Crimson Survey Shows That Hours In Laboratories Are Overwhelming

According to a survey which has been conducted by the CRIMSON, many students spend more time on their Chemistry or Zoology courses than on all their other courses put together. One exceptional student, it was found, spends five times as many hours on Chemistry 3a as he spends in work on his other subjects.

In colleges, as a general rule, courses are so planned that an average student spends two hours in outside preparation for each lecture or recitation period; this system allots a total of nine hours a week for a lecture course meeting three times a week. In some of the Chemistry and Biology courses, it is true, there are no lectures; but in all the courses covered by the CRIMSON'S survey, more than nine hours, on an average are given to outside preparation.

Some of the Professors questioned by the CRIMSON declined to comment on the situation; several instructors, in informal conversation, stated freely that the time needed for proper accomplishment of the assigned work is much more than the stated "six hours." In defense of the apportionment of time, a Professor in the department of Chemistry says; "A student may spend eight or ten hours in a laboratory without becoming particularly fatigued. An equal period of time spent over a text book, however, is almost impossible for the ordinary individual. Also, much of the work in a laboratory, such as washing beakers, cannot be counted as having any educational value." This partly offsets the longer hours in laboratory courses.

These are the results of the CRIMSON'S survey, which examines ten students in each of six courses. In Chemistry B, the average student spends 9 1-2 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory work. The maximum number of hours spent is 12 1-2, the minimum 8 1-2. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course is 4 1-2 hours.

In Chemistry 2a, the average student spends 10 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory work. The maximum number of hours spent is 13, the minimum 8. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course is 4 hours.

In Chemistry 3a, the average student spends 16 1-2 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory work. The maximum number of hours spent is 30, the minimum 9. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course is 5 hours.

In Chemistry 4, the average student spends 14 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory work. The maximum number of hours spent is 19, the minimum 12. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course in 5 hours.

In Zoology 3, the average student spends 13 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory. The maximum number of hours spent is 17, the minimum 11. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course is 4 hours.

In Zoology 5, the average student spends 15 hours per week in outside preparation including laboratory. The maximum number of hours spent is 22, the minimum 11. The average time spent by a member of this class on one other course is 4 hours