A recent article in the New York Times ("Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It's Just So Darn Hard)") discusses the surprising rate of American college students changing majors from the science and engineering fields (between 40% and 60% change their minds about pursuing STEM majors!). The main point is that while the course work is indeed hard, the big factor in pushing students away is due to a lack of applied instruction. As the author puts it, "students learn more by grappling with open-ended problems, like creating a computer game or designing an alternative energy system, than listening to lectures." Even though a hands-on approach is more expensive and tome consuming compared to a lecture format, the impact of working with your hands and seeing your effort result in something useful is well worth it.
Comments04/29/2012 23:13
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The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need!b Keep 'em coming... all do such a great job. Leave a Reply | future scientist
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