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The Effectiveness of the Geospatial Curriculum Approach on Urban Middle-Level Students’ Climate Change Understandings

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Abstract

Climate change science is a challenging topic for student learning. This quantitative study examined the effectiveness of a geospatial curriculum approach to promote climate change science understandings in an urban school district with eighth-grade students and investigated whether teacher- and student-level factors accounted for students’ climate change knowledge achievement. The participants included 12 science teachers and 956 eighth-grade students. Data included a pre- and posttest climate change assessment measures for both teachers and students and a teacher measure of Geospatial Science-Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Paired-sample t tests revealed statistically significant gains from pretest to posttest on their climate change knowledge (p < .001; effect sizes being large on multiple-choice items and medium on the open-ended response assessment). Both ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression and 2-level hierarchical linear modeling found that students’ initial climate change knowledge and gender were significant predictors for students’ posttest scores, p < .05. Students’ pretest scores were the strongest significant predictor of the posttest scores, p < .001. Neither the teachers’ climate change knowledge nor their Geospatial Science-Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge had significant association with the students’ posttest scores. Teaching years was a significant predictor for students’ posttest scores in OLS regression (p < .001). The findings provide support that a geospatial curriculum approach is an effective science curriculum approach for learners in urban middle-level education.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the Toyota USA Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Denise Bressler, Christopher Dempsey, Tamara Peffer, David Anastasio, Dork Sahagian, and Lori Cirruci, without whose help this work would not have been possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Human Services, Lehigh University, 111 Research Dr., Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA

    Alec M. Bodzin & Qiong Fu

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  1. Alec M. Bodzin
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Correspondence to Alec M. Bodzin.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample Items from the Climate Change Assessment Measure

1. Climate is defined as weather patterns that change on a scale of at least a few…

  1. A.

    weeks.

  2. B.

    months.

  3. C.

    years.

  4. D.

    decades.

3. Which does not act as a significant greenhouse gas?

  1. A.

    methane

  2. B.

    nitrogen

  3. C.

    water vapor

  4. D.

    carbon dioxide

9. Ozone existing in the lower troposphere is …

  1. A.

    beneficial to human and other life.

  2. B.

    produced by chemical reactions involving argon.

  3. C.

    a pollutant created from the burning of fossil fuels.

  4. D.

    made up of the most abundant element in the atmosphere.

11. During the last 50–60 years, average annual temperatures in most places have risen by approximately …

  1. A.

    0.1–2.0 degrees Celsius

  2. B.

    3.0–5.0 degrees Celsius

  3. C.

    7.0–9.0 degrees Celsius

  4. D.

    10.0–12.0 degrees Celsius

14. Argon, carbon dioxide, and other trace gases make up approximately percent of Earth’s atmosphere.

  1. A.

    one

  2. B.

    three

  3. C.

    five

  4. D.

    ten

19. What two gases make up most of the Earth’s atmosphere?

  1. A.

    Nitrogen and oxygen

  2. B.

    Hydrogen and oxygen

  3. C.

    Hydrogen and nitrogen

  4. D.

    Oxygen and carbon dioxide

20. Materials that absorb lots of energy without a large temperature increase have a …

  1. A.

    low albedo effect.

  2. B.

    low heat capacity.

  3. C.

    high albedo effect.

  4. D.

    high heat capacity.

Appendix 2: Scoring Criteria for the Open-Ended Items on the Climate Change Assessment Measure

figure a
figure b

Appendix 3: Student Response Summaries to the Open-Ended Items on the Climate Change Assessment Measure

See Tables 6, 7, 8.

Table 6 Students’ responses to the climate change open-response item question 29 for pre- and posttest. (N = 956). Describe at least four different types of human activities that are causing the long-term increase in carbon dioxide levels over the last 100 years? Be specific
Full size table
Table 7 Students’ responses to the climate change open-response item question 30 for pre- and posttest. (N = 956). Describe at least four different things that you can do reduce or prevent further emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? Be specific
Full size table
Table 8 Students’ responses to the climate change open-response item Question 31 for pre- and posttest. (N = 956). What would it actually take for all the people on our planet to lower the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? List at least four ideas
Full size table

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Bodzin, A.M., Fu, Q. The Effectiveness of the Geospatial Curriculum Approach on Urban Middle-Level Students’ Climate Change Understandings. J Sci Educ Technol 23, 575–590 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-013-9478-0

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