Specifically in the areas of the sciences, graduates of Eastern should be able to understand and apply scientific principles and develop an awareness of the role of science and technology in the contemporary world. To assist the University, faculty, and the general education committee in assessing the success of the general education curriculum, the CAAP Science Reasoning scale is administered.
Students also participate in focus groups and complete a locally developed survey.
The CAAP Science Reasoning scale is designed to measure students skills in scientific reasoning. The test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills rather than recalling scientific content or being highly skilled in mathematics or reading. The national norm, reported for fall of 1995 for public four-year college sophomores, is a 60.6 with a standard deviation of 4.7. Eastern students from the fall of 1993 through the spring of 1995 have averaged 59.51 with a standard deviation of 4.41. There is a steady decline in these scores, which is statistically significant.