Submission Date

4-27-2015

Document Type

Paper

Department

Mathematics

Adviser

Dr. April Kontostathis

Committee Member

Dr. Yuan Pei

Committee Member

Dr. April Kontostathis

Committee Member

Dr. Rebecca Kohn

Department Chair

Dr. April Kontostathis

Project Description

Ursinus College prides itself on creating well-rounded students, and recent initiatives, such as the Fellowships in the Ursinus Transition to the Undergraduate Research Experience Program and the Center for Science and the Common Good suggest that science is a vital part of the Ursinus liberal arts mission. A scientific awareness pilot survey was administered to a sample of Ursinus students drawn from the Class of 2014 and students residing at Ursinus during summer 2014. Experience and data collected from this pilot were used to create a final survey which was made available to all students at Ursinus College. The survey included a demographic questionnaire, as well as sections related to scientific interest, scientific aptitude, self-assessment of knowledge and opinions, and environmental knowledge. Results show that Ursinus students are very interested in science, have high scientific aptitude, and have opinions that generally match those of the scientific community. Multiple Linear Regression also revealed that class year (the longer a student is at Ursinus), seeing oneself as a scientist, and considering one's major a science are correlated with a higher scientific aptitude.

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