Civil Engineering Students’ Beliefs about Global Warming and Misconceptions about Climate Science
Publication: Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 147, Issue 4
Abstract
Civil engineers will face increasing challenges in their careers due to climate change. The infrastructure they design and construct will directly contribute to or mitigate it. Action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change requires both a belief in human-caused global warming and a basic understanding of climate science. To understand which current engineering education efforts are successful or may need more consideration, a national sample of civil engineering students and students from other engineering disciplines was asked about their belief in global warming, understanding of greenhouse gases, the causes of global climate change, and ways to help reduce or slow it. The overwhelming majority of civil engineering students (83%) and students from other engineering disciplines (81%) acknowledged that global warming is happening. Nearly three of every four civil engineering students (73.5%) and other engineering students (71.3%) believed that global warming is caused by humans. However, only about half of civil engineering students (55.6%) and other engineering students (52.3%) felt that global warming is personally important. The majority of civil engineering students and other engineering students did not understand the causes and actions to reduce global warming. More than half of civil engineering students (60%) believed that nuclear power generation is a cause of global warming, which is significantly more than students from other engineering disciplines (52.6%). More than 8 of every 10 civil engineering students (83%) incorrectly believed or were unsure that the ozone hole in the upper atmosphere is a cause of global warming. A possible explanation for these misconceptions is that civil engineering students recognized general problems, such as nuclear waste and the ozone hole, but they did not link particular causes with particular consequences. Possible interventions were discussed for making climate change information personally relevant to engage students to think about cause and effect related to the climate.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data available includes the deidentified national sample of student responses to the survey described in the methods. The models available include the models described in the methods section used to generate the results.
Acknowledgments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 1635534 and 1635204. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors thank the students who participated in the research by completing the survey.
References
Adlong, W., and E. Dietsch. 2015. “Environmental education and the health professions: Framing climate change as a health issue.” Environ. Educ. Res. 21 (5): 687–709. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.930727.
Andersson, B., and A. Wallin. 2000. “Students’ understanding of the greenhouse effect, the societal consequences of reducing emissions and the problem of ozone layer depletion.” J. Res. Sci. Teach. 37 (10): 1096–1111. https://doi.org/10.1002/1098-2736(200012)37:10%3C1096::AID-TEA4%3E3.0.CO;2-8.
ASCE. 2018. “Policy Statement 360—Impact of climate change.” Accessed February 2, 2020. https://www.asce.org/issues-and-advocacy/public-policy/policy-statement-360---impact-of-climate-change/.
Bain, P. G., et al. 2016. “Co-benefits of addressing climate change can motivate action around the world.” Nat. Clim. Change 6 (2): 154–157. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2814.
Bain, P. G., M. J. Hornsey, R. Bongiorno, and C. Jeffries. 2012. “Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers.” Nat. Clim. Change 2 (8): 600–603. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1532.
Baker, J., J. Loxton, and K. Sherren. 2013. “Using art elicitation to deliver and evaluate a grade 4 climate change instructional module.” Appl. Environ. Educ. Commun. 12 (2): 130–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/1533015X.2013.824248.
Boyes, E., and M. Stanisstreet. 1993. “The ‘greenhouse effect’: children’s perceptions of causes, consequences and cures.” Int. J. Sci. Educ. 15 (5): 531–552. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950069930150507.
Boyes, E., and M. Stanisstreet. 1998. “High school students’ perceptions of how major global environmental effects might cause skin cancer.” J. Environ. Educ. 29 (2): 31–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958969809599110.
Burke, R. D., C. L. A. Dancz, K. J. Ketchman, M. M. Bilec, T. H. Boyer, C. Davidson, A. E. Landis, and K. Parrish. 2018. “Faculty perspectives on sustainability integration in undergraduate civil and environmental engineering curriculum.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 144 (3): 04018004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000373.
Carnesale, A., and W. Chameides. 2011. “America’s climate choices.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.nap.edu/resource/12781/ACC-final-brief.pdf.
Chang, C.-H., and L. Pascua. 2016. “Singapore students’ misconceptions of climate change.” Int. Res. Geog. Environ. Educ. 25 (1): 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2015.1106206.
Chen, X. 2011. “Why do people misunderstand climate change? Heuristics, mental models and ontological assumptions.” Clim. Change 108 (1): 31–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-0013-5.
Chi, M. T. H. 2005. “Commonsense conceptions of emergent processes: Why some misconceptions are robust.” J. Learn. Sci. 14 (2): 161–199. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls1402_1.
