Davis, head tutor in the chemistry department and chemical biology, says that computers have made "much more sophisticated ways of analyzing data" possible--for example, instruments hooked up directly to computers, rather than requiring someone to read off the information and enter it by hand.
The computer can also serve as a stepstool--Marius, for instance, says he feels more comfortable giving complex assignments. Some of his peers say the same.
"In my marine chemistry course I can give problems which would have been considered too difficult or too complicated 10 years ago," Butler says.
Computers have also had a significant effect on less obvious aspects of student academic life.
Maier says that the computer makes it simple for him to "boil down" his notes the night before lecture to a one page handout.
His professors, he says, merely wrote up a list of names on the blackboard. But Maier says that he believes that "the more handouts [and other such aids] the student can follow, the more he or she can focus on what is being said."
Communication as Education
Communicating with others grew easier when a staff assistant no longer had to type each missive, Mendelsohn says, but the addition of e-mail has "eased communication across lines that used to be much more formal and difficult to cross."
Marius says students feel more comfortable approaching their professors electronically, because "they know...that I'm a human being," he says.
"I'm more interactive with my students. There's an intimidation factor when the student comes in to talk face to face," Marius says. "With e-mail there's a kind of distance and communication."
According to Lewis, e-mail also helps to eliminate the logistical difficulties of teacher-student communication.
"I get questions e-mailed at three o'clock in the morning which I can then respond to in the morning," he says. "The typical student's sleep schedule and that of the average professor can be reconciled through e-mail."
There are a variety of electronic discussion forums available as well, and hundreds of students participate with their professors.
Professor Margo I. Seltzer '83, who teaches Computer Science 50: "Introduction to Computer Sciences I", says that one of the most important changes effected by computers is increased accessibility of information.
"It's a lot easier to track down information, to correspond with Faculty, to correspond with classmates, and to have open discussions about course material," she says.
"[The Web] has democratized intellectual information in a way that was clearly not the case before," says Harry R. Lewis '68, dean of the College and McKay professor of computer science.
However, professors agree that on-line resources are only supplements to, not substitutes for, traditional interaction.
"I don't see it as a substitute for face to face discussion with students, but as another way of continuing the discussions that begin in class," says Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel.
"I really do enjoy meeting people. In some ways the e-mail simplifies some things, but I hope it doesn't keep people from visiting," Mendelsohn says. "The core of the academic experience, which is direct personal exchange, [remains] the most important and most satisfactory means of education."