I can safely say I should be inelligible to graduate this spring.
This realization came to me this week in geology lecture when the instructor asked students in the class what exactly alpha radiation is. Because no one else seemed willing to answer such a no-brainer question, I raised my hand and said "a proton." But this piece would lack interest if "a proton" was the correct answer.
Alpha radiation is actually a charged helium nucleus: two protons and two neutrons in a cluster. As a way to become more stable, radioactive materials spontaneously shoot off these particles and change into different elements. Presto - alpha radiation.
These tiny particles help date rocks millions or billions of years old. They're also used in smoke detectors to "see" smoke particles, warn you about them and save your sorry behind. They're also crucial in investigating the atomic world and figuring just what is going on in our universe.
As a senior, my ignorance begs the question: Are Ohio students competent in their knowledge about fundamental science?
The National Science Foundation mostly takes on this responsibility and investigated fourth, eighth and 12th-grade student performance in science and mathematics from 1996 to 2000. According to the results, fourth-grade performance remained steady while eigth graders showed minor improvement. 12th-grade performance, however, dropped significantly.
But no year-to-year study exists describing public schools' performances in scientific areas such as physics, biology, and chemistry.
The most consistent study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, ranks nations by average science scores. As of 2003, the United States ranked 12th in the world for student science performance with a score of 518. The United States, just 23 points above the international average, is shadowed by Singapore's performance score of 594.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as reported in a previous commentary, basic science course completion plummeted from 24 percent in 1982 to only 8.7 percent in 2000. Only 38 percent of Ohio's mid-level science teachers are certified, compared with the national average of 54 percent.
Still, while concerned parents, teachers and scientists cry for help, we do not know how students are performing in specific areas of science on a state or national level. Where one area improves in educating Ohio's students another might fail miserably. Yet most of the population would never know - the analyses simply do not exist.
In my basic geology course, responses to fundamental science questions frighten me.
In response to a question about a hydrogen atom, only 84 percent of the class answered correctly - that it is one proton and one electron. Twenty-three percent thought the sun is the brightest object in the universe. Only 64 percent understood a whale is a mammal.
It is embarassing, but I am also included in the "doofus" category, and because I might have graduated without being sure about alpha radiation, perhaps science education in Ohio needs a little more TLC.
Dave Mosher is a failure of a senior in biology and journalism. He can be reached for comment at mosher.46@osu.edu.
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