Students enrolled in ecology or environmental science courses for non-majors often have misconceptions related to anthropogenic forcing of climate change, ozone depletion, and sustainability. The purpose of this study was to examine the sources of these misconceptions and to evaluate students’ confidence in their understanding of environmental issues. The data for the study were obtained from an non-majors environmental science course in Fall 2015. A survey targeting issues related to climate change, ozone depletion, and ecological sustainability was administered to the class during the first week. Approximately 30d after the survey, students were interviewed to elucidate the source of their environmental perceptions and their confidence in their beliefs. After the interviews were completed the intervention was administered. The intervention tasked students with developing a lesson plan to meet West Virginia’s Next Gen Science Standards for 9th grade. Finally, a post-course survey was given to the students and results compared across the course for changes in student misconceptions.
Results/Conclusions
There were 24 respondents included in the preliminary study. When asked what the word “environment” meant to them, 81% of students responded that it represented the physical environment. Students were asked where they obtained their information about the environment, and 18% responded from their teachers or classes; 18% responded social media, and 18% responded family and friends. The remainder of responses were scattered among several categories. When asked specifically about climate change, 88% stated change was occurring and that it was related to human causes. The average confidence was 69% (mode = 75%). When asked about ozone depletion, 88% stated that it was caused by humans. Interestingly, 11% of students were unsure what the term meant, and of the 88% that knew ozone depletion was human-caused, 75% of them felt it was caused by “harmful emissions”, one of which included CO2. Student confidence in their understanding of ozone depletion was the lowest at 66% (mode = 70). When asked about ecological sustainability, 100% of respondents understood the term with self-reported confidence in their answers averaging 74% (mode = 80%). Following the intervention, pre- and post-class survey data indicated an increase in student confidence about the targeted environmental issues (p <0.05). In conclusion, targeted interventions can help correct student misconceptions regarding environmental issues, but it remains incumbent upon the instructor to provide clear examples and reinforcement to help counter common misconceptions by students.