MAGOUN SEES NO NEED OF COURSE CREDIT SYSTEM

"Taking a long view," said Francis P. Magoun, Jr. '16, associate professor of Comparative Literature, in an interview with the CRIMSON, "I see no essential justification of the peculiarly American system of 'course credits' where suitable substitutes, such as tutorial guidance, seminar organization, and comprehensive written or oral examinations are in effect.

"In the abstract I should like to see this doubtful method of control and measurement of intellectual progress abolished. I recognize, however, that the abandonment of this typically American pedagogic device would demand extraordinary readjustments. These readjustments would be required, notably in the attitude of average American parents who would almost certainly be distressed beyond measure if a son or daughter failed to obtain an A.B. degree at the end of a period of study; and also in the attitude of State School Boards.

"With the best will in the world it would require a long time to work out a satisfactory solution of this problem, whose implications reach far beyond the university campus and deep into American educational tradition. The difficulties are, in a word, psychological."