Improving Climate Change Communication Starting with Environmental Educators

ABSTRACT

This study examined students' knowledge, perceptions, and capability to communicate about climate change before and after taking a graduate-level global climate change education course. The 15 students in this study, as typical of many environmental education students in the master's program, had diverse backgrounds, often with weak academic preparation in science. This course was not only designed to help these students understand climate change education, but also to review fundamental Earth, life, and physical science concepts. Students' knowledge of climate change increased significantly after completing the course. Students' perceptions about climate change became significantly more aligned to those of climate scientists. Students' postcourse questionnaires and science journals were analyzed for insights into the effectiveness of the curriculum and instructional approach of the course. 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.

Key words::

• climate change education
• climate change communication
• environmental education
• assessment
• misconceptions
• argumentation

Acknowledgments

The authors recognize support from NASA Cooperative Project Number: NNX10AT48A. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position, policy, or endorsement of the funding agency.