American teenagers apparently understand science better than many in the United States think they do, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
A majority of people in the U.S. think that home-grown 15-year-olds rank near the bottom on international science tests, the new Pew research found, when, in fact, the students rank in the middle among developed countries. the Associated Press reports.
Education advocates have long asserted U.S. students need more science education if they are to keep pace with their international peers --- a possible reason for the widely-held perception the country's teens don't stack up to the youth of other nations academically.
About 35 percent of those surveyed by Pew believed U.S.15-year-olds place about in the middle of the international field and 7 percent thought Americans ranked among the top in international tests.
About 44 percent of those interviewed indicated American teen test-takers were ranked at the bottom of other developed nations.
Among the 33 countries measured in the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment, 12 had higher scores and nine had lower scores than the American contingent.
Another 12 countries had scores that weren't that much different than the Americans' scores, suggesting U.S. scores weren't measurably different from the average of all other nations.
Interestingly, even though the prevailing perception found by the Pew poll was that U.S. teens score poorly in science, people didn't think the subject needed more emphasis in schools.
When asked which subjects did deserve greater attention, the study found, Americans were more likely to say math or language skills instead of science.
The survey asked participants an open-ended question about which single subject they thought should get more focus in elementary and secondary schools and about 30 percent of the respondents suggested math and arithmetic while about 19 percent said English, grammar, writing and reading.
Science was the preferred subject to get more attention for just 11 percent of the study participants. Then, of those who picked science, there was a partisan divide: An estimated 17 percent of Democrats wanted more attention on science, while only 7 percent of Republicans said the same.
Republicans, however, favored more math and arithmetic than Democrats, 35 percent to 24 percent respectively.
Americans with college degrees tended to underestimate the students' international rankings more than others did. Those same college graduates were also more likely to correctly answer science and technology questions posed to them.
For instance, 76 percent of college graduates correctly identified carbon dioxide as the gas that most scientists blame for climate change. Just 55 percent of those with some college courses got the answer right, and that number reached 49 percent among adults who did not attend college.
The Pew poll was conducted March 7-10 via landline and cellular telephone interviews with 1,006 adults. The survey was conducted in cooperation with Smithsonian Magazine for an upcoming edition of the publication focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.