Kean University Students Knowledge, Beliefs, and Behaviors About Climate Change
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Rick Esner
College:
The College of Health Professions and Human Services
Major:
Speech-Language Pathology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Karen Woodruff, Daniela Shebitz
Abstract:
This study examines Kean University students' knowledge and beliefs on climate change to establish a baseline of climate literacy at Kean University. The NJ State Board of Education adopted the 2020 Student Learning Standards, including interdisciplinary guidelines for teaching climate change across seven disciplinary content areas, making climate change education a state-wide priority. As such, a portion of current undergraduate students at Kean should have entered the college level with preliminary knowledge and beliefs on climate change.
The participants of this research study are a voluntary subsample of the population of undergraduate Kean students, studying across all disciplines offered at the university. We seek to understand how prepared Kean students are on topics of climate change as we develop initiatives to support the integration of climate change education. Our survey includes questions developed and tested by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, regarding Kean students' beliefs about global warming, risk perceptions, and behaviors related to climate change and sustainability. The Yale Program Survey has been administered nationally and includes state and county-specific findings. Our research includes a survey of 1000 Kean students and compares their answers against national and New Jersey-specific data from the Yale Program. Preliminary results from this study indicate that the vast majority of students believe that global warming is happening, that human action is responsible, and are worried about global warming’s effects. Interestingly, students believe that there is disagreement among scientists on whether global warming is happening. Future research will compare the data of Kean students against those of current high school students and track changes over time in survey responses. The data will also inform programming at the University and in our outreach and support of local K-12 school districts.