"Although the results are stimulating and suggestive, Harvard hasn't been good at change in the past," he said.

Elsewhere, responses to the report's findingswere mixed.

Dean of the Graduate School of EducationPatricia A. Graham lauded the research effort.

"It's good to see people concerned with theprocess of teaching and learning," said Graham."The study was unique because it focused onspecific structural questions of the learningprocess."

Canaday proctor Keith Light, who contributed tothe study, harbored reservations about thefeasibility of incorporating the study's resultsinto a college-level curriculum.

"I don't think it's being entirely realisticabout the problems it addresses," he said. "It'ssimply not possible to do as much testing andevaluating on a regular basis, especially in[introductory-level] classes."

Pilbeam, however, said that such logisticaldifficulties were not such a problem, and thatprofessors of large classes could simply takerandom samplings of their "one minute papers."

"Generally speaking, any improvement we canmake is good," said Pilbeam. "Although therealities of a research-oriented university likeHarvard renders unfeasible certain aspects of thestudy, even the smallest improvement we can makeis beneficial."

Despite the report's findings, some studentssaid that the appeal of subject matter in classesis as important as frequent tests and evaluations.

"A student's interest in a class, and thereforehis performance, depends on the interest one hasfor the reading material and the subject, not ontests," said John R. Stein '91.

"In core courses, tests and quizzes arenecessary, or else people will ignore thematerial," said Lawrence E. Tanz '92. "Indepartment courses, on the other hand, people areintrinsically interested in the subject matter anddon't need to be tested as frequently."

However, Stein said he has participated in manysmall study groups, and agrees with the report'sconclusion that they are helpful. He said theymade learning "fun and enjoyable."

The study was conducted by the HarvardAssessment Seminars, a project initiated byPresident Derek C. Bok in order to evaluateteaching innovations and techniques, Richard Lightsaid.

Although similar studies have been conducted atother institutions, such studies have focusedmostly on students' lives outside the classroomrather than examining their actual coursework, hesaid.

The Harvard Assessment Seminars will conduct afollow-up study on how to best advise students andhow to internationalize Harvard by making itsstudent body more diverse