editorially /peaking Declining Science Literacy We're in trouble. We-society, science, teachers-are about to reap a meager harvest in the coming years. The need for scientifically literate citizens and technically trained people is a t an all-time high and it is predicted to continue at this level in the fnreseeahle future. An unlikely confluence of events
".
number of persons achieving intermediate and advanced science degrees entered the teaching profession. Such persons, although they may have had lower salary expectations, sought intangible, but personally important, rewards in other areas. The system seemed to he workahle, even though some details appeared to be in precarious balance. In recent years important factors seem to have shifted a t all levels so that the number of well-trained science teachers is insufficient to meet the need, and the pool of students who have the prerequisite skill to embark on science-oriented careers has decreased. For example, the increased industrial salary scales brought about by an acute shortage of engineers has drastically reduced the number of Dersons willine to undertake advanced studies. Thus, although the numher of masters and professional engineering degrees rose by 11%in the last decade, the numher of doctorates decreased by about 24% in the same neriod. During this same ~ e r i o dundergraduate , enrollments in engineering increased by about 47%. The demand for qualified engineers hy industry has seriously affected the teaching function in many institutions. The disparity between academic and industrial salaries has increased-in some instances industrial salaries are half again as much as typical teachers' salaries-to the point where the "advantages" of academic employment can no longer offset the realities of economic factors in the minds of many young people. Noncomnetitive salaries are not the onlv. ~. r o b l e mcontrihuting to a shortage of faculty a t the college or university level. The attraction of working with graduate students and conducting research in an atmosphere of relative freedom has been blunted hv the instability of research funding and has resulted in unusually L a v i e a c h i n g loads in many schools which makes academic jobs even less attractive. Factors affecting the size of the pool of students who are qualified to embark on science-oriented careers have been slowlv develowine: the result is clearlv" anwarent now. Since .. ahout 1970 there Kas been a trend toward reducing high school eraduation reauirements in science and mathematics. Todav. only about &:-third of the high school districts in this count& reanire their graduates to take more than one ?ear of science or mathematics. During the same period the amount of science and mathematics required for admission to collepes and universities has been reduced. Various arguments can he mounted as to which of these trends is the prime effect, but
the two effects now seem to be feeding on each other. Superficially, the current focus on "basics" seems a positive move, hut unfortunately science generally is not considered as one of the "hasic skills." Thus, in a perverse way, the importance of science in schools which stress basic skills is diminished. Some observers note that the basic skills stressed in mathematics are often only simple computational skills; quantitative-thinking skills are rarely developed. A report ("Science. and Engineering Education for the 1980's and Beyond") prepared hy the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education suggests that the most likely cause for the decline in adequate science and mathematics preparation in high schools is a shortage of well-trained teachers brought about hy the growing disparity between salaries inside and outside of education. The theme is familiar because it reflects the problems already faced by the engineering profession a t the college/university level. In many schools, science and mathematics teaching positions are heing filled with undertrained persons, who prohably communicate their uneasiness with these subjects to their students. Such teachers cannot he expected to challenge their students, to communicate an enthusiasm for the subject, to inspire creative thinking, or to mount effective arguments to upgrade lahoratory facilities, and they need continuing education opportunities for faculty develonment. The suDD0rt svstems whlch were once available throug'h federal andstate finding have been curtailed. The effect of these develo~mentsin secondary schools will ultimately he felt a t the collegiate level; indeedisome have already sensed the initial effects. Even more disturbing is the fact that many students take no mathematics and science after their 10th year in school and thus effectively eliminate the possibility of a career in science or engineering by the age of 16. Such trends will inevitably increase the proportion of the population which is scientifically illiterate. The level of scientific literacy in the general must remain hieh .nouulation . " because citizens influence the regulatory and policy decisions which set directions for scientific inauirv and technological develowment in this country. Citizens readthe benefit ofscience andtechnology; therefoie the? need some knowledge . in these areas to make informal decisions. Numerous suggestions have heen offered which incorporate rational ways to attack the problems described here. Unfortunately, the crisis we face is not obvious to the general public and therefore it will not stimulate the citizenrv to action. On -~ the contrary, there are too many examples of American achievements-Nobel prizes, colored pictures from Saturn, etc.-for the informed public to take discussions such as this seriously. They fail to recognize that the persons responsible for such achievements are educational products of an earlier era. Traeicallv, the aeneral public and many. ~ l e are . e .o ~who in a posi'tion to he able to reipond do not seem to realize that JJL we are consuming our seed corn. ~~
~~
~
~
Volume 58, Number 1, January 1981 / 1
