Charting a Course to Advance Educators' Knowledge and Perceptions of Climate Change

The Next Generation Science Standards presents climate change as a crosscutting concept with applicability across all domains of science. It is therefore important that both formal and informal environmental and science educators have an understanding of the science of climate change. This research study examined changes in knowledge and perceptions about climate change held by fifteen graduate students as they participated in an elective course on global climate change education in an environmental education masters program. The students in this study, typical of many environmental education students, had diverse backgrounds and several had weak academic preparation in science. Modules from a NASA Innovations in Climate Education project, Climate Science Investigations: South Florida (CSI), were piloted throughout the course. Students also learned to develop evidence-based scientific arguments, which is a key practice integrated throughout the new science standards. Students' knowledge of and perceptions about climate change significantly increased after completing the course as measured by a pre-post administration of the Climate Science Inventory of Knowledge and Inventory of Perceptions About Climate Change. Students' journals were analyzed for insights on the effectiveness of the curriculum and instructional approach of the course. Students reported that the argumentation project contributed most to their understanding of the science. Because these students will pursue informal and formal environmental education careers, this study has important implications for the communication of science, and climate change in particular, in the context of public environmental education and formal school settings.