Astronomy and Science Literacy

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REC 9814844Christopher Impey, University of ArizonaThe investigator proposes two small inter-related tasks. Over the past ten years, he has collected 3600 questionnaires from non-science majors probing for science literacy and attitudes toward the science. The study seeks to analyze fully the ten years of data using Statistic for non-parametric tests, multiple regression and analysis of variance. Initial analysis indicates that science literacy is low and that formal classes and learning do little to alleviate naive conceptions. It is hoped that the non-science student population at the University of Arizona will facilitate generalizeabiliy to a broader national college population. One area that may be a mediating factor in students misunderstanding of astronomy is the inability of textbooks to present diagrams and pictures in scaled, three-dimensional format. This proposal will continue the development of a web based, multimedia teaching tool. The project will focus on how students use and learn from this site.