OZONE DEPLETION AND CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWLEDGE: PERSPECTIVES AND KNOWLEDGE SOURCES OF GHANAIAN PRESERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS

The climate science knowledge held by preservice science teachers is important to climate education as their knowledge is transferred to the students they will teach. The inaccurate knowledge that climate change results from a change in weather and ozone holes instead of greenhouse gases, is common among all levels of teachers. This mixed-method, descriptive study explores preservice teachers’ climate change and ozone depletion knowledge, and documents the sources of their ideas. Elementary preservice science teachers (N=255) from three colleges of education in Ghana participated in this study. A sub-sample of 30 preservice teachers from the 255 preservice teachers then participated in a semi-structured interview. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six factors related to ozone depletion and four related to climate change knowledge. Analysis of survey and interview responses revealed that the preservice teachers had coherent knowledge that ozone layer is a layer of gas in the atmosphere that absorbs most of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Yet, they cannot accurately describe how ozone forms in the atmosphere and the mechanism of ozone destruction. The preservice teachers confuse climate change with changes in weather and seasons, but most could articulate anthropogenic causes of climate change such as greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, and could link these causes with remediation methods. About 88% of the participants thought climate change and ozone depletion were causally linked – either ozone depletion caused climate change, or climate change caused ozone depletion. We identified a common idea that the ozone “hole” allows more sunlight to reach Earth, leading to warming. The idea that greenhouse gases entering the upper atmosphere lead to ozone depletion also emerged. The participating preservice teachers identified textbooks (80%), instructors (64%) and the media (62%) as the main sources of their ozone depletion and climate change knowledge. We identified a mix of knowledge gaps and coherent ideas that can form the basis of instructional interventions, and highlight a list of potential sources from where preservice teachers obtain inaccurate knowledge.