Showing posts with label academic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label academic. Show all posts

Student Study Shows Religious Belief is Declining


There has been a fall in the belief that God created humans in an Australian study over 32 years. The landmark research shows Australian university students who believe in divine guidance has declined since the annual surveys of student opinions began. Now the majority hold that evolution is a scientific thing. Creationists are in the very low single digit percentage.


Journal conference Evolution: Education Outreach. University New South Wales. Australian university students far credit previous generation science human evolution far less creationism divine guidance, according landmark study. University New South Wales. overview last 32 years annually-assessed student opinions, clear belief students god ultimate contributing cause human origins steeply declined majority view 986 minority view 2017. Conversely, conviction humans evolved divine involvement kind rose steeply same period become dominant view students.
University New South Wales

Every year 986, researchers polled first-year biology students UNSW Sydney views evolution creationism. 986, 60% students believed god something origin humans, 29% held view 2017. contrast, percentage students convinced god nothing origin humans increased 25% 986 62% 2017. findings – published today Evolution: Education Outreach – longest continuous annual survey opinions creationism evolution first-year university students world-wide. Professor Michael Archer, lead study author Professor UNSW Science’s School Biological, Earth Environmental Sciences, original intent poll assess level commitment incoming students supernatural explanations origins.

Given creationist view (that humans created God last 0,000 years, evolved naturally millions years involvement God) common American students, challenge introducing evidence evolution first-year students would Australia Archer. Australian student views key issue changing time. From 986 2017, student attending first-year biology course invited complete one-item poll strictly anonymous basis. An average 530 students year participated survey. results relevant year’s survey – previous years – always openly presented class lecture. Each student handed slip paper circle four options, agreed:

God created people (Homo sapiens) pretty present form sometime last 0,000 years. People developed millions years less advanced forms life, God guided whole process, including development. People developed millions years less advanced forms life. God process. honestly opinion matter. Analysing survey results 32 years (Fig. a), researchers identified main findings. First, percentage Australian students endorsing creationist option (the four) consistently small, averaging 0.4%, slowly declining less 5%, Professor Archer says. Second, striking cross-over opinions successive cohorts students. 986, 60% students endorsed creationist option theistic, god-guided evolution option (the second four above). 2017, proportion students endorsing theistic options fallen 28.8%.

Conversely, endorsement non-theistic option rose 25.1% 62.2%. This rise appears mirror endorsement theistic options. Reports long-term trends views origins humans rare and, cases, limited surveys adult populations US and, rarely, areas world. extent pace decline Australian students' commitment religious views divine creation, especially creationism, distinct contrast corresponding beliefs American students American public. USA, belief creationism, slowly declining, appears remained 40% range, four times Australian survey Professor Archer. fact commitment Australian students view, involves refusal accept evidence humans evolved animals, always low—and declining, suggested Archer’s team extra effort needed communicate year students scientific evidence human evolution.

team proposed additional strategies better understand long-term changes student viewpoints. “ value running similar annual survey schools contribute majority incoming students university,” Archer says. Slight changes national census questionnaire enable detailed assessment long-term changes public opinions issues would valuable, too, already clear (Fig. b) steep decline religious commitment occurring general public well. authors suggest assess potential impact university education opinions expressed students, useful same survey possible same cohort students three years undergraduate education. facebook icontwitter iconemail icon

top figure shows percentage students who, 986 2017, choose four options relation human evolution: (1) humans created God last 0,000 years (green); (2) humans evolved millions years whole process guided God (blue); (3) humans evolved millions years God process (red); (4) uncertain (yellow). Figures include lines fit linear quadratic regressions 95% confidence intervals. bottom figure shows percentage wider Australian public declared national censuses years 986 2016 religion.
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Belief graph
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Psychologists Make Up Research Findings

Yes, the truth is out!. All of those silly questionnaires you are made to fill out when you apply for a job to see if you are psychologically suitable are rubbish. There is no truth or relevancy in them. They are just made up. Measuring nothing is their purpose. People are now in jobs requiring skills that they do not have - they should be doing something else.
Psychology is based on belief wrong
Tests from three psychology journals show that measures for skills, memory, personality, learning and relationships were very weak indeed. There was no consistency with the real world. Manipulation of data wasn't the problem: claims and statements were made by writers when there was no foundational proof for them.   It seems that hearsay, myth, misconception and blatant lying are features of academic articles on psychology. Didn't we suspect this all along? Of course we did!

A top psychologist withdrew 50 academic papers because they had false conclusions. Research on ESP was found to have no data showing proof. Misrepresentation seems to be the cultural norm among psychologists. This is a bad state of affairs. Academics are supposed to be critically aloof with their findings, suggestions being used to instructively guide the community.
Psychology  by Ty Buchanan
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Academic Papers Could Soon Be Publicly Available

The era of academic journals being closed off from the general public by financial barriers is coming to an end. Publishers are terrified by this. It means they will have to get funding from other sources rather than annual subscriptions. There will be a time limit placed on articles, so after a short period they will have to be released so everyone can read them.

This move is being put forward by the UK government. It is pushing for open access from the very beginning of publication. Unfortunately, the government intends to make authors pay publishers. This is unrealistic. Admittedly, university lecturers are in a secure financial position. However, scientists find it difficult to get funding and allocating part of income on publication is another financial burden.

Universities are saying that the government is looking after publishers, protecting their income while passing the cost onto educational institutions. Martin Hall says we must move forward to get full funding in advance. Unfortunately, he does say how this money is to be obtained. UK researchers are planning to offer some work for free while saving their best for payment from journal publishers. This is too much like the present where only 5 per cent of articles are in gold open access.

This does look bleak for publishers who will steadily "go to the wall", and Universities who will pay either way. If most articles are going to be free, then the cost of the fewer "advanced" papers will cost much more. Governments will ultimately pay for the cost as the institutions are largely public bodies. In the current economic climate this cannot be sustained.
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Science

More University Students Studying Online

Soon universities and colleges made of bricks, stone and concrete with be a thing of the past as young and old turn to the Internet to get their degrees. Leading Australian universities are trying to "buck the trend" by not offering online course, but if they don't change their student enrolments will fall. Initially it was mature age students who chose to study online; now more of the young are studying this way as well.

Next year the restriction on the number of places Australian universities can offer will be abolished. The market will open up as institutions will be able to offer as many openings as they want. With no investment in new buildings planned new offering have to be online. Charles Sturt University already has two-thirds of its students studying online with growth at 14 per cent a year.

For many, the only time they will set foot on a university campus will be to receive their degrees. Lecturers will no longer be able to hide their heads in text books. They will have to be up-to-date on journal articles and world happenings and be virtual entertainers because their recorded lectures will have to be interesting to hold student attention. The days of the stuffy, tweed-dressed professor bonded by a guaranteed, safe contract to a university are numbered.

A problem will persist for some time, however. Access to information is tied to academic books and journals only accessible in a physical library. University libraries will have to make these publications available online to registered students. This will mean that all journal article will have to be scanned and stored, and the latest books written by specialists must be available in eBook form.
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Education