International Journal of Science Education, 2015

Vol. 37, No. 1, 31 – 54, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2014.958600

Enhancing Primary School Students’

Knowledge about Global Warming and
Environmental Attitude Using Climate
Change Activities
Mageswary Karpudewana∗ , Wolff-Michael Rothb and
Mohd Nor Syahrir Bin Abdullaha
a
School of Educational Studies, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia;
b
Applied Cognitive Science, University of Victoria, MacLaurin Building A557, Victoria,
BC, Canada V8 W 3N4

Climate change generally and global warming specifically have become a common feature of the
daily news. Due to widespread recognition of the adverse consequences of climate change on
human lives, concerted societal effort has been taken to address it (e.g. by means of the science
curriculum). This study was designed to test the effect that child-centred, 5E learning cycle-
based climate change activities would have over more traditional teacher-centred activities on
Malaysian Year 5 primary students (11 years). A quasi-experimental design involving a treatment
(n ¼ 55) and a group representing typical teaching method (n ¼ 60) was used to measure the
effectiveness of these activities on (a) increasing children’s knowledge about global warming; (b)
changing their attitudes to be more favourable towards the environment and (c) identify the
relationship between knowledge and attitude that exist in this study. Statistically significant
differences in favour of the treatment group were detected for both knowledge and environmental
attitudes. Non-significant relationship was identified between knowledge and attitude in this
study. Interviews with randomly selected students from treatment and comparison groups further
underscore these findings. Implications are discussed.

Keywords: Climate change activities; Global warming; Attitude towards environment

Introduction
Climate change as the result of human activity is one of the most important issues
facing humanity today. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency

∗
Corresponding author. School of Educational Studies, University Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang,
Malaysia. Emails: mageswary_karpudewan@yahoo.com; kmageswary@usm.my

# 2014 Taylor & Francis

32 M. Karpudewan et al.

(USEPA), climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or

wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer
(USEPA, 2012). Global warming is one of the causes of climate change. Human
economic activities are among the major contributors to the increase in the concen-
trations of greenhouse gases (IPCC, 2007; Malaysian Meteorology Department,
2009). Due to these tremendous changes in climate and their effects on the
natural environment, all societies are facing challenges because their future gener-
ations are expected to increasingly experience adverse effects of climate change
(UNEP, 2012).
Individuals need to be informed about the harmful consequences of their activities
on global climate change. This means that individuals need to be knowledgeable
about how their own specific activities contribute to global warming. Being knowl-
edgeable about environmental issues tends to create a greater concern over pertinent
issues and prompt society as a whole towards performing pro-environmental behav-
iour (Marquart-Pyatt et al., 2011). For the knowledge to significantly influence the
formation of behaviour, members of society should be taught about the environment
as an integral part of their everyday living and about how every action has conse-
quences for the whole ecosystem (Karpudewan, Ismail, & Mohamed, 2009). This
is especially important for emerging economies, including Malaysia, where rampant
(illegal) logging and other practices continue to increase the levels of environmental
degradation. In neighbouring Thailand, for instance, it has been recorded that
Bangkok has decreased electricity usage by 73.34 MW equivalent to 41.6 tonnes of
carbon dioxide following the Earth Hour campaign (CBC, 2008).
Besides knowledge, the attitude about some subject also influences associated
behaviours directly (Karpudewan, Ismail, & Roth, 2012; Kuhlemeier, van den
Bergh, & Lagerweij 1999; Stern, 2000). Knowledge and attitude collectively are
recognised as human factors that have considerable effects on the achievement of
a safe environment (Ibrahim & Babayemi, 2010). It is important to increase individ-
ual knowledge and attitudes on issues concerning the environment to develop envir-
onmentally responsible and sustainable behaviours. Developing environmental
awareness and supporting positive attitudes towards the environment beginning
from the primary school level may help to foster environmentally literate citizens
and to build sustainable future (Bas, Teksoz, & Ertepinar, 2011). Claims concern-
ing the existence and the strength of relationship between knowledge and attitude
are not consistent, however. For instance, students’ attitudes towards science and
their understanding of the subject were perceived as moderately related (Shrigley,
1990; Weinburgh, 1995). Various other studies indicate the existence of strong
and significant relationships between these variables, namely strong relationship is
evident in studies of students’ attitudes towards science and their understanding
of the subject (Dhindsa & Chung, 2003; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, 2003;
Simpson & Oliver, 1990). Similar strong relationship was also reported between
attitude towards the environment and environmental knowledge in designing
environmental policy (Arcury, 1990). There is substantial evidence for the existence
of positive links between environmental knowledge and formation of positive
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 33

