Teaching Climate Science to Increase Understanding & Receptivity

Abstract

Only about half of Americans are convinced that human activity is the major cause of climate change. This statistic highlights the increased need for high-quality climate science education but also highlights the fact that lessons on this subject are often complicated as denial argumentation abounds in classrooms. In order to achieve greater efficacy of and receptivity to climate science instruction, I propose the inclusion of lessons on the nature of science and the reframing of lessons in terms of risk management.

Counteracting climate denial: A systematic review

“…Multiple studies explore message framing, a process used to emphasise particular aspects of an issue through language choices to create or enforce different narratives ( Busch, 2021 ). Studies assert the effectiveness of using particular frames for reducing denial by aligning messages to audiences’ cultures ( McCright et al, 2016 ), identities and values ( Das, 2020 ; Dixon et al, 2017 ; Lo, 2014 ; Romero-Canyas et al, 2019 ; Turnpenny, 2012 ), concerns and risks of hazards ( Bolsen et al, 2019 ; Sterman, 2011 ; Watts, 2019 ) or co-benefits of climate mitigation ( Lawrence and Estow, 2017 ). Frames can also target specific climate beliefs: framing a message about climate change mechanisms rather than climate change risks can increase the belief in human attribution ( Rotman et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Three studies provide evidence for the knowledge deficit thesis, that education can reduce misperceptions and increase beliefs in spite of, though still limited by, different motivated reasoning barriers ( Häkkinen and Akrami, 2014 ; Hess and Maki, 2019 ; Stevenson et al, 2014 ). Others found that correcting misinformation could increase factual accuracy, though did not necessarily influence other attitudes towards climate science ( Porter et al, 2019 ; Watts, 2019 ).…”