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

Abstract

This study belongs to assessment-related research and aimed to investigate Finnish high-school students’ (n = 211) topic-specific epistemic beliefs about climate change and whether the Norwegian topic-specific epistemic beliefs questionnaire (TSEBQ) was also valid among Finnish respondents. Thus, research data were not only derived from the TSEBQ but also from topic knowledge tests and students’ views on their favorite school subjects and interest in science subjects. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the statistical model, originally based on 49 questions, was congruent with the Norwegian four-factor model (Certification, Source, Justification and Simplicity). However, according to the reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the performance of the Simplicity factor was unclear. In CFA, the three-factor structure (without Simplicity) was supported. The effects of topic knowledge, topic interest and gender on the TSEBQ factors were examined by using hierarchical regression analysis (HRA). The TSEBQ was shown to be a reliable tool for measuring the topic-specific epistemic beliefs of Finnish students. More specifically, the results support the claim that topic-specific epistemic beliefs can be educationally and culturally bound. HRA showed that students’ topic knowledge in chemistry and biology was related to certainty of knowledge and justification for knowing. Moreover, female students performed significantly better in topic knowledge and more often planned to pursue a science career in the future.

Finnish University Students’ Views on Climate Change Education and Their Own Ability to Act as Climate Educators

“…Ratinen and Uusiautti [65] found that mitigation knowledge of CC among Finnish female upper secondary students was better than among Finnish male upper secondary students. Yli-Panula, Laakkonen, and Vauras [66] showed with Finnish upper secondary students that the ability to learn about and solve CC issues is linked not only to topic knowledge but also to people's beliefs regarding the topic, a result congruent with those generated by Leiserowitz [67] and Poortinga et al [68]. The research by Yli-Panula et al [66] also revealed that upper secondary school students' academic achievements are influenced by the structure and certainty of knowledge, as well as by the justification of knowing studied in relation to CC, which are results that are in line with those of Cano [69] and Mason et al [70].…”