Mapping Differences in Students Knowledge and Perspectives on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Baharudin Yusuf Haqiqi, Ari Widodo, Rini Solihat

Biology Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Abstract

Climate change education plays an important role in strengthening students^ sustainability literacy. Although climate change issues are increasingly discussed in science education, students^ understanding often remains fragmented and tends to focus primarily on the causes of climate change, while their understanding of mitigation, adaptation, and constructive individual engagement in climate action is still limited. This study aims to map students^ conceptual knowledge of climate change through four key dimensions: knowledge of climate change causes and impacts, knowledge of mitigation strategies, knowledge of adaptation strategies, and constructive hope toward climate action. The study involved 72 junior high school students who completed a contextual essay test consisting of 20 items developed based on local environmental issues such as urban transportation, waste management, deforestation, and extreme weather events. Students^ responses were analyzed using an analytic rubric with a score range of 0-4 to assess the depth of scientific understanding and causal reasoning. The descriptive analysis revealed that students^ average scores were 44.18 for knowledge of climate change causes and impacts, 46.53 for mitigation knowledge, 32.73 for adaptation knowledge, and 33.94 for constructive hope toward climate action, with an overall average score of 40.31. The findings indicate that students demonstrate relatively stronger understanding of climate change mitigation compared to adaptation, while their orientation toward constructive climate action remains comparatively low. This pattern suggests a noticeable gap between students^ knowledge of mitigation and adaptation as well as a disconnect between conceptual understanding and action-oriented perspectives. The novelty of this study lies in its integrative mapping of students^ climate change knowledge by incorporating adaptation knowledge and constructive hope as key dimensions of sustainability literacy. These findings provide empirical insights for developing more transformative climate change education that supports students^ sustainability literacy and their readiness to engage in climate action

Keywords: Climate change education- Climate change mitigation- Climate change adaptation- Sustainability literacy- Students^ perspectives- Junior high school students

Topic: STEM Education