Contributing problems cited by the report included dull laboratory experiments, often using antiquated equipment, and poorly organized and unimaginative instruction by faculty, many of whom, the report said, were failing to keep abreast of the latest developments. Little wonder, then, that fewer and fewer undergraduates have been electing to major in science. In 1975 9.4 percent of all students receiving baccalaureate degrees chose majors in biology, chemistry, geology or physics, but in 1983 only 7.5 percent did so.
The report recommended that the NSF, which had allocated close to nothing in support of undergraduate science education in the early 1980s, spend more than $100 million on such programs by 1990. Acknowledging that the problem is too large for the NSF to address alone, the NSB study called for municipalities, states, and the private sector to contribute collectively nearly $1 billion per year towards the improvement of undergraduate science education.
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