When Woodrow Wilson 1879 was University president, he envisioned a precept system that would stimulate the intellectual curiousity of students outside of lectures.
The form of precepts has changed over time, but the ideal of engaging students in academic discussion has become a defining aspect of the educational experience at the University.
After an extensive seven-month study of students' and preceptors' experiences in precepts, the USG Precept Review and Reform Committee reported Monday at a U-Council meeting that their data "indicates a high level of dissatisfaction" among students.
"The University still promises the Wilson ideal," committee chair Josh Anderson '04 said. "The vast majority of our responses indicate it's only doing that for approximately 20 percent of people."
At Monday's meeting, the committee presented their analysis of an online survey conducted in November.
It found that 68 percent of the approximately 1,660 upperclassmen who responded expressed dissatisfaction with their preceptor's teaching abilities.
"Our report indicates that the precept system fails to provide an inspiring, intellectually stimulating environment for many students," committee member Annie Ostrager '05 said during the presentation.
The committee said students expressed dissatisfaction with preceptors' ability to facilitate discussion, lack of interest in the course or the students, lack of preparation and poor English-speaking skills. Some said they felt some precepts had been a waste of time.
"In many cases, if you have a preceptor that doesn't have his own interest invested in the class, then its not as productive, and you don't feel as if the person teaching the class is concerned about your own education," one student Bobby Mulcare '04 said.
Another student Alex Kobishyn '04 said one of her preceptors was not able to engage the students in discussion because "the questions the preceptor asked were clear-cut rather than interpretive."
Overall, though, Kobishyn said she has had positive precept experiences. She recalled a former history preceptor stimulating discussion among the students.
"She knew the kind of questions to ask that would elicit responses from the students," she said.
Often, Kobishyn said, students do not have enough time to complete lengthy reading assignments — a comment echoed by students' comments in the survey.
"Sometimes kids come in [to precept] with cursory knowledge which is not enough to have a deep discussion," Kobishyn said.
Preceptors also responded that it is difficult to develop intellectual discussion when many students do not do the readings and are not motivated to participate, the committee reported.
The committee recommended that the University establish mandatory teacher training for graduate student preceptors.
The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning currently offers an optional two-day teaching orientation for graduate students which covers stimulating student response, grading and setting expectations for precepts.
The center also offers a "micro-teaching" option in which graduate students are filmed while teaching their peers to gain feedback and assessment.
Patricia Armstrong, assistant director of the McGraw center, said the center independently considered mandatory preceptor training. She added, "any action we might take would not be in response to the undergraduate proposal but in response to an administrative call to act on the proposal."
Preceptors also said in the survey that a lack of communication with the professors can hinder their teaching ability. Students reported they sometimes find a disjuncture between the directions of lectures and precepts, the survey found.
The committee also recommended that the University reward excellence in precepting, using mid-semester evaluations — possibly with financial rewards.
The committee also suggested that during a precept's first session, the goals and responsibilities of both the students and preceptor should be outlined.
President Tighlman indicated to the committee that the administration should have a response to their proposal in two weeks.
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