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Study: One Third of STEM Students in US Change Majors

时间:2018-01-07 15:00:16

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(单词翻译)

 

Most college students in the United States choose their major, or main field of study for their degree, before or during their first year.

For Saskia Fagan, making that choice was not easy.

Fagan, who is now 31 years old, grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland. From an early age, she loved animals. So when she began studying at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland in 2004, she expected to become a dog trainer.

However, Frostburg State did not offer any degree programs related1 to dog training. Fagan chose to study psychology2, instead. A few months later, she changed her major to biology.

But then she decided3 she did not want to spend her life working in a laboratory4. In her second year, she changed majors to another field of interest: fine art.

After two years of studying fine art, however, Fagan felt that she preferred art as something she did for pleasure, not for work. So she made one final change into a field called liberal5 studies. That field let her design a major based around a mix of different subjects.

Fagan finally completed her degree program in 2011 – seven years after she had started. The cost of adding extra time to earn a degree created some problems, she says. But, she adds, taking the time to find the perfect field also helped lead her to a career she has found very satisfying.

Fagan is now a map designer.

“It’s really important to know what you don’t want to do,” she told VOA. “If anything, those are great learning6 experiences, too, whether that’s a major that you tried and didn’t like or job that you had for a year and you thought, ‘This is not for me.’ If anything, those are just as valuable as knowing what path you want.”

Changing majors in the U.S.

Fagan’s experience is common in American higher education. About one third of college students in the U.S. change majors at least once. And many who do so began in science, technology, engineering7 and math – in other words, STEM8 fields.

In December, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics9 released10 a study on students who changed majors. The study looked at 25,000 college students who entered into degree programs for the first time in 2011.

By 2014, about one in three first-time students seeking bachelor’s degrees changed majors. One in ten changed majors more than once.

In addition, the study found that students in STEM fields are about 6 percent more likely to change majors than non-STEM students.

Tracy Hunt-White is one of the researchers who worked on the study. She points out that an earlier study found about one third of STEM students who changed majors left the STEM fields completely. They chose non-STEM related majors instead. The most recent study found that students who start in mathematics are the most likely to change, with 52 percent choosing another field.

Hunt-White says she could not comment on the reasons students make these changes. But National Science Teachers Association11 executive12 director David Evans says he might have some idea why. He says the reason may be, in large part, due to the differences in teaching13 styles of STEM educators at the high school and university levels.

High school math and science classes are often much smaller than they are at colleges and universities. So the students often feel they have a more personal connection to the subjects they are studying, and therefore their teachers as well, he says.

And, Evans says, many professors feel college-level STEM classes should be difficult enough to make some students want to leave those fields.

“There’s sort of a historic14 culture, often times in university education, especially in science and math, to think of the early courses … as being screening courses where the idea is you find out which students are ‘good enough’ to get through those courses,” he told VOA. “And so instead of being an educational regime15 that encourages students, it’s one that really filters16.”

Evans argues that as technology becomes a bigger part of everyday life, it is going to be only more important to understand STEM-related subjects. He says that, as a result, educators will have to learn to be more inclusive17. Also, they will need to find ways to make the material they are teaching more relatable.

Another big difference between high school and college-level STEM education is the way material is covered, Evans says. Once students enter the college level in mathematics, for example, they face much more abstract18 ideas. Evans suggests that college professors do not always do the best job of explaining how students will use these ideas in real world situations.

Also, he says, many college STEM courses test students on how well they remember these complex ideas, not how well they understand them.

The National Science Teachers Association released a series of suggestions for STEM teachers five years ago. They are for teachers at every level and discuss how to address the issues that Evans suggests make STEM fields so discouraging.

Many STEM educators across the United States have begun to follow these suggestions, he says. The goal is to make sure that plenty of Americans stay in these fields throughout their entire education.

“There’s no single thing that we could do, with one possible exception,” he said. “And that is, I think that if we could do something that would allow for … more time to be spent on STEM courses for elementary school children, that … might actually make a big difference.”

