The Need For Another Sputnik

THE NEED FOR ANOTHER SPUTNIK

The U.S. public doesn't yet share academic leaders' belief in the importance of math and science education, poll suggests.

http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/07/poll

 

At the time that I was in B&M schools, when I wasn't actually ready to make the most of my opportunity, I was turned off of the math & science courses because of the huge number of students in them and the fact that they were taught by GAs (not the name on my registration).

 

I thought an interesting observation was that when US adults think of outsourcing - they tend to think "cheap labor" - not "skilled workers".

A common phenominom in college intro classes is "what on earth is this student doing here?" A common aspect of college is that the student needs to spend 2 hours outside class for each hour inside class on the material. Quite a few students think that by "showing up" they are meeting the course requirement.