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Not to throw cold water on what appears to be a wonderful change, but 
from what my colleagues at many universities are telling me, the 
attrition rates for undergrad engineering students is as high as 50%, 
largely occurring when students run up against calculus and physics.  Is 
it unpreparedness at the high school level?  Is it that only the 
"gifted" can make it?  Who are we to believe?
Beryl

Eric Siegel wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related 
> institutions.
> ***************************************************************************** 
>
>
> In today's NY Times in an article about inquiry based hands on science 
> learning going on in some gifted and talented programs, the following 
> quotation:
>
>
>
> Many people wring their hands over the state of science education and 
> point to the appalling performance of America’s students in 
> international science and math competitions. Yet some of the direst 
> noises about our nation’s scientific prospects may be premature. Far 
> from rejecting challenging science courses, students seem to be 
> embracing them.
>
> This year, for example, the American Institute of Physics said that 
> the percentage of high school students taking physics courses was at 
> an all-time high, and that the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in 
> the subject had climbed by 31 percent since 2000. Moreover, there are 
> a growing number of “magnet” or “gifted and talented” programs in 
> secondary schools that emphasize science and math. While quality 
> varies widely, and some observers worry that the tiny, competitive 
> programs consume an outsized portion of a school’s budget, a visit to 
> Ms. Cascio’s class and her students, who are not only gifted, talented 
> and magnetic but hardworking, too, is almost enough to make you wish 
> you were back in high school.
>
> ========
> I posted another article over the weekend which dealt extensively and 
> thought provokingly with the supposed gap in science learning between 
> the US and others   <http://www.urban.org/publications/1001094.html>
>
> So, has the tide been turning while we are making last decade's 
> argument?  I remember the proliferation of computers and connectivity 
> that vastly narrowed the "digital divide" as it was being called at 
> the time forced us to rethink our programs.  This is the NY Times 
> article (free registration required)
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30angi.html?th&emc=th>
>
> Eric Siegel
> Director and
> Chief Content Officer
> New York Hall of Science
> www.nyscience.org
> (718) 699-0005 x 317
> esiegel at nyscience dot org
>
>
>
>
>
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