In this post we can read some of the history behind the establishment of Harvard’s undergraduate tutorial and divisional examination system for which the Division of History, Government, and Economics served as an early testing ground. The first general examination of that division along with the “specific” economics field examinations from 1916 are transcribed below.

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Backstories regarding the Division Examinations in History, Government, and Economics

History of Origin and Growth of the Tutorial System
Shows Gradual Incorporation in All Departments But Chemistry
Introduction of General Exams In Medical School Made Entrance Wedge
January 10, 1933

Excerpts from a brief history of the General Examinations and the Tutorial System recently published by the University follows below.

In the spring of 1910 a committee was appointed which examined the system prevailing in American medical schools of granting the degree upon an accumulation of credits in courses, and the European system of two general examinations, the earlier upon the general scientific or laboratory subjects and the final one upon the clinical branches. The committee recommended the adoption of the latter system, and after its provisional approval by the Faculty of Medicine in March of the following year, another committee, mainly of different members, worked out a plan which was adopted by that Faculty in October, 1911.

Adopted by Divinity School

Shortly after its adoption in the Medical School the idea of a general examination invaded departments at Cambridge. In the academic year 1911-12 it was adopted in the Divinity School for the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Theology; and in this case it seems to have worked well from the start. Meanwhile the division of History, Government and Economics had been considering the matter, and after a year of careful study formulated a plan which as sanctioned by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the winter of 1912-13. The examination was to be conducted by the division and in fact by a committee of three of its members appointed by the President, who were to be relieved of one half of their work of instruction. It was to consist of both written and oral tests, was to be required of all college students concentrating in that division, in addition to their courses, and was to go into effect with the class entering the following autumn. Authority was also given to supplement by tutorial assistance the instruction given in the courses. Thus the complete system of a general examination and tutors was set up for all undergraduates in one division, and the one which at the time had the largest number of concentrators.

Trial Seems in Danger

The plan was put into effect without serious obstacles. The number of students concentrating in these subjects did, indeed, diminish, the weaker of more timid seeking departments where no such examination barred the way; out that was no harm, and proved to be in large part a temporary effect. The preparing of examination questions, which had been supposed very difficult, was exceedingly well done by an able committee. Yet the plan was not at once wholly successful. Tutorial work was new, and men equipped for it were not to be found. They had to learn the art by their own experience, and by what they derived from an exchange of tutors for a year with Oxford and Cambridge. In fact, after a few years of trial the plan seemed in danger of breaking down. The benefits were not at once evident; some of those formerly in favor of it became skeptical, while opponents were confirmed in their opinions. Until we entered the World War the only other field of concentration which had adopted a general examination of all students for graduation was that of History and Literature, although something of the kind had long been in common use in the case of candidates for distinction or honors.

Crisis Comes After War

The crisis came at the close of the war, when the changes made for military purposes in all instruction had left matters in a somewhat fluid state. A committee of the Faculty was appointed to consider what, if any, extension of the principle could profitably be made in other fields. There was a feeling that such a system ought not to be maintained in one class of subjects alone; that it should either be abolished or extended. After a study of the question in its various phases the committee reported, and in April, 1919, the Faculty voted, that general examinations should “be established for all students concentrating in Divisions or under Committees which signify their willingness to try such examinations,” and that they “be employed for the members of the present Freshman class.” Thereupon all the divisions under the Faculty, except those dealing with mathematics and the natural sciences, decided to make the experiment. Some of them did so reluctantly, with misgiving, and under a condition that they should not be obliged to employ tutors. By the academic year 1924-25, therefore, the students in all the divisions with a general examination had the benefit of tutoring.

Adopted by All Departments

Since that time the progress of the system has been gradual but continuous. In 1926 the departments of mathematics, biology, and bio-chemical sciences adopted it; and in 1928 geology and physics were added to the list; leaving chemistry as the only department with a large number of concentrators that still retains the older methods, and its work is done so much in laboratories that its position is peculiar. The only change in the system has come from a demand by the students themselves. There has been no desire on the part of the University to abandon teaching or examination in courses by copying the practice at Oxford and Cambridge of leaving instruction wholly to the tutor, as that would have seemed ill-adapted to the habits of the College.

