Compelling evidence: an influence on middle school students' accounts that may impact decision-making about socioscientific issues

This study investigates how middle school students make hypothetical purchasing, consuming, and voting decisions about environmental and science-related issues - a key component of environmental literacy. Fifty-three female students were given a packet containing multiple excerpts of information fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental education research 2017-09, Vol.23 (8), p.1115-1129
Main Authors: Emery, Katherine, Harlow, Danielle, Whitmer, Ali, Gaines, Steven
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attribution Theory
Consumer Economics
Decision Making
Decisions
Environmental Education
environmental issues
Evidence
Inferences
Influences
Interviews
Middle School Students
Middle schools
Performance Factors
Purchasing
Qualitative Research
Science and Society
Students
Studies
Voting
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Summary:This study investigates how middle school students make hypothetical purchasing, consuming, and voting decisions about environmental and science-related issues - a key component of environmental literacy. Fifty-three female students were given a packet containing multiple excerpts of information from conflicting positions from stakeholders and interviewed about how they would make decisions about environmental and science-related issues. We first investigated whether and how information presented as evidence influenced students' accounts that may impact their decision-making (i.e. to make or change decisions). We then investigated how evidence type affected students' decision-making. Findings indicated that most students did not change their stance after reading additional contrasting information presented as evidence. Implications for science teaching and learning are discussed.
ISSN:1350-4622
1469-5871
DOI:10.1080/13504622.2016.1225673