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S. J. Shawl (University of Kansas)
Recent well publicized events in Kansas and elsewhere have brought the problem of public understanding of the scientific enterprise to the front. We often hear people say, about evolution, that ``it's only a theory" and that only facts should be taught. To begin to understand the problem, students in an introductory astronomy class were asked to define the following terms: fact, inference, hypothesis, theory, and explanation. In addition, they were asked to respond yes/no as to if each of these should be taught. The results of this questionnaire will be presented.