Serendipity35

87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept. That's a lot, but I'm not very surprised.

I am surprised that 40 million adults (that's 20%) use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science. Television is the top source with 41%. Magazines and newspapers are well behind at 14%.

I find myself reading a lot of the reports from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Great source of information and inspiration.

This time it's the "Internet as a Resource for News and Information About Science". You can read/download the report and even look at the questionnaire they used. (You might conduct a survey with your students or have your students conduct a survey before you share the Pew results with them.) In case you don't read the report (42 pages), here are some interesting points.

• Those who seek out science news or information on the Internet are more likely than others to believe that scientific pursuits have a positive impact on society.
• 67% of those receiving questions about stem cell research said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 11% said the library.
• 62% of those who get science information online use other online information to check the reliability of scientific information.
• 70% have used the Internet to look up the meaning of scientific terms.
• 68% have gone online to look up an answer to a question.
• 65% have used the Internet to learn more about a science story
• 52% have used the Internet to check the accuracy of a scientific fact
• 37% have used the Internet to compare different or opposing scientific theories.

They are talking about "average Americans" in this report. Not necessarily your students. But are your students so different?

I have questions.

1. What is happening to the practice of getting science information from newspapers, magazines, journals and books?
2. Are schools the only opportunity for Americans to get science information that's not from the internet or television?
3. If #2 is true, what about the increase in schools of science information from the internet and television/video?
4. Are schools teaching that those are the two most reliable sources of information?
5. How would this differ for a student in 6th grade as compared to a high school senior or a college junior?

It's not all gloom & doom for traditional learning. For example, fully 79% of those who have gone to a website that specializes in science content have gone to a science museum in the past year. Only 59% of the general population have made such visits. The study isn't so much about judging these results, as it is about reporting them. We get the harder job(s).