Under the auspices of the Education and Human Resources (EHR) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a committee of the Advisory Committee to EHR has conducted an intensive review of the state of undergraduate education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SME&T;) in America. The purpose of this review was to "consider the needs of all undergraduates attending all types of U.S. two- and four-year colleges and universities," addressing "issues of preparation of K-12 teachers in these fields, the needs of persons going into the technical work force, the preparation of majors in these areas, and the issue of science literacy for all." [1]
This is the final report of the committee, which was to be "action oriented, recommending ways to improve undergraduate education in SME&T; ... not just to the NSF but, as appropriate, to mission-oriented Federal agencies, business and industry, academic institutions and their faculties and administrations, professional societies, private sector organizations, state and local government, and to other stakeholders in undergraduate education." [1]
While the focus of this review was undergraduate SME&T; education, that is just one part of the continuum of SME&T; education in America that runs from pre-school through postgraduate work. The various parts of this continuum are interdependent; undergraduate SME&T; education depends on the students who come from grades K-12, relies on faculty who come out of graduate programs, and prepares teachers for the K-12 system and students for graduate school. The kinds of programs offered for graduate students have significant implications for the future of undergraduate education; the professional standards adopted for student learning in grades K-12 impact undergraduate education as well. So, these sectors have mutual obligations to each other, and the fulfillment of those obligations is essential for the health of the whole.
Furthermore, as K-12 education changes, as a result not only of standards but of new emphases on inquiry, on active learning, and with new uses of technology, students will come to undergraduate education with new expectations, increasing pressure for reform at this level as well. And to sustain the kind of reform occurring in our nation's elementary and secondary schools, changes in undergraduate education, perhaps particularly in teacher preparation, will be essential. For all these reasons, this report and its recommendations are important to all parts of the continuum of SME&T; education in the United States.
The goal – indeed, the imperative – deriving from our review is that:
The year-long review of undergraduate SME&T; education leading to this report has revealed that significant change is occurring and that important and measurable improvements have been achieved in the past decade. Much of this progress is attributable to the leadership of the NSF, following the National Science Board's issuance of the 1986 report, "Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education," NSB 86-100 ("the Neal Report") [2]. That report called for a significant program of support for undergraduate SME&T; education and assigned primary, but not exclusive, responsibility for this activity to a separate division staffed by scientists, mathematicians, and engineers from many disciplines – now NSF's Division for Undergraduate Education – having the education of undergraduate students as its first priority.
The implementation of the 1986 Neal Report, despite funding of several key instruction-oriented programs at considerably reduced levels over what was recommended, has produced many positive results over the past decade. This success on the part of the NSF has reflected faithfully the dual mission of the Foundation in research and education and the conviction not only of the NSF but also of this committee that undergraduate SME&T; education is the responsibility of scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technologists alike.
Since the time of the Neal Report and the study that led up to it, the world has changed. The Cold War has ended, and public interest in and support of science have waned correspondingly. The use of new technology is exploding in all aspects of life. The economy is vastly different, with many fewer unskilled but high-paying jobs available to those without technical preparation. The demography of America and of its student population are changing dramatically.
Notwithstanding promising progress in SME&T; education (many examples of which appear in the body of this report), much more remains to be done; there is now a broader and even more urgent agenda than there was in 1986. This message comes from the many contributors to this review: from focus groups of students and graduates, from testimony of employers, faculty, and administrators, from previous studies and surveys of all kinds. Despite the observation that America's basic research in science, mathematics, and engineering is world-class, its education is still not. America has produced a significant share of the world's great scientists while most of its population is virtually illiterate in science. Undergraduate SME&T; education in America is typically still too much a filter that produces a few highly-qualified graduates while leaving most of its students "homeless in the universe." [3]
Too many students leave SME&T; courses because they find them dull and unwelcoming. Too many new teachers enter school systems underprepared, without really understanding what science and mathematics are, and lacking the excitement of discovery and the confidence and ability to help children engage SME&T; knowledge. Too many graduates go out into the workforce ill-prepared to solve real problems in a cooperative way, lacking the skills and motivation to continue learning.
Meanwhile, the world does not stand still. Knowledge keeps growing, new fields arise, other nations improve their educational systems, and new needs emerge. Governments at the state and federal level; business, industry, and the professional community; institutions of higher education; and the National Science Foundation, playing a key leadership role, must work together with a sense of urgency to make the necessary improvements. Students, for their part, must take learning more seriously.
The pressures on America's two- and four-year colleges and universities and on their students, facing an uncertain world of very constrained resources, are great. We do not ask for more of the same effort but rather for a more productive and rewarding kind of undergraduate SME&T; education that produces long-lasting results more effectively and excitingly for both students and faculty.
The testimony of hundreds of participants in this review over the last year has led to a number of recommendations. These recommendations (detailed in somewhat different order in the body of the report) are for action to be taken by:
We recommend that:
We recommend that:
2. The Foundation should encourage the research directorates to expand the allocation of their resources to discipline-oriented and interdisciplinary research-related educational activities that integrate education and research and that promote sharing the excitement of, and engagement in, research with undergraduates - with additional emphasis on primarily undergraduate institutions.
Further, we recommend that the Foundation:
In all of its undergraduate programs, NSF should put emphasis on implementation of what is known to work, on genuine institutional change, and on sustainability of hard-won improvements. All of NSF's directorates should:
Our final recommendation is that the National Science Foundation accept leadership of the efforts necessary to implement all these recommendations. This is an exciting agenda for action that concentrates on achievable goals. It requires a change in the way we think about SME&T; education more than it calls for more hours or dollars spent on a task. It requires motivation as well as money, commitment as well as competence, and an interest in students as well as in science. Carrying out this agenda will be an energizing and exciting adventure in what is surely the most challenging and awesome enterprise in the world - human learning.