tutor may them choose certain questions or reword them to make them conform to the aims of his particular tutorial.

"The exams will not have a set pattern for all the tutorials in Ec 98," Wilkinson stated," nor will they make it a formal course."

One dissenting tutor remarked, "If you have to have an examination, an oral is more in the concept of tutorial."

Wilkinson said that the staff hopes to receive reactions from students on the testing experiments and will presumably meet next Fall to decide whether oral or written exams are preferable. Economics 98, honors tutorial for juniors, is given in two hours of lectures a week and two hours of group sessions with a tutor.