STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY POP-UP LEARNING COMMUNITY ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The topic of climate change is interdisciplinary by its very nature. However, an individual’s last formal exposure to the science behind climate change may be as early as 8th grade. Pop-up events offer a unique, relatively low stakes but challenging opportunity to bring together students for an interdisciplinary, active learning experience around a “hot topic” that they are likely to experience even after the course is complete. In this setting, students are encouraged to engage in the social construction of knowledge around a given topic, and to express empathy through dialogue rather than debate.

In December 2017, more than 150 college-level Earth science, chemistry, philosophy and communications students at a Midwest school came together in a one-off, pop-up event to examine how climate change is presented in news and social media. The purpose of this event was to analyze scientific and logical arguments around climate change, rather than the data or trends explicitly. Faculty and graduate students modeled how their disciplinary perspectives could be brought to bear on presentations of the science, whether or not climate change was typically included as a course topic.

Small, interdisciplinary groups were presented with video and text-based examples of climate change information from political representatives in formal settings and hypothetical individuals on social media. After discussion, each student wrote a response based on the example. A qualitative comparison of responses to a scientifically and logically fallacious prompt revealed more nuanced responses following a short group discussion. Using a retrospective post-then-pre design, students reported significantly higher confidence in their ability to communicate with others about climate change, including those who hold different perspectives, in both written and oral formats. Additionally, students overwhelmingly responded that the pop-up learning community had positively impacted their knowledge of and attitude towards climate change, and expressed an interest in engaging in climate change conversations in the future. This willingness points to the potential for pop-up events to help break down social barriers for college students talking with one another civilly on a hot scientific topic outside of the classroom.