Kiely Gave Some Students Test Questions in Advance

Robert J. Kiely, master of Adams House and professor of English, revealed to a small portion of his class on the contemporary novel the content of two questions and the specific format for last Friday's final examination in the course.

Kiely revealed the material during an informal lunchtime meeting in Adams House and in several other private meetings with students.

Kiely is the associate dean of the Faculty for undergraduate education and a central figure in educational policy-making. His English 166 course, "The Novel Since World War II," has the largest enrollment of any English Department offering.

Contacted yesterday, Kiely confirmed that he had given out the information but denied that it gave unfair advantage to any students.

One Adams House junior who attended last Thursday's lunchtime review session said yesterday, "If you knew the format, you could figure out 50 per cent of the exam beforehand."

The first two parts of Friday's exam referred to specific remarks made during lecture. Students who attended the review session said that once Kiely told them what sort of questions would be asked, they knew what to study in their notes.

The review session was advertised only by signs posted at either end of the Adams Dining Room. Thomas C. Krystofiak '75, who arranged the session with Kieley, estimated yesterday that between 30 and 40 students--predominantly from Adams House--were in attendance.

Krystofiak said that although the review session was not advertised anywhere besides Adams, it was open to students from any House.

During the review, Kiely told the students that they would have to identify quotes giving the philosophy of literature of several contemporary novelists.

Kiely also told the students that in the second part of the exam they would have to explain the significance of five pairs of names.

When one of the students asked Kiely to be more specific, he responded by saying, "Here's one: Borges and Cervantes," Krystofiak said yesterday.

The Borges-Cervantes example appeared on Friday's exam.

An Adams junior said yesterday that during a meal earlier this week Kiely told him "a pair like Fowles and Heraclitus" would appear on the exam.

The example appeared on the exam.

Both Krystofiak and the Adams junior said that when Kiely cited the examples, they felt certain that the examples would appear on the exam.

June Cross '75, a Currier resident, said yesterday that Kiely gave her an example that later appeared on the exam. Cross talked with Kiely during his office hours last week.

Kiely said yesterday it was possible he told students examples from the exam, but added that "it really didn't make any difference."

He said that it was his intention that the information he gave out about the test be disseminated among students as widely as possible.

"I asked students, section men and the course grader to pass the word on to people in other Houses," he said.

Both Cross and an Adams House senior said that Kiely had asked them to convey what he had said about the exam format to other people.

Patrick Creevy, a teaching fellow in English 166, said yesterday, "I don't remember anybody saying anything about telling the kids about the format."

"I told the kids that called me that the format would be essay and short-answer. I also told them to study their lecture notes. I never got more specific than that," Creevy said.

He added, "I have no idea what Kiely told people in Adams House."

Another Adams senior, who asked not to be identified "because I still have to live in the House," said that his section man didn't want to go into detail in describing the exam. "Only Kiely felt he had the freedom to divulge the specifics of the exam," he said.

The course's two other teaching assistants, George Gopen and Richard Sawaya, could not be reached for comment.

Kiely said he could not advice the whole class of the exam format because the exam had not been made up prior to his last lecture.

'Students Would Fall'

According to a students in the course, "All Kiely said about the exam was that it would be hard, and that students would fail if they didn't do all of the reading. He also said to study our lecture notes."

Michael Bromwich '75, a Quincy House resident, said that Kiely's system for disseminating the format of the test was "nice for Adams House people but unfair for everyone else, especially people who didn't have connections with the people Kiely talked to."

The second Adams House senior, who attended the review session, said that people who went to the Adams meeting with Kiely "ultimately had an unfair advantage in the course."

Another Adams resident at the review admitted the session "was an advantage to anyone who felt good about knowing exactly what was on the exam."

In a more extreme case last June, the Business School canceled a marketing examinations when an estimated 10 per cent of the class obtained advance knowledge of the exam's contents.

A Mather resident said yesterday that he would bring the matter to the attention of the committee on injury later this week