Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ conceptions of the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. The study was descriptive in nature and reflected a cross-age design involving the collection of qualitative data from 51 secondary students from three different schools in the Midwest, USA. These data were analyzed for content in an inductive manner to identify student’s conceptions. The categories that emerged from the students’ responses reflected different degrees of sophistication of students’ conceptions about the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. Based on these findings we make curricular recommendations that build on the students’ conceptions, the IPCC Findings, the NRC (1996) science education standards, and NOAA’s climate literacy framework.
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The work reported in this manuscript was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), award number Geo 0606922. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0472-y
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Shepardson, D.P., Niyogi, D., Choi, S. et al. Students’ conceptions about the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. Climatic Change 104, 481–507 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9786-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9786-9