Examining a Process for Developing a Learning Progression for Sea Level Rise in the Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment and Research (MADE CLEAR) Project

• In Event: Enacting Systemic Climate Change Education: Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment and Research (MADE CLEAR) Research and Practice for a Changing Planet

Abstract

Our study focuses on the development of a learning progression for sea level rise (SLR), a major consequence of climate change. The effects of SLR are being felt around the world and sea levels are projected to increase between one and four feet by 2100 (IPCC, 2013). With more than 50% of the U.S. population, or 164 million people, living in coastal areas (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2014), we believe that due to the urgency of the topic, our scholarship represents an important and relevant topic. We examine the research question: How can learners come to understand sea level rise in a progressively more sophisticated manner?

The primary theoretical framework guiding our study is learning progressions (LPs). LPs are descriptions of the increasingly sophisticated ways that learners can think about a science topic over time (Duschl, Schweingruber, & Shouse, 2007). These ways are organized into qualitatively different levels of achievement (e.g., Lehrer & Schauble, 2012; Mohan, Chen, & Anderson, 2009). These levels are considered conceptual stepping stones which educators can use as diagnostic tools and instructional targets (Shea & Duncan, 2013).

We used an iterative methodological approach to develop our SLR LP. This began with the development of a draft hypothetical LP. Using an assessment instrument and a separate online activity developed for the project, we then collected empirical evidence to support the modification of the SLR LP.

The SLR Assessment Instrument was based on our hypothetical LP and modified using data from middle school students (N=90), SLR experts (N=3), and undergraduate pre-service teachers (N=50). In addition, questions were administered and small group discussions were conducted using a mature version of the SLR Assessment Instrument with a diverse sample of middle school students (N=5) at an environmentally-themed summer camp. The SLR Online Activity went through three iterations with in-service (N=15) and pre-service (N=70 and N=7) teachers prior to use with middle school students (N=5).

Although middle school students were able to respond correctly to many SLR Assessment questions, we found their ability to provide an explanation was limited. We interpret this to mean that the middle school students in our study could be located at lower levels on the SLR LP. Most preservice undergraduate teachers possessed more sophisticated thinking about SLR as measured by our instruments. In general, their responses indicated a wider range of knowledge of both the mechanisms and impacts of SLR. We interpret this to mean the undergraduate pre-service teachers in our study were at the mid-levels on the SLR LP.

Our study represents how we in MADE CLEAR have approached the development of a LP for a construct related to climate change. By detailing the development from a hypothetical to a mature LP, we believe our work contributes knowledge that has potential to serve learners worldwide in understanding the phenomena and in making decisions concerning mitigation and adaptation.

Authors

• Wayne Breslyn, University of Maryland

• J. Randy McGinnis, University of Maryland

• Chris McDonald, University of Maryland - College Park

• Emily E. Hestness, University of Maryland