This fall, a new component of the course registration system will allow economics professors to enforce prerequisites for the first time. Soon, other departments may follow the economics department's lead, using the online registration program to ensure that students enter their courses fully prepared.
The technology, proposed by Associate Professor of Economics Thomas Nechyba and developed by Student Information Systems and Services, will scan the record of any student who attempts to register for a class that has prerequisites. If the student has not taken the required classes, he or she will be denied access to the course.
Dean of Trinity College Robert Thompson said course prerequisites at the University have long been "variably enforced."
"In terms of the technology we've developed, no one has ever done this before," Nechyba agreed.
Nechyba, director of undergraduate studies in economics, decided computerized enforcement was necessary to knowing whether students entering 105D--Intermediate Economics II--had sufficient background in mathematics to excel in the course.
"We've attempted to make sure the people going into [105D] don't get killed by the math," said Nechyba, who was in charge of revamping the department's undergraduate curriculum last year.
In addition to enforcing prerequisites, the economics department will require most students to pass a new mathematics test to see whether their skills are up to par. The test will be administered in the economics department's EcoTeach center and chosen computer labs beginning Monday.
"Oftentimes, students have the formal prerequisites, but perhaps in their high schools they had a bad calculus course, or perhaps it's been two years since they've done any math," Nechyba said. "Part of [the reason for requiring the test] is to get back that basic math they did once know."
Nechyba presented his department's plan for enforcing prerequisites at a meeting of directors of undergraduate studies in September 2001, and he said many of those in attendance were intrigued by the technology.
Thompson said the new procedures in the economics department could signal a shift in other departments. "If we work this out with econ... then I could imagine other departments wanting to do this," he said.
Other directors of undergraduate studies have expressed interest in the plan for their departments, but some professors said they would ultimately leave the decision up to their colleagues.
"I personally think the system is a great idea," said Jerry Reiter, director of undergraduate studies in the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences and an assistant professor of the practice. "Departments simply do not have the resources to check whether every student has the background necessary to do well in particular courses."
Other DUS's agreed, but they said that the new technology would not be universally applied within their departments because some professors prefer to informally gauge whether students are adequately prepared for a given course.
"The professors would prefer the flexibility to simply suggest that students have some background in biology, for example, without actually specifying particular courses," said Martha Putallaz, a professor in the Department of Psychology: Social and Health Sciences and director of undergraduate studies in the department.
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