Ec Department Plans Oral Tutorial Exams

Juniors taking Ec 98 will be the first undergraduates to face an oral test in an Honors field during the coming mid-year examinations. The "experiment," under the direction of the Economics Department, is an effort to gauge the "real thinking process" of a student, according to Werner Baer, instructor in Economics.

Explaining that an oral test provides more flexibility in determining a student's ability than a written hour exam. Baer pointed out that if a "student is stuck in one particular area, you can easily switch to another where he may be more proficient."

Since Ec 98 is a tutorial course, the oral exam will not come as a "suddon" surprise, Baer claimed. He stated that in tutorials, "the students is trained to express himself orally on the subject."

One tutor said that in his section "reactions are mixed, but they are all rather curious to see what is going to happen." An Ec 98 student commented, "This is going to mean hard work."