HPC Educational Audit Praises Biology Dept.

The Harvard Policy Committee yesterday released the results of its educational audit of Biology. The report is highly favorable and suggests only minor improvements in the Department.

Representatives of the HPC meet today with Keith R. Porter, chairman of the Biology Department, to discuss the evaluation.

The primary reason for the audit's leniency is that the Department has made key reforms on its own this Fall. The institution of a House tutorial and the revised course curriculum will remedy the two greatest deficiencies of the undergraduate program, the HPC says.

"In the past, there has been little chance for personal contact with the faculty," the audit states, but the HPC thinks the tutorial will eliminate this problem. And the new course curriculum will strengthen middle level offerings, "giving a more solid, unspecialized background in the field."

In spite of the overall tone of approval, the audit makes some criticisms and proposes minor changes.

* The emphasis on passive memorization instead of critical analysis and research remains the principal deficiency after the two major innovations made this Fall.

This problem is most acute in the laboratory sessions. Labs too often demand "literal obedience to a set of instructions" instead of encouraging "experimental inventiveness."

Labs might be divided into small groups and each group assigned a problem to wrestle with for several weeks. Lab instructions would suggest various approaches to the problem while leaving it to the student's ingenuity to determine the best procedure.

* The transition from undergraduate to graduate work is difficult because students are not taught how to read scientific articles thoroughly. Non-lab courses should require students to write papers analyzing and criticizing published experimental work.

* The advising system is "almost useless" as it is now organized. It should be integrated with the new House tutorial so that students can meet their advisors more easily and informally -- for example, at dinner.

* Too few honors candidates have the opportunity to work in a research laboratory. The Department should appoint a faculty member to advise students where to look for research sponsors.

* Honors candidates in Bio 40 generally receive A's while those who take the alternative program for honors -- graduate courses -- might face stiff competition for grades. There should be an "equalization" of grading, perhaps by instituting the pass-fail system.