Science for non-science majors


Brooks R. M., Jyothsna K., Çetin M.

119th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, San Antonio, TX, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, 10 - 13 Haziran 2012 identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
  • Basıldığı Şehir: San Antonio, TX
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Amerika Birleşik Devletleri
  • Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

A certain level of scientific knowledge is needed for non-engineering and non-science majors because their success often demands effective use of and making informed decisions about scientific issues. This paper focuses on developing a strategy for providing non-science majors with a basic level of scientific knowledge for successfully dealing with real world technological issues. "The Environment" course was taught in Fall 2007 to non-science majors as a science core requirement using the traditional lecture method. This was the control group. An experimental group was taught in spring 2010 using four indices: (1) learning from three Hands On and Minds On labs, (2) using Closer Looks, (3) case studies, and (4) development of critical thinking abilities. The method of selecting these indices is explained in the paper. The average grade of the control group was 64% and that of the experimental group was 77%, a 20% improvement over the control group. The groups were significantly different with a calculated t value of 2.6. The t-test confirmed statistical improvement at significant confidence level with an alpha value of 0.05. The students ranked learning from three Hands On and Minds On labs. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.