The purpose of this short article is to (a) briefly summarize the findings of two important recent resources concerning the future of biology in the 21st century; one, Vision and Change, A Call to Action [AAAS, 2009. AAAS, Washington, DC], concerned with undergraduate education in biology, the other, A New Biology for the 21st Century [National…

In 2005, West Virginia science and education leaders developed a strategic plan entitled: "Vision 2015: The West Virginia Science and Technology Strategic Plan." The plan is comprised of five (5) target areas for infrastructure development, with 14 goals for action by designated leaders from higher education, state government, and…

Understanding the scientific method fosters the development of critical thinking and logical analysis of information. Additionally, proposing and testing a hypothesis is applicable not only to science, but also to ordinary facts of daily life. Knowing the way science is done and how its results are published is useful for all citizens and…

An assessment of the impact that funding mechanisms had on the productivity and performance of university research is presented in this report. The General Accounting Office (GAO) study focused on five universities that had reputed improvement in program quality. The GAO study concentrated primarily on what funding and other strategies these…

Presents viewpoints on the 1988 budget preparation process for science education. Includes perspectives on: the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget process; undergraduate education; informal science education; teacher education; technical assistance; research and development; and meeting the needs of the underserved and underrepresented. (ML)

The College Science Instrumentation Program (CSIP) was developed to provide seed money matching funds for the acquisition of laboratory instrumentation in order to improve the quality of undergraduate science/engineering education. This report describes the impact of the program and the program characteristics during the years 1985-87. An…

The quality of doctoral-level biochemistry (N=139), botany (N=83), cellular/molecular biology (N=89), microbiology (N=134), physiology (N=101), and zoology (N=70) programs at United States universities was assessed, using 16 measures. These measures focused on variables related to: (1) program size; (2) characteristics of graduates; (3)…

This study examines the status of and outlook for nuclear engineering (NE) in the United States. The study resulted from a concern about the downward trends in student enrollments in NE, in both graduate and undergraduate programs. Concerns have also been expressed about the declining number of U.S. university NE departments and programs, the…

The quality of doctoral-level chemistry (N=145), computer science (N=58), geoscience (N=91), mathematics (N=115), physics (N=123), and statistics/biostatistics (N=64) programs at United States universities was assessed, using 16 measures. These measures focused on variables related to: program size; characteristics of graduates; reputational…