Coleman, E., T. Shealy, and A. Godwin. 2018. “What are the beliefs and misconceptions about climate change of students pursuing careers in civil and construction engineering?” In Proc., Construction Research Congress. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Devine-Wright, P., H. Devine-Wright, and P. Fleming. 2004. “Situational influences upon children’s beliefs about global warming and energy.” Environ. Educ. Res. 10 (4): 493–506. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350462042000291029.
Dickinson, J. L., R. Crain, S. Yalowitz, and T. M. Cherry. 2013. “How framing climate change influences citizen scientists’ intentions to do something about it.” J. Environ. Educ. 44 (3): 145–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2012.742032.
EIA (Energy Information Administration). 2019. “How much energy is consumed in US residential and commercial buildings?” Accessed January 22, 2020. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=86&t=1.
Eiseman, D. L., A. K. Armstrong, and A. M. Chatrchyan. 2020. “Designing an extension Climate Stewards volunteer program: Incorporating sense of community, social practice, and self-efficacy theories.” Environ. Educ. Res. 26 (11): 1636–1655. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1811841.
Fisher, B. 1998. “Australian students’ appreciation of the greenhouse effect and the ozone hole.” Aust. Sci. Teachers J. 44 (3): 46–55.
Fusco, E., A. Snider, and S. Luo. 2012. “Perception of global climate change as a mediator of the effects of major and religious affiliation on college students’ environmentally responsible behavior.” Environ. Educ. Res. 18 (6): 815–830. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2012.672965.
Goris, T., and M. Dyrenfurth. 2010. “Students’ misconceptions in science, technology, and engineering.” In Proc., ASEE Illinois/Indiana Section Conf. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue Univ.
Grubert, E. 2018. “Civil engineering’s internal skepticism on climate change.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 144 (3): 02518003. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000370.
Hallar, A. G., I. B. McCubbin, and J. M. Wright. 2011. “CHANGE: A place-based curriculum for understanding climate change at Storm Peak Laboratory, Colorado.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 92 (7): 909–918. https://doi.org/10.1175/2011BAMS3026.1.
Hamilton, L. C. 2011. “Education, politics and opinions about climate change evidence for interaction effects.” Clim. Change 104 (2): 231–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-010-9957-8.
Hestness, E., J. R. McGinnis, and W. Breslyn. 2019. “Examining the relationship between middle school students’ sociocultural participation and their ideas about climate change.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 912–924. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2016.1266303.
Higuchi, M. I. G., D. T. Paz, A. Roazzi, and B. C. de Souza. 2018. “Knowledge and beliefs about climate change and the role of the Amazonian forest among university and high school students.” Ecopsychology 10 (2): 106–116. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2017.0050.
Hollander, R. D., F. F. Benya, and C. H. Fletcher, eds. 2014. The climate change educational partnership: Climate change, engineered systems, and society: A report of three workshops. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Howell, R. A. 2013. “It’s not (just) ‘the environment, stupid!’ Values, motivations, and routes to engagement of people adopting lower-carbon lifestyles.” Global Environ. Change 23 (1): 281–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.10.015.
Howell, R. A., and S. Allen. 2019. “Significant life experiences, motivations and values of climate change educators.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 813–831. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2016.1158242.
Humphrey, N. 2008. Potential impacts of climate change on US transportation. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Johnson, C. 2018. “As Louisiana island shrinks, state paying to move residents.” AP News. March 21, 2018.
Karl, T. R. 2009. Global climate change impacts in the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Karpudewan, M., W.-M. Roth, and K. Chandrakesan. 2015. “Remediating misconception on climate change among secondary school students in Malaysia.” Environ. Educ. Res. 21 (4): 631–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2014.891004.
Kellstedt, P. M., S. Zahran, and A. Vedlitz. 2008. “Personal efficacy, the information environment, and attitudes toward global warming and climate change in the United States.” Risk Anal.: Int. J. 28 (1): 113–126. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01010.x.
Klotz, L., G. Potvin, A. Godwin, J. Cribbs, Z. Hazari, and N. Barclay. 2014. “Sustainability as a route to broadening participation in engineering.” J. Eng. Educ. 103 (1): 137–153. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20034.
Lefsrud, L. M., and R. E. Meyer. 2012. “Science or science fiction? Professionals’ discursive construction of climate change.” Organ. Stud. 33 (11): 1477–1506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840612463317.
Leiserowitz, A., E. Maibach, S. Rosenthal, J. Kotcher, P. Bergquist, M. T. Ballew, M. Goldberg, A. Gustafson, and X. Wang. 2020. Climate change in the American mind: April 2020. New Haven, CT: Climate Change Communication, Yale.
