College students’ plausibility perceptions about global climate change
| dc.contributor | Graduate Program in Mathematics and Science Education. | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Ceyhan, Gaye Defne. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Özyazıcı, Gizem. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-14T13:56:10Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-14T13:56:10Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Human-induced climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather events due to its profound effect on the Earth’s atmospheric balance. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate whether college students’ plausibility perceptions on global climate change (GCC) increased after participating in a scaffolding activity. The study sample consisted of 62 students from a private research university in the United States. Three instruments were used to investigate the research questions. First, the demographic information form for the participants’ and Plausibility Perception Measure (PPM) scale were used. PPM scale was implemented before and after the Extreme Weather (EW) Model Evidence Link (MEL) activity. The results showed that students’ plausibility perceptions changed significantly after the MEL activity. Secondly, in the EW MEL activity, students were asked to evaluate two different models and the results showed that more students found Model A (scientific explanation) more plausible than Model B (alternative explanation). However, Model B was also found plausible by many students. Students’ alternative explanations were mostly found to be in the erroneous evaluation category for the EW MEL diagram. The results showed that students were aware that human activities have a major impact on current GCC, but they still have misconceptions about GCC and its link to EW events. This study contributes to the literature by using an updated PPM scale and a current EW MEL diagram, as EW events have increased significantly in recent years. This study also shows that college students have a lack of understanding of GCC and EW events. Critical evaluation is a scientific practice that could be explicitly taught in higher education programs to improve students’ engagement and understanding of evidencebased decision-making practices. | |
| dc.format.pages | xi, 63 leaves | |
| dc.identifier.other | Graduate Program in Mathematics and Science Education. CHEM 2023 U68 PhD (Thes BM 2023 E74 PhD | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/handle/123456789/21639 | |
| dc.publisher | Thesis (M.S.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 2023. | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Climatic changes. | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | College students -- United States. | |
| dc.title | College students’ plausibility perceptions about global climate change |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1