Science Literacy Concept Inventory (SLCI) Version 7, Academic Year Term 2020

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Greetings! We invite you to assess your present comprehension of the process through which scientists understand the physical world. Sometimes people refer to this as "understanding science as a way of knowing" or "understanding what science is and how it works." Further, you are going to self-assess how well you believe that you understand this process, and receive feedback, if you choose to, on your self-assessment accuracy.

The primary purpose for using this instrument is to help you to learn about yourself. No one other than your professor and the researchers who calculate the results in order to send you your feedback report is going to see your "score." Getting a high "score" on this inventory is less important than getting a good measure for allowing good feedback. The way for you to get this good measure is to try to do your best in answering each of the questions after reading each one as carefully as you can. Enjoy taking the survey and be as accurate as possible.

Purpose of the Study:
The team of ten researchers from several California State University campuses recognized the lack of an established instrument for measuring whether a college education actually increases the understanding of what science is and how it works. Thus, they developed this Science Literacy Concept Inventory that consists of multiple-choice items as a means to quickly assess the general state of literacy of people from beginning college students through professors. The items in this inventory have undergone testing with over 26,000 participants, including Professors and Graduate Students who, like you, have never seen the inventory.

Then, another team of researchers used the inventory for something special. They provided a measure of participants' skill in metacognitive self-assessment accuracy simultaneously with a measure of science literacy by adding queries on self-assessed competency. The ability to self-assess accurately is an important life skill, and preliminary results of our measuring self-assessment accuracy on over 6000 participants proved so valuable that we are now providing this measure as part of your feedback.

Participation and Procedures:
If you participate, your role in this survey will consist of two activities.
1. Answer twenty-nine short-answer and multiple-choice items. (Takes about 15 to 60 seconds per item)
2. Provide demographic information about yourself needed for validating the items, especially for item-bias across varied gender or ethnic groups. (Takes under two minutes)
The items you will be responding to engage conceptual understanding. The items do not require you to recall factual knowledge or to perform calculations.

Risks and Potential Discomfort:
The only risks are the small inconvenience of time involved in completing the inventory. To do this well should take about 30-45 minutes.

Benefits:
Benefits of participation are an engaging and mildly entertaining experience in considering science literacy challenges from viewpoints often neglected in college courses. Indirect benefits include getting your own personal feedback on your results and knowing that your participation contributed to developing a meaningful measurement instrument. A participant's best learning experience comes from answering each item thoughtfully.

Confidentiality:
Researchers share no personal information about individual participants or their responses with others. Thereafter, the data, with identifying names purged, is used in aggregate by researchers, and no personal information is retained that can be associated with any individual in the research database.

Participation:
Your decision to participate in this study is voluntary. Participation in this research project will in no way affect your future relations with your college or university.

Rights of Participants:
Your decision to participate in this study is voluntary; refusal to participate will involve no penalty of loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You are not waiving any legal rights because of agreeing to participate in this study. If you have any concerns with this study or questions about your rights as a participant, contact the Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects at irb@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-5165.
If you have any questions about the Inventory, contact the Principal Investigator Dr. Edward Nuhfer by email at enuhfer@earthlink.net or by phone at 208-241-5029. Only the investigators are currently qualified to provide information on the Science Literacy Concept Inventory or to employ it in research.

When you have completed the inventory, submit it by hitting the "submit" button at the end of the document. When you do so, you will receive a "Thanks! Your response has been recorded" message. If that does not appear on your screen within a few seconds, it likely results from not completing an inventory item. Because our study addresses both the inventory and the items that compose it, the instrument is programmed not to allow submission with missing answers to items. If your submission fails, scroll through, and you'll see any unanswered items highlighted in color. Answer any missed items and then hit the "submit" button again. You can expect to receive your own results by email within about 24 hours of submission.

The required responses apply only to the items, not to the demographic information. Be sure you have completed all information that you want to provide before hitting "submit." If you forget to add any demographic information, such as your name, hitting the "submit" button will send the information on to the database without any reminders. You won't be able to retrieve the form once it is successfully submitted.

