CAN YOU MAKE A DECISION ALREADY? AN ANALYSIS OF HOMETOWN STORIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS

While scientists have a clear consensus on the global climate crisis, a number of citizens fail to see the need for climate change action in society. One potential explanation postulates that citizens may struggle to build connections between examples of climate change impacts from a local to global scale. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the results of an action research project conducted in an elementary science methods course designed to support pre-service teachers in coaching socioscientific reasoning skills. This project consisted of a two week unit that modeled the use of a Structural Decision Making (SDM) framework (Alred & Dauer, 2020) by examining impacts of the changing regional climate patterns in rural Alabama. The SDM functions as a cognitive apprenticeship for students as they learn how to identify problems, analyze potential solutions, and reflect on their suggested resolutions. This framework can also reduce cognitive biases and support socioscientific reasoning skills in students. After completing this unit, students produced a course project where they use the SDM tool to identify an example of how climate change impacts their local community. With this example, they offer a solution to their local community and record a video presenting their climate story to a local politician. Data from student projects including their SDM frameworks, videos, and follow-up reflections were qualitatively evaluated using a case study analysis. The survey of their narratives revealed how students utilized their values and beliefs to inform the decision-making process surrounding a local impact of climate change in their community. Further discussion will include important implications for the reinforcement of decision making skills in the K-16 classroom and how the SDM can support teachers in a crucial role as culturally responsive educators.