THE CHEMISTRY PROFILE OF THE GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATION R. TRAVIS OSBORNE and WILMA B. SANDERS The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
'
THEGraduate Record Examination is the outgrowth of a research project in higher education initiated in 1936. The tests which comprise this examination were designed "to show the nature and extent of the advanced students' actual equipment in knowledge"' of broad subject matter fields of the typical undergraduate curriculum. The Graduate Record Examination results are a t present endorsed or required by over 150 colleges and universities in the admission and guidance of graduate students. The G. R. E. profile tests which are taken by all University of Georgia graduate-school applicants cover the fields of chemistry, biology, physics, mathematics, social science, literature, and h e arts. Separate scores representing the student's standing with respect to his knowledge of the subject are reported for each field. Since certain minimal undergraduate training is assumed and a baccalaureate degree is required for admission to graduate school, the question arises as to the effect of various undergraduate curricula on the several G. R. E. scores. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between scores on the G. R. E. profile tests and the kind and amount of undergraduate training of students with various baccalaureate degrees. The portion of the study reported here will deal only with chemistry profile scores of graduate students in relation to their undergraduate training in chemistry. The 1807 graduate students who were in attendance
a t the University of Georgia between February, 1946, and February, 1952, were selected as subjects for this study. The group included all graduate students except some few irregulars who were not seeking advanced degrees. Because of the smallness of the samples ( N < lo), students who had earned various infrequently awarded baccalaureate degrees were also omitted from this portion of the report. All seven professional schools and the five divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences were represented. In the base group men students outnumbered women by 1173 to 634. The mean age of the group was 31.76. PROCEDURE
G. R. E. scores and other data were obtained from official records of the Dean of the Graduate School. The course requirements in chemistry were found by inspection of the General University of Georgia Catalogue and Registrar for the years covered by the study. The degree groups compared were: B.S., agricultural engineering; B.S., forestry; B.S., agriculture; general B.S.; B. Business Administration; general A.B.; B. Fine Arts; A.B., joumlism; B.S., home economics; and A.B. and B.S., education. Mean G. R. E. chemistry achievement scores were determined for each degree group and the confidence levels of mean differences from the other nine deeree groups were computed. Of course it is recognized that this direct comparison of achievement scores of the various degree groups was not entirely satisfactory 1 "The G. R. E. and Returning Service Personnel," Carnegie FoundatioL1for the ~dvancement-ofTeaching. because it could notbe issumed that the groups were of eaual eeneral abilitv. Neither the G. R. E. verbal Courses Required in Chemistry for Various Baccalaureate factor nor quantitative subtest results were available Degrees Offered by The University of Georgia on this group, as they were given to only about 15 per Quarter hours of cent of the University of Georgia graduate-school apDemee ehernistw. required . plicants during the period covered by the study. Other B.S., agricultural engr. 10 measures of general ability were used but not in suffiB.S., foreatry 10 cient numbers to make reliable subgroup comparisons. B.S., agriculture 10The results of the study are presented in the table B.S. 5' B. Bus. Adrnin. 5 and in the figure. The table shows the number of B. Fine Arts 5 quarter hours of chemistry required for various degree A.B. 5b A.B., journalism 5 groups. The distributions of the chemistry profile BS., home economies 10 scores for the ten baccalaureate degrees are shown in A.B. and B S . , educ. no the figure. Five additional hours science required, all of which may be From an examination of the figure it is seen that with chemistry. respect to proficiency in chemistry the ten degree Ten additional haws science reauired. all of which mav he chemistry. groups roughly form three clusters or subgroups made Five hows science required. Chemistry not specified. up of science, nonscience, and education majors. That
-
-
OCTOBER, 1954
is, graduate students who have undergraduate degrees in agriculture, including the agricultural engineering and forestry, have a better knowledge and understanding of the basic principles of chemistry than students from other curricula. These three groups and the straight B.S. students are significantly (0.01 level of confidence) better in chemistry than all the other degree groups. The second major cluster is composed of B.B.A., fine arts, straight A.B., journalism, and home economics majors. The means of the last four degree groups are separated by only four-tenths of a standard score point but only the B.B.A. and the straight A.B. students are significantly better than the last cluster. Education majors, who compose the second largest degree group, are the most poorly prepared in chemistry. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY
The college "course for credit" is believed by some educators to have been designed by university administrators as a bookkeeping expedient and actually to have little relation to specific knowledge and understanding of the subject. There is some evidence2 that taking biology, chemistry, and physics courses beyond a rerSCXULTZ, D. G., "The relationship between scores on the science test of the Medical College Admission Test and amount of training in biology, chemistry, and physics," Educational and Psgchological Measu~ernent,1 1 , 138-50 (Spring, 1951).
tain minimum has little or no effect on such examinations as the science test of the Medical College Admission Test, but there is almost a complete lack of direct data concerning those students who have had no chemistry or those who are required to take only one, two, or three courses. A question also arises as to the performance of these students on the G. R. E., which does not purport to cover specific "courses" but tests the student "on the content of his mind, on what he has learned and retained because he has learned it well."3 Is there a relationship between G. R. E. chemistry scores and the number of required undergraduate courses in chemistry? The results presented in the previous section would seem to indicate that such is the case. That is, mean chemistry achievement, with one exception, decreases significantly for the various degree groups as the number of required chemistry courses decreases. The exception is home economics. Although ten quarter hours of chemistry are required for this degree, home economics majors scored only slightly better in chemistry than the education majors, of whom no course in chemistry is required. Other evidence available, but not presented here, would seem to indicate that this effect is not the result of sampling errors or artifacts. On the basis of the facts presented above i t would also seem reasonable to assume that the chemistrv Dro-
840
RO 700
650 600 5M)
500 450
400 JSO
300 250 BS AG ENNG. N=I5
BS FOR. NiPS
BS AGRIC. N.220
BS
BBA
AB J R
NzZ8B
N.78
N.37
BFA
dB
BS
HYE N.45
N.387
N.93
EC
AB 8 BS EDUC. N=X6
Diatribvtion of G. R. E. Chemistry Plofil. &ore= of University of Geoxgis Graduate Stvdenta with Various Bascdaurwte Decrcx
950
file test of the G. R. E. measures the content of the basic chemistry courses required of University of Georgia undergraduates. Since course content frequently varies from university to university and sometimes even
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION from quarter to quarter within the same university, the findings should not necessarily be expected to hold for other subject matter tests, for other groups, or for any individual student.
