Visualizing the Greenhouse Effect: Restructuring Mental Models of Climate Change Through a Guided Online Simulation

Abstract

The purpose of this design based research study was to better understand and build from students’ perceptual experiences of visual representations of the greenhouse effect. Twenty undergraduate students were interviewed as they engaged with an online visualization for the learning of the greenhouse effect. We found that, even though all students agreed that climate change is happening, a majority initially held a misconception about how it works. Upon engaging with the visualization, students made perceptual inferences and formulated causal rules that culminated in an improved description of how climate change works. This trajectory was supported with prompts from the interviewer to make predictions, observe specific interactions in the visualization and revise their causal inferences based on these observations. A case study is presented to illustrate a typical learning trajectory.

Climate change, a critical new role for educational and developmental psychologists

“…Educational and developmental psychologists have already played important roles in changing the teaching of climate change in schools. While many young people are aware of climate change, many also misunderstand its underlying mechanisms (Thacker & Sinatra, 2019). The complexities of human-induced climate change mean there is no simple catch-all solution for resolving this problem (Lombardi, Sinatra, & Nussbaum, 2013).…”

“…However, educational psychologists have already contributed widely. These contributions include the development of mental models of climate change using online simulation (Thacker & Sinatra, 2019); examining the role of epistemic beliefs and emotions (Muis et al, 2015); investigating the role of plausibility judgement in climate change beliefs Lombardi, Seyranian, & Sinatra, 2014); considering students' evaluations about climate change (Lombardi, Brandt, Bickel, & Burg, 2016); understanding people's willingness to take action (Sinatra, Kardash, Taasoobshirazi, & Lombardi, 2012); and emphasising the importance of professional development for those who work with students (Beck, Sinatra, & Lombardi, 2013). Parents and teachers have a responsibility to not only create a dialogue with their children and students about climate change, but also provide space and opportunity to act (Sanson, Hoorne, & Burke, 2019).…”

Student Representations of Computation in the Physics Community

“…Mental models are "abstract representations that store the spatial, physical and conceptual features of experiences" [95], or "systematically constructed representations of physical systems, used to describe, represent, and explain the mechanisms underlying physical phenomenon" [96]. Mental models are built out of predictions and explanations for the reality they imitate [97,98]. Learners use mental models to facilitate "retrieval in the service of problem solving, inference generation and decision making" [95] and to "ground abstract scientific ideas" [97] that they can then analyze mentally and create new inferences and associations [99].…”

Profil Model Pemahaman Peserta Didik pada Topik Suhu dan Kalor: Studi Lintas Pendidikan

“…Representasi mikroskopik merupakan pemahaman yang sulit dipelajari. Hal ini dikarenakan representasi mikroskopik bersifat abstrak [6] dan hanya teramati melalui gejala-gejalanya, sehingga peserta didik sering kali mengalami kesulitan dalam memahaminya [7], [8]. Pemahaman yang baik pada representasi mikroskopik akan mempermudah memahami konsep fisika pada representasi lainnya [9].…”