TFs May Be Forced To Attend Lectures

Teaching fellows (TFs) will find it difficult to skip lectures of classes they teach if either one of the proposals considered yesterday by the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) is approved by the Faculty Council.

Two options were discussed at the meeting and both will be placed before the Faculty Council: a rigid rule requiring TFs to attend lectures and an accompanying proposal which would allow instructors to excuse TFs from lectures only under certain circumstances.

"I'm all for the proposition if it's going to help teaching. I like and support that," Associate Professor of Applied Mechanics Howard A. Stone said. "But a rigid rule--I don't see logistically how it would work. I'm troubled by a rigid requirement."

"If you're being paid to teach the course, you ought to show up," Professor of History James Hankins said. "As I understand it, the arguments is if I want to hire this good TF, I have to offer non-attendance at lecture. I don't think that should be part of the equation."

Arguments against the rigid rule focused on two reasons TFs miss lectures: class conflicts and enough familiarity with the material that hearing a lecture may be a waste of time.

Randall A. Fine '96, a student member of CUE, said that many professors change their lectures from year to year, making mandatory attendance important.

"For instance, I know Professor [Martin S.] Feldstein ['61] changes his lectures," Fine said. "TFs need to hear the changes."

Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 also spoke in favor of mandatory attendance.

"If [my TF] repeats [the lecture] because he didn't go and didn't know if people understood, it negatively affects my section," she said.

Director of the Core Program Susan W. Lewis said that even if the lecture has not changed, TFs should attend lectures.

"From year to year, the level of student understanding [of the material] changes," said Lewis, who is a guest member of CUE.

"I see a problem with the rigid nature because having a good TF is really important," said Alissa S. Brotman '97, a student member of the CUE. "But in order to explain one confusion, I need a TF who attended lecture that day."

Other Topics

The CUE briefly touched on the subject of grade inflation, which has been on the committee's agenda for much of the year.

Most memos sent to the departments to assess feelings on grade inflation have not yet been returned, meaning that the subject will be addressed again next fall and no action will be taken this year.

The committee also agreed to recommend to the Faculty Council that the minimum achievement test score required to bypass the language requirement should be raised from 560 to 600 because of the recalibrated achievement scores. The change will not be retroactive and will apply to tests beginning this May.