University-Based Researchers’ and Teacher-Researchers’ Perspectives on Developing Curriculum Materials and Teaching Climate Change

• In Event: Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Science Education in Higher Ed

Abstract

In this paper we report the findings from a mixed-methods study of teaching of climate change in middle schools. Eleven teachers and 533 students from four schools participated in this study. Statistical analysis (ANCOVA) of student performances on pre- and post- administration of a content test shows that middle school students’ knowledge of climate change and global warming improved significantly (p<.01) after instruction despite the complexity of the domain. We found (from a post-hoc analysis) that students in some teachers’ (Group I) classrooms improved significantly more than those in others (Group II). Analysis of qualitative dataset provides us with plausible explanations of this difference. Teachers’ reflections provide us with their rationales for the instructional choices they made.

Authors

• Anita Roychoudhury, Purdue University

• Daniel P. Shepardson, Purdue University

• Andrew Hirsch, Purdue University

• Joel Wilson, Rossville Middle School

• Nicole Goodwine, Jefferson High School

• Sara Top, Purdue University