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- Title
Anthropogenic Climate Change in Undergraduate Marine and Environmental Science Programs in the United States.
- Authors
Vlietstra, Lucy S.; Mrakovcich, Karina L.; Futch, Victoria C.; Stutzman, Brooke S.
- Abstract
To develop a context for programlevel design decisions pertaining to anthropogenic climate change, we studied the prevalence of courses focused on human-induced climate change in undergraduate marine science and environmental science degree programs in the United States. Of the 86 institutions and 125 programs we examined, 37% included at least one course featuring anthropogenic climate change in its course description. The likelihood that a program included this type of course was not associated with the institution's control status (private vs. public), student population size, geographic location, or program type (environmental vs. marine science). We found that courses focusing on anthropogenic climate change were more likely to serve as free electives than as major electives or required courses. Main themes addressed in course descriptions often included climate change causes, consequences, evidence, and physical mechanisms, whereas strategies for mitigating modern climate change were less often addressed. We provide an example of how our findings were used to guide decisions about introducing the subject of anthropogenic climate change at our own institution.
- Subjects
CLIMATE change; OCEANOGRAPHY education (Higher); ENVIRONMENTAL sciences education in universities &; colleges; UNDERGRADUATE programs; PRIVATE schools; ELECTIVE system (Higher education)
- Publication
Journal of College Science Teaching, 2016, Vol 45, Issue 5, p34
- ISSN
0047-231X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2505/4/jcst16_045_05_34