CEP May Make Change In First-Year Program

A study of the Freshman Year may well be one of the next large-scale projects of the Committee on Educational Policy. CEP members have shown an increased interest in this problem for several weeks, although formal consideration is still pending.

One possible result of this study might be voluntary tutorials or seminars for Freshmen, Franklin L. Ford, associate professor of History, said yesterday. Ford stressed the fact that Freshmen have little contact with Faculty members.

Before making revisions, however, the CEP will have to consider the availability of Faculty time and the interest on the part of Freshmen in taking part in seminars or tutorials. Ford felt that the program should not be compulsory.

As a possible solution to these problems, Ford suggested that the program might be confined to Freshmen who have advanced placement. These students would then have the option of taking seminars or tutorials in the field in which they have advanced placement. The seminars might be taken in lieu of middle group courses for which advanced placement students are now eligible.

Student Do Not Think

One reason for the proposed changes, Ford said, is that many students go through college "Without ever thinking for themselves."

Dean Monro agreed essentially with Ford concerning the need for changes in the Freshman Year. Yesterday Monro enlarged on a speech he made April 10, in which he suggested the possibility of tutorials or seminars in the first year of college.

Accustomed to simply learning what the teacher says, the Freshman often does not accept intellectual responsibility in college, Monro said. The Dean claimed that large lecture courses are deceiving, in this respect, since they give the student the impression that he need do no more than digest the material in lectures or required reading.

Riesman Praised

Monro added that students not only fail often to think for themselves, but also fail to discover that this process is "fun." He praised the teaching methods of David Riesman, Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences. Using his "Chicago method," Riesman conducts panel discussions in class and encourages his students to analyze their cultural environment.

Too many students, Monro stated, are taught in high school or prep school that there is one answer to every question. "If we attack this tendency and others in the Freshman year, however, we might put the student on the right track and save ourselves a lot of trouble later on."