Place-based climate change: lowering students' psychological distance through a classroom activity

Area of Science:

• Environmental Psychology
• Climate Change Education
• Place-Based Learning

Background:

• Psychological distance (PD) hinders student perception of climate change impacts and severity.
• Place-based approaches can reduce PD by localizing climate change.
• Effective pedagogical strategies are needed to address student disconnect from climate change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel classroom intervention designed to decrease undergraduate biology students' spatial and social psychological distance from climate change.
• To determine if the intervention influenced students' recognition and perception of climate change severity.
• To identify external variables that may have influenced changes in students' psychological distance.

Main Methods:

• A classroom intervention was developed integrating place-based education and the Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science model.
• Pre- and post-intervention surveys, including multiple instruments, were administered to measure students' psychological distance and recognition of climate change.
• Statistical analysis was used to assess the intervention's efficacy and identify predictor variables for post-activity scores.

Main Results:

• Students' psychological distance to climate change significantly decreased following the intervention.
• The intervention successfully lowered both spatial and social psychological distance related to climate change.
• Course level was identified as the sole significant external predictor of students' post-intervention scores.

Conclusions:

• The developed classroom intervention is effective in reducing psychological distance to climate change among undergraduate biology students.
• Place-based strategies can be valuable tools for educators aiming to enhance student engagement with climate change.
• Reducing psychological distance has potential long-term implications as these students become future scientists and informed citizens.