Mixed Messages: Climate change in America’s classrooms … · MIXING MESSAGES. Notably, 30% of...

Mixed Messages: Climate change in

America’s classroomsJosh Rosenau

National Center for Science Education

!@JoshRosenau [email protected]

INSIGHTS | PERSPECTIVES

ILL

US

TR

AT

ION

: P

. H

UE

Y/SCIENCE

SCIENCE EDUCATION

Climate confusion among U.S. teachers

Teachers’ knowledge and values can hinder climate education

By Eric Plutzer,1 Mark McCaffrey,2

A. Lee Hannah,3 Joshua Rosenau,2

Minda Berbeco,2 Ann H. Reid2

Although more than 95% of active cli-

mate scientists attribute recent global

warming to human causes (1, 2) and

most of the general public accepts

that climate change is occurring, only

about half of U.S. adults believe that

human activity is the predominant cause

(3), which is the lowest among 20 nations

polled in 2014 (4). We examine how this so-

cietal debate affects science

classrooms and find that,

whereas most U.S. science

teachers include climate science in their

courses, their insufficient grasp of the sci-

ence may hinder effective teaching. Mirror-

ing some actors in the societal debate over

climate change, many teachers repeat scien-

tifically unsupported claims in class. Greater

attention to teachers’ knowledge, but also

values, is critical.

Prior surveys [e.g., (5, 6)] suggest that many

teachers devote class time to climate change.

Although these surveys are suggestive, their

use of nonprobability sampling undermines

the validity of their results. None quantified

the amount of class time or the specific top-

ics covered in class. We undertook the first

nationally representative survey of science

teachers focused on climate change. Work-

ing from a commercial database of 3.9 mil-

lion teachers, we drew a stratified probability

sample of 5000 names and implemented

a multiple-contact paper and Web survey

protocol during academic year 2014–15. We

collected data from 1500 public middle- and

high-school science teachers from all 50 U.S.

states, representative of the population of

science teachers in terms of school size, stu-

dent socioeconomic status, and community

economic and political characteristics. See

supplemental materials (SM) for details.

INTRODUCING THE BASICS. Three in four

science teachers allocate at least an hour to

discussing recent global warming in their

formal lesson plans, including 70% of mid-

dle-school science teachers and 87% of high-

school biology teachers (table S7). Because

virtually all students take middle-school

science and 97% enroll in a general biology

class (7, 8), the likelihood of any student

missing instruction in climate change alto-

gether is low—on the order of 3 to 4%. Most

teachers reported covering the greenhouse

effect (66%), the carbon cycle (63%), and

four or more observable consequences, such

as sea-level rise, or changes in seasonal pat-

terns, like the flowering of plants and animal

migrations. Teachers also discuss responses

to climate change and careers addressing the

challenges it poses.

Although most students will hear some-

thing about climate change in a science

class, the median teacher devotes only 1 to

2 hours to the topic (table S7), inconsistent

with guidance from leading science and edu-

cation bodies [e.g., (9)]. Of course, quality of

instruction is more important than quantity,

so we turn to how students are introduced to

climate change science.

MIXING MESSAGES. Notably, 30% of teach-

ers emphasize that recent global warming “is

likely due to natural causes,” and 12% do not

emphasize human causes (half of whom do

not emphasize any explanation and thereby

avoid the topic altogether). Of teachers who

teach climate change, 31% report sending

explicitly contradictory messages, emphasiz-

ing both the scientific consensus that recent

global warming is due to human activity and

that many scientists believe recent increases

in temperature are due to natural causes

(see the first chart). Why might this be the

case? Some teachers may wish to teach “both

sides” to accommodate values and perspec-

tives that students bring to the classroom (6,

10). Beyond that, the survey data allow us to

evaluate three explanations.

First, teachers might experience overt

pressure from parents, community leaders,

or school administrators not to teach climate

change. Only 4.4% of teachers reported such

pressure (6.1% reported pressure to teach

it, mostly from fellow teachers). This is less

than the 15% reporting pressure in Wise’s

pioneering survey (6), and far less than biol-

ogy teachers reported in a survey on teaching

evolution (10).

Second, teachers also may not be very

knowledgeable about a wide range of ev-

idence—e.g., CO2 measurements from ice

cores and from direct measures at Mauna

Loa—and how climate models work. Given

the relative novelty of the topic in classrooms,

instructional materials, and preservice train-

ing, this would not be surprising, and nearly

50% said that they would prioritize one or

EDUCATION

1Department of Political Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. 2National Center for Science Education, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. 3Department of Political Science, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435, USA. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Teachers’ emphasis. Teachers reported emphasis on causes of global warming, among those devoting an hour or

more to the topic (see SM for details on calculation).

“When I do teach about climate change, I emphasize …”

Agree or strongly agree


Disagree or strongly disagree


… that many scientists believe that recent increases in temperature are likely due to natural causes.

… the scienti�c consensus that recent global warming

is primarily being caused by human release of

greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.