Source: Harvard Crimson, January 10, 1933.

 

TUTORIAL SYSTEM HEREAFTER
Rules for Concentration in History, Government and Economics Will Apply Next Year.
April 10, 1914

Beginning with the class of 1917 and applying to all subsequent classes, a new rule in regard to concentration in the Division of History, Government and Economics has been adopted.

Concentration in this Division requires at least six courses which are related to each other. Under the new system all students concentrating in this division will be required to pass in their Senior year a final examination covering their special field within the Division, and consisting of a written examination early in the spring, and an oral examination toward the close of the year. In order to prepare students for these examinations the University will provide special tutors beginning with the Sophomore year.

Only Two Introductory Courses.

Every student intending to concentrate in History, Government, and Economics should state the Department in which he will take at least four courses and the Department in which he will take the remaining two. He will not be allowed to count towards his concentration more than two of the introductory courses, History 1, Government 1, and Economics A. The aim of the system is to enforce a more accurate knowledge and comprehension of studies as a whole. This aim has frequently not been achieved owing to the wide scattering of courses.

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

 

THE TUTORIAL SYSTEM.
April 10, 1914

There are two new features in the recently announced requirements of the Division of History, Government and Economics, namely, the general examination and the tutorial system. And they are complementary. The task of the tutor is to intelligently guide the student in his preparation for the final examination, to assist him in that organization and correlation of his work which is the key-note of the plan. His work begins where the adviser’s work ends. The adviser still superintends the choice of courses made by the student although it is to be expected, probably, that a capable tutor will tend to influence this choice. It will be impossible so sharply to distinguish the task of choosing courses and correlating them as to prevent this. The sanction of the adviser may approximate formal permission, with the guiding force held by the tutor.

The general examination on the other hand, modelled after the plan in use for doctorate examinations, including a general examination for the division work and a supplementary special test for the department or field, reaches over the whole matter of choice and organization and focuses the work of the adviser, tutor and student.

One result is inevitable, that is, the effect of producing a more serious scientific attitude toward the work. The student who chooses this Division will be presumed to have made the choice with serious intent to perfect himself in that line. The student who chose that work because he had to concentrate in something may well feel he is getting more than he bargained for. This is not a criticism; the result-to make study in that division more in the way of laboratory work, to lift it out of the region of inconsequent eclectic undergraduate education may be more serious. The decline or increase in the number of men in the Division will show to what an extent the work there is taken for serious reasons, not as a line of least resistance.

The effect in minimizing course grades, cramming, and mechanical study can only be helpful. To produce capable and broad-minded students, with a wide grasp of their field and an accurate knowledge of their specialty is the very desirable end to which the system aims. And that not by more work but by better organization.

 

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

From the Annual Reports of the President of Harvard College

… the single course is not, and cannot be, the true unit in education. The real unit is the student. He is the only thing in education that is an end in itself. To send him forth as nearly a perfected product as possible is the aim of instruction, and anything else, the single course, the curriculum, the discipline, the influences surrounding him, are merely means to the end, which are to be judged by the way they contribute and fit into the ultimate purpose. To treat the single course as a self-sufficient unit, complete in itself, is to run a danger of losing sight of the end in the means thereto…

…In the College the problem of making the student, instead of the course, the unit in education is more difficult than in the other parts of the University, because general education is more intangible, more vague, less capable of precise analysis and definition, than training for a profession. Nevertheless, in the College, some significant steps have been taken which tend in this direction. The first was the requirement that every student must concentrate six of his seventeen courses in some definite field, must distribute six more among the other subjects of knowledge, and must do so after consulting an instructor appointed to advise him….

…The rule of concentration, coupled with the provision that no tmore than two of the six courses shall be of an elementary character, is intended to compel every man to study some subject with thoroughness, and acquire a systematic knowledge thereof….

