Council Votes Proposal For Nat. Sci. Revision

The Student Council voted last night to recommend to the administration reorganization of the content and teaching methods in elementary Natural Sciences courses, and abolishment of Nat. Sci. exemptions.

In the recommendation, the Council stated that elementary Natural Sciences courses should cover the philosophy and methodology of science as well as technical knowledge; and that these courses should have two sections weekly, one for technical knowledge and one for discussion, each of which would be taught by different instructors.

Those students meeting the elementary Natural Sciences requirement by taking three elementary science and mathematics course would be required to take an additional upper-level half-year course in the philosophy and methodology of science, for purposes of general education.

The recommendations were made in accepting a Council report on Freshman sections. The report found that students were satisfied with what they learned in sections, but that the method of instruction which the freshmen preferred-group discussion-was seldom used in Nat. Sci. sections because of the technical nature of the courses.

Student Apathy

Statistics also showed that many students found it unnecessary to prepare for Nat. Sci. sections, since the instructor usually lectured for most of the period.

The Council also referred to the University's position on general education as stated in "General Education in a Free Society," which stressed the importance of the basic concepts, philosophy, history, and literature of science. The Council felt that by including more of the philosophy and methodology of science, the courses would not only realize more nearly the aims of general education, but also overcome the antipathies of freshmen as shown in their attitude toward sections.

The two sections would be established in accordance with the dual functions of the courses. Since the instructor in the discussion section would not necessarily be a science student, the group felt that the difficulty of obtaining competent Nat. Sci. section men would be alleviated.

The report did not specify whether the upper level course, primarily for science concentrators and premedical students, would be organized departmentally or in the department of General Education. Although the course would specifically contain Gen. Ed. material, it would have as prerequisite the thorough knowledge of one science, hence qualifying it as a departmental course.

Fogg Lighting Faulty

At the same meeting, the Council accepted a report on lecture hall illumination, which indicated that the lighting in Fogg Large Lecture Room and the New Lecture Hall were below the minimal acceptable for note-taking.

Although the Hygiene Department listed a photometer reading of 1.4 as minimum lecture hall lighting, an average reading in New Lecture was .8 and the average reading in Fogg was only .22.

In contrast, Sever 11 and Burr A had figures of 2.4; Lamont, 5.0; and the average students' desk, 18.0.