Summary
In this article, 14 activities are described, that were designed as a part of the instructional module “Southeastern Forests and Climate Change”, a secondary environmental education module which focuses on climate change impacts on southern forest ecosystems, forest impacts on climate, and the ways people can affect these relationships. The principles used to design the activities, the results, and the implications of this social science research are presented. In addition to conveying information about climate change and forest management to secondary science students, the module was designed to empower learners to take action and build skills in systems thinking.
Hope Theory was applied in the design of the 14 activities and hope was measured among high school students who participated in the evaluation of the activities. According to Hope Theory, hope is a thinking process in which people exhibit agency thinking (willpower) and pathways thinking (waypower). Climate change is a challenging topic for educators who intend to nurture hope among their students. The 14 activities introduce concepts, provide data, engage students in discussions, and provide examples of how people are researching or addressing the issue.
Activities helped learners understand how others are working on climate issues, how forest owners adapt management protocols, and how individuals can contribute to solutions—all of which help nurture hopefulness and efficacy. The authors also focused on developing systems thinking skills by providing opportunities for students to learn and practice common systems tools, such as causal loop diagrams.
High school students (n = 924) from 24 schools in the southeastern United States participated. The students completed pre-and post-activity surveys that assessed knowledge, hope, and systems thinking skills. The analysis used is described. Knowledge of forest management, carbon cycle, the role of forests in mitigating climate change, life cycle assessment, and product externalities also significantly increased.
The authors point out, that sustainability educators can develop and nurture a sense of hopefulness by showing examples of people who are currently working to understand, mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as the potential for others to join them. This can help learners broaden their hope pathways thinking.
Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
This article deals with system thinking and sustainability. It describes an approach of designing activities based on Hope Theory. This study explored the levels of knowledge, hope, and systems thinking among high school students with the following questions: (1) Can climate change education programs nurture hope and enhance systems thinking skills? (2) Does an increase in knowledge increase hopefulness?
