ERIC Number: EJ1405661
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1350-4622
EISSN: EISSN-1469-5871
Shifting from Climate Change Denial to Acceptance: A Mixed-Method, Semester Long Case Study in an Undergraduate First-Year Experience Course
David R. Cordie; Leigh Maxwell
Environmental Education Research, v29 n12 p1870-1890 2023
Climate change denial is often treated as a binary opinion. However, an individual can express acceptance of climate change, while still denying other aspects of the field such as its causation by humans, impacts, or our ability to mitigate these impacts. Here, we conduct a semester long survey and discourse analysis of a class of first-year undergraduates as they complete a course on climate change to assess changes in their attitudes on climate denial verse acceptance across these more specific factors. Our results suggest that acceptance of the scientific facts about climate change is higher than acceptance of its impacts and solutions. However, acceptance that personal and societal changes can mitigate climate change increased throughout the term. These results can help create course curriculum with more effectively targeted content to assist in shifting perspectives on climate change in young undergraduates.
Descriptors: Climate, Environmental Education, Undergraduate Study, First Year Seminars, Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Conservation (Environment), Attitude Change, Concept Formation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Wisconsin (Madison)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A