Science Literacy in America
There is an interesting op-ed piece in The Triple Helix by Stephen Berger, about the level of scientific literacy in the general American public.
A compilation of data on science literacy and education published recently by the federally-funded National Science Foundation (NSF) suggests that Americans are likely to have serious misconceptions about the scientific process, incorrect knowledge of scientific facts, and strong beliefs in pseudoscientific theories [2]. For instance, only 45% of Americans surveyed knew that electrons are smaller than atoms, and only 23% were able satisfactorily to explain what it means to engage in scientific study. About one fourth of those surveyed professed to believe in astrology, and about one third of Americans believe astrology to be “sort of scientific.”Come on! astrology isn't just sort of scientific.. its totally scientific! there are dates and stars and stuff, and some math. Ohh yeah, there's also a number of recommendation for improving science education.
4 Comments:
I SO wish this was surprising. I had to have a 20 minute conversation with the lady across the street about how her daughter is going to grad school to study (no joke) PARAPSYCHOLOGY. And "isn't that similar to what you study?"
AAAAAAHHH!!!
Mon Jun 19, 11:55:57 PM CDT
you mean someone is really going to study parapsychology? is she interested in ghosts or esp? haha
Tue Jun 20, 08:25:41 AM CDT
where is she studying?
Tue Jun 20, 08:26:05 AM CDT
it's esp. You know, the "more plausible" of the two. Probably at Hobo State or something. Go HSU Spectres!
Fun fact: UC Berkeley awarded the first (and last) american PhD in Parapsychology to Dr. Jeff Mishlove in 1980. Not surprisingly, the number of parapsychologists in the UK is greater than 1. That's probably because there are more ghosts in the UK.
Tue Jun 20, 11:51:08 AM CDT
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home