Abstract
ABSTRACTWith recent U.S. government efforts to develop policy procedures for addressing climate change, public understanding of basic aspects of climate change is imperative in order for people to understand such policy. However, widespread misconceptions of basic atmospheric principles exist among the public. In this study, we document levels of misunderstanding that undergraduate students at a large U.S. research institution have with respect to atmospheric carbon budgets and factors that may account for variability in their understanding. Students enrolled in an introductory geology course (n = 947) completed a survey on atmospheric carbon budgets in two sequential semesters. Results indicated that most students did not have a basic understanding of mass-balance problems and that their misunderstanding varied according to gender and their interest in science but not according to factors, such as students' opinions of the seriousness of climate change. Students also tended to exhibit poor graphical interpretation skills when examining mass-balance graphs.
Highlights
The rationale for this study developed out of one coauthor’s consistent observations of introductory meteorology students’ poor performance on an assignment investigating the relationship between atmospheric radiation balance and temperature
Many people have been found to apply a simplistic model in interpreting such budget systems, in which they assume a direct match between the inflow rate and the overall stock level, a conception referred to in the literature as a correlation heuristic (Dutt and Gonzalez, 2012)
During two consecutive fall semesters, students enrolled in an introductory geology course (n = 947) completed an online survey that was used to collect demographic information, opinions about global climate change, views regarding the scientific consensus on global climate change, and atmospheric carbon budget knowledge during the first 2 weeks of class
Summary
The rationale for this study developed out of one coauthor’s consistent observations of introductory meteorology students’ poor performance on an assignment investigating the relationship between atmospheric radiation balance and temperature. Many people have been found to apply a simplistic model in interpreting such budget systems, in which they assume a direct match between the inflow rate and the overall stock level, a conception referred to in the literature as a correlation heuristic (Dutt and Gonzalez, 2012). Research has indicated that the more complex a stock–flow system becomes, the more likely people are to rely on simple erroneous explanations such the correlation heuristic (Cronin et al, 2009). This type of inaccurate thinking persists even among graduate students with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at top-ranked universities (Sterman and Booth Sweeney, 2007). One can assume Received 10 June 2013; revised 17 October 2013; accepted 20 December 2013; published online 2 September 2014
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