Thanks to Justin Cristaldi of <<www.SicilianCulture.com
>>
The National Geographic-Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey, quizzed more than 3,000 young adults in Nine Countries: Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. Top scorers were young adults in Sweden, Germany, and ITALY. The Report is interesting and sad:
Despite the daily bombardment of news from the Middle East, Central Asia, and other world trouble spots, roughly 85 percent of young Americans could not find Afghanistan, Iraq, or Israel on a map, according to a new study. Americans ages 18 to 24 came in next to last among nine countries in the National Geographic-Roper 2002 Global Geographic Literacy Survey, which quizzed more than 3,000 young adults in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. Top scorers were young adults in Sweden, Germany, and Italy. Out of 56 questions that were asked across all countries surveyed, on average young Americans answered 23 questions correctly. Others outside the U.S., most notably young adults in Mexico, also struggled with basic geography facts. Young people in Canada and Great Britain fared almost as poorly as those in the U.S. Among young Americans’ startling knowledge gaps, the study found that • nearly 30 percent of those surveyed could not find the Pacific Ocean,
the world’s largest body of water;
Several perhaps interrelated factors affected performance—educational
experience (including taking a geography course), international travel
and language skills, a varied diet of news sources, and Internet use. Americans
who reported that they accessed the Internet within the last 30 days scored
65 percent higher than those who did not.
AOL Research & Learn: Geographic Illiteracy
Interviews were conducted in the following countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Great Britain, and Japan. A total of 300 interviews were conducted in each country except the U.S.; in the U.S. nearly 500 interviews were conducted with 18-to 24-year-olds and an additional sample of more than 300 25-to 34-year-olds. All interviews were conducted using a representative sample of young
adults. Interviews were conducted from mid-May to mid-July 2002.
|