Not everyone who majors in a STEM field in college goes on to work in that field. Yet Evans feels that if they start their STEM education early enough, that might keep students like Fagan interested as they progress. Then they can bring much-needed STEM knowledge along with them on whatever career path they take.

I’m -Pete Musto. And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

major – n. the main subject studied by a college or university student

bachelor’s degree(s) – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

course(s) – n. a series of classes about a particular subject in a school

screening – n. the act of examining people or things in order to decide if they are suitable for a particular purpose

regime – n. a system of management

encourage(s) – v. to make someone more determined19, hopeful, or confident

filter(s) – v. to remove something unwanted

abstract – adj. relating to or involving general ideas or qualities rather than specific people, objects, or actions

allow for – p.v. to make something possible

elementary school – n. a school in the U.S. for young children


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 related vkGzSv     
adj.有关系的,有关联的,叙述的,讲述的
参考例句:
  • I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
  • We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
2 psychology U0Wze     
n.心理,心理学,心理状态
参考例句:
  • She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
  • He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
3 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
4 laboratory P27xd     
n.实验室,化验室
参考例句:
  • She has donated money to establish a laboratory.她捐款成立了一个实验室。
  • Our laboratory equipment isn't perfect,but we must make do.实验室设备是不够理想,但我们只好因陋就简。
5 liberal R17xF     
adj.心胸宽阔的;自由(主义)的;慷慨的
参考例句:
  • He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
  • This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。
6 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
7 engineering vtyzmS     
n.工程,工程学,管理,操纵
参考例句:
  • The science of engineering began as soon as man learned to use tools. 人类一学会使用工具,工程科学就开始了。
  • It was the first great engineering works in the world. 这是世界上第一家大型的工程工厂。
8 stem ZGrz8     
n.茎,干,船首,词干,血统;vt.堵住,阻止,抽去梗;vi.起源于,发生
参考例句:
  • Cut the stem cleanly,just beneath a leaf joint.把茎切整齐点,正好切在叶根下。
  • The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
9 statistics iGyzb     
n.统计,统计数字,统计学
参考例句:
  • We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
  • Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。
10 released 23690fd759f17135ec9879b56ff2600c     
v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 );放开;发布;发行
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他,这倒容易。
11 association 6O1yp     
n.联盟,协会,社团;交往,联合;联想
参考例句:
  • Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
  • I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。
12 executive Ymlxs     
adj.执行的,行政的;n.执行者,行政官,经理
参考例句:
  • A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
  • He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。
13 teaching ngEziT     
n.教学,执教,任教,讲授;(复数)教诲
参考例句:
  • We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
  • He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。
14 historic AcNxw     
adj.历史上著名的,具有历史意义的
参考例句:
  • This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
  • We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。
15 regime JUKxY     
n.政体,政权,制度
参考例句:
  • Under the new regime in our office,no one is allowed to leave early.在新的办公制度下,谁也不能早退。
  • The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime.人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
16 filters 2c9885d2b0c7e26971f60a90f33cf718     
过滤( filter的名词复数 ); 滤光器; (香烟头上的)过滤嘴; 交通红灯指示不得直行的同时
参考例句:
  • Filters do not remove all contaminants from water. 过滤器无法过滤掉水中的所有污染物。
  • A liquid filters through a strainer,into the receptacle beneath. 液体经过过滤器流入下面的容器。
17 inclusive a9gxX     
adj.(of)包括的,包含的;范围广的
参考例句:
  • The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging.账单包括吃、住费用。
  • It's an all inclusive price;there is nothing extra to pay.这是一个包罗一切的价格,不需再额外付款了。
18 abstract eICyS     
adj.抽象的;n.摘要,梗概;vt.提取;摘录要点
参考例句:
  • He is an abstract painter.他是一个抽象派画家。
  • He made an abstract of a long article.他对一篇长文章做了摘要。
19 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

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