However important improved public understanding of science might be, it is only part of the picture of how society reacts to new developments in science and technology, especially when controversy breaks out. Extensive research supports strong roles for values, beliefs and trust, arguably stronger factors in many cases than the role of science literacy by itself.

1. Civic Scientific Literacy: A survival tool for the 21 st century Jon D. Miller Director and Professor International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy Institute for Social Research University of Michigan [email_address]

9. Percent Correct on CSL Questions, US, 1988-2008 Percent Correct 1988 1999 2008 Indicate that light travels faster than sound. 78% 75% 86% Agree: “All plants and animals have DNA.” -- -- 85 Agree: “The center of the Earth is very hot.” 82 81 80 Agree: “The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future.” 81 80 72 Understanding of the meaning of the probability of one in four. 56 55 72 Indicate that the Earth goes around the Sun once each year 50 49 67 Provide a correct open-ended definition of an “experiment.” -- 35 61 Agree that astrology is not at all scientific. 62 59 59 Disagree: “Antibiotics kills viruses as well as bacteria” 31 45 55 Agree: “Electrons are smaller than atoms.” 46 46 54

10. Percent Correct on CSL Questions, US, 1988-2008 Percent Correct 1988 1999 2008 Disagree: “Ordinary tomatoes … do not have genes but genetically modified tomatoes do.” -- -- 51 Disagree: “Lasers work by focusing sound waves.” 40 43 48 Disagree: "The earliest humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs" 40 51 47 Provide a correct open-ended definition of “DNA.” 27 29 44 Agree: “Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals.” 47 45 37 Provide a correct open-ended definition of “what it means to study something scientifically.” 22 22 34 Agree: “The universe began with a huge explosion.” 34 33 30 Agree: “ More than half of human genes are identical to those of mice.” -- -- 27 Provide a correct open-ended definition of a “molecule.” -- 13 25 Provide a correct open-ended definition of a “stem cell.” -- -- 20 Number of cases 1,600 1,883 1,147

12. Civic Scientific Literacy in the United States, 1988-2008

15. Civic Scientific Literacy in 34 Countries, 2005.

17. A Path Model to Predict CSL for U.S. Adults, 2007.

18. Total Effect of Variables on CSL for U.S. Adults, 2007. Total Effect Respondent age -.22 Gender (F) -.18 Educational attainment .69 College science courses .74 Children at home .03 Religious fundamentalism -.20 Interest in science, technology, medical, or environmental issues .05 Television use -.10 Print use .15 Internet and electronic media use .22 R 2 = .75

19. A Model to Predict CSL in Young Adults, 2008.

20. Total Effect of Each Variable on Young Adult CSL, 2008. Total Effect Parent Education .33 Gender (F) -.23 Educational attainment .55 College science courses .66 Minor children at home -.09 Religious fundamentalism -.34 Interest in science, technology, medical, or environmental issues .03 Informal science learning .14 R 2 = .64 Chi-squares = 176.3; degrees of freedom = 14; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .032; Upper confidence limit (90%) of RMSEA = .043; N =2,086.

22. The material in this presentation comes from several recent publications. Requests for reprints should be sent to: jondmiller@umich.edu