Statistical aberration `led to erroneous conclusions'

First-years who find themselves on the diploma in food science course in Letterkenny IT will actually find that they are in a common first year with other science students in the college.

Although it is an ab initio diploma, food science students at Letterkenny IT share a common first year with applied biology, aquatic science and chemistry students. This means students are free to move into the other options after first year, although they were initially granted a place on the food science course. "In effect there is a kind of a free choice up to the end of first year," Pat Dempsey, senior lecturer, food microbiology in Letterkenny IT, explains.

The other options are all two-year certificate courses, feeding into a diploma and a degree.

Overall, Dempsey says, there would be an intake of 60 students into the common first year, with females outnumbering males. Due to dropouts and failures, that drops back to about 40, roughly a quarter of whom would go into the food science option in second year.

There are not many dropouts or failures after first year, he says. "Once they get into second year they are stable and they are usually motivated at that stage. They have found their career choice. They are happy with it and they work well. First year can be a bit of a weeding out process."

Reports that the food science course has a very high dropout rate - more than 80 per cent - are due to a statistical aberration, according to Dempsey. He says that because of the common first year, the statistics could be distorted. Statistics, he explains, would show food science students who decide to transfer into one of the other science options, after the common first year, as dropout. What the statistics don't show, he says, is movement of students from one of the other options into food science. "The ones that switch back won't appear in the statistics because they didn't start labelled, food science. It's a statistical anomaly, really."

Students don't have to have always been interested in science to do the course. Whereas in the past people would have ended up in a factory, processing in a lab with test tubes, Dempsey says that with the computer age, graduates can just as easily end up in front of a computer or in marketing.

Essentially the career outlets from a diploma in food science would be production supervisor, production manager in the area of quality assurance, as a lab manager or lab supervisor, and in the area of new product development.

The college has "lab-scale" equipment, which would be suitable for making a litre or two of a product, but needs "pilot-scale" equipment, which would give students the chance to experience something close to a commercial operation.

Basic entry requirements are Leaving Cert with maths and a science subject. Points have averaged about 250. Either or both Leaving Cert biology and chemistry can be advantageous to students entering the course, because among the main subjects are food microbiology, food chemistry and nutrition. A further main course subject is food technology. Students also do project work, information technology, food production and management and the breakdown of classes is 2:1 lab work to theory.

In 1999 an add-on degree was introduced to the diploma in food science, which takes Letterkenny IT students as well as students from other colleges. Students have to get a merit (55 per cent) or better to get a place on the degree course.

Although there are 12 students in fourth year this year and 14 graduates this year from the degree, there are places for up to 20 students on a course. Students will find that in the degree year there is less emphasis on practical work.

The college is also pushing to generate a postgraduate research programme from the degree, which would be for students who have finished the degree and want to go into a master's research programme. "That would help to develop the degree further," he says. Funding is an issue, before this can take place.

Such a course might even attract other food science graduates to the State's most northern-flung IT. Getting students to actually make the trek to Letterkenny is an issue.

"We feel we are at a geographical disadvantage in attracting students from further south, so that is one of the aspects we are addressing to broaden the geographic spread of the students coming in."

We feel we are at a geographical disadvantage in attracting students from further south