Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change

Climate change and its effects are likely to present challenging problems for future generations of young people. It is important for Australian students to understand the mechanisms and consequences of climate change. If students are to develop a sophisticated understanding, then science teachers n...

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Main Author: Dawson, Vaille
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australian Science Teachers Association 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12751
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author Dawson, Vaille
author_facet Dawson, Vaille
author_sort Dawson, Vaille
building Curtin Institutional Repository
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description Climate change and its effects are likely to present challenging problems for future generations of young people. It is important for Australian students to understand the mechanisms and consequences of climate change. If students are to develop a sophisticated understanding, then science teachers need to be well-informed about climate change science. In this pilot study, thirty-nine science teachers and 417 Year 9/10 students from thirteen Western Australian schools were surveyed about their views of the importance of climate change science. Teachers and students also responded to questions to ascertain their understanding of climate change science, the challenges and consequences of climate change. Preliminary findings indicate that most of these teachers have a sound understanding of climate change science, recognising the importance of the greenhouse effect for life and the relationship between greenhouse effect and temperature. However, a proportion of teachers do not teach any climate change science. In this paper, the findings from the teachers are reported along with implications for preservice and inservice teacher education and curriculum development.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-127512017-01-30T11:32:40Z Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change Dawson, Vaille Climate change and its effects are likely to present challenging problems for future generations of young people. It is important for Australian students to understand the mechanisms and consequences of climate change. If students are to develop a sophisticated understanding, then science teachers need to be well-informed about climate change science. In this pilot study, thirty-nine science teachers and 417 Year 9/10 students from thirteen Western Australian schools were surveyed about their views of the importance of climate change science. Teachers and students also responded to questions to ascertain their understanding of climate change science, the challenges and consequences of climate change. Preliminary findings indicate that most of these teachers have a sound understanding of climate change science, recognising the importance of the greenhouse effect for life and the relationship between greenhouse effect and temperature. However, a proportion of teachers do not teach any climate change science. In this paper, the findings from the teachers are reported along with implications for preservice and inservice teacher education and curriculum development. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12751 Australian Science Teachers Association restricted
spellingShingle Dawson, Vaille
Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title_full Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title_fullStr Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title_full_unstemmed Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title_short Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change
title_sort science teachers' perspectives about climate change
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12751