environmental attitude (Barraza & Walford, 2002; Tikka, Kuitunen, & Tynys, 2000).
Collectively, environmental attitude and knowledge influence the formation of
environmental behaviour as shown in a meta-analysis of 128 pro-environmental be-
haviour research studies ruled out that knowledge and attitude as two variables that
influence formation of pro-environmental behaviour (Hines, Hungerford, &
Tomera, 1986). In a model of ecological behaviour, environmental knowledge and
attitude were identified among the five variables that determine pro-environmental
behaviour (Fietkau & Kessel, 1981). A model of pro-environmental behaviour (see
Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002) was proposed as an effort to bridge the gap between
environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behaviour. In this model, knowledge
and attitude act as internal factors that influence formation of pro-environmental
behaviour.
Environmental knowledge and attitudes have been extensively researched among
adults. More recently, studies focused on environmental knowledge and attitudes
involving children (Pauw & Petegem, 2011) following the suggestion that young chil-
dren may serve as effective agents to promote environmental responsibility (Leeming,
Dwyer, Porter, & Cobern, 1997). In a study involving Lebanese students both girls
and boys held favourable attitudes towards the environment but lacked in their
environmental knowledge (Makki, Abd-El-Khalick, & Boujaoude, 2003). In Singa-
pore, ninth-grade students’ levels of environmental knowledge were low and these stu-
dents had moderate positive environmental attitude (Tan, Eng Lee, & Chuan, 1998).
A study of environmental knowledge and attitude among Canadian and Taiwanese
fifth-grade students showed that children from both countries expressed positive atti-
tudes towards the environment and moderate level of knowledge (Huang & Yore,
2005). Turkish children’s level of knowledge was identified to be below a satisfactory
level but they expressed favourable attitudes towards the environment (Alp, Ertepi-
nar, Tekkaya, & Yilmaz, 2006). The analysis of 163 11-year-old Malaysian primary
school students’ level of environmental knowledge revealed that the students pos-
sessed commendable levels of knowledge (Aini, Nor Azura, & Fakhru’l-Razi,
2011). A separate study involving 348 Malaysian primary school students reported
that the students environmental attitude slightly above average (Karpudewan &
Chin, 2013). Other studies report limited knowledge about climate change and
global warming (Shepardson, Niyogi, Roychoudhury, & Hirsch, 2012; Taber &
Taylor, 2009).
School-based education specifically plays an important role in improving stu-
dents’ attitude and knowledge and it was indicated that potential effectiveness of
education is higher when students possesses knowledge and positive attitude
towards a specific issues particularly issues concerning global warming (Barraza &
Walford, 2002; Boyes & Stanisstreet, 2012). The imperative role of education is
evident in various studies that have employed appropriate pedagogical approaches
to improve students’ knowledge and attitudes. This is evident from investigations
that used green chemistry curriculum to improve pre-service teachers’ environ-
mental attitude and knowledge (Karpudewan et al., 2012; Karpudewan, Roth, &
Ismail, 2013).
34 M. Karpudewan et al.

Pedagogical Approaches Used to Teach Climate Change

Previous studies indicate that knowledge and attitude towards specific environmental
concern may be improved using student-appropriate instructional strategies. At the
elementary level, students need to develop an understanding of basic concepts that
underlie weather and climate change (Lambert, Lindgren, & Bleicher, 2012). To
cater to the needs of the elementary students, the relevant science concepts (e.g.
carbon cycle, greenhouse effect or water cycle) were taught using inquiry-based
approach. Rather than simply presenting the concepts, inquiry-based interactive visu-
alisation was used to teach middle-school students about global climate change
(Svihla & Linn, 2012). In another study, a socio-constructivist and experiential teach-
ing process were used (Pruneau, Gravel, Bourque, & Langis, 2003). Active instruc-
tional strategies also resulted in significantly improving students’ understanding
about climate change (Porter, Weaver, & Raptis, 2012). Besides improving the acqui-
sition of knowledge, various attempts have been made to remediate students’ miscon-
ceptions about climate change using Science Technology and Society global warming
instruction (Rye, Rubba, & Wiesenmayer, 1997) and constructivist-based climate
change activities (Karpudewan, Roth, & Chandrakesan, 2014).
The aforementioned studies suggest that active learning approaches provide better
opportunities for learning than teacher directed, lecture-based approaches. Construc-
tivist approaches improve students’ conceptual understanding concerning global
warming and greenhouse effects; and inquiry-based approaches supplemented with
direct instruction effectively improve students’ understanding of ozone layer depletion
and the greenhouse effect. It was suggested that besides improving cognitive ability,
effective instructional strategies also should lead to improved attitudes. Among the
existing constructivist approaches, 5E learning instruction stands out because it
enhances students understanding of scientific concepts and other affective com-
ponents such as attitude, interest and motivation towards science subject and learning
of sciences.

