Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1881-06-04


cadet.
Yale College and most Of the other
higher institutions have, both by vaiu-
ming the recitation Of the student and by
assigning list Of nicely graded honorsto
the graduates, sought to keep them up 70
their work by constant stimulus and TO
record their relative merit. But this mas
not been done by q neglect OF the exam
nation, which is employed both for
review TO test the general progress OF
the student. The Louisiana State un'-
versity has elected to occupy this middle
ground, in common with the majority OF
American Colleges, as sanctioned by the
weight ofevidence and the experience
of its own faculty.
For the information of teachers and
Others interested in this matter Of marx
ing and valuing the work of students we
have appended to this article a state
ment embodylng the details of our sys-
TEN, some of which are peculiar to this
institution and have been arrived at by
close comparison of views by the IA
Guilty.
The assignment Of an equal value TO
the result of the examinations and TO
the seasonal standing of the student
is an arrangement which has succeeded
we'll, in some of our highest universities.
In prevents, on the one hand, neglect OF
that constant, sedulous attention to
the daily routine Of duty which
is an absolute requisite OF success,
and which is greatly aided by our mill
tary organization and discipline; and, on
the other hand, demands that fnllness
and solidity of knowledg which com
prehensive and rigid semi-annual exam
nation ensures.
The question how to mark excuse'
and unexcused absences is very urgent
: one. Absence unexcused is military
offence and carries its military punish
ment in our scheme of demerit marks
But it also indicates an absolute loss
information not to be easily retrieved
;, especially in classes taught by lecture
experiment. Hence an unexcused al
% sence enters into the sum Of the mark
"a a zero. so that q student whose mark
> consisted ola perfect recitation Guy an
y an unexcused absence COY would have
:, class standing of five (5).
A more difficult question to settle wa
~ that of excused absences. An excuse
y absence, by force of the term woul
. seem to imply some everything necess''
~ ~, which keeps the student from his elias
- As general principle this must be a.
y mtted, but inasmuch as the absence
% the student from recitation, excused
=" nnexcused, involves certain amount
loss of instruction, and hence of know
, edge and progress in scholarship, tn
nc should be represented by certain Ct
- count or loss in marks and class stan
y Ing.
=, Moreover, there are adroit students
,re every institution, who by nursing tn
nj class marks and the astute use
.or absences on pretexts sufficiently plau
w BILE to command excuses, make Ill
:, themselves friends of the Mammon OF
are righteousness, and are able to vie w
70 better, but more conscientious studen
mn A professor of sufficient tact is, OF coul
cir able to cope with these academic +
al lances; but system, which seeks
gee sort of exactness, ought to have some
wv. of automatic force in aid of this e
mi We think we have attained it by sim
inn device. We deduct unit from the
an. sregate of the marks computed, tor
ma. ~ absence, excused or unexcused
az. in ascertainiug the average marx
,;o- use as divisor the sum Of the recltatl
tho made and the unexcused absences. !
of bears heavily on those absent unexcus
chit but very lightly on those whose excu
tin. have been accepted. Nevertheless
no. does discount the class standing OF
obt student absent excused, and thus i
ave represents partially his loss OF instl
for ton and exerts constant stimulus
;v = regular attendance on classes. The OF
Of features of our system are apparent
uisi- glance.
University Expenses.
able
I;oo lIartsaysa German student lives
=, fortablv on $500 per annum. NJ