ED13C-3469:
Developing Climate Literate, Pre-service, Middle- and High-school Teachers
Monday, 15 December 2014
Dana E Veron1, Gili Ad-Marbach2, Jane Wolfson3, Gulnihal Ozbay4, Hilary Mead1, Jennifer Merrill1, Asli Sezen3 and Rebecca Fox-Lykens4, (1)University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States, (2)University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, United States, (3)Towson University, Towson, MD, United States, (4)Delaware State University, Dover, DE, United States
Abstract:
The Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education Assessment and Research (MADE-CLEAR) project strives to improve climate literacy throughout Delaware and Maryland by enhancing the ability of pre-service teachers to teach climate change related material. One branch of this effort focuses on assessing, and then improving on, the climate literacy content that pre-service teachers have been exposed to and have retained throughout their degree studies. To this end, higher education faculty who teach basic science courses at four institutions in our two states have been surveyed to determine the amount of climate literacy content already present in their courses. In addition, a pilot study to assess the core climate knowledge and understanding of pre-service teachers is underway. Results from both studies are being used to develop workshops that will address pre-service teacher alternate conceptions or incomplete understanding of climate, as well as provide methods for teaching climate content aligned with NGSS in the middle- and high-school classroom.