5E Learning Cycle
The 5E instructional model was developed in the late 1980s as a component of the
Science for Life and Living curriculum created through the Biological Sciences Curri-
culum Study (Bybee & Landes, 1990). The 5E learning emerged from the expansion
of the learning cycle (exploration, invention and discovery) (Atkin & Karplus, 1962).
It is a systematic approach for teaching scientific inquiry with a constructivist foundation
involving five phases: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation
(Bybee & Landes, 1988; Bybee et al., 2006: Eisenkraft, 2003). During the engagement
phase, the teacher sets the stage by introducing the students with the concept of the
greenhouse effect. In the exploration phase, students conduct hands-on tasks such as
testing a hypothesis about the greenhouse effect. They collect evidence and data,
record and organise information, and work in collaborative groups. In the explanation
phase, students discuss the information collected from the experiment. The teacher
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 35

guides students in drawing conclusions from their findings. During the elaboration phase,
the teacher assists students in developing an understanding of the concepts by extending
and applying the evidence to real-world situations outside the classroom. During the
evaluation phase, the teacher assists students in summarising the relationships between
the variables studied; and he poses higher-order questions that help them make judge-
ments, analyse data and evaluate their work. The 5E learning cycle is a widely adopted
hands-on, inquiry-based scientific pedagogy that effectively improves students’ under-
standing (Bybee & Landes, 1988; Bybee et al., 2006; Stamp & O’Brian, 2005).
5E activities have been developed and integrated into teaching and learning of the
circulatory system for primary level and resulted in removing misconceptions and
improved understanding (Cardak, Dikmenli, & Saritas, 2008). Seyhan and Morgil
(2007) employed a constructivist 5E learning approach to teach acids and bases to
one group of chemistry students and observed improved understanding and attitude
towards learning chemistry. Two studies investigated the effectiveness of the 5E learn-
ing model towards improving student understanding of force and motion, both
showing positive outcomes (Campbell, 2006; Yildiz-Feyzioglu & Ergin, 2012).
Another study investigated the effect of 5E learning on mental ability with respect
to the relationships between scientific concepts of the elementary students (Bilgin,
Coskun, & Aktas, 2013) and documented positive outcomes as well. In addition to
knowledge, each phase has a specific function and contributes to the teachers’ coher-
ent instruction and to the learners’ formulation of better attitudes (Bybee et al.,
2006). It is evident that the learning cycle approach can result in improved attitudes
towards science and science learning (Lawson, Abraham, & Renner, 1989). For
instance, the integration of an expanded 7E learning cycle—engage  elicit +
engage; and evaluate  evaluate + extend—improved attitudes towards learning
chemistry (Siribunnam & Tayraukham, 2009) and physics (Soomro, Qaisrani, &
Uqaili, 2011) when compared to a traditional method of expository teaching.
To our knowledge, efforts that employed 5E learning cycle approach to improve
environmental knowledge, specifically knowledge about climate change and green-
houses as well studies using 5E approach to improve pro-environmental attitude lit-
erature is lacking in the literature. Specifically, in the context of Malaysia,
education is very teacher-centered and exam oriented. Hence, the teachers stringently
follow conventional teaching methods suggested in the curriculum guides and expo-
sitory teaching. Hence, the present study was designed to investigate the differential
impact of specially designed, 5E learning cycle-based activities on primary children’s
knowledge and environmental attitudes. In the quasi-experimental part of the study,
three hypotheses were tested:

(a) Specially designed student-centred, 5E learning cycle-based climate change

activities increases climate change knowledge of the students compared to the tra-
ditional teacher-centred approach.
(b) Specially designed, 5E learning cycle-based student-centred climate change
activities increases pro-environmental attitudes of the students compared to the
traditional teacher-centred approach.
36 M. Karpudewan et al.

