As Frontiers of Science undergoes a review this semester that will determine whether or not it stays part of the Core Curriculum, one of the biggest questions surrounding the class is whether or not it teaches basic science effectively. According to a newly released survey—administered by the faculty responsible for the course—Frontiers does its job well.
During orientation week in August, 966 first-year Columbia College students filled out the survey, which was designed by the Frontiers of Science Executive Committee. According to Executive Committee member Don Hood, the survey covered "basic skills such as statistics, probability, and the reading and analysis of graphs, as well as content to be taught during the fall session of FoS."
The results—which Hood sent to Spectator, and which will be sent to all Frontiers students later today—bode well for the introductory science course. The average score in August was a meager 28 percent, but the 519 students who took Frontiers in the fall scored an average of 76 percent when they took the survey again during the final exam. Meanwhile, as a control group, 167 students who did not take Frontiers in the fall took the survey again at the beginning of the spring semester, and their average score was 31 percent—not much better than the 28 percent they had scored in August.
Does this survey show that Frontiers is effective? Let us know what you think in the comments. A copy of the email is after the jump.
