Students' Evaluations, Plausibility Perceptions, and Knowledge Shifts About Climate Change and Water Resources

• In Event: Secondary Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Scientific evaluations are fundamental to science practices and knowledge construction. We conducted a pilot study comparing two instructional scaffolds, where students evaluated connections between lines of evidence and alternative explanations of socio-scientific phenomena, with one designed to afford greater agency. Repeated measures analysis of variance(ANOVA) showed that, depending on socio-scientific topic, the scaffold type differentially facilitated more critical evaluations, shifted plausibility judgments toward the scientific, and increased knowledge regarding causes of climate change and sustainability of water resources. Results provide valuable information for the future development of materials and testing of these climate change and water resource instructional activities.

Authors

• Svetha Mohan, University of Maryland - College Park

• Josh Medrano, University of Maryland - College Park

• Joshua Jaffe, University of Maryland - College Park

• Doug Lombardi, University of Maryland - College Park