Bulletin Special Supplement Jun 1965

C19. T r a n s f e r I n Part I I I on General Education (section 25(d) ） and in Appendi x A (section 9), we refer to the advantage of making transfer f r om one department to another easier, especiall y at the end of the first year. Th is indeed is one of the great advantages of a common general course for all first-year students, that not only do student s have greater maturity and experience of studying at a university so that they are likely to make a wise r choice at the end of their first year than while still at school, but also those who make a change start at the same level as their fellows. C20. U s e of V a c a t i o n s We recommend that the vacations should be longer. But even if they remain as short as they are, we believe that students wo u ld benefit f r om some advic e on how to make the best use of their vacations . Some staff give this already. We recommend that this practice should be carried out systematically. We believ e that, while some academic work w i t h in thei r own departments must be done by students, the chief emphasis during the vacations should be on broadening their interests. Th is can be done i n the following ways:— (a) Reading good books o f general interest apart f r om their own major interest . (b) Carrying out research projects or field surveys ( c) Travel, physical work, apprenticeship in industry . (Perhaps the University Placement or Appointments Secretary, if and when appointed , can make regular arrangements w i th local industry and social institutions). C21. G e n e r a l S u p e r v i s i o n of S t u d e n t s . We are convinced that most members of staff do everything w i t h in their power t o advise and help their students both in academic matters and in their general lives, but in Append ix A it is suggested that they cannot always give them enough time (section 6) and that students hesitate to approac h them (section 13). We do not feel that w e can suggest any other schemes than those that are in practice already. On the other hand, non-academic problems, such as worrie s about money and home, can disturb students' progress so drastically, that we urge that th e colleges and departments should keep their procedures of consultation and general supervision under constant review. C22. T h e P r o b l e m of T i m e . We refer to section 9 (d). A university teacher has to fulfil several different kinds of duties, teaching , guiding and advising students, doing research, thinking about and i mp r o v i ng both the content and th e method of his teaching, as well as a variety of administrative and committee work, quite apart f r om that public work wh i ch society has come to demand f r om h i m almost as a duty. Moreover, as we have already pointe d out, in the immediate future the dormative years of the university the demands upon his time are likely t o be even more exacting. We therefore make the following suggestions:— (a) A more generous proportion of staff to students. We feel that the arguments for this have already been ably stated by the Fu l t on Commission when it was advocating a greater proportio n than 1:8 (see section 139 of the Fu l t on Report) . (b) Longer vacations. We refer again to our remarks in section 9 (d). I n particular a long summer vacation makes it possible for members of staff to devote longer, uninterrupted periods of time to their studies and research. (c) Reduction of courses. Ever y department should scrutinize rigorously the courses wh i ch it offers and ask itself whether some canno t be combined and some dispensed w i t h. Our opinion is that each teacher should not take more tha n two courses per term. (d) Intercollegiate teaching. See sectio n 10 (d). (e) Reducing number of lectures. See section 10 ( a) ( f ) Provision of more clerical help, so that members of staff do not have to waste their time in doing their own typing, mimeographing, etc . A t the moment j u n i or members of most department s are expected to do most of the department's clerical duties. C23. Research i n t o T e a c h i n g M e t h o d s . We are only too well aware that w e have but skimmed the surface of this whol e subject, but we believe that it is of such vital importance to the university that it must be kept under constan t review. We therefore make these two general recommendations (a) T h e Department of Education , when established, should regard as part of its whole task a continuous research into, and experiment with , teaching methods in the university. T h is shoul d be done in cooperation w i t h the teachers themselves. I n addition, in order that the Department may b e kept in close touch w i t h the daily work of the university, its members should take some part in the normal teaching of the university, as part-time members of a department, (b) I n Appendix A (section 6) it is stated that there is mu ch informal discussion abou t teaching methods. We recommend not only tha t all departments should discuss teaching methods regularly bu t that there should be more informal discussion among staff members generally, e.g. in staff clubs. C24. T r a i n i n g of G r a d u a t e s . We make this recommenda w i t h some hesitation as w e are well aware of the university teacher's desire to work out his own methods . I t has, however, been accepted for some years tha t teachers in schools need training, and we cannot help feeling that young university teachers wou ld benefit f r o m some more systematic advice than they get at the moment. We therefore recommend (a) that ther e should be regular supervision of all research graduates who are doing some teaching and (b) that ther e should be discussion groups and occasional lectures organized fo r them by the Department of Education in cooperatio n w i th the other departments. These might wel l be open to j u n i or members of staff. 14