Improving tenth graders' understanding of global carbon cycle :|a systems learning approach

Abstract

This study investigated whether studying the global carbon cycle through a systems learning approach helps 10th-grade students better understand the atmospheric carbon reduction strategies. Global carbon circulation with the principles of stock-flow networks was developed and used in order to improve the learning of global carbon dynamics. The research was a case study that enabled to compare the performance of students on carbon reduction potentials of different forestation practices in the long term, with a specifically designed Coal Substitution Test. The sample of the study includes twenty-five 10th-grade students (16-17-year-old). The study was conducted in biology class at a high school. All twenty-five students firstly completed their biology courses about the carbon cycle with their teachers according to the 10th grade biology curriculum approved given by the Ministry of Education. After completing their curriculum objectives, the students took Coal Substitution Test. Following this, they were given two hours system dynamics lesson about global carbon cycle. The following week they retook Coal Substitution Test. The responses to the tests before and after the intervention were statistically compared. It was found after the intervention, the group performed better according to t-test results and for each question at .002 and .001 significance levels. Cohen’s d effect size was found to be “large”. The results indicated students improved their understanding of particular aspects of the dynamics of the global carbon cycle.