Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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John R. Thelin records in science and mathematics initiatives—such as Allegheny and Juniata Colleges and Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania, Knox College in Illinois, Hope and Calvin Colleges in Michigan, Xavier University in Ohio, and Drury University in Missouri. Drury, for example, has gained stature for its leadership role in the National Science Foundation’s “Course and Curriculum Development Program.” And Dickinson College in Pennsylvania was the host campus for three model national programs: Workshop Physics, Workshop Mathematics, and Workshop Calculus. One of the best indicators of continuing excellence in undergraduate science has been CIC’s annual Heuer Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Undergraduate Science Education, which between 2001 and 2005 honored a range of CIC member institutions, including Juniata, Oberlin, Whitworth, Benedictine, and Allegheny Colleges, and Drury and John Carroll Universities. Most of the awardwinning projects focus on science majors; but others, like Columbia College Chicago’s “Institute for Science Education and Science Communication,” are designed to improve the science education of non-science majors. Liberal arts colleges have excelled in other national initiatives. Mount Holyoke, Cedar Crest, and Spelman Colleges stand out as models for the education of women in science and mathematics. Spelman and Morehouse Colleges are innovators in science education at historically black colleges and universities. Spelman warrants special recognition. According to an analysis provided by the United Negro College Fund, Spelman ranks first in the nation in graduating African-American students with majors in mathematics and statistics. According to a U.S. News & World Report survey, more than a third of Spelman students major in mathematics and science fields at this all-women’s college. Although the small liberal arts colleges by definition do not offer Ph.D. programs in the sciences, they have well prepared a significant number of future scientists. They have been hailed as a robust pipeline to graduate Many systematic studies now show that small colleges, such as Juniata College in Pennsylvania, made significant contributions to the education of future scientists throughout the 20 th century. 21
Small by Design: Resilience in an Era of Mass Higher Education A small student body and small course enrollments are roots from which many good work in the sciences and mathematics. Furthermore, the projects to reform science education at liberal arts colleges usually influence the entire undergraduate program at these institutions—benefiting more students than those who choose to major in a science or mathematics discipline. Serving as a crucible for future Ph.D.s in the sciences is hardly the whole story of the liberal arts college’s connection with the sciences. An essay by Priscilla Laws in the same Distinctively American anthology supplements Cech’s perspective with another important story. By the 1970s, she notes, small independent colleges had become effective partners and participants in a number of long-term projects on undergraduate science sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). Institutions such as Drury University served both as leaders in campus-based innovation in science instruction and as the hosts of centers and institutes that shared and spread “best practices” in science education with colleges elsewhere. One reason that such federally-funded projects flourished at the small colleges was that the hallmarks of these colleges—the overall small size of the student body combined with the small size of course enrollments—encouraged active undergraduate learning. Small class size was conducive to hands-on field work and laboratory projects in which all students worked directly with full-time faculty members. This close attention to students enhanced science learning for majors and non-majors alike. The federal agencies especially encouraged these approaches, with the long-term aim to transform undergraduate science education from a conventional emphasis on mastering information toward a new emphasis on achieving a conceptual understanding of how scientists think and go about their work. An added attraction of the small college for the education of scientists is that professors often rely on undergraduates—not doctoral students—to be their research assistants and coauthors on scientific papers and journal articles; indeed, independent small colleges have a tradition of encouraging and supporting such student-faculty collaboration. In large universities, introductory science courses typically suffer from very high attrition rates. In small colleges, much higher percentages of students clear this hurdle, complete science majors, and pursue careers in science. The innovations that began in science education at small colleges have carried to other fields of study. As Susan Borque shows in yet another essay from Distinctively American, undergraduates at liberal arts colleges have also had excellent opportunities for close work with faculty in the social and behavioral sciences, in such fields as psychology, government, sociology, and anthropology. This benefit includes serving as research assistants and project participants. Finally, Borque brings to light another, underappreciated side-benefit of the small campus: professors 22
Page 1 and 2: Meeting the Challenge: America’s
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Page 6 and 7: John R. Thelin is University Resear
Page 8 and 9: Thanks also are due to all the tale
Page 10 and 11: Preface Richard Ekman The Council o
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Page 14 and 15: John R. Thelin Enrollment, Public a
Page 16 and 17: John R. Thelin provide affordable,
Page 18 and 19: John R. Thelin The long-run demogra
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Page 24 and 25: John R. Thelin “The undergraduate
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Illinois / Augustana College / Auro
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Alexander W. Astin and Calvin B.T.
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Meeting the Challenge: - The Council of Independent Colleges

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