How Student Beliefs about Anthropogenic Climate Change Develop after a Socioscientific Issue Unit
Toppenberg, Dusty
Toppenberg, Dusty
Abstract
In the United States, anthropogenic climate change (ACC) is often framed as a belief system rather than scientific consensus, making it a contentious topic in education. Previous research shows that teaching mechanistic knowledge of climate change can increase acceptance of the scientific consensus. However, for students who hold conservative ideologies, it does not and could potentially lead to a backfire effect resulting in science denial. Research also confirms that it should be taught in K-12 schools in ways that are relevant to student lives. For this MS project, I developed a science unit using a socioscientific issues teaching and learning (SSI-TL) framework where students explored a relevant-to-them local issue related to ACC. The related research included interviewing three students pre- and post-learning using a structured interview called the repertory grid technique (RGT). This method is used to gather insight on personal constructs through which an individual experiences the world around them, thereby showing the beliefs a person may have on a given topic, in this case ACC. I used hierarchical cluster analysis to organize student associations and allow me to interpret if and how student beliefs on ACC changed after the intervention unit of learning. Due to the unique nature of each student's repertory grid, I present all data and discussions as individual cases. Overall, the results show that an SSI unit of learning caused a shift in thinking regarding ACC for the three students interviewed, in various ways.
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Date
2024-12-11
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Keywords
socioscientific issues, climate change education, repertory grid technique, science education.