A course without a structure

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Abstract
This is a personal account of a course called ‘Themes in 20th Century History’ which I gave within the History Department at Monash University, Melbourne, in 1975. Officially, the course was known as ‘HY10906’. HY=history; 1=first year; 09=the title, ‘Themes in 20th Century History’ 06=the number of points a student could acquire by passing the course. The course was so known because the computer preferred it that way; that was part of the problem. The course was described as ‘experimental’, a word which can convey either patronizing scepticism or caution. What follows reports my response to the way in which the ‘experiment’ developed. 2 This report could not have been written without the answers of students to the question: ‘How would you organize a course like 10906, assuming you thought it worthwhile?’ I am also grateful to Ms Lorel Barke-Hall, a student of the course, who gave me a photo-copy of an article by Martin Duberman, ‘An Experiment in Education’ (Daedalus, Vol. 97, No. 1, 1968), and to Ms Helen Simons of the Nuffield Foundation, who referred me to various publications of the Group for Research and Innovation in Higher Education, of which she is a member. View all notes

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