When Christopher W. Cowell '92 went to the first meeting of his computer science class, he could not understand the teaching fellow. But the problem was not the topic--it was the section leader's English.

"The English was so bad that I made a phony excuse to transfer to another section," says Cowell.

And another student, who asked not to be identified, says his intial section leader in Physics 55b this term solved problems on the blackboard without uttering a word because he knew so little English.

Administrators, like Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education David Pilbeam, downplay the problem of TFs whose first language is not English.

"Frankly, I think [language problems happen] a lot less than the almost mythological proportions one hears about," says Pilbeam. "Many of our foreign graduate students do just as well, if not better, than our other teaching fellows."

Nearly every undergraduate has a horror story to tell about teaching fellows, but even if many of these stories are exaggerated, they do reflect problems in the way Harvard teaches.

At the College, sections are supposed to provide students with individual attention and a chance to develop the ideas brought up by the course. But students say sections are often plagued by inexperienced leaders, lack of coordination with professors and inconsistent grading.

Last year, the Undergraduate Council sent Pilbeam and Dean of the Faculty A. Michael Spence a series of recommendations on ways to improve sections, according to David R. Golob '89, a member of the Committee on Undergraduate Education and the former chair of the council's Academics Committee. And while Golob says some of the recommendations have been adopted, he adds that there is still room for improvement.

Last fall, a Crimson reporter accidentally discovered a memo distributed to Anthropology 10 teaching fellows, telling them how to get around their lack of expertise in the course material.

"Remember, however weak your own background, the students know even less," the memo stated. " 'That sounds like a good paper topic' is a good answer to questions raised on more specific/detailed points that you don't or can't get into and one you can use repeatedly to humorous effect."

Stephen L. Black, the professor who wrote the memo, says he issued the letter to allay the fears of a specific section leader who was unfamiliar with one area of the course.

"It is impossible for any TF to be equally well-versed in all areas," says Black. "The memo was written for the first section of the year to reassure them, as sort of a pep talk."

And he adds that the section leader who was unclear about fossils "went to another TF's section to learn more about the bones."

The Making of a Section Leader

The process of selecting teaching fellows varies greatly from department to department, but there are certain guidelines that administrators say are consistent. Fluency in English is a prerequisite, and professors prefer section leaders who specialize in the subject.