Today the alarm is sounding about a new threat: the rising technological prowess of China and India. In response, Congress and President Bush recently enacted legislation intended to produce more scientists and engineers. While educators disagree over whether more American scientists are, in fact, needed, they do agree that for the United States to remain economically competitive and to confront complex problems like global warming and energy shortages, the quality of teaching in science, mathematics, and engineering must be improved at all levels.
In the coming months, The Chronicle will publish a series of articles on what colleges are doing, or not doing, to improve instruction and training in those fields.
Professors who teach science to nonscience majors debate the right way to do it and what students should know.