Abstract
This poster presents data from a 20-year study into the science literacy of undergraduates enrolled in introductory astronomy courses. Responses from almost 10,000 undergraduate students from 1989 to 2009 have been analyzed. We present students’ responses to both science literacy and belief questions by year and demographic
variables, as well as trends in open-ended responses. Analysis revealed that demographic variables accounted for only 7% of the variance in students’ science literacy
scores. The strongest predictor of a student’s overall science literacy score was how many science courses they had completed, yet this only accounted for 4% of the
variance, as did students’ beliefs regarding science and technology issues.