By proceeding further, normally participants verify that they are least 18 years of age and that they agree to participate in this measurement activity. However, those under 18 can participate with parental consent.

Self-Assessment 1, Predicted Performance. Scientists constructed a multiple choice test to measure how well citizens understand the thinking process that scientists employ to understand the physical world. The test is not timed, does not depend upon factual recall of knowledge, and it can be done online in any setting. Any factual information needed or meanings of any technical terms used are provided within the test itself. Write a number that expresses your estimate of your predicted score between 0% and 100% that you believe that you would obtain if you took such a test. *

Note: Please write as "10%," "50%" etc and NOT as "10," "50," or "0.1," "0.5."

1. Which of the following statements presents a hypothesis that science can now easily resolve? *

A. Warts can be cured by holding quartz crystals on them daily for a week.

B. A classmate sitting in the room can see the auras of other students.

C. Radio City Music Hall in New York is haunted by several spirits.

D. People with chronic illnesses have them as punishment for past misdeeds.

2. American climate scientists know that global warming produces a rise in sea level due to the melting of ice in the polar regions. Which of the following actions represents an appropriate ethical response by these scientists? *

A. Pronounce the issue to be minor because Americans will be unaffected due to an abundance of property above sea level.

B. Minimize consequences to other nations because overreaction by the public to reduced energy use could seriously damage the economy.

C. Disclose the potential consequences of a rise in sea level by providing as much accuracy and factual detail as possible.

D. Exaggerate consequences in order to convince the populace of the urgency to curb global warming.

3. For thousands of years, nearly everybody believed that the Sun traveled around the Earth. More recently, people believe that the Earth travels around the Sun. Which of the following reasons best explains the rejection of the longest-accepted idea? *

A. A respected scientist decided to invent a new way of explaining phenomena observed in the sky.

B. Doubt about the old idea must have arisen because it could not explain some observed phenomena in the sky.

C. A scientific organization decided that the previously accepted idea should be replaced because it was too old.

D. The Earth and Sun must have exchanged places, and produced new phenomena that required a new idea to explain.

4. Scientists deduced that color is the eye's interpretation of different wavelengths of visible light. They learned that red light carries less energy and has the longer wavelengths in comparison with violet light that carries more energy and has shorter wavelengths. Later, scientists discover that waveforms exist that have longer wavelengths than red light and shorter wavelengths than blue light, but they are invisible to the human eye. Which of the following statements best describes how the above knowledge might develop into a theory? *

A. At this stage, scientists can state the theory that the observed darkness in outer space results from the absence of waveform energy.

B. At this stage, scientists can state the theory that other organisms' eyes can see the world differently from the way humans can see it.

C. At this stage, study of the invisible spectra might lead to a theory to explain how energy and wavelength are related in all waveform energy.

D. At this stage, scientists would be unable to state any theory until the day arrives when instruments exist that can detect every kind of waveform energy.

5. Many people claim that magnets worn as bracelets have the power to combat aches and pains. Of the following, which constitutes the best method through which to gather the evidence needed to judge whether the claims are valid? *

A. Wear a magnetic bracelet for a year to experience whether it prevents aches and pains, and keep a daily journal of your observations.

B. Carefully watch testimonials in television commercials for the product and look for behaviors that indicate sincerity or deception.

C. Search the Internet with appropriate key words and count users' comments, both favorable and unfavorable.

D. Compile reports from two groups who wear bracelets, only some of which are magnetic, without telling any person which bracelet he/she has.

6. To help us to understand the lunar phases, we have set up a basketball, a baseball, and a golf ball to represent respectively the Sun, Earth and the moon. What method of science are we employing? *

A. Experiment. Moving the balls can allow us to measure the size of the shadow that one ball casts on another ball.

B. Modeling. Moving the balls helps us to perceive the positions of the celestial bodies that might explain the observed phases.

C. Multiple working hypotheses. Moving the balls can allow us to determine whether the lunar phases were different during the ice ages.

