Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in "Engage To Excel:
Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with STEM Degrees"
[Hake (2012)]. The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: The President's Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology (PCAST), in a recent "Public Release"
<http://1.usa.gov/GYpAya> announced a "Report To The President:
Engage To Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates
with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics"
<http://1.usa.gov/GZmbzq> (3MB). Documents related to the report are
listed under "2012" at <http://1.usa.gov/GZllTf>.
The report states: "If the United States is to maintain its historic
preeminence in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) - and gain the social, economic, and national
security benefits that come with such preeminence-then it must
produce approximately 1 million more STEM professionals over the next
decade than are projected to graduate at current rates [requiring an]
increase the number of students who receive undergraduate STEM
degrees by about 34% annually over current rates." The primary
recommendations are:
1. Catalyze widespread adoption of empirically validated teaching practices.
2. Advocate and provide support for replacing standard laboratory
courses with discovery- based research courses.
3. Launch a national experiment in postsecondary mathematics
education to address the math preparation gap.
4. Encourage partnerships among stakeholders to diversify pathways
to STEM careers.
5. Create a Presidential Council on STEM Education with leadership
from the academic and business communities to provide strategic
leadership for transformative and sustainable change in STEM
undergraduate education.
"Physics educators have led the way in developing and using objective
tests to compare student learning gains in different types of
courses, and chemists, biologists, and others are now developing
similar instruments. These tests provide convincing evidence that
students assimilate new knowledge more effectively in courses
including active, inquiry-based, and collaborative learning, assisted
by information technology, than in traditional courses."
- Wood & Gentile (2003)
REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 29
March 2012.]
Hake, R.R. 2012. "Engage To Excel: Producing One Million Additional
College Graduates with STEM Degrees," online on the OPEN! AERA-L
archives at <http://bit.ly/H0d2BE>. Post of 29 Mar 2012 15:19:02-0700
to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post
are also being transmitted to several discussion lists and are on my
blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/GZazvO> with a provision for
comments.
Wood, W.B. & J.M. Gentile. 2003. "Teaching in a research context,"
Science 302: 1510; 28 November; an abstract is online at
<http://bit.ly/9qGR6m>.