Students Praise Section Quality

An overwhelming 74 percent of students praised the quality of academic sections at Harvard, while the remaining 26 percent claimed sections are poor, in a survey conducted by The Crimson late last month.

Cynicism, however, appears to increase with the number of years students spend at the College. Of seniors polled, 66 percent said they were satisfied with sections, while 81 percent of first-years interviewed were positive about sections.

The poll questioned 451 students on a number of political and Harvard-related issues.

Teaching fellows contacted yester- day said they believe using sections as amethod of learning seems to be working.

"I think philosophically the system is good,"said Jonathan Rosenberg, who leads a section forHistorical Studies B-66, "History of the NuclearRevolution."

"It makes a lot of sense in that there is anintermediary between the student and professor. Itwould be detrimental to students if they didn'thave sections," he said.

Still, students and teaching fellows alikeblamed a variety of reasons for the decline inenthusiasm for sections in upperclass students.

"My opinion of sections has definitely gonedown," said Colleen N. Kotyk '93. "I don't thinksections make much of an impact on myunderstanding of the course material."

She said that some teaching fellows are tooresearch-oriented, as opposed toteaching-oriented, leading to a lack of clearcommunication with students.

Kotyk also said she feels that many sectionsare too big, and that there should be a maximum of12 people per section.

Jaded Seniors

Rosenberg said dissatisfaction with sectionsmight be more prevalent among upperclass studentsbecause "as people get farther along in anyinstitution, perhaps they get jaded to the thingsthey are exposed to."

"Also, seniors have a lot of pressures to worryabout, such as employment and graduate school, andthey might not be able to focus as much onsections," he said.

First-years, however, said they value sectionsbecause the atmosphere lends itself todiscussions.

"Sections are a lot of fun," said Marco A.Torres '96. "Great discussions take place, andthere is really no right or wrong in a sectionenvironment."

"The people who are most outspoken in mysections are freshmen," said Elizabeth M. Bucar'96.

"I would never go into a section unprepared,but I can see how seniors would expect more out ofsections, seeing that they've been exposed tocollege for four years."

Brett Bourbon, a teaching fellow for English163y, "Anglo-American Modernism," offered somesuggestions for improving the system.

"In essence, for a section to work, studentsmust think of it as another class, not just asupplement to a lecture," Bourbon said.

Different Backgrounds

"Also, T.F.'s should have backgrounds indifferent areas in order to bring differentperspectives to the subject."

And Bourbon said that part of the problem liesnot with the advising system, but with some of thegraduate students themselves, whom he called"boring.

"I think philosophically the system is good,"said Jonathan Rosenberg, who leads a section forHistorical Studies B-66, "History of the NuclearRevolution."

"It makes a lot of sense in that there is anintermediary between the student and professor. Itwould be detrimental to students if they didn'thave sections," he said.

Still, students and teaching fellows alikeblamed a variety of reasons for the decline inenthusiasm for sections in upperclass students.

"My opinion of sections has definitely gonedown," said Colleen N. Kotyk '93. "I don't thinksections make much of an impact on myunderstanding of the course material."

She said that some teaching fellows are tooresearch-oriented, as opposed toteaching-oriented, leading to a lack of clearcommunication with students.

Kotyk also said she feels that many sectionsare too big, and that there should be a maximum of12 people per section.

Jaded Seniors

Rosenberg said dissatisfaction with sectionsmight be more prevalent among upperclass studentsbecause "as people get farther along in anyinstitution, perhaps they get jaded to the thingsthey are exposed to."

"Also, seniors have a lot of pressures to worryabout, such as employment and graduate school, andthey might not be able to focus as much onsections," he said.

First-years, however, said they value sectionsbecause the atmosphere lends itself todiscussions.

"Sections are a lot of fun," said Marco A.Torres '96. "Great discussions take place, andthere is really no right or wrong in a sectionenvironment."

"The people who are most outspoken in mysections are freshmen," said Elizabeth M. Bucar'96.

"I would never go into a section unprepared,but I can see how seniors would expect more out ofsections, seeing that they've been exposed tocollege for four years."

Brett Bourbon, a teaching fellow for English163y, "Anglo-American Modernism," offered somesuggestions for improving the system.

"In essence, for a section to work, studentsmust think of it as another class, not just asupplement to a lecture," Bourbon said.

Different Backgrounds

"Also, T.F.'s should have backgrounds indifferent areas in order to bring differentperspectives to the subject."

And Bourbon said that part of the problem liesnot with the advising system, but with some of thegraduate students themselves, whom he called"boring.