D. None. Moving the balls differs from reality to such an extent that it is an ineffective way to understand lunar phases.

7. Which of the recent newspaper article titles likely does NOT require some scientific knowledge to comprehend and appreciate the significance of the article? *

A. "El Nino Warming of Pacific Ocean Changes Weather Patterns for Southern California"

B. "Discovery of Skeletal Remains Indicates Older Human Ancestor."

C. "Ancient Incan Tablet Predicts an Apocalypse in 2012"

D. "Kepler Space Telescope Shows Existence of 45 New Solar Systems"

8. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas found in trace amounts in the atmosphere. Some soils and rocks are rich sources of radon, and houses built on them have greater amounts of radon in their indoor air than does the atmosphere. Scientists suspect that this indoor radon can produce lung cancer. They expose laboratory animals to elevated concentrations of radon, and these animals contract lung cancer at rates higher than animals not exposed to the radon. From these experiments, the scientists predict that about 20,000 people a year in the United States will contract lung cancer from breathing indoor radon. However, field investigations have failed to show that residents in homes with high indoor radon have more lung cancer than those who live in homes with low indoor radon. What hypothesis has been confirmed? *

A. Elevated radon in homes produces higher lung cancer rates in humans.

B. Smoking cigarettes indoors is responsible for high rates of lung cancer.

C. Field studies are better than laboratory studies for study of radon toxicity.

D. Concentrated radon produces increased cancer in certain laboratory animals.

9. Why is Darwin’s theory of evolution considered a scientific theory? *

A. Because a majority of the population believe the theory.

B. Because the theory is supported by considerable evidence.

C. Because the theory is not well understood or agreed upon.

D. Because Darwin was an excellent scientist and scholar.

10. A professor has a class consisting of students who are doing independent study on the chemistry of lake sediments. Each student analyzed the sediment for four (4) chemical elements. The four elements are different for each student. Each student is writing a report in the format used by a single journal. The professor places students into groups of four and asks that the four do peer reviews of one another's reports before submission. The students use a scoring rubric in which they rate three categories as (a) insufficient, (b) meeting acceptable standards or (c) exceeding expectations. The three categories are (1) grammar, spelling and use of active voice; (2) adequacy of literature research and (3) procedures and results. What is the most valuable science literacy outcome likely from this assignment? *

A. Students correcting one anothers' writing will yield edited papers that are easier for the professor to grade.

B. Students will learn the value of using multiple reviewers to generate a better research contribution.

C. Students will support one another socially and emotionally during a challenging assignment.

D. Students will be able to learn the format of a professional scientific journal and apply that in other science courses.

11. Which of the following best explains why doubt is an important aspect of science? *

A. Eliminating doubt from human knowledge is a major goal of science.

B. When doubt exists about established ideas, new ideas become possible.

C. Doubt is a major force that hinders peoples' belief in scientific advances.

D. Doubt is detrimental because scientists need to feel sure of their knowledge.

12. Climate change attributed to human causes is a topic fraught with controversy. Some voices state that the best science confirms that humans are so altering our climate that a major irreversible climate change will occur within the near future, unless serious steps are taken to prevent it. Other voices claim that the best science confirms that climate changes are natural, gradual, and take thousands of years to occur. They state that making climate change into a political global issue simply provides a rationale to create a single world government. Is it important that citizens understand the science behind these arguments? *

A. Yes, because a solution will require not just knowledge, but collective action. Without broad understanding of global climate change, the critical collective actions may be ineffective or not even taken.

B. Yes, because the consequences of global climate change and an oppressive world government are the most serious threats ever faced by humans. It is most important to preserve our way of life against both.

C. No, because human actions are so insignificant that they cannot produce climate change. Actions an individual takes, whether informed or uninformed, are so insignificant as to be irrelevant.

D. No, because political rhetoric always seeks to frighten people into accepting control by authority. The source of the issue is political, so citizens need to understand politics more than they need to understand science.

