The Current State of Science Education in the USA
by Cat Graves
12:30pm January 18, 2012, Kavli, 3rd Floor Conf. Rm.
Over the past decade, concern about the state of scientific education in the U.S. has grown as more students test poorly compared to their international peers. The 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) which tests math, reading and science literacy of students found that American students are at best in the middle of the international pack, ranking 17 out of 34 developed nations in science literacy. I will briefly discuss the history of science education, what has and has not changed over the years, and focus more on the current state of scientific literacy in the U.S. Finally, I hope to review some current ideas for changing our current levels of scientific (il)literacy, improving science education and getting students interested in science - maybe we'll come up with new ideas as we go!
