Paul Romer, an economics professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, who has studied the issue, wrote in an article for Stanford Business that “the grades assigned in science courses are systematically lower than grades in other disciplines, and students rely heavily on grades as signals about the fields for which they are best suited.” Thus, he concluded, students usher themselves out of the science track.Some think it has to do with the 'culture' of science.
“The culture of science says, ‘not everybody is good enough to cut it, and we’re going to make it hard for them, and the cream will rise to the top.’ ”Others believe the fact that many introductory science courses are large and impersonal which makes the grading more coldly quantitative out of necessity, unlike in say intro english courses which require small class size to enable discussion. Also, science classes tend to be taught vertically;
” meaning students are often made to slog through two years of large, formulaic introductory courses that teach fundamentals before they get any taste of the hands-on work that makes a career in science attractive to most scientists. In the process, students seldom form any bond with the scientists teaching the course.I think all of those things come into play, resulting in fewer science majors. However, if you think science is hard in the classroom, just wait til you get out into the real world. Maybe that message is starting to filter down to students as well.
Oh yeah, and Jon Stewart of the 'Daily Show' evidently made the observation that science majors actually have to 'know stuff' versus just winging it.
3 comments:
Yeah nobody chooses science b/c it's "easy", (that's why we have communications & english majors) they choose it cause they enjoy it, then they realise it's hard, but by then it's too late to turn back - lol - trust me I'm living it :)
I think science is easier outside of the classroom. Between cookbook protocols, open book "exams" and being able to interact with peers, it's not (at least as a lowly tech) as mind-hurting as school was. I chose science because it was challenging - I could have been an English or Art ot History major and walked away with a much more impressive GPA.
But now I "know stuff."
I chose science because it interested me and seemed "useful"...and then left it in the dust when my bachelor's didn't qualify me to do anything useful except sit in a lab playing with noxious bugs. I'll still read "Discover" or other pop-science mags and nonfiction, but I think it was (in part) the large class, learn-by-rote process that kept me from learning about the actual field in practice until it was too late to change my major. IMHO, anyway.
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