Leiserowitz, A., N. Smith, and J. R. Marlon. 2011. American teens’ knowledge of climate change. New Haven, CT: Climate Change Communication, Yale.
Littrell, M. K., K. Tayne, C. Okochi, E. Leckey, A. U. Gold, and S. Lynds. 2020. “Student perspectives on climate change through place-based filmmaking.” Environ. Educ. Res. 26 (4): 594–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1736516.
Lombardi, D., and G. M. Sinatra. 2012. “College students’ perceptions about the plausibility of human-induced climate change.” Res. Sci. Educ. 42 (2): 201–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-010-9196-z.
MacBride, S. 2011. Recycling reconsidered. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Marlon, J., P. Howe, M. Mildenberger, and A. Leiserowitz. 2016. “Yale climate opinion maps—US 2016.” Accessed January 23, 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/visualizations-data/ycom-us-2016/.
McNeal, K. S., J. K. L. Hammerman, J. A. Christiansen, and F. J. Carroll. 2014. “Climate change education in the southeastern US through public dialogue: Not just preaching to the choir.” J. Geosci. Educ. 62 (4): 631–644. https://doi.org/10.5408/13-061.1.
McNeill, K. L., and M. H. Vaughn. 2012. “Urban high school students’ critical science agency: Conceptual understandings and environmental actions around climate change.” Res. Sci. Educ. 42 (2): 373–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-010-9202-5.
Monroe, M. C., R. R. Plate, A. Oxarart, A. Bowers, and W. A. Chaves. 2019. “Identifying effective climate change education strategies: a systematic review of the research.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 791–812. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1360842.
NAE (National Academy of Engineering). 2012. “NAE grand challenges for engineering.” Accessed January 16, 2009. http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx.
Papadimitriou, V. 2004. “Prospective primary teachers’ understanding of climate change, greenhouse effect, and ozone layer depletion.” J. Sci. Educ. Technol. 13 (2): 299–307. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOST.0000031268.72848.6d.
Potvin, G., Z. Hazari, L. Klotz, A. Godwin, R. Lock, J. D. Cribbs, and N. Barclay. 2013. “Disciplinary differences in engineering students’ aspirations and self-perceptions.” In Proc., of the ASEE Annual Conf. & Exposition. Washington, DC: American Society for Engineering Education.
Rajeev Gowda, M. V., J. C. Fox, and R. D. Magelky. 1997. “Students’ understanding of climate change: Insights for scientists and educators.” Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 78 (10): 2232–2240. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477-78.10.2232.
Russell, P. 2019. “A call to action for engineers on climate change.” Engineering News-Record. December 19, 2019.
Sedgwick, P. 2012. “Multiple significance tests: The Bonferroni correction.” BMJ 344: e509. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e509.
Sezen-Barrie, A., N. Shea, and J. H. Borman. 2019. “Probing into the sources of ignorance: science teachers’ practices of constructing arguments or rebuttals to denialism of climate change.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 846–866. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1330949.
Shealy, T., L. Klotz, A. Godwin, Z. Hazari, G. Potvin, N. Barclay, and J. Cribbs. 2019. “High school experiences and climate change beliefs of first year college students in the United States.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 925–935. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1293009.
Shealy, T., R. Valdes-Vasquez, L. Klotz, G. Potvin, A. Godwin, J. Cribbs, and Z. Hazari. 2017. “Half of students interested in civil engineering do not believe in anthropogenic climate change.” J. Civ. Eng. Educ. 143 (3): D4016003. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000323.
Shepardson, D. P., D. Niyogi, S. Choi, and U. Charusombat. 2009. “Seventh grade students’ conceptions of global warming and climate change.” Environ. Educ. Res. 15 (5): 549–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620903114592.
Shepardson, D. P., D. Niyogi, S. Choi, and U. Charusombat. 2010. “Students’ conceptions about the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change.” Clim. Change 104 (3–4): 481–507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9786-9.
Shepardson, D. P., D. Niyogi, A. Roychoudhury, and A. Hirsch. 2012. “Conceptualizing climate change in the context of a climate system: implications for climate and environmental education.” Environ. Educ. Res. 18 (3): 323–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.622839.
Spence, A., and N. Pidgeon. 2010. “Framing and communicating climate change: The effects of distance and outcome frame manipulations.” Global Environ. Change 20 (4): 656–667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.002.
Stevenson, K. T., M. N. Peterson, and H. D. Bondell. 2019. “The influence of personal beliefs, friends, and family in building climate change concern among adolescents.” Environ. Educ. Res. 25 (6): 832–845. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2016.1177712.
