"Reinventing Undergraduate Education: Three Years After the Boyer Report," the new study released in May 2001, followed up on the original 1998 Boyer report that characterized research universities as being out of touch with their undergraduates and made recommendations for improvements. The new report finds that the improvement of undergraduate education ranks as a high priority at many research universities. This second in the series of studies conducted by the Boyer Commission finds that many improvements, however, only affect the best students and that most of the impetus for change is coming from higher administrative ranks. The studies did find a trend towards creating small, academic communities, especially in students' first year, in order to make research universities more welcoming and manageable for undergraduates.

The survey was sent to 123 Research I and II universities nationwide that offer baccalaureate degrees. Ninety institutions responded (73 percent).

• Undergraduate Research. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed reported that only "a few" freshmen participated in research projects, and most of those were students pursuing honors degrees. Only 2 percent rated "most" freshmen involved.

  The number of undergraduates participating in research and creative activities in engineering where higher (almost 33 percent reported "all") than for humanities majors (14 percent reported "all").
  

• Inquiry-based Learning. Interest in inquiry-based learning "comes from the top." Universities are spending considerable resources on centers to train faculty in inquiry-based learning and other teaching methods. Core courses in chemistry and calculus boast the greatest emphasis in this type of learning. Faculty participation proves poor however, with women faculty showing the most interest. Although faculty often say inquiry-based learning is characteristic of what they do, there is disagreement on a specific definition of the term and many faculty report that they do not know what the approach is really all about.
  
  Twenty percent of those surveyed reported the use of inquiry-based learning in many introductory courses, 30 percent in several key introductory courses, and 45 percent in a few introductory courses.
  
  
• Writing Requirements. At most institutions surveyed, writing requirements have become more stringent. Many institutions plan to incorporate more rigorous writing skills into the curriculum in the future. About half require intensive upper-level writing courses in addition to two semesters of lower-division writing courses.

• Oral Communication. Schools surveyed report a lack of courses in oral communication, and those available are most often offered in professionally oriented majors such as management or engineering.

• Capstone or Senior Projects. Few institutions require capstone courses or senior projects for all students. Capstone projects are most uniformly required for honors programs, engineering degrees, and departmental and university honors degrees.
• Training for Teaching Assistants. Seventy percent of research institutions require an orientation for new teaching assistants, but few call for uniform standards for evaluating the quality of these efforts; quality control is left up to individual departments. Teaching centers are used frequently to provide most of the training in teaching techniques, with the departments continuing to focus on subject matter.
• Faculty Rewards. Almost all research universities report a change in their tenure and promotion guidelines in order to put greater emphasis on teaching. Forty percent say it is a major consideration in such decisions although many faculty continue to focus on research first and seem to lack confidence that these changes will truly be implemented fairly.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The presentation of undergraduate research was the largest incentive for students to engage in research and creative activities.

• Only 15 percent of research institutions surveyed consider collaborative learning a significant curriculum issue.

• More than 80 percent of respondents now offer an academic seminar to first-year students.

• Only one institution reported that first-year academic seminars are open to transfer students.

• Freshman seminars seem to have a significant side benefit: they boost faculty interest in teaching methodology.

• Enrollments in electives have increased in subjects such as rhetoric and public speaking.