Too many students learn to hate science

HOUSTON, April 10 (UPI) -- Science education needs to be transformed from dull to exciting to lure more students into the field, say U.S. teachers and researchers.

Students forced to memorize and regurgitate science information come to hate the subject, said Bruce Alberts, editor of the journal Science and a former head of the National Academies of Science.

"Bad tests are forcing a trivialization of science education," said Alberts, calling for a revolution in education to show that "real science is exciting."

In math and science testing, U.S. students finish almost last among students from developed countries and just one-third of U.S. undergraduates earn degrees in science and engineering compared with nearly two-thirds of Chinese and Japanese students, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.

"If we want scientific literacy, then we want teachers to teach the beauty of science, the fun in it, the humor in it, and to bring examples of modern science into the classroom," said U.S. Physicist Leon Lederman, a Nobel Prize-winner.