Collaborative Research: Confronting the Challenges of Climate Literacy

这个项目正在开发三个以探究为基础、以实验室为重点的在线气候变化EarthLabs模块，作为正在进行的研究的背景，研究高中生如何在多个时间尺度上掌握地球系统随时间的变化。气候素养已成为教育的一个重要领域。然而，它在认知、感知和教学方面提出了真正的挑战，特别是在将地球理解为一个在多个时间尺度上在局部到全球空间尺度上运行的动态系统方面。本研究项目通过研究高中生对地球复杂系统的理解所面临的挑战，在不同的时间和空间尺度上运作，并通过开发基于研究的有效教育工具和方法来支持气候变化和地球系统科学的学习，从而面对这些问题。该项目是TERC、密西西比州立大学和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的科学教育工作者共同努力的结果。该项目采用逆向设计方法确定一套综合的科学学习目标和研究问题，为模块开发提供信息。在材料草案的制定和审查之后，将进行试点实施，然后在德克萨斯州和密西西比州进行两轮教师专业发展、课堂实施和研究。来自多轮实施的研究结果将允许对模块、专业开发材料和研究计划进行细化的迭代过程。本项目的重点是为地球系统科学教学设计、开发和测试创新的气候变化课程材料和教师专业发展。这些教材将在一些州进行测试，这些州的教师需要接受地球系统科学培训，而低收入和少数族裔学生可能会受到即将到来的气候变化的严重影响。这项研究将揭示气候素养教育面临的挑战。

This project is developing three inquiry-based, lab-focused, online Climate Change EarthLabs modules as a context for ongoing research into how high school students grasp change over time in the Earth System on multiple time scales. Climate literacy has emerged as an important domain of education. Yet it presents real challenges in cognition, perception, and pedagogy, especially in understanding Earth as a dynamic system operating at local to global spatial scales over multiple time scales. This research project confronts these issues by examining the challenges to high-school students' understanding of Earth's complex systems, operating over various temporal and spatial scales, and by developing research-based insights into effective educational tools and approaches that support learning about climate change and Earth Systems Science. The project is a collaborative effort among science educators at TERC, Mississippi State University, and The University of Texas at Austin. The project uses a backward-design methodology to identify an integrated set of science learning goals and research questions to inform module development. Development and review of draft materials will be followed by a pilot implementation and then two rounds of teacher professional development, classroom implementation, and research in Texas and Mississippi. Research findings from the multiple rounds of implementation will allow an iterative process for refining the modules, the professional development materials, and the research program.This project focuses on the design, development, and testing of innovative climate change curriculum materials and teacher professional development for Earth Systems science instruction. The materials will be tested in states with teachers in need of Earth Systems Science training and with significant numbers of low income and minority students who are likely to be hard hit by impending climate change. The research will shed light on the challenges of education for climate literacy.