Fall of 2005, at San Jose State University, over 400 college student participants were included in a study that focused on the science of climate change. Two classes were studied to calculate the results; Meteorology 10, a lower-division class, and Meteorology 112, an upper-division class.
Researchers creatively designed a questionnaire to engage their participants, while at the same time, creating a fun, learning experience about climate change and their personal lifestyles. Three major areas of climate change were focused in this questionnaire: 1) causes of global warming and ozone depletion, 2) the relationship between global warming and ozone depletion, and 3) energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Results have shown that students understand that global warming is a pressing issue, but typically are unaware of the causes or impact they actually attribute. The article states, “Students tended to confuse ozone depletion and global warming”. Once there is confusion, the complete understandings of environmental issues are off.
Students also engaged in an activity to calculate their ecological footprint; an analysis that estimates the resources to sustain a human population and compares this to the Earth’s regenerative capacity. Researchers believe the ecological footprint activity helped students to make a connection between the products they used and the personal actions with energy that affect global warming.
I would like to incorporate an activity, whether a questionnaire or focus group, into my group’s campaign because this will allow us to have more knowledge of how students understand global warming and climate change, and how they have an impact on it. Creating a friendly environment for our activity will allow students to be comfortable when answering questions about the environment and their lifestyle that they may find tricky. The article states, “Research shows that guilt is generally not a good motivator for personal change, and this may also be true in learning”.
I would advise other students to read this article because I found it to be a good read. It was easy to understand, informative and helpful.
Citation:
Cordero, E., Todd, A., & Abellera, D.. (2008). Climate change education and the ecological footprint. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 89(6), 865-872. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1528216421).
