A Qualitative Case Study of Socio-Scientific Reasoning in the En-ROADS Climate Simulation

This study aims to investigate the nature of socio-scientific reasoning around climate change issues using a simulation model. More specifically, the nature of the socio-scientific reasoning of twenty undergraduate students from different disciplinary majors was measured as they engaged with the En-ROADS climate simulation. Data were collected from classroom worksheets that six stakeholder groups completed and individual reflection of twenty students. Data were analyzed using a rubric on a 0-2 scale. The study found that students have high level competency in complexity, perspective taking and multiple perspective taking. The skill of inquiry was absent in group level data, though individual level data showed some high scores. Skepticism and the affordance of science need improvement. Study findings have implications for the development of socio-scientific reasoning competencies through climate change education.