Finnish Students’ Knowledge of Climate Change Mitigation and Its Connection to Hope

Abstract

Climate change is a global concern, and the need to address it is urgent. Therefore, climate change education has been developed in recent years. Meaning making, coping strategies, and solution-oriented climate education tasks enable and maintain hope for positive results with regard to climate change. However, there is still uncertainty as to how students’ knowledge of climate change mitigation measures affects their attitudes. In the present study, elementary and secondary students in Finland (n = 950) responded to an online questionnaire. A principal component analysis, a hierarchical regression analysis, a correlation coefficients, a t-test, and a Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance were used for the analysis to understand what kind of hope students had towards climate change and how their knowledge and optimism regarding climate change affected their hope. The data revealed that the students had a relatively high constructive hope rather than denial hope when it comes to climate change. Additionally, this hope was not built on a minimisation of climate change. The results indicated that the significant predictors for climate change mitigation were gender, climate change knowledge, and constructive hope. A typology of student positions with regard to climate change is introduced as conclusions.

Attitudes Towards the Polar Regions as a Reflection of the Sense of Responsibility for the Environment. Theoretical Background for Further Study

“…This is especially true in Canada, where 88% of respondents express concern regarding climate change in the Arctic 1 . Some of the research conducted in Finland indicate that gender, knowledge about climate warming and constructive hope become predictors of attitude towards climate change (Ratinen and Uusiautti, 2020).…”

High-School Students’ Topic-Specific Epistemic Beliefs about Climate Change: An Assessment-Related Study

“…Finnish female students performed significantly better in topic knowledge of biology and chemistry. Ratinen and Uusinautti [66] found that knowledge of climate change among the Finnish female elementary and high-school students predicted climate change mitigation. Finnish female students were also shown to be more likely than their male counterparts to choose science as a future career.…”

Ilmastonmuutos lukion opetussuunnitelmissa ja maantieteen oppikirjoissa

“…Kasvihuoneilmiö mielletään usein virheellisesti ainoastaan ympäristöongelmaksi, ja esimerkiksi otsonikadon, ilmansaasteiden ja roskaamisen rooliin liittyy monia väärinymmärryksiä (Ratinen & Vettenranta, 2018). On myös osoitettu, kuinka tiedot ilmastonmuutoksen hillinnän keinoista ovat puutteellisia sekä oppilailla (Ratinen & Uusiautti, 2020) että opettajiksi opiskelevilla (Tolppanen, Claudelin & Kang, 2020). Ratinen (2016) onkin korostanut, että ilmastonmuutoksen ymmärtäminen vaatii riittävää ymmärrystä ilmiöön vaikuttavista luonnontieteellisistä prosesseista.…”