Mixed messages

31%

Scienti�c consensus

54%

Denial

10%

Avoidance

5%

664 12 FEBRUARY 2016 • VOL 351 ISSUE 6274 sciencemag.org SCIENCE

Published by AAAS

on F

ebru

ary

12, 2

016

Dow

nloa

ded

from

on

Febr

uary

12,

201

6D

ownl

oade

d fro

m

1500 Teachers

1500 TeachersAll 50 states

Mail and online response options37% response rate

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Phys.Chem.BiologyEarthScience

Middle School

1500 Teachers

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100


Middle School

1500 Teachers

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Phys.Chem.BiologyEarthScienceMiddle School

Actual distribution of teachers

0

5

10

15

20

25

Hou

rs s

pent

teac

hing

rece

nt c

limat

e ch

ange

Hou

rs s

pent

teac

hing

rece

nt c

limat

e ch

ange

Don't teachrecent climate change

meanhours

ncse.com

0

5

10

15

20

25

Middle School Earth Science Biology Chemistry Physics

Hou

rs s

pent

teac

hing

rece

nt c

limat

e ch

ange

Don't teachrecent climate change

meanhours

ncse.com

Many emphasize human causes…%

em

phas

izin

g co

nseu

sus

that

hum

ans

caus

e C

C

0

20

40

60

80

100


MiddleSchool

When I do teach about climate change:I emphasize the scientific consensus that recent

global warming is primarily being caused by human release of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels.

.

Will

ingn

ess

to e

mph

asiz

e na

tura

l cau

ses

stro

ngly

agr

eeagree

disagree

stro

ngly

dis

agre

e

Will

ingn

ess

to e

mph

asiz

e na

tura

l cau

ses

strongly disagree

disagree

agree

strongly agree

Many emphasize natural causes…

When I do teach about climate change: I emphasize that many scientists believe that recent increases in temperature is

likely due to natural causes.

43%

“natural causes”“scientific consensus”




31% (mixed

messages)

54% (scientific consensus)


10% (denial)

5% (avoidance)

% r

epor

ting

pres

sure

0

4

8

12

16

20


MiddleSchool

Less Pressure than for Evolution

Pressure not to teach CC

% r

epor

ting

pres

sure

0

4

8

12

16

20


MiddleSchool



Pressure to teach CC

% r

epor

ting

pres

sure

0

4

8

12

16

20


MiddleSchool




Pressure not to teach evo

% r

epor

ting

pres

sure

0

4

8

12

16

20


MiddleSchool




Pressure not to teach evo

Pressure to teach evo

0

25

50

75

100


MiddleSchool

But Teachers Feel Pressure%

usi

ng p

robl

emat

ic t

actic

s Tactics: Discuss w/o taking a stand, Equal time, Meet students, Letter to parents, Opt out, Avoid entirely

Most teachers don’t know the size of the consensus

Middle school Earth sci. Biol. Chem. Physics0

20

40

60

80

100

81-100%

61-80%

21-40%

Don’t know

41-60%

0-20%

% t

hat

does

NO

T p

rese

nt “

natu

ral c

ause

s”

0

15

30

45

60

75

90

Perceived Consensus

Perceived consensus shapes pedagogy

0-20%

21-40%41-60%

61-80

%

81-1

00%

Don’tknow

%

0

15

30

45

60

75

RepublicanIndependentDemocrat

Politics shapes pedagogy

%

0

15

30

45

60

75


Politics shapes pedagogyDisagrees w/ emphasizingnatural causes

%

0

15

30

45

60

75



Haven’t, wouldn’tgive equal time

Disagrees w/ emphasizingnatural causes

%

0

15

30

45

60

75



Haven’t, wouldn’tgive equal time

Have discouraged debate

Disagrees w/ emphasizingnatural causes

Politics shapes perceived consensus

50

60

70

80

90

100

Aver

age

perc

eive

d co

nsen

sus

%

Personal view on the ideal size of governmentBigger

More liberalSmaller

More conservativePersonal view on the ideal size of government

●

●●

●

●

●

●

InformationDeficit

Cultural Bias

97% consensus

Con

sens

us g

ap

97% consensus

Information deficit

Cultural bias

More conservativeSmaller government

More liberalBigger government

Training shapes perceived consensus

50

60

70

80

90

100

Aver

age

perc

eive

d co

nsen

sus

%


More liberalSmaller


Most trained

Least trained

97% consensus



Communities shape perceived consensus

50

60

70

80

90

100

Aver

age

perc

eive

d co

nsen

sus

%


More liberalSmaller


Most Democratic counties

Most Republican counties

97% consensus



% w

ho h

ave

take

n at

leas

t on

e co

urse

0

20

40

60

80

100

Phys.Chem.BiologyEarth

ScienceMiddleSchool

Many took courses

sect

ions

cour

ses

Continuingeducation

College

sect

ions

cour

ses

% in

tere

sted

in c

limat

e co

ntin

uing

ed.

0

20

40

60

80

100


ScienceMiddleSchool

Many willing to take courses

anyt

hing

cour

se

sect

ion

Hou

rs s

pent

on

clim

ate

chan

ge

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7


ScienceMiddleSchool

But is it preaching to the converted?

Inte

rest

ed in

mor

e tr

ainin

g

Not

inte

rest

ed in

mor

e tr

ainin

g

% w

ho w

ould

incl

ude

supe

rfluo

us t

opic

s

0

20

40

60

80

100


MiddleSchool

Misconceptions abound

Imagine that you were asked to teach a 2-3 day unit on greenhouse gases and recent global warming. What priority would you give to including each of the following possible topics?

The impact of launching rockets into spaceDepletion of ozone in the upper atmosphere

Use of chemicals to destroy insect pestsUse of aerosol spray cans

http://ncse.com

facebook.com/evolution.ncse

@ncse

Date post:	16-Aug-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

Mixed Messages: Climate change in America’s classrooms … · MIXING MESSAGES. Notably, 30% of...

Documents