Professor Seeks Teaching Evaluation; Receives Input from Danforth Center

Although some professors at Harvard may long ago have forgotten what it is like to be a student, Assistant Professor of Music Harris S. Saunders recently volunteered to return to school.

Saunders, who this year began teaching Music 1, "Introduction to Western Art Music," recently asked his students and members of the Danforth Center for Teaching and Learning to evaluate his lecture presentation and style. The Center is a University-run office that counsels members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in teaching methods.

Danforth Center members last week video-taped one of Saunders' lectures and helped him prepare an evaluation questionaire that he distributed to students. In the weeks ahead, Saunders and the staff of the center will analyze the results of the survey and study the tape in order to recommend changes in the course.

"This is something that I had meant to do since I arrived at Harvard three years ago," said Saunders. "At the University of Washington I had done it once before, and it proved to be very beneficial," he said.

Students and section leaders agreed yesterday that the survey showed Saunders' commitment to high-quality teaching and his willingness to listen to student opinions.

"Basically, this is Saunders' first year teaching a large course," said Lawrence Cave, head section leader of the course. "He has completely revamped Music I and wants student feedback about the new content, format, and style of the course."

"His teaching style is rather funky--he's experimenting and wants positive feedback," said Amy K. Stillman, another section leader.

"The lectures sometimes fell short, particularly before the survey, but there has been a marked change since," said Don Mordecai '87. "I'm not all that suprised. Saunders is very conscientious, and the purpose of the survey was to see how he could do things better."

"His presentation is fine. The guy is trying, and you've got to give him credit for it," said Bill E. Cleveland '87.

"Lectures have generally been vague, and he hasn't given us the necessary groundwork to understand the material," said a senior who didn't want to be identified. "[Yesterday] was the first day he mentioned the results of the survey, and the lecture was really much more focused," she said.

"I really respect him for having the guts to admit that things were not great," she said.