…The second step in treating the student, instead of the course, as the unit in education, was taken by the Division of History, Government, and Economics, when, and with the approval of the Faculty, it set up the requirement of a general examination at graduation for students concentrating in that division. The examination, which is entrusted to a committee representing the three departments within the division, is to be distinct from that in the courses elected, and is to include not only the ground covered in them, but also the general field with which they have dealt, and the knowledge needed to connect them. This is a marked departure from the plan of earning a degree by scoring courses; and it will take time to adjust men’s conceptions of education to a basis new to the American college, though familiar in every European university. To assist the students in preparing themselves for the general examination each of them at the beginning of his Sophomore year is assigned to the charge of a tutor who confers with him about his work and guides his reading outside of that required in the courses. As the plan could be applied only to men entering after it was established, the first examinations will be held next spring [1916], and then only for men who graduate in three years.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, pp. 8-10.

Courses are merely a means to an end, and that end is the education of the student. One method of placing courses in their true light as a means of education is the provision of comprehensive examinations for graduation, covering the general field of the student’s principal work beyond the precise limits of the courses he has taken. This has long been done in the case of the doctorate of philosophy; and in the year covered by this report [1915-16] it was applied for the first time to undergraduates concentrating in the Division of History, Government, and Economics. Only twenty-four students of the Class of 1917, who finished their work in three years and concentrated in this field, came under its operation; but they were numerous enough to give a definite indication of the working of the plan. To that extent the results were satisfactory. The examination papers were well designed for measuring the knowledge and grasp of the subject, with a large enough range of options to include the various portions of the field covered by the different candidates; and the examiners themselves were satisfied with the plan as a fair means of testing the qualification of the students. During the coming year a much larger number of men will come up for this comprehensive examination, which promises to mark a new departure in American college methods.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, p.19.

A significant event of the year [1915-16] was the inauguration by the Division of History, Government, and Economics of its new examination of candidates for the Bachelor’s degree who have concentrated in the Division. This examination was devised “not in order to place an additional burden upon candidates for the A.B., but for the purpose of securing better correlation of the student’s work, encouraging better methods of study, and furnishing a more adequate test of real power and attainment.” In their preparation students have from the beginning of the Sophomore year special tutorial instruction. The examination embraces three tests: first, a general paper, with a large number of alternative questions, treating comprehensively the subjects of the Division; second, a special paper, covering a chosen specific field; and lastly, a supplementary oral examination which may relate to either the general or the special paper, but ordinarily bears upon the specific field. The results of the first examination, taken by a comparatively small group of men graduating in three years, are in no way conclusive. The members of the examining committee, however, think them distinctly encouraging. Twenty-four candidates appeared, of whom twenty-two passed and two failed. Their selection of questions from the general paper indicated breadth of preparation and their bearing at the oral examination showed more than a little clearness and independence of thought.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, pp.75-76.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF A. B.
1915–16

GENERAL DIVISION EXAMINATION

Part I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only.

1. Compare the Empires of Rome and of Charlemagne.
2. Discus the influence of religious ideas on national life and institutions in the Americas.
3. What were the principal factors in the development of the United States from (a) 1776 to 1818, or (b) 1818 to 1861, or (c) 1861 to 1898, or (d) 1898 to the present?
4. Discuss and illustrate the economic bases of political party allegiance.
5. Explain the influence of British policy upon international law.
6. Why do the peoples of the temperate zones tend to assume leadership among the peoples of the earth?
7. How does the federal form of government affect the life of a nation?
8. Sketch the political and economic careers of two of the following: (a) Cobden, (b) Bright, (c) Hamilton, (d) Chase, (e) Colbert, (f) Jaurès.
9. Compare English, French, and Spanish colonial methods and policies in the New World.

 

Part II

Five questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which three must be from one group. The remaining questions must be taken, one from each of the other groups, or both from one of the other groups.

 

A

1. In what respects has Roman political organization influenced Western Europe of modern times?
2. What has been the effect of the embodiment of nationalities in political unities during the nineteenth century?
3. Why was the influence of Metternich so potent?
4. Discuss as to municipalities: “The citizens may have as good government as they care to demand.”
5. To what extent are the constitutional principles of the United States common among Central and South American States?
6. Why were spheres of interest claimed in Africa and in Asia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
7. To what extent and why should national party preferences be followed in state and municipal elections?
8. In what countries has municipal government been more highly developed; why and with what results for the citizen and for the municipality?