Stoner, A. n.d. “Preparing our infrastructure for a changing climate (AWI051118).” Accessed October 19, 2020. http://mylearning.asce.org/diweb/catalog/item/id/2314215/q/q=climate&c=79.
Tambo, E., W. Duo-Quan, and X.-N. Zhou. 2016. “Tackling air pollution and extreme climate changes in China: Implementing the Paris climate change agreement.” Environ. Int. 95 (Oct): 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.04.010.
Truelove, H. B., K. L. Yeung, A. R. Carrico, A. J. Gillis, and K. T. Raimi. 2016. “From plastic bottle recycling to policy support: An experimental test of pro-environmental spillover.” J. Environ. Psychol. 46 (Jun): 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.03.004.
USEPA. 2014. “Sources of greenhouse gas emissions.” Accessed February 25, 2017. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions.
USEPA. 2015a. “Carbon pollution from transportation.” Accessed January 22, 2020. https://www.epa.gov/transportation-air-pollution-and-climate-change/carbon-pollution-transportation.
USEPA. 2015b. “Impacts of mismanaged trash.” Accessed March 20, 2021. https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/impacts-mismanaged-trash.
USGS. 2018. “Volcanoes can affect climate.” Accessed March 20, 2021. https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/volcano-hazards/volcanoes-can-affect-climate.
van Ewijk, S., J. A. Stegemann, and P. Ekins. 2021. “Limited climate benefits of global recycling of pulp and paper.” Nat. Sustainability 4 (2): 180–187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00624-z.
Waldman, S. 2017. “Maryland Island denies sea level rise, yet wants to stop it.” Scientific American. June 15, 2017.
Weber, E. U. 2011. “Psychology: Climate change hits home.” Nat. Clim. Change 1 (1): 25–26. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1070.
Weber, E. U., and P. C. Stern. 2011. “Public understanding of climate change in the United States.” Am. Psychologist 66 (4): 315. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023253.
Wickham, H. 2009. ggplot2: Elegant graphics for data analysis. New York: Springer.
World Bank. 2017. “Carbon dioxide emissions data.” Accessed January 23, 2020.
Xia, Y., and Y. Yang. 2019. “RMSEA, CFI, and TLI in structural equation modeling with ordered categorical data: The story they tell depends on the estimation methods.” Behav. Res. Methods 51 (1): 409–428. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-018-1055-2.
Yoder, B. L. 2017. “Engineering by the numbers.” Accessed April 12, 2018. https://www.asee.org/papers-and-publications/publications/college-profiles.
Younger, M., H. R. Morrow-Almeida, S. M. Vindigni, and A. L. Dannenberg. 2008. “The built environment, climate change, and health: Opportunities for co-benefits.” Am. J. Preventive Med. 35 (5): 517–526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.017.
Zummo, L., E. Gargroetzi, and A. Garcia. 2020. “Youth voice on climate change: using factor analysis to understand the intersection of science, politics, and emotion.” Environ. Educ. Res. 26 (8): 1207–1226. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1771288.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 147 • Issue 4 • October 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 29, 2020
Accepted: Apr 3, 2021
Published online: Jun 11, 2021
Published in print: Oct 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Nov 11, 2021
ASCE Technical Topics:
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Rasul G. Akhtyamov, Ways to transform transport vocational education in the context of training for a low-carbon economy, Modern Transportation Systems and Technologies, 10.17816/transsyst595898, 10, 1, (5-19), (2024).
- Juhari Noor Faezah, M.Y. Yusliza, T. Ramayah, Adriano Alves Teixeira, Abdur Rachman Alkaf, Mediating role of green culture and green commitment in implementing employee ecological behaviour, Journal of Management Development, 10.1108/JMD-08-2023-0258, (2024).
- Claudia Calle Müller, Piyush Pradhananga, Mohamed ElZomor, Pathways to decarbonization, circular construction, and sustainability in the built environment, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 10.1108/IJSHE-09-2023-0400, (2024).
- Panagiota Axelithioti, Rachel S. Fisher, Emma J. S. Ferranti, Holly J. Foss, Andrew D. Quinn, What Are We Teaching Engineers about Climate Change? Presenting the MACC Evaluation of Climate Change Education, Education Sciences, 10.3390/educsci13020153, 13, 2, (153), (2023).
- Mujde Erten-Unal, Dalya Ismael, Carol Considine, Preparing Students to Solve Challenges Related to a Changing Climate, 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, 10.18260/1-2--43955, (2023).