News Home

Science literacy at risk of extinction

AM Simon Santow
Nearly a third of people surveyed believed humans walked the Earth with dinosaurs.


Chuang Zhao and Lida Xing:

Did humans live at the same time as dinosaurs?

The answer is of course no, but about a third of Australians got it wrong in a recent survey.

The survey results are being used to highlight what is being described as a disturbing ignorance about science.

Dr Cathy Foley, president of the Australian Scientific and Technological Societies, says Australians have a long way to go before having good scientific literacy.

"We asked six basic questions in a survey of 1,500 people and only 3 per cent or 4 per cent of them got them all correct," she said.

"Unfortunately 30 per cent of Australians think reptiles or dinosaurs and humans were alive at the same time, for example, which is probably something I guess worries us.

"Also basic things like how much of the Earth is covered by water, how much of the water we have is fresh.

"These are things we should probably know just as general knowledge as something which a significant, about 30 per cent of the population, aren't able to answer correctly."

Dr Foley says science literacy should be about people being able to use science in a number of ways.

"One is to make good decisions when they are going to the polls... and be able to understand the issues which are also scientifically based - energy, food security, climate change, nanotechnology," she said.

"Another is our whole ability to understand and embrace how wonderful our world is dependent on some level of appreciation of science, while a third thing is just the way of the culture we think has come from a scientific basis.

"For example, Copernicus finally figured out the Earth goes around the Sun and it really changed the way we thought about ourselves and it has gone on and on in that way ever since."

Dr Foley says Australia finds itself in a grey situation where the number of science and mathematics teachers is declining.

"The reason being that something of between 30 and 50 per cent of science and mathematics teachers are baby boomers who are going to be retiring in the next five to 10 years," she said.

"This means have we got the teachers coming through and being able to teach in a way which allows students to embrace science and take it with them, rather than being seen as something that is either too hard or something that isn't relevant to them?

"I think we are in need of investing as much as we can into making sure we have strong teachers, who everyone has to agree are probably one of the most fundamental groups of people in society that make us what we are."

More Stories