13. You are a scientist who has recently read an article on an experiment that produced an important new discovery in your field of study. An editor of a journal asks you to review a second article submitted for publication in which a university professor replicates the first groundbreaking experiment. The professor's results agree with those of the author of the first article. Should you recommend publication? *

A. Yes, because researchers need to independently confirm new findings before scientists can have confidence in the new knowledge.

B. Yes, because professors need to have their work published in order to retain their jobs in a university.

C. No, because the discovery is now already known. There's little value in publishing a paper that doesn't offer new information.

D. No, because the professor, in lieu of doing independent research, has simply copied the ideas of the first author and is in effect plagiarizing the work.

14. Which of the following best describes our familiar world as governed by physical law, in the case of a person stepping out from a high window? *

A. If the person fully believes that he/she can fly, what happens actually depends on how strongly that belief is held.

B. If the person fully believes that he/she can fly, that person can decide whether to float gently through the air to the lawn below.

C. If the person fully believes that he /she can fly, that person falls through the air to the ground at the same rate as a nonbeliever.

D. If the person fails to believe that that he/she can fly, that person will fall faster than a believer.

15. Which item in the following list constitutes the best example of technological knowledge? *

A. Knowing how bacteria cause infections in open wounds

B. Knowing that bandaging a wound with honey prevents infection

C. Knowing how bees make honey from the pollen of flowers

D. Knowing why puncture wounds are especially dangerous

16. Which of the following is NOT an example of the use of modeling in science? *

A. Scientists test small cars in a wind tunnel to deduce which shape of a full-size car will provide the least wind resistance.

B. Scientists pile sand in one side of a tank of water and make waves in the water to try to learn how water moves sand along beaches.

C. Scientists place all known information about the ocean, atmosphere and shorelines into a computer and use that information to understand hurricane movement.

D. Scientists receive a sample of rock from the Moon and utilize laboratory instruments to determine the rock's chemical composition.

17. A researcher conducted a study to test whether an herbal medicine increases memory. Trials were conducted using 30 male participants in their 40s. Fifteen were given a placebo, and fifteen were given the herbal medicine. Participants did not know which group they were in. The data showed that 20% of the males in the experimental group reported an increase in memory, and 40% in the placebo group reported an increase in memory. What statement below most accurately describes the hypothesis tested and the test result? *

A. The medicine is effective for increasing memory in males.

B. The medicine is effective for increasing memory in males, but it is dangerous.

C. The medicine is not effective for increasing memory in males.

D. The medicine is not effective for increasing memory in males, but it is harmless.

18. Which of the following constitutes a theory of science? *

A. Evolution is the theory that diverse organisms we see today had a common ancestor in the distant past.

B. Astrology is the theory that asserts that each human's destiny is related to the positions of celestial bodies at a person's birth.

C. Creationism is the theory that the nature of life through history has been guided by a Divine Creator.

D. Marxism is the theory that human history consists of a destructive struggle between classes.

19. A scientist studies a virus that causes a mild disease in mice. She discovers how a genetic modification of the virus converts it into a virus deadly to mice, and realizes that a similar process could create a deadly human virus. Can the scientist continue this work and remain ethical? *

A. No. The scientist should stop this work immediately. She will be fully responsible if her discovery causes harm.

B. No. The scientist should stop her work immediately and furnish a top-secret report to government authorities. Only the military should possess such knowledge.

C. Yes. The scientist may continue her work after realizing how her discovery may be used. She may be in the best position to discover how to thwart misuse.

D. Yes. The scientist should continue her work but not reveal her results to anyone. This ensures that no one else can discover the genetic modification.

20. Earth’s formation was initially estimated to have occurred 6,000 years ago. Later, scientists found evidence that the formation occurred 100 million years ago. Current evidence indicates that Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago. What should scientists expect to occur in the future? *

A. Scientists should believe that the 4.6 billion year age is correct and that newer evidence will not change that age.

B. Scientists should expect that future discoveries will supply evidence that Earth formed long before 4.6 billion years ago.

C. Scientists should recognize the 4.6 billion year age as the age best supported by evidence, but allow that newer evidence could change that.