 

B

1. The development of the idea of the Balance of Power up to the Peace of Utrecht.
2. Show how Europe influenced the Far East in the second half of the nineteenth century.
3. What services did the English colonies in America render to the mother country previous to 1763?
4. Explain the influence of pro-slavery sentiment on the expansion of the United States.
5. Explain causes and results of European immigration into the United States within the last fifty years.
6. Show the development of steam transportation in Europe and its results.
7. Why are recent constitutions of states in the United States generally lengthy documents?
8. Write briefly on five of the following: (a) Abelard, (b) Copernicus, (c) Erasmus, (d) Vasco de Gama, (e) Grotius, (f) Huss, (g) Justinian, (h) Locke, (i) Petrarch, (j) Rousseau.

 

C

1. Is the trust a desirable feature of modern economic organization?
2. Should England modify her policy of free trade?
3. Trace and explain the history of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
4. What caused the failure of the Confederacy?
5. Analyze the three most important political aspects of the socialist movement; the three most important economic aspects.
6. To what extent was the failure of the first Bank of the United States to secure a renewal of its charter due to political factors; to what extent, to economic?
7. What have been the economic and political consequences of state ownership of the railways of Prussia?
8. Account for the modern increase of public expenditures in (a) Europe; (b) American city government; (c) the Federal government of the United States.

April 27, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economic history

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

1. Considered in its theoretical aspects the tariff policy of the United States since 1845.
2. What factors have contributed most to changes in the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1870?
3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between your uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
4. Analyze the merits and defects of our current statistics of (a) imports and exports; or (b) wholesale prices; or (c) wages; or  (d) industrial organization.

 

B
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

5. Compare tariff changes in England and Germany during the nineteenth century.
6. Discuss the essential features of the labor movement in England from 1825 to 1850.
7. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
8. Discussing the economic aspects of the American Revolution with respect to (a) factors contributing to the revolution; (b) resources affecting the outcome; (c) consequences of the War.
9. Explaining any important national policies developed in the United States between 1815 and 1830.
10. Write the monetary history of United States during one of the following periods: (a) 1792-1837; (b) 1879-1893; (c) 1893-date.
11. Trace the history of our mercantile marine, giving special attention to significant government policies.
12. Give a brief account of organized labor in the United States.
13. Indicate any important changes in American agriculture since 1900.

 

C
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

14. Has private ownership of the railroads justified itself in the United States? What is the case for and against government ownership of railroads in this country?
15. Explain and criticise the presence policy of the Federal government regarding industrial combinations.
16. Discuss critically the project of a non-partisan Federal tariff board.
17. Discuss the causes, extent, and consequences of the change in the price level since 1897.

May 5, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Money and Banking

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

1. State and criticise the quantity theory of money.
2. Analyze a typical bank statement.
3. Discuss index numbers of prices with reference to (a) the purposes they may serve; (b) various methods of construction; (c) the best index numbers for wholesale prices in the United States.
4. Where should you look for statistics of the following : (a) bank clearings of England and the United States; (b) resources and liabilities of banks in Massachusetts; (c) foreign exchange rates in New York in 1903; (d) the monetary stock of the United States; (e) current changes in the value of gold?

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

5. Compare the adoption of the single gold standard by England and by Germany.
6. To what extent, and by what means, has the financial administration of the Federal government in the United States influenced our monetary history?
7. Give a critical account of the greenbacks from 1862 to 1878. Indicate all factors, political and other, connected with this episode of monetary history.
8. Analyze the factors leading to the adoption of the Federal Reserve banking system. Compare these factors with those leading to the establishment of the National banking system.

