Characterizing the Undergraduate Neuroscience Major in the U.S.: An Examination of Course Requirements and Institution-Program Associations.
Characterizing the Undergraduate Neuroscience Major in the U.S.: An Examination of Course Requirements and Institution-Program Associations.
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美国本科神经科学专业的特征：课程要求和机构项目关联的检查。
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发表时间：
2017
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Bradley S. Carter
中科院分区：
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作者：
Kira M Pinard;Anna C S Garrison;R. Ramos;Bradley S. Carter
神经科学是一个迅速发展的领域，全国各地的许多学院和大学正在实施新的神经科学学位课程。尽管该领域的增长和普及，目前的本科神经科学课程的结构特征的数据很少。我们收集并检查了现有本科神经科学课程的全面数据，包括学术专业要求和机构特征，如规模，财务资源和研究机会。从美国118所提供“神经科学”或“神经科学”专业的学院和大学中收集了31个变量，包括课程要求、部门特征、财政资源和机构特征等信息。“数据是从公开来源（在线数据库，机构的神经科学项目网站）收集的，然后进行分析，以确定平均课程，并确定机构和项目特征之间的关联。我们的研究结果表明，平均本科神经科学专业需要3个化学，3个生物，3个实验室，2-3个神经科学，1个物理，1个数学和2个心理学课程，这表明大多数神经科学课程强调自然科学而不是社会科学。此外，虽然我们数据库中98%的机构提供研究机会，但只有31%的机构需要专业来进行研究。值得注意的是，提供神经科学专业的机构中有70%没有神经科学系，这表明大多数机构提供神经科学作为跨学科的专业跨越几个部门。最后，规模较小的文理学院占提供神经科学专业的机构的大多数。总的来说，这些发现可能有助于告知对本科神经科学培训感兴趣的群体，包括希望改善或建立项目的机构，希望主修神经科学的学生和雇用神经科学毕业生的雇主。
Neuroscience is a rapidly expanding field, and many colleges and universities throughout the country are implementing new neuroscience degree programs. Despite the field's growth and popularity, little data exists on the structural character of current undergraduate neuroscience programs. We collected and examined comprehensive data on existing undergraduate neuroscience programs, including academic major requirements and institution characteristics such as size, financial resources, and research opportunities. Thirty-one variables covering information about course requirements, department characteristics, financial resources, and institution characteristics were collected from 118 colleges and universities in the United States that offer a major titled "neuroscience" or "neural sciences." Data was collected from publicly available sources (online databases, institutions' neuroscience program websites) and then analyzed to define the average curriculum and identify associations between institution and program characteristics. Our results suggest that the average undergraduate neuroscience major requires 3 chemistry, 3 biology, 3 laboratory, 2-3 neuroscience, 1 physics, 1 math, and 2 psychology courses, suggesting that most neuroscience programs emphasize the natural sciences over the social sciences. Additionally, while 98% of institutions in our database offer research opportunities, only 31% required majors to perform research. Of note, 70% of institutions offering a neuroscience major do not have a neuroscience department, suggesting that most institutions offer neuroscience as an interdisciplinary major spanning several departments. Finally, smaller liberal arts colleges account for the majority of institutions offering a neuroscience major. Overall, these findings may be useful for informing groups interested in undergraduate neuroscience training, including institutions looking to improve or establish programs, students wanting to major in neuroscience and employers hiring neuroscience graduates.