In new research published in the journal Environmental
Communication, researchers examined more than the 15,000
combined pages from current editions of 16 of the leading physics,
biology and chemistry undergraduate textbooks published between 2013 and
2015.
They found that less than 4 percent of pages were devoted toward discussing climate change, global warming, related environmental issues or renewable energy applications.
In addition, the research team found:
They noted that climate change, global warming, fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy are not often a focus of the textbooks or course for these disciplines. Furthermore, these topics may not even be the focus of a single unit in one of these courses and are unlikely to be a primary factor in the selection of the course textbook.
However, these cross-cutting topics of socio-scientific debate represent important societal and environmental contexts for developing informed and productive citizens.
By documenting that large textbooks devote relatively few pages to these pressing societal issues, this research calls into question the effectiveness of the information provided to students in introductory materials.
They found that less than 4 percent of pages were devoted toward discussing climate change, global warming, related environmental issues or renewable energy applications.
In addition, the research team found:
- While they observed a large variation for individual books, biology textbooks had on average the largest number of pages discussing the effects of climate change, but still less than 2 percent, while chemistry textbooks showed the largest variation, and physics books have an average of less than 0.5 percent of total pages;
- The greatest content is in the final third of the book for biology and chemistry, which supports a general trend in education in that "applications" usually are addressed towards the end of a course of study, building on a firm foundation of content knowledge;
- Among the three disciplines, the least emphasis was placed on renewable energy technologies in the biology textbooks examined. Characteristically, alternative fuels and other technologies related to the transportation sector are emphasized heavily in chemistry and physics;
- Nuclear energy, which was addressed separately, is found on less than 1 percent of textbook pages and unfavorably represented.
They noted that climate change, global warming, fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy are not often a focus of the textbooks or course for these disciplines. Furthermore, these topics may not even be the focus of a single unit in one of these courses and are unlikely to be a primary factor in the selection of the course textbook.
However, these cross-cutting topics of socio-scientific debate represent important societal and environmental contexts for developing informed and productive citizens.
By documenting that large textbooks devote relatively few pages to these pressing societal issues, this research calls into question the effectiveness of the information provided to students in introductory materials.
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This manuscript was published in Environmental Communication on April 29, and is available ?online: http://www.
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