Reserving the Right

Recently, the math department announced that the 410, 420 and 430 calculus classes will be using the reserve format starting next year. Around campus, many students are unhappy about the new decision. After not using the reserve format for so long, is this change really necessary? So many Exonians have learned calculus without using the reserve format. Is it worth the time in our busy Exeter schedules?Now, I understand that calculus is hard and extra time around the Harkness table will surely benefit students’ understanding in one way or another. I understand that we will have less homework with the new reserves being used, but as a three-year student, I always understood that after 320 the auxiliary was given to us permanently as a free.As Exonians, we struggle through the early math courses so that we don’t have to use the reserve format. Many students I know complete courses over the summer just so that they can get the extra fifty minutes of free time that every Exonian holds so dearly. Now that the math department has shaken things up, our struggle has apparently been for nothing.It has always been my understanding that high-level courses in most subjects don’t use the reserve format (excluding all the sciences). Now going into my final year, suddenly my vision of the future has been flipped upside down. Suddenly, with one less extra format of free time, do I really want to take that science elective that also uses the reserve format? Some might even ask, “Do I even want to take math at all?” The new use of the reserve format is intended to help those who struggle conceptualizing calculus a chance to understand them. However, Exonians can drop math after 330, and who’s to say that they won’t just drop it instead?At Exeter, most reserve formats are the first blocks of the day, so the majority of the new calculus classes will meet first thing in the morning. I have always noticed in my classes that efficiency and productivity in class goes down exponentially the earlier the day begins. To make matters worse, classes that require more thinking and brainpower (like calculus) seem to do even worse in the morning. Generally, the reserve format is the least productive of all classes. Is it really productive to have a bunch of groggy students who are working far below their full capacity in class? Will an extra fifty minutes in the morning really help students enough to take away fifty minutes of sleeping?In the past few years, the administration has made all sorts of different moves to give Exonians extra sleep. First in 2010, they experimented with shortening classes by five minutes—moving up the first morning class for more sleep. Then two years ago, they moved reserve formats to the beginning of the day. The administration clearly wants Exonians to sleep more. But apparently the math department does not agree.I do see the reasons why the math department has decided to change this policy. From what I’ve heard, calculus concepts can be difficult to understand and the extra time allows for classes to go over more problems in the book. I know that the math department just wants to make sure we are ready for whatever roads might be ahead. But before they continue onward, the department should take a look at the disgruntled student body and ask if it is a truly efficient use not only of our time but also theirs.