Word: backgrounders
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...American flag hangs proudly in their large, well-furnished Cabot suite. The Beatles’ White Album provides a background as these brightly-dressed individuals extol the virtues of coexisting despite their differences. “It’s no fun talking to someone who is a mirror of yourself,” Kimball says...
When first-years arrive on campus each fall, they are beset with a variety of placement tests to determine the nature and extent of their background preparation in fields such as mathematics, writing, and foreign languages...
Placement in most subjects reflects the tremendous diversity of backgrounds that Harvard students bring to campus. The math geniuses take Math 55, the semi-geniuses take Math 25, and down the ladder to those with less background who enroll in Math Xa. People who speak fluent French are not placed in the same level as people with a smattering of it from high school. This all seems fairly intuitive, does...
It’s true that there is a remedial Expos section, Expos 10, available for students who come to Harvard with less writing background than most. There is also an advanced section, Expos 52, for students who wish to hone their prose with an extra semester of intensive work...
These points are all well taken. But the true value of a tracked Expos classes would not come from harder or easier assignments, but rather from the benefit of being grouped with peers close to one’s own background level. The Expos program prides itself on encouraging—indeed, mandating—extensive peer review and group work, and a tracked program would allow the stronger writers to make faster progress, while also permitting the students with less experience to receive teaching more specifically tailored for their needs...