D. Scientists should recognize that science might not be the approach needed to determine the actual age of the Earth.

21. Peer-review occurs when several experts critique a submitted paper, suggest revisions, and judge it as worthy or not worthy of publication. Which of the following is NOT an appropriate function of peer reviewers? *

A. Comment on the impact or importance of the research

B. Comment on the originality of the research

C. Recommend the need for additional research

D. Comment on the reputations of the study’s authors

22. Science and technology increasingly complement each other. Which example most strongly illustrates how science generates better technology? *

A. Study of the upper atmosphere explains how Earth's surface is shielded from ultraviolet rays.

B. Special o-rings from the space station are used for water-tight seals in deep-sea research.

C. An electron microscope with improved imaging capabilities is used to identify a new virus.

D. A new optical theory results in the construction of an improved binocular telescope.

23. Theories that explain the nature of matter began by considering every substance as unique. Other explanations stated that all substances arise through unique combinations of earth, fire, air, and water. Later theory determined that all material consisted of small particles called atoms comprised of smaller electrons, neutrons, and protons. Why did such later theories supplant earlier theories? *

A. The reason is that the early theories simply fell out of style, even though they explained observable physical phenomena just as well as the latest theory.

B. The reason is that theories progressively reduced complexity by going from explaining matter with thousands of substances, to four substances, to finally just three substances.

C. The reason is that theories come and go in cycles, so later theories can transform back into earlier ones, whenever scientists prefer to use the classical explanations.

D. The reason for adoption is that later theories better explained more of the observable phenomena of substances than did any of the earlier theories.

24. Which of the following assumptions is important to all sciences? *

A. Humans can understand the physical world through laws they can discover.

B. The experimental method is the only valid way to test hypotheses.

C. Life is not governed by the same physical laws as non-living systems.

D. Random events have no role in the actual physical world.

25. In the 1970’s, a group reported a major discovery of an exciting phenomenon in a peer-reviewed journal. Today, textbooks state that the phenomenon does not exist. What is the most likely reason for this? *

A. The discovery could not be verified in spite of efforts by many scientists.

B. No member of the group was famous enough to influence textbook content.

C. An investigator used mathematics to show that the phenomenon does not exist.

D. The information was so dangerous that it was banned from textbooks.

26. Two teams tried to establish the recommended daily nutritional requirement of humans for vitamin C. Team A used controlled experiments on human subjects to determine the minimum vitamin C intake needed to prevent the appearance of nutritional deficiency symptoms. Team B used a different approach. They knew that animals evolve to have their dietary needs met by the foods available in their natural environments. Primates, including early humans, evolved in similar environments. So, Team B believed that if they studied modern primates in their natural environment, what these primates eat could provide knowledge of the natural diet through which humans evolved to meet their nutritional needs too. Team B found that the primates' diets contained over 150 times the amount of vitamin C recommended by Team A, and thus they set a much higher minimum daily requirement than that which Team A recommended. Scientists have a dilemma when a lab study like that of Team A and a field study like that of Team B yield vastly different results. There are four options below that describe how scientists could evaluate the problem. The researchers request that you select Option A below, which is the best answer to the question, and it is the one that an expert who understands science as a process of understanding will choose. The authors of this inventory provided the correct answer to this challenging item to help detect test scores produced by those who hurry to complete the test by random guessing. A participant who marks the correct answer to this longest item on the inventory is likely to have read it and tried to understand the question. *

A. Both approaches employed valid scientific methods but yielded conflicting conclusions. We don't yet know which provided the best supporting evidence.

B. Team A has the better result. Controlled experiments on human subjects produce the most meaningful evidence needed to make conclusions.

C. Team B has the better result. Studies of natural diets produce the meaningful evidence needed to make conclusions.

D. Neither Team A nor Team B has followed a proper scientific method and neither provides evidence needed to make conclusions.

