Ways to Include Global Climate Change in Courses for Prospective Teachers

by: Emily van Zee, Emma Grobart, and Deborah Roberts-Harris

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What responsibility do science teacher educators have for engaging students in learning about global climate change in courses? How can the topic of global climate change be added to an already packed course curriculum? The authors have begun assembling instructional resources and learning ways others have incorporated global climate change in their courses. They present an incremental approach, thinking about ways to extend what they are already doing to help students understand at least some of the scientific concepts and reasoning underlying the claims being made, potential social impacts, and relevant educational policies. They describe how they are modifying the curriculum as instructors in an introductory physics course and an elementary science teaching methods course for prospective teachers.

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Type Journal ArticlePub Date 1/1/2016Stock # jcst16_045_03_28Volume 045Issue 03

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Kimberly Armstrong (Chicago, IL)

Thanks for sharing!

Scott, I am all in. Global climate change has always been a topic of interest for me. What is global climate change? Does global climate change exist? Can global climate change be reversed? These are questions that I have been asked and often asked myself. It's funny how often we have heard from people who are very important and somewhat knowledgeable of climate change that try to dispel its existence and affects. In this article, prior knowledge is once again very important and our responsibility as sciene teacher educators is put into question. I wonder at times if you have to believe in global climate change to be able to teach it effectively. Is there room in the curriculum or are we in complete denial for not adding it sooner? This article is quite detailed in its focus, prior physics course, or current physics (table 1) entries. At times the information is quite complex and requires alot of focus. In the Curriculum modification section, a teacher is mentioned that is faced with students bound by stereotypes against science and negative prior knowledge and/or experience. This section caught my eye because global climate change is something that affects us all. The example your gave regarding our societal priveledge being a cause and effect element in global climate change was right on target. When teaching science or the nature of science, helping students make a connection (no matter what the age) with science and their everyday lives is effective way of teaching science. Beginning with the focus question "what happens to water in the world?"is definitely a way to encourage participation and keep students engaged. Using inquiry-based instruction seems to be a common thread for effectively teaching concepts in science. Although the article was very technical and in a higher level of education than the K-12 students that we will be liscensed to instruct, I found the article very interesting and thought provoking. I would love to introduce this to students under my care and instruction. Thanks Scott.

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