We seem to have a serious Natural Resource shortage:
-- At a recent Harvard University commencement, an informal poll revealed that fewer than ten percent of graduating seniors could explain why it’s hotter in summer than in winter.
-- A survey taken at our own university (George Mason Univ) [...] shows results that are scarcely more encouraging. Fully half of the seniors who filled out a scientific literacy survey could not correctly identify the difference between an atom and a molecule.
I suspect that these results are the rule, not the exception. Most colleges and universities have the same dirty little secret: we are all turning out scientifically illiterate students who are incapable of understanding many of the important newspaper items published on the very day of their graduation.
And the scarce resource is:
Scientific Literacy is rooted in the most general scientific principles and broad knowledge of science; the scientifically literate citizen possesses facts and vocabulary sufficient to comprehend the context of the daily news.
Daily News? -- it may be time for a new definition.
Those amazing poll results, are from this interesting article, which makes the case for ...
Why Should You Be Scientifically Literate?
Robert M. Hazen, An ActionBioscience.org original article
We live in an age of constant scientific discovery — a world shaped by revolutionary new technologies. Just look at your favorite newspaper. The chances are pretty good that in the next few days you’ll see a headline about global warming, cloning, fossils in meteorites, or genetically engineered food.
[...]
As a consumer, as a business professional, and as a citizen, you will have to form opinions about these and other science-based issues if you are to participate fully in modern society.
More and more, scientific and technological issues dominate national discourse, from environmental debates on ozone depletion and acid rain, to economic threats from climate change and invasive species. Understanding these debates has become as basic as reading. All citizens need to be scientifically literate to:
-- appreciate the world around them
-- make informed personal choices
Those are some very good reasons -- unless "appreciating the world" is not high on you priority list. And being informed -- What!? Me Worry?
It's not that, this battle for the Hearts Wallets & Minds of 21st Century Citizens, is NOT without Consequences ...
Climate Skepticism Redux
Mark Hertsgaard: The Campaign to Deny the Science Behind Man-Made Climate Change Has Resurged Recently
CBSNews -- April 19, 2010
Meanwhile, surveys by Gallup and other leading pollsters are being spun as evidence that the deniers are gaining ground among the public, which is supposedly divided over whether to take action against rising temperatures and the droughts, storms and sea-level rise they trigger.
A closer look, however, suggests that public opinion has changed very little. What has changed is the message coming from the media, key parts of which have reverted to their longstanding posture of scientific illiteracy and de facto complicity with the deniers' disinformation campaign.
[...]
Krosnick, whose academic specialty is the wording of survey questions, suspects his colleagues at Gallup and elsewhere have gotten misleading results because of the way they worded their questions: their phrasing ended up testing whether Americans believed in the science of climate change rather than the phenomenon of climate change.
"Most people's opinions are based not on science but on what they experience in their daily lives," Krosnick told me. "So our surveys ask people if they have heard about the idea that temperatures have been going up over the past 100 years and if they agree with this idea."
The 75 percent of Americans who answered yes to that question amounts to "a huge number," says Krosnick--a far higher level of agreement than pertains on most political issues. Where climate change deniers have had an effect, he adds, is in reducing, to 31 percent, the number of Americans who think all scientists agree about climate change.
"But most Americans have thought that (scientists don't all agree on climate change) for the entire fifteen years I've been polling on this issue," adds Krosnick -- further tribute, it seems, to the media's longstanding habit of giving a handful of deniers prominence equal to the vast majority of scientists who affirm climate change.
So what you (and your neighbors) think about Science and Scientists matter. Apparently (the common wisdom goes) if they (the experts) can't make up their minds, that must mean there is NO Problem! Right?
Not necessarily. Sometimes Most times Scientific Findings DO matter. It's just that for the most part, we DON'T understand them.
Science Literacy matters so much so that the Administration is starting to put some serious money into the efforts to try to improve it. Woo Hoo!
US Government Agencies Propose Spending Hundreds of Millions of Dollars on Math and Science Educational Programs
Chris Simkins -- May 10, 2010
According to several educational research studies the United States is falling behind other countries in math and science achievement by middle school and high school students. Now, there's a push by several U.S. federal government agencies -- including the US space agency NASA -- to create programs that will encourage students to study for careers in science and technology.
These students are taking part in experiments designed to test their knowledge and inspire them to concentrate on science, technology, engineering and math.
[...]
In the 2011 U.S. federal budget, both NASA and the EPA propose to spend more than $146-million on programs to increase student and teacher proficiency in science and technology disciplines.
[...]
Efforts to strengthen math and science education come at a time when 15-year-old U.S.students rank 25th in math literacy and 30th in science literacy -- among the 57 countries participating in the Program for International Student Assessment.
[...]
NASA is launching a three-year program called "Summer of Innovation." It will target middle school students during their summer recess to take part in intensive math and science learning programs. Those will include follow-on activities during the school year. Educators say the goal will be to improve student academic performance in math, science and technology courses, while giving them the tools they need to build lasting professional careers in a 21st-century, knowledge-based economy.
Hmmmm? Maybe they could spend a few more Millions, eh? Kind of sounds like a lot is riding on it.
Let there be Science
Bringing knowledge to the masses with Scitable
By William Vitka -- May 7, 2010
Science -- and America's place in the scientific community -- is critical to our future. Sadly, scientific literacy among Americans is severely lacking. People simply don't know as much as they need to for our country to stay competitive. And we're putting ourselves in a terrible position by allowing (sometimes even encouraging) ignorance.
Enter Scitable: a social network whose primary goal is to put all the knowledge of the scientific community in your hands.
[...]
Our mission is threefold.
First, engage today’s science students by immersing them in the truly compelling aspects of science: the discovery process, the hands-on tinkering, the intuitive breakthroughs. Our goal is to reverse the high attrition levels that you see at every level of the science education process, helping to inspire more and more young talent to look to a career in science as a meaningful and rewarding way to contribute to global goals.
Second, provide universal access to high quality science learning materials and experiences, in order to level the playing field and ensure that all students with an aptitude and interest in science have a genuine opportunity to move through the process, regardless of their socio-economic or geographic background.
Third, provide an authoritative source of accessible scientific information to the general population of adults who hear about science in the mass media, helping them to move beyond the headlines and make an informed decision about what they consider valid. The outcome we’d like to see from all of this is a world in which scientific research thrives and powers productive solutions to our most critical challenges.
Scitable, which is non-profit, sits under the umbrella of Nature Publishing Group, which is definitely for-profit.
Sounds like a good program ... could it become, dare I say it, the next "facebook" for Science?
Well maybe more like a user-friendly Science-Wikipedia ???
One can dream.
After all that is where many of those Scientific Hypotheses, start from anyways ... a good idea and a dream -- to better understand "the world".
Assuming of course, the basic Science Literacy is there, in the first place.
And that "the world" is something, we should learn, to take better care of. Afterall, it's the only one we got, at the moment.
And your Mom always said -- "Clean your Room!"