OVERWORKED PROFESSORS

Courses containing fifty or sixty men present a problem which those large gatherings in the New Lecture Hall do not possess. The unfortunate professor in charge of the course not only has to lecture to his students but at the same time has to grade a large number of mediocre papers.

While attempts have been made to offset this administrative load during recent years, this situation still exists in many courses. In these classes which are just too large for individual attention, the instructor cannot aid a man by reading his papers. Time which might well be spent in investigating one's subject or in preparing material for the next day's classes is sacrificed to the all-important question of whether a paper should receive a C or a D.

This is unfortunate. It would seem as if the younger men in each Department could take over this work. They are gaining teaching experience at Harvard but are not yet capable of appearing on the lecture platform. The job of the professor would then be directed solely into its intended channel, that of telling his class about the fundamentals of his subject.