Apples for the students

Instead of encouraging students to offer apples to their teachers, the University is now hoping students will put their Apples to some practical use.

In an effort to bring the University and particularly undergraduates up to date in the rapidly advancing field of computer technology. Harvard officials are considering several ways to integrate personal computers into the curriculum.

While the bulk of computer use in the classroom falls naturally into the computer sciences, several other options are under consideration.

"We're not going to plop them down in every course, but we'll experiment with them in certain sections," says Dean of the Division of Applied Sciences Paul C. Martin '52, adding that a section of calculus and a section of Social Analysis 10 will be computerized.

The computer sciences, however, are at the heart of the drive.

One option under consideration would make use of the new Apple Macintosh personal computer which is currently available to students at out rate prices through the University.

Under the plan, the Macintosh would be used in Computer Science II. Computers, Algorithms, and Programs," taught by McKay Professor of Computer Science Harry R. Lewis '68.

Currently, approximately 60 students in two experimental sections of CS 11 are using IBM personal computers "to determine if the course will work any better and to see if it is easier for the student," Martin says."

Meichun Hsu, an instructor in computer science, says that the use of home computers will give students greater flexibility in their courses, but adds, "there will still have to be some coordination." Programs developed on the mainframe VAX System would somehow "have to make their way" onto the students' personal computers, she says.

She also points out that most of the personal computers currently available to the students through the University such as the Macintosh and the Dec Rainbow 100 are not powerful enough to handle some of the more complex programming assignments.

One plan under consideration, professors says, are "work stations," which are smaller than the mainframe system at the Science Center, but more powerful than the average personal computer. Eventually these smaller centralized units may be installed in locations throughout the University such as in the Houses. Eventually they may also be wired together to allow inter-terminal communications.

But administrators stress that no student will be required to purchase his own computer, regardless of what course or section he enrolls in.

"They may want to buy one if they are in a certain section, but, if not, provisions will be made," Martin says.

Yet, not all computer science students will be logging onto the latest technological phenomena.

"I taught a computer science course last year where all the assignments were done with pencil and paper," says McKay Professor of Computer Science Michael O. Rabin, adding that he does not expect the amount of computer assignments to increase as a result of the advanced technology, instead the work will only be made easier for the students, he says.

Nevertheless, expansion of computer facilities is anxiously awaited by computer science professors who point to problems with the current system such as memory restriction, overloading problems, and underavailability of terminals.

"The number of computers available is not adequate, and those that are, are quite old." Hsu says, adding, "things are being improved, but students are still frustrated" by the current problems.

The computer sciences are not the only area likely to benefit from the technology boom.

Language instruction, such as language labs where students would receive instruction from computers, are in the planning stages, and use of computers in Expository Writing will be expanded. This year, students in one experimental section of the course employed Apple II computers and a specially designed computer program to strengthen their writing skills.

Plato

In the Classics department, computers are moving Aristotle into the space age by programs such as creating databanks to allow quick availability of ancient language vocabulary and sources.

Similar opportunities are opening up in the social sciences such as economics, history, government, psychology and sociology. Scholars in these fields say they are still analyzing facts in the same way, but note that the quality, accuracy and extent of data has improved considerably with the use of computers.

For example, Jerome Kagan, Professor of Developmental Psychology, and J. Steven Reznik, a research assistant in the department, are currently running an experiment in the psychology department monitoring infants' heartbeats, which would be impossible without the use of the PDP 11/44 located in William James.

In fact, the Psychology and Social Relations department is the biggest computer user of Harvard's social science departments and its computer lab is capable of handling 15-20 operators at the same time.

In another area, Lee Rainwater, professor of sociology, has begun to include computer exercizes for students in his course on social spending. A major effect, he says, is that the computer allows patterns to emerge very early, which saves tremendous amounts of time.

In the History and Government departments, computers, such as the PDP 11/44 located in Littauer, are used primarily for word processing, but professors such as H. Douglas Price and Douglas A. Hibbs are using computers to analyze subjects such as voting patterns and government spending semesters of another language in just one semester.

"I speak entirely in Spanish and demonstrate everything--I put all my life in that class," explained Senior Lecturer Hugo H. Montero, who created Spanish Bab 18 years ago, and has taught it ever since.

"Hugo stands up there like an orchestra conductor and says a sentence. Each person around the room then has to change it a little bit--it's very fast, and there's no sitting and waiting," says Mark E. Fishbein '84, who took the class in the spring and afterward received a score of 770 out of a perfect 800 on the Harvard placement exam.

"Intensive courses in the Italian section have always been very good, and now we are offering intense elementary Italian both semesters," Burzio adds.

The intensive, interactive approach to language instruction may have begun at Dartmouth College. Although Dartmouth does not offer specific courses labelled "intense," according to John A. Rassias, a professor of French at the college, professors there "have a method in which there is full participation every minute of the hour."

"There is a high level of energy as students are asked questions rapidly in succession, and the attention level is extraordinary," he explains, adding that his Rassias Method is now used at more than 200 colleges nationwide.

Rivers partially attributes the success of the Harvard curriculum overhaul to a thorough training program for all doctoral candidate teaching fellows, in which they take a full-credit class on the methodology of language teaching and practice their own techniques in a classroom situation.

Prize

At the end of each year, the department also awards a $1,000 study prize to the best teaching fellow, "It's good incentive to see that their teaching is appreciated," Rivers says.

Another reason for the program's success, according to Rivers, is its flexibility. "I believe in giving people a chance to develop their own ideas," she says, adding that the writing requirements for language courses now focus on creativity--"things people will enjoy writing and discussing with other students."

Next year the four main sections of the department will continue revamping their curricula.

The French section will offer a new concentration in French culture and civilization, which will focus on literature and language while also starting new courses in French cinema and French feminist theory, for example.

"The concentration will be highly individualized, with a focus on France--but not just on languages and literature," explains Alice A. Jardine, the assistant professor in charge of the new concentration.

The Spanish section will introduce its "Spanish for Business" course, while Burzio says the Italian section will work on promoting its enrollment-starved intermediate level course.

Moniz adds that the Portuguese section may begin translating computer software already on the market into Portugese but that it will not offer any Portugese intensive course next year