From www.undeceivingourselves.org (800 words 6 graphics) Home Fast-Find Index
WA Skeptics Awards 2006
Young critical writers have a field day
The original article, of which this is an abridged and updated version, appeared in the Skeptic 26(3), 18-25, 2006.
Dr John Happs, president of WA Skeptics, with three of the awardees and their English teacher Kylie Sturgess
Junior mythbusters rise to the challenge
After months of planning and discussion, the annual WA Skeptics Awards
for Young Critical Writers was launched in February 2006. Aim: to
encourage critical thinking and writing by students in Years 8-12 at WA
secondary schools. Their task: write up to 2000 words on any curious
belief including the results of their own test or survey.
 |
Half a dozen brochures and a covering letter were sent to the principals of each of the 96 largest WA secondary schools in metro and country areas (out of a total of 369), representing 92,000 students aged 12-17 or two-thirds of the total. Details were also downloadable from the Australian skeptics website. |
Response
Altogether a total of 27 entrants (1 in 3400 students) sent in a total
of nine entries, of which seven were from non-Government schools. No
entries were from years 11-12 or from male students. All entries had
been word-processed and most had graphs or pictures. The most common
fault was not clearly stating the sample size of the test or survey. No
entries arrived until just before the deadline.
Some cover pages. From left to right, Top the topics are
horoscopes, testing psychic ability
with Zener cards, and ouija bouards. Bottom the topics are the I Ching,
feng shui, and the afterlife.
From 2008 the cover page must be an abstract in the prescribed format,
see How to Write Your Entry.
Results
Our 27 junior mythbusters certainly rose to the skeptical challenge,
which they found absorbing and fun. Their topics were generally old
favourites, which they approached with youthful verve. In total their
tests involved 70 people and their surveys 150 people. Two entries (on
the I Ching, tarot cards) gained signed Certificates of Merit and two
entries (on horoscopes, feng shui) gained signed Honourable Mentions.
Successful entrants also received a skeptic shopping bag and their
abridged entries were published in the Skeptic 26(3), 18-25, September
2006. Their schools received a year's subscription to the Skeptic, and
in addition the school with the most entrants received a box of skeptic
books for its library.
Australian skeptic shopping bags were a big hit
Entries from Year 8
There were two entries from year 8, the youngest age group. A student
aged 12 at Bunbury Catholic College found that daily horoscopes on the
web could be "completely different" despite being "for the same star
sign on the same day". Two students aged 12 at Narrogin Senior High
School asked 10 people (apparently classmates) eight questions about
their views on the afterlife, spirits, heaven and hell. The answers
tended to reflect what the person had been taught or had seen on TV's
Ghost Whisperer. Some questions were difficult to answer "because no one
answering these questions have died so they are not sure". The authors
concluded "This was a fun and entertaining experience to find these
things out about the afterlife".
 |
Entries from Year 9 Two students aged 13 at Narrogin Senior High School compared the newspaper horoscope of "a willing subject" with the observed behaviour, which was a welcome change from the usual approach using self ratings. They concluded "horoscopes don't predict the truth". Their entry received an Honourable Mention for the originality of their approach. |
Entries from Year 10
Groups of 3-5 students in the Methodist Ladies' College English class
tested ouija boards using blindfolded believers vs non believers, with
the boards right way up vs upside down; Zener cards using believers vs
nonbelievers and genuine cards vs fake (blank) cards, I Ching readings
using believers vs nonbelievers to rate their accuracy; the effect of
feng shui images on daily life using images, no images, and hidden
images. Their sample sizes were generally 10-20 and the outcomes were
uniformly negative. Another group surveyed 100 students and staff to see
if their belief in tarot cards varied with age or ethnicity (the least
believing were teachers and Aussies). The entries on the I Ching and
tarot cards gained Certificates of Merit, the entry on feng shui images
gained an Honourable Mention.
The Year 10 Zener team at Methodist Ladies' College. Photo: Kylie Sturgess
Awardees speak up
We asked some of the awardees how they chose their topic: "It was
something the others weren't doing". Then what? "We found out about it".
What did they like most about being entrants? "It was fun finding out".
What did they like least? "People not co-operating by not answering our
survey".
From www.undeceivingourselves.org (800 words 6 graphics) Home Fast-Find Index