 

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

9. Describe and criticise the existing monetary system of the United States.
10. Explain and illustrate the gold exchange monetary standard.
11. What different meanings have been suggested for stabilizing the value of our monetary standards? What objections, if any, are to be raised against each of the proposed measures?
12. Distinguish the different kinds of banking. To what extent should they be conducted by the same institutions? To what extent have they been combined in the United States? In any other countries?
13. What measures have been adopted before 1914 by the Bank of England to prevent or allay financial panics? What action was taken in 1914 to meet the banking conditions created by the outbreak of the European War?
14. Indicate any connections which have existed between the banks and the railroads within the United States.
15. How and why has the European War affected foreign exchange between United States and other countries?
16. Account for the financial panic of 1907. To what extent, and by what means, does the Federal Reserve system promise to prevent the recurrence of the conditions of 1907?

May 5, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Corporate Organization, including Railroads

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

1. Discussed critically the “economies of industrial combination.”
2. What official statistics throw light upon industrial organization in the United States? Criticize the available statistics of the subject.
3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
4. Enumerate the principal sources of railway statistics at the present time, Shelbi and show the content, importance, and deficiencies (if any) of each.

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

5. What has been the policy of American states with respect to business corporations?
6. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
7. Compare the history of water transportation in the United States, England, and Germany.
8. Give an account of the “trust movement” in the United States since 1898.

 

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

9. Describe in detail how control is vested and exercised in a typical modern business corporation.
10. Describes the formation of some large industrial combination effected in the United States since 1898.
11. What have been the more important economic and social consequences of the corporate organization of industry?
12. What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in Germany.
13. Discuss the Federal Trade Commission with respect to (a) the reasons for its establishment; (b) its tenure of office and powers; (c) its probable future.
14. Upon what different bases may railway systems be appraised? What are the merits and defects of each of the bases indicated?
15. Discuss standards of reasonableness (a) for the general level of railway rates; (b) for rates on particular commodities.
16. Give an account of the relations between organize labor and our railroads.
17. What different relationships as to ownership, management, and regulation may exist between the government and public service industries? Criticise in turn each of these possible relationships.

May 5, 1916.

 

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Public Finance

Answer six questions.

A
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

1. Discuss critically the different theories of justice and taxation.
2. From an accounting point of view, wherein are municipal accounts essentially unlike business accounts? What factors impair the value of municipal accounts?
3. Outline a system of uniform municipal accounts. What provisions have been made in the United States for the use of the uniform municipal accounts?
4. What are the chief sources of public finance statistics in the United States?

 

B
Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

5. Give the history of the Federal public land policy to 1835. Show any connections between the public land policy and the treatment of the public debt.
6. Sketch the development and present status of the general property tax in this country.
7. Givs a critical account of the Independent Treasury of the United States.
8. Distinguish “direct” and “indirect” taxes. Describe the separation of direct and indirect taxation under our system of national and state governments. What were the reasons for this separation? What have been its consequences, economic and political?

C
Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

9. For what different objects has taxation been employed? Give illustrations. What is to be said for and against the employment of taxation for each of the purposes indicated?
10. Formulate and defend a plan for a state income tax.
11. Discuss inheritance taxes in the United States with reference to (a) the employment of inheritance taxes by state and Federal governments; (b) The rates applied; (c) the use of progressive rates; (d) the maximum advisable rates; (e) possible effects upon the distribution of wealth.
12. What is the case for and against the partial or complete exemption of improvements from taxation under the general property tax? Where, if at all, have such a policy been adopted?
13. What is “double taxation”? Under what circumstances, if any, is it objectionable? Why is the problem of double taxation a serious one today in the United States? What solution can be suggested?
14. Suppose the Federal government abolishes all import duties upon sugar and substitutes equivalent bounties on sugar production in the United States. How, if at all, does this tend to affect the distribution of wealth? When, and for what reasons, has a change similar to that supposed been actually made in the United States?
15. To what extent, and by what process, is a tax shifted to consumers when levied upon a commodity produced (a) at constant cost? (b) at decreasing cost? (c) at increasing cost? (d) by a monopoly? Illustrate by diagrams.

May 5, 1916.

 

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OTHER DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS (Not transcribed here)

Modern History since 1789 including American History
American Government
Municipal Government
Political Theory

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975(HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

Image Source:  1875 Gate at Harvard Yard. From the Wallace Nutting photographic Collection at the Historic New England website.