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Addressing climate and energy misconceptions – teaching tools offered by the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN)
Anne U. Gold (1), Tamara Shapiro Ledley (2), Karin Kirk (3), Marian Grogan (2), Susan M. Buhr (1), Cathryn A. Manduca (3), Sean Fox (3), Frank Niepold (4), Cynthia Howell (5), Susan E. Lynds (1)
(1) CIRES
(2) TERC, Cambridge, MA
(3) Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton, MI
(4) NOAA, Climate Program Office
(5) Colorado School of Mines, Golden
Despite a prevalence of peer-reviewed scientific research and high-level reports by intergovernmental agencies (e.g., IPCC) that document changes in our climate and consequences for human societies, the public discourse regards these topics as controversial and sensitive. The chasm between scientific-based understanding of climate systems and public understanding can most easily be addressed via high quality, science-based education on these topics. Well-trained and confident educators and communicators are required to provide this education. However, climate science and energy awareness are complex topics that are rapidly evolving and have a great potential for controversy. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary nature of climate science further increases the difficulty for teachers to stay abreast of the science and the policy. Research has shown that students and educators alike hold misconceptions about the climate system in general and the causes and effects of climate change in particular.
The NSF-funded CLEAN Pathway (http://cleanet.org) as part of the National Science Digital Library (http://www.nsdl.org) strives to address these needs and help educators address misconceptions by providing high quality learning resources and professional development opportunities to support educators of grade levels 6 through 16. The materials focus on teaching climate science and energy use. The scope and framework of the CLEAN Pathway is defined by the Essential Principles of Climate Science (CCSP, 2009) and the Energy Literacy Principles. Following this literacy-based approach, CLEAN helps with developing mental models to address misconceptions around climate science and energy awareness through a number of different avenues. These are:
1) Professional development opportunities for educators – interactive webinars for secondary teachers and virtual workshops for college faculty,
2) A collection of scientifically and pedagogically reviewed, high-quality learning resources on climate and energy topics,
3) Detailed information on effective approaches for teaching climate and energy science for a range of grade levels, and
4) A community support forum (http://iceeonline.org, coordinated by a partner project - Inspiring Climate Education Excellence, ICEE), where educators can exchange information and share advice regarding climate and energy education.
In this presentation we focus on our experience coordinating professional development opportunities as well as the “Teaching about Climate and Energy” web pages that are offered through the CLEAN Pathway to show-case how misconceptions can be addressed by educators when teaching or learning about climate and energy topics. Providing educators with a robust foundation of topical knowledge, guiding them through common misconceptions and providing them with a collection of well-vetted learning resources is the approach offered by CLEAN to address student misconceptions of climate and energy topics.
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