Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy
Abstract Conservation scientists need to advance climate literacy so that people understand how climate affects all of life, acquire the skills to communicate about climate change, and become aware of ways to increase local resiliency. We examined syllabus content for 74 general climate change cours...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Conservation Science and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.102 |
| _version_ | 1819098376755478528 |
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| author | Olivia Cooper Annika Keeley Adina Merenlender |
| author_facet | Olivia Cooper Annika Keeley Adina Merenlender |
| author_sort | Olivia Cooper |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Conservation scientists need to advance climate literacy so that people understand how climate affects all of life, acquire the skills to communicate about climate change, and become aware of ways to increase local resiliency. We examined syllabus content for 74 general climate change courses taught at the undergraduate college‐level to investigate the scope and extent to which these climate change courses include key topics to advance climate literacy. By analyzing the textual data, we discovered most courses had a strong focus on biogeophysical science and only 8.8 and 9.4% of the terms that occurred in this sample were connected to climate change solutions and communication, respectively. The fine category “Organisms,” which includes terms for specific animals such as “jellyfish” and “urchin” and related terms like “species”, was only observed in 26% of the syllabi; and the term “biodiversity” was mentioned seven times, “extinction” four times, and “animal” was mentioned two times across all 74 syllabi. This reveals a potential gap in addressing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, and the role of some species in regulating climate. We recommend educators include a broader array of inter‐disciplinary topics, place‐based information, communication strategies, and mitigation and adaptation solutions to bridge the gap between climate science, literacy, and action. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:30:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3c8973deecc4b368990a46af259f571 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2578-4854 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T00:30:00Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conservation Science and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3c8973deecc4b368990a46af259f5712022-12-21T18:44:57ZengWileyConservation Science and Practice2578-48542019-10-01110n/an/a10.1111/csp2.102Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacyOlivia Cooper0Annika Keeley1Adina Merenlender2Smith College Northampton MassachusettsDelta Stewardship Council Sacramento CaliforniaEnvironmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley Berkeley CaliforniaAbstract Conservation scientists need to advance climate literacy so that people understand how climate affects all of life, acquire the skills to communicate about climate change, and become aware of ways to increase local resiliency. We examined syllabus content for 74 general climate change courses taught at the undergraduate college‐level to investigate the scope and extent to which these climate change courses include key topics to advance climate literacy. By analyzing the textual data, we discovered most courses had a strong focus on biogeophysical science and only 8.8 and 9.4% of the terms that occurred in this sample were connected to climate change solutions and communication, respectively. The fine category “Organisms,” which includes terms for specific animals such as “jellyfish” and “urchin” and related terms like “species”, was only observed in 26% of the syllabi; and the term “biodiversity” was mentioned seven times, “extinction” four times, and “animal” was mentioned two times across all 74 syllabi. This reveals a potential gap in addressing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, and the role of some species in regulating climate. We recommend educators include a broader array of inter‐disciplinary topics, place‐based information, communication strategies, and mitigation and adaptation solutions to bridge the gap between climate science, literacy, and action.https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.102climate changeclimate educationclimate literacyinterdisciplinarysyllabiword analysis |
| spellingShingle | Olivia Cooper Annika Keeley Adina Merenlender Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy Conservation Science and Practice climate change climate education climate literacy interdisciplinary syllabi word analysis |
| title | Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| title_full | Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| title_fullStr | Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| title_short | Curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| title_sort | curriculum gaps for adult climate literacy |
| topic | climate change climate education climate literacy interdisciplinary syllabi word analysis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.102 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT oliviacooper curriculumgapsforadultclimateliteracy AT annikakeeley curriculumgapsforadultclimateliteracy AT adinamerenlender curriculumgapsforadultclimateliteracy |