CAREER: Developing Elementary Teachers’ Self-Efficacy to Teach about Climate Change Using Community-Based Practices

气候变化是21世纪的一个关键问题。该项目将支持职前和在职教师的专业发展，使他们能够以社区特有的方式教授气候变化。本项目旨在促进小学教师在三个高影响领域的发展：(a)他们对气候变化科学教学的自我效能感或对气候变化科学教学的信念和态度；(b)有关气候变化的科学知识；(c)他们的气候变化身份，或者他们如何看待他们在气候变化中的机构和作用。参与的在职教师将通过在全球气候变化和城市热岛WISE单元中增加活动，共同设计一个以正义为中心的气候变化教学模式。新设计的课程将侧重于与当地环境相关的问题，例如气候变化如何不成比例地影响佛罗里达州的脆弱社区。此外，课程还将涉及影响气候变化的地方和州政策。该职业奖由发现研究preK-12项目（DRK-12）资助，该项目旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高preK-12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该项目将实施基于社区的科学教学模式，使用基于网络的科学探究环境（WISE）作为工具，支持职前和在职教师的自我效能感、气候变化认同和科学内容知识，并检查三个高影响领域的参与效果。收集的数据包括教师气候变化知识的前后测试、访谈数据和来自待开发的教师气候变化认同调查的调查数据。本研究结果将透过将职前教师引入气候变化教育，并建立其教学的自我效能感，为基础科学教育项目提供与发展相适应的气候变化教育基础知识。还将为在职小学教师提供专业活动，提高他们的气候变化自我效能感。主要贡献包括气候变化教学模式（如教学材料、网站材料、教师研讨会）的开发、完善和传播，以了解和提高职前和在职小学教师对气候变化教育的自我效能感，并将其作为项目教育活动的一部分。该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Climate change is a critical 21st-century issue. This project will support pre-service and in-service teachers in professional development that will prepare them to teach about climate change in community-specific ways. This project aims to advance elementary teachers’ development in three high-impact areas: (a) their self-efficacy toward teaching climate change science or beliefs and attitudes about teaching climate change science; (b) their science content knowledge around climate change; and (c) their climate change identity, or how they view their agency and role in climate change. Participating in-service teachers will co-design a justice-centered climate change instructional model by adding activities to the Global Climate Change and Urban Heat Island WISE unit. The newly designed lessons will focus on issues related to the local context, such as how climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable communities in Florida. Further, the lessons will address local and state policies that impact climate change. This CAREER award is funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) which seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This project will implement a community-based science instructional model using the web-based inquiry science environment (WISE) as a tool to support pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy, climate change identity, and science content knowledge and examine the effect of participation across the three high-impact areas. Data collected include pre- and post-test of teachers’ climate change knowledge, interview data and survey data from a survey to be developed that measures teachers’ climate change identity. Results from this project will contribute developmentally appropriate foundational knowledge around climate change education in elementary science education programs by introducing pre-service teachers to climate change education and building their self-efficacy for teaching it. It will also provide in-service elementary teachers with professional activities to increase their climate change self-efficacy. Key contributions include the development, refinement, and dissemination of climate change instructional models (e.g., instructional materials, website materials, teacher workshops) to understand and enhance pre-service and in-service elementary teachers’ self-efficacy toward climate change education as a part of the project’s educational activities.This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.