Word: periodic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...clear, for instance, that in the Humanities and Social Sciences absorbing snatches of information on a steadily growing number of topics can ultimately add up, as if arithmetically, to a meaningful synthesis. The process of linear learning--involving gradual increments in received knowledge over a period of time--works reasonably well in math and science courses but that is no guarantee that the study of human affairs ought to be conducted in the same...
...lecture system at Harvard gives Professors a chance to develop their ideas on some chosen topic at length and regularly over a period of time. It is far superior to the British, system, say, in which lectures are sporadic events to be made use of or not as the mood strikes one. Nevertheless, the course system at Harvard does not work very well largely because all the reading is assigned--as if it will be done simultaneously with the lectures. Another drawback is that the educational process is rounded off, in good European fashion, by a massive examination...
...countering these problems which would squeeze the greatest educational benefit possible from Harvard's lecture system would be to start each semester with three weeks of reading period followed by an exam, and then embark on the lectures. Obviously this pattern would apply only to most(though not all) Humanities and Social Science courses and not to Natural Science courses, since these latter depend, peculiarily, on a gradual, step by step, accumulation of skills and knowledge...
...argument for relocating reading period starts from the assumption that an overwhelming number of Harvard students do not, in fact, adequately keep up with their assigned reading. This results in the frantic last-minute burst of catching-up that recurs every reading-period--an orgy that leaves little time for reflection on the real meaning of the reading...
There is also the ultimate sanction: if funds are used irresponsibly in one period, they are not likely to be continued or replenished in subsequent periods...