Re: [Phys-l] The percentage of Americans who....

[Bill Nettles <bnettles@uu.edu>]

I disagree that what we see is the result of attacks on education by ANY political party or ideology. I do think that the political systems have failed in their attempts to solve the problems.  The problems we are seeing now are nothing new. They were bemoaned 55 years ago by Dr. Bowen Dees and others. Dees presented a paper at the Chesapeake Section of AAPT in 1955 and published an AJP article in November.  The text is not-so-eerily familiar. It seems, maybe, that the problems have shifted from high school to college, and grad school is now functioning like college did, but the overall attitude of the populace toward learning science in a formal educational situation has not changed.

Look this up for some interesting reading. I really like the requote from Dael Wolfe of page 622. Sounds like a recipe for studio/JIT/SCALE-UP physics.

http://ajp.aapt.org/resource/1/ajpias/v24/i9/p616_s1

Enjoy.


-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Spinozalens@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:20 AM
To: phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] The percentage of Americans who....

In a message dated 11/10/2010 10:25:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
marx@phy.ilstu.edu writes:

What is  the source for these?  How long ago were these surveys  done?
 
I regret I don't have a source for these they were sent to me by a  
colleague. I am not sure of the time frame either. So this may not be accurate.  
But I think the state of education in America is clearly in a dismal state.  
Education, especially in the public schools,  has been under attack since  
the onset of the Bi Partisan Neo liberal agenda in government. I think  things 
are better at the college level, though I am guessing physics professors  
might have something to say about the level of knowledge of the students  
coming from high school. Here is Florida where I live, the drop out rate is  
staggering and ignorance is rampant. We can't continue like this without  
disaster being imminent. I think  Democracy and Science have no future in  
America unless we change course. This seems like a problem educators should be  
concerned about. 
 
Bob Zannelli 



> The percentage of Americans who....
>
>  4%: 17-year olds who can  comprehend a bus schedule
> 12%: Adults  who said that Noah's wife was "Joan of  Arc"
> 12%: 17-year olds  who can arrange six common fractions in order of  size
> 15%:  Adults unable to locate US on a world map
> 20%: Sixth-graders   unable to locate US on a world map
> 21%: Adults who think the sun  revolves  around the earth
> 26%: Teenagers unable to identify  current  vice-president
> 27%: Adults who say there should be a law  against interracial  marriage
> 30%: Adults who believe they've  made contact with the dead
> 40%:  HS seniors who identify Israel  as an Arab nation
> 40%: Adults between 18 - 29  who don't know  what nation George Washington
> &
> his
> army  were  fighting
> 40%: Adults who say that some numbers are  especially lucky for some
> people
> 40%: Adults who don't know  Germany was a US enemy in WWII
> 42%:  Adults unable to locate  Japan on a world map
> 42%: Adults who can’t name an  Asian  country “near the Pacific
> Ocean”
> 49%: 17-year-olds who  cannot place the  Civil War in the correct
> half-century
>  50%: Adults who believe that the  accused are guilty until proven  
innocent
> 50%: Adults who believe in UFOs  & space aliens on  earth
> 50%: 17-year olds unable to express the fraction  9/100 as  a percentage
> 50%: HS students unaware of what the Cold War   was
> 53%: Adults who don't know it takes a year for the earth to  revolve
> around
> the
> sun
> 56%: Adults who do not  believe Darwin's Theory of  Evolution
> 56%: Adults who think an  electron is larger than an atom
> 58%:  13-year-olds who think it  is illegal to start a third party
> 59%: Teenagers  who cannot name  the 3 branches of US government
> 59%: Teenagers who can name  the  Three Stooges
> 60%: Adults who have never read a book in their  entire  adult life
> 60%: HS students who don't know how the US  came into  existence
> 63%: Adults who believe earliest humans  co-existed with  dinosaurs
> 66%: Adults who don’t know how long  a meter is
> 70%: Adults who  believe in angels
> 77%: Adults  who believe heaven exists
> 80%: Adults who  fail a test of 7th  grade English
> 84%: "College" seniors who don't know who  was US  president at start of
> the
> Korean War
> 87%: Adults who  (in 1984)  didn't know which side the U.S. supported in
>  Nicaragua
> 91%: Adults who  cannot explain what a molecule  is
> 98%: Teenagers who cannot name US Supreme  Court Chief  Justice
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics  Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
>  https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l


_______________________________________________
Forum  for Physics  Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l

 
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l