Abstract—This is the second paper to be generated from
work first presented in Rome in 2016. During 2015 and 2016 a
sample of American undergraduate students were given an
anonymous survey to ascertain their knowledge about global
warming and climate change. The survey asked the students to
indicate the degree of truth they perceived about a climate
change statement on a 1-5 scale. A score of 1 meant the
statement was true while a score of 5 indicated the statement
was false. As a follow up assignment the students were asked to
write an anonymous paragraph to further explain their
understanding. Surprisingly, the scores on the survey grouped
around 3.0 – not sure. It emerged from the data that the sample
of undergraduates didn’t believe humans were contributing.
The major surprise for the researcher was the degree to
which the writing showed how this sample of college students
believed anthropomorphic global warming is a hoax, a plot, or a
takeover move of the United Nations. The responses are littered
to references to "liberals". Examples and analysis of student
writing is provided. Some parts of the previous article are
repeated for framing and clarification.
Index Terms—Climate change, anthropomorphic, denial,
undergraduate, education.
David A. Cline is with Saginaw Valley State University, University
Center, MI 48710 USA (e-mail: dacline@svsu.edu).
Cite: David A. Cline, "Anthropomorphic Climate Change? Some American Undergraduates Think It Is All Political," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 7, no. 11, pp. 858-862, 2017.