Allen, Michael and Parry, Simon (2023) Links between children’s scientific understanding and their rejection of pseudoscientific claims indicative of climate change scepticism. In: ESERA 2023: 15th Biennial Conference of the European Science Education Research Association; 28 Aug - 01 Sep 2023, Cappadocia, Turkey. (Unpublished)

Abstract

The aim was to investigate primary children’s propensities to accept or reject claims that indicate scepticism towards climate change, and determine whether these propensities have links with their understanding of National Curriculum (NC) science concepts. Year 6 children (10-11 y/o, n=190) completed a questionnaire that tested their understanding of NC science related to climate change, alongside their willingness to reject a series of climate change fallacies. Quantitative analysis of data revealed that firstly, children held misconceptions of scientific concepts that form the basis of understanding mechanisms of climate change. The least understood concepts were within the topics of Earth in space and photosynthesis. Secondly, although nearly all children agreed that climate change exists and is problematic, considerable numbers were unwilling to reject statements that represented climate change fallacies. Pseudoscientific arguments sceptical of climate change citing the role of carbon dioxide were amongst the fallacies that were least rejected. Thirdly, two quantitative scales were constructed: the NC science scale represented a child’s overall understanding of science concepts, and the CC fallacy resistance scale reflected a child’s overall rejection of fallacies. The two scales were highly correlated, showing that children who better understood NC science also were more likely to reject fallacies. Lastly, a ranked list of science concepts was constructed, the understanding of which may confer some defence against climate change scepticism. Outcomes centre on the possibility of teachers improving children’s science knowledge in order to align their views on climate change more towards the scientific consensus and away from climate change scepticism.

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