Misconceptions about climate change

1. Misconceptions Misconceptionsaboutclimatechange Research Data Opportunities or obstacles? Results Anett Kádár1,2 Andrea Farsang1,2 1Department of PhysicalGeography and Geoinformatics, University of Szeged, Hungary 2MTA-SZTE Research Group onGeographyTeaching and Learning Correspondingauthor: Anett Kádár kdr.anett@gmail.com Conclusion Plans

2. What is a misconception? Vernacularmisconception Preconception MISCONCEPTION Deeplyembedded, faultycognitivestructures, incompatiblewithcurrentscientificconcepts, eventeachingcanhardlychangethem(Korom, 2002). Culturalmisconception Popularmisconception Conceptualmisconception Reference: Korom E. (2002): Az iskolai tudás és a hétköznapi tapasztalat ellentmondásai: természettudományos tévképzetek. In: Csapó Benő (ed.): Az iskolai tudás. Budapest, Osiris Kiadó, pp. 139-167

3. Research information Aims • Cross-sectional comparative analysis to identify misconceptions related to climate and climate change • Identify sources of geographical information • Analyse the role of the following variables in the formation of misconceptions: • age • gender • information sources • importance of topic • attitude toward geography • level of formal knowledge • geography mark

4. Research information Sample • Ntotal = 498 from Bonyhád, Budapest, Hódmezővásárhely, Kiskunhalas, Szeged, Szeghalom • 6 primary schools • 5 secondary schools

5. Data collection and evaluation

6. Results Word associations The quantitative and qualitative changes in the conceptual system of the age groups can be monitored well, and the possible misconceptions of students can also be predicted. Word cloud of grade 11 students, fromtheassociationsgivento „globalwarming”

7. Results Open ended questions The most common misconceptions about climate and climate change are as follows: • due to ozone layer depletion and/or the "ozone hole", greenhouse effect, and thus global warming are intensifying; • the ozone layer is responsible for global climate change; • greenhouse effect is caused by pollutants which form a separate layer in the atmosphere; • greenhouse effect is caused by carbon dioxide which forms a separate layer in the atmosphere; • the Sun orbits the Earth; • it is colder at night when the sky is cloudy, because the Moon cannot warm the Earth; • the Earth is nearer the Sun when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, that is why summers are warmer.

8. Results Open ended questions

9. Results Open ended questions A grade 3 student’sdrawing of howthe Sun warmstheEarth; a desert is locatedontheside of theEarththat is closertothe Sun, atthesame time, there is iceageontheoppositehemisphere

10. Results Open ended questions A grade 5 student’sdrawing of theconsequences of globalwarming

11. Results Open ended questions A grade 7 student’sdrawing of howthe Sun warmstheEarth, carbondioxide is shownto be a separatelayerthat is responsibleforgreenhouseeffect

12. Results Open ended questions A grade 9 student’sdrawing of howthe Sun warmstheEarth; air pollution is depictedas a separatelayer in theatmosphere

13. Results Open ended questions A grade 11 student’sdrawing of howthe Sun warmstheEarth, greenhousegasesform a separatelayer in theatmosphere

14. Results Background information • The responses of the students indicated that their knowledge was dominated by concepts learnt at school. • Gender did not influence the formation of misconceptions. • Of all the other analysed variables, only one significant difference was found, and only if the whole sample was analysed together: • the more important a student ranked the variable „teacher’s explanation” concerning climate and climate change, the fewer misconceptions they had in general. • Based on the assessment test results, the more secure and accurate a student’s knowledge is, the fewer misconceptions they had, though the difference was not significant.

15. Conclusion • Misconception formation is influenced, though not exclusively, by the interaction of information sources, age-specific cognitive abilities, and grade-specific curriculum content. • Misconceptions should not be identified only as obstacles, but as an opportunity to help students develop a correct conceptual system in the course of learning and instruction. • The development of a correct conceptual system is the result of active and meaningful learning and instruction, which allow students to obtain transferable knowledge that can be used in their everyday life, in their future work, and in other professional or scientific fields.

16. Furtherresearch • A joint project with M. Gubler of the University of Bern, Switzerland, focusing on the analysis of the Swiss and Hungarian curricula to assess howlocal characteristics of climate change are represented withinthe subject of Geography. • Implementation of a survey developed by M. Gubler and colleagues(http://tinyurl.com/yxkl5hpp) to identify: • how close or distant Swiss and Hungarianstudents perceive climate change impacts, • thoughts and emotions students associatewith climate change, • misconceptions, • factors influencing students' attitudesregarding sustainable behaviouralintentions. • Gaining deeper insights into theeffectiveness of our educationalsystems (i.e. curricula) andteaching materials are in termsof building climate changeliteracy and consciousness. • Development of new,innovative teaching conceptsand materials (http://foldrajzmodszertan.hu).