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Dear Science Communication Professionals: We have a problem.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) delivered news of a pretty shocking poll result: around one in four Americans (yes, that's 25 percent) are unaware that the Earth orbits the sun. Let’s repeat that: One in four Americans — that represents one quarter of the population — when asked probably the most basic question in science (except, perhaps, “Is the Earth flat?” Hint: No.), got the answer incorrect. Suddenly I realized why the Nye vs. Ham debate was so popular.
The US educational system is not designed to create a enlightened, knowledgeable and well informed people but a compliant subservient to authority workforce.
When education is viewed solely as preparation for joining the workforce in some capacity, it will never produce well-educated people. While education is a means to that end, education itself has numerous other values to both the person and society. But those things are often lost in the drive to produce "metrics". Not saying students shouldn't be tested on their progress. Just that there seems to be so little time to lead students to an understanding of the value of knowing things beside the next test & forgetting it. That can only be achieved when the goal of education is something more than "preparing you for the workforce".
On the other hand I don't have answers to achieving that. Societal attitudes toward education and educators have created an adversarial attitude that can't help but influence how even students themselves view learning.
There's a movie called Idocracy. I firmly believe this is how we will end up. I've talked to people who don't know we've been to the Moon, so nothing would surprise me.
Great movie, and I loved Terry Crews as the President in it, lol!
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Originally Posted by NJBest
To be fair, it was community college. That's a representation of the lowest quality college students... not the entire population of college students.
Oh BS! With the rising costs of Uni's, the fiscally sound choice for new college freshman would be to obtain their core credits at a community college and graduate from there with an associate's degree; then go from there to a University to finish your degree(s).
I have literally seen "card carrying" Mensa members going to CC, while I have seen "40lb water heads" with full sports scholarships at top Uni's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josseppie
I am not sure its 1 in 4 but I read 74% although that is still bad.
Isn't 74% basically 1 in 4 anyway?
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Originally Posted by blueherons
I guess those Jimmy Dean Sausage Breakfast commercials aren't doing the job of educating the masses.
ROFL, best post on the thread, had to rep you for that one!
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Originally Posted by GrandviewGloria
Yet I bet ALL of them, on a multiple choice quiz, when asked, "Who was the most important person who ever lived.", would check the correct box - beside 'The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior'.
While he was a great man, I can't say he was THE most important person who ever lived. That's such a subjective question anyway.
When education is viewed solely as preparation for joining the workforce in some capacity, it will never produce well-educated people. While education is a means to that end, education itself has numerous other values to both the person and society. But those things are often lost in the drive to produce "metrics". Not saying students shouldn't be tested on their progress. Just that there seems to be so little time to lead students to an understanding of the value of knowing things beside the next test & forgetting it. That can only be achieved when the goal of education is something more than "preparing you for the workforce".
On the other hand I don't have answers to achieving that. Societal attitudes toward education and educators have created an adversarial attitude that can't help but influence how even students themselves view learning.
I would change the way US educational system typical school day of classes is structured. The current educational system was structured back when the US industrial system was transforming itself towards Henry Ford's principle of the mass production assembly line as a way of increasing efficiency and production. It is of no coincidence that schools share many of the same characteristics of an assembly line, obsession with time, efficiency and numbers (production estimates and figures). Schools are structured to put out as many product (students) quickly and efficiently as possible. As long that they are certified taught is all that matters whether or not they actually learnt anything. Administrators that accomplish that gets lavishly praised by society with a highly regarded reputation as a excellent administrator accompanied with the financial reward of moving up the education industry totem pole. Then we wonder why kids are not motivated and bored by school. Try being on an assembly line for 8 hours , if you were you couldn't wait for the clock to hit the time where you could punch off the time clock and go home. Change the structure and environment where as each student can study a subject at his own pace with no time restraints as for the student to master and learn the subject as opposed to now when a student might start to get a grasp on a subject the bell goes off signalling time to go to another class where he has to focus on something completely different. Repeat that 6 more times during the day and we see why kids have trouble retaining information and have trouble focusing on one thing. It may seem counter intuitive to not focus on time restraints but by lifting pressure off of students as so that they can relax and learn they probably will learn more in the same time span compared to the mass production assembly line system adopted by the US educational system .
So the question: "Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth?”
...is most likely answered incorrectly as a result of reading comprehension problems.
Especially since neither is strictly true and the answer is that there is a barycentric rotation involving all masses in the system. Ask the test creators what barycentric is and watch them Google it.
"The universe began with a huge explosion" True or False.
It's FALSE, there was no "explosion", it is called inflation.
Actually, it would be false (according to current terms) because you cannot BEGIN with an explosion or inflation. Both those occur over time (no matter how short the interval). The universe BEGAN with nothing.
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