Number Crunching

The Economics Department. Harvard's largest concentration with about 700 students, last week distributed a questionnaire in all department courses designed as a "midterm evaluation of undergraduate courses in economics." Donald W. Walls, head tutor of the department, said yesterday.

Developed by a group of four economics faculty members concerned with improving the teaching of department courses, the questionnaire went out last week to students in all undergraduate economics courses except Social Analysis 10: "Principles of Economics."

Warburg Professor of Economics Otto Eckstein, chairman of the committee, said yesterday the questionnaire was created because of the success of the mid-term evaluations which are annually distributed in Social Analysis 10, which he heads.

"There are more Ec concentrators than ever, and we feel we have a responsibility to do a certain pedagogical job, "Eckstein said. In the long run, we're hoping to make the same kind of investment in our mid-level courses that we've made in Social Analysis to."

The survey marks the first time since before the CUE Guide was introduced 10 years ago that the department has conducted its own mid-term evaluation of courses, Walls said.

He added that "while we find the CUE evaluations valuable, they come too late [in the year] to help us make any improvements" during courses.

The questions asked concern the strengths and weaknesses of the lecturer, the section leader, and the written work assigned. A separate set of questions was distributed in Sophomore Tutorial geared more toward classroom discussions.