27. This item seeks to detect whether a participant can recognize what distinguishes science from technology. The two are frequently confused, but only one of the statements is correct regarding science, technology, or both. Which statement is actually correct? *

A. In science, people discover the evidence needed to explain physical phenomena.

B. People generate all of the products of both science and technology through discovery.

C. People generate all of the products of both science and technology through invention.

D. In technology, people invent the evidence needed to explain physical phenomena.

Self-assessment # 2, Postdicted self-assessed score. Now that you have completed taking the Inventory, what score in percent (between 0% and 100%) do you think that you actually obtained? *

Note: Please write as "10%," "50%" etc and NOT as "10," "50," or "0.1," "0.5."

Part 3 Demographic Information (YAY!! - Only about a minute to go.)

We next will collect some demographic data. The reason that we collect this demographic information is to detect bias in any items, based on whether results vary significantly by how respondents from varied groups answer them. To detect this bias requires a large data base, and the information collected is used to identify items that need revision or replacement. No identifiable information that can be associated with any individual is carried into that data base. This information is truly needed by the researchers in order to understand and improve the Science Literacy Concept Inventory. However, if there are questions that you do not feel comfortable answering, you can just leave them blank.

1. Please indicate your gender

Male

Female

Non-binary

Clear selection

2. Are you a first generation college student?

Yes

Clear selection

3. Are you majoring in, or do you intend to major in, a field in which you will take science courses beyond those that fulfill the minimum general education requirement of your institution for physical/life science?

Yes

Clear selection

4. From the following select the one that best describes your educational level.

If a student, select your current class rank.

Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior

Graduate Student in a physical or life science discipline

Graduate student in a non-science discipline

Professor in a physical or life science discipline

Professor in an engineering or technology discipline

Professor in one of the humanities disciplines

Professor in mathematics

Professor in a social science discipline

Professor in a fine arts discipline

Professor of another discipline

Practitioner in a science profession outside of a university

Clear selection

5. How many college science courses have you FULLY completed?

If you have never taken a college science course, or you are currently enrolled in your first college science course, select "None." If you are currently enrolled in your first college science course and are taking this inventory in the final week of the course, select "One."

None

One

Two

Three

Four

More than four

Clear selection

6. What is the calendar system of your college/university?

Quarter

Semester

Trimester

Other

Clear selection

7. Is English your first language?

Yes

Clear selection

8. Please indicate your ethnicity by choosing the selection that best describes it.

If no option seems appropriate, choose "Other."

African/African-American

Asian

Caucasian/White

Hispanic/Chicano(a)

Native American

Pacific Islander

Middle Eastern

Other

Clear selection

Information needed for feedback and crediting assignments.

The following information is used to compile the list of students who may be participating as part of a course assignment and to provide scores via e-mail back to individuals who may request their scores. The information is transmitted back to the instructor so that she or he can credit your completion. Thereafter, personally identifiable information is purged from our database.

1. Please provide your first name.

2. Please provide your last name.

3. If you are participating in this survey as an assignment, please provide the name of your institution.

4. If you are participating in this survey as part of a workshop or college course section, please give the name of the workshop or course & section, if known.

5. If you are participating in this survey as an assignment, please give the last name of your instructor.

6. If would like to have your own results, please provide the email address where you would like to receive these.

If you furnish your email, you will get a personal report within a few days that is informative and interesting! We promise your email address will go no farther than to give you back your results.

Thank you for participating!

When you have completed the inventory, submit it by hitting the "submit" button below. When you do so, you should receive a "Thanks! Your response has been recorded" message.

If that does not appear on your screen within a few seconds, it likely results from not completing a required inventory item. Because our study addresses both the inventory and the items that compose it, useful data only results from answering all test items, so the Inventory is programmed to prompt you to complete missing answers to the required items.

However, it is easy to find these. If submission fails, scroll through quickly and you'll see any unanswered items highlighted in color. Answer any missed items and then hit the "submit" button again.

Personal and demographic information are not required responses. If you forgot or opted not to to supply demographic information or personal information such as your name, leaving these blank will not hinder your submission nor trigger any prompts or reminders.

Be sure that you have completed all information that you want to provide before hitting "submit." You won't be able to call back the completed form once it is successfully submitted.

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