Econ Dept. revamps introductory classes

Economics 1 and 2 will be a combination of big lectures and recitations. University students planning their courses for next semester during advance registration might have noticed something a little different while flipping through the pages of their course registers -- a completely revamped way of organizing the introductory economics courses. Economics 1 and 2, the "principles" courses that introduce 2,300 undergraduates annually to microeconomics and macroeconomics, respectively, have traditionally been taught in small lectures of 30 to 60 students. But they won't be anymore. Instead, according to Economics Department Chairperson Mark Rosenzweig, the courses will assume a new format where each student will have two large faculty lectures and one small, graduate student-led recitation per week -- the format used at most other peer institutions. "For the majority of the students, this will be a vast improvement," he said. But some students and faculty said the system may not actually be an improvement because it will force students, many of whom are freshmen, into significantly larger classes. Under the current system, which has existed since the 1960s, students have increasingly been taught by non-University faculty, professors hired from outside Penn who are less expensive than regular professors. Last year, 13 visiting faculty members taught 34 of the 48 sections of the two introductory courses, educating more than 72 percent of the total number of students enrolled. Additionally, when evaluated by students, Penn professors scored higher than visiting professors in the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education's "Quality of Instructor" ratings, according to Rosenzweig. While students gave an average score of 2.85 out of 4 for all Economics 1 and 2 professors, Penn faculty averaged 3.25 and non-Penn faculty only 2.73. "You came to Penn based on the fame of the faculty," Rosenzweig said. "We found this ultimately to be unacceptable." As a result of the change, each of the two introductory courses will have three sections of lectures offered in the fall, with about 200 students enrolled in each. The accompanying recitations will be capped at 25 students each. Additionally, each of the lectures will be "team-taught" by Penn faculty, meaning that each professor will lecture on the one-third of each course's curriculum that best matches his area of research. "The lectures will be of a much higher caliber with the senior faculty teaching the courses," said Economics Professor Herbert Levine, who will be supervising the trial run of the new course set-up. In the fall, Economics Professors Steven Matthews, Raphael Rob and Randy Wright will teach Economics 1, while Levine, Roberto Mariano and Richard Rogerson will divide up the duties for Economics 2. Under the system, each professor will cover the same material in all three lecture sections at the same time in the semester, leading six 50-minute lectures per week. Levine said this amounts to "teaching more than you've ever taught in your life" for one-third of the year. Although the department is often criticized for the number of graduate-student teaching assistants who do not speak English well, Economics Professor George Mailath, the director of graduate studies in the department, maintains that that will not be a problem. But SCUE Chairperson Rachael Goldfarb argued that students would not be helped by the revamped course structure, saying that "no one wants to take a huge, impersonal lecture." "It's a trade-off," the College junior said. "You have the Penn faculty, but you have them teaching these enormous classes." College senior James Miller, a member of the Undergraduate Economics Society, added that "the TAs sometimes don't know what they're talking about." And not all Economics faculty members were excited about the new plan. "I'd rather have this [current system] myself," said Economics Professor Arleigh Hess, who currently teaches a section of Economics 1. "It's a free and easy way of connecting with the students." But Rosenzweig maintained that the teaching methods had to be changed. "We're talking about class sizes that are not small to begin with [and are] being taught by people who are not Penn faculty," he said. "We regard this as an improvement."

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