(c) There is a significant positive relationship between pro-environmental attitudes

of the students from treatment group with their knowledge about climate
change based on the post-test results.
Similar to other studies in the literature—for exmple, Leeming et al. (1997), who
measured the effect of The Caretaker Classroom Program on environmental knowl-
edge and attitude of elementary student, and Pauw and Petegem (2011), who has
measured the effect of Flemish eco-school programme on students environmental
knowledge and attitude—the purpose of the present study is to identify the effect of
an intervention (here the 5E approach) on knowledge about global warming, pro-
environmental attitudes of primary school students and the relationship that exists
between knowledge and attitude. Both knowledge and attitude were considered in
this study because these are conditions for achieving internalised pro-environmental
behaviour and a positive relationship between attitude and knowledge is important
in promoting the behaviour (Stern, Dietz, Kalof, & Guagnano, 1995).

Research Methods
This study was designed in the context of primary school education in Malaysia with
the underlying purpose of selecting teaching models that promote students’ knowl-
edge related to global warming and attitudes towards the environment. Integrating
climate change activities into teaching and learning primary science reflects an
initial effort to make the learning relevant to students’ everyday lives. A quasi-exper-
imental research design involving treatment and comparison groups with pretest as
covariate (Shadish, Cook, & Campbell, 2002) was used to test two hypotheses: stu-
dents taught using 5E learning cycle-based climate change activities and students
taught according to the traditional curriculum in Malaysia do differ in understanding,
attitude and significant relationship exist between understanding and attitude. Quali-
tative interviews were conducted with randomly selected students to deepen our
understanding of students’ knowledge and attitude after the experiment.
The quasi-experimental design was used in this study for inferential purposes
because the leading methodologists in the field claim that this is the most appropriate
design to investigate effectiveness of an intervention in intact settings (Shadish et al.,
2002). In the quasi-experimental approach, whole classes are randomly assigned to
treatment and comparison conditions. This approach has been used by other studies
investigating, for example, educational sustainability programmes focusing on sustain-
able consumer behaviour (Frohlich, Sellmann, & Bogner, 2013) or the ecological
footprint in development of ecological behaviours (Gottlieba, Vigoda-Gadota, &
Haim, 2013). It is generally recognised that there are potential weaknesses in employ-
ing such designs, such as possible cross-contamination when treatment and compari-
son classes are from the same school or the possibilities for other factors causing
differences when the classes are from different schools with culturally, socio-economi-
cally or racially different student profiles (selection bias). When there is only one
teacher involved in each condition (treatment 5E; comparison, teacher-centred),
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 37

then teacher effects are nested within treatment making it difficult to untangle the
impact of the teacher from that of the curriculum. Because there are different
schools involved, other nested effects may lead to treatment-outcome interactions
that cannot be untangled with this quasi-experimental design, which therefore consti-
tute the limitations for attributing causes to the 5E curriculum.

Research Participants
The sample for this study consisted of 115 Year 5 students (11 years of age) from 2
primary schools in a metropolitan area of Malaysia. For the purpose of the study,
two participating Year 5 classes, one each from School A and School B were ran-
domly assigned to treatment and comparison condition. The treatment group con-
sisted of 55 students from School A and the encompassing theme of energy was
taught using 5E learning cycle-based climate change activities. The comparison
group consisted of 60 students from School B and the theme of energy was
taught in a conventional, teacher-centred manner. In the quasi-experimental
approach using a pretest as covariate, the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) pro-
vides direct estimates of treatment differences even if the groups are different
prior to the study as long as the condition of equality of regression slopes is met
(Shadish et al., 2002). In other words, the covariate ‘provides an adjustment for
initial differences between the groups’ (Cook & Campbell, 1979, p. 153). (Tests
of difference on the pretest measure would constitute redundant information and
increase the overall probability of type I errors.)
To minimise the possibility of selection differences (Shadish et al., 2002), we
selected schools and teachers matched on many parameters. Both schools are fully
governmentally funded co-educational suburban schools from the same district in
the state of Perak (West Malaysia), with more or less the same number of students
and teachers. In both schools, the generally middle-class student population consists
predominately of Malays, followed by Chinese, Indian and others. Both schools have
basic amenities such as computer and science labs. The socio-cultural status of the
students and the living standards of the families, parents’ educational backgrounds,
socio-economic status of the families and their social lives are very similar. This is
evident from a survey performed with the students from both treatment and compari-
son groups. In this survey, students were requested to indicate their parents’ income,
education level of father and mother, and number of siblings.
The science lessons were taught by the students’ regular science teachers. A female
teacher with 10 years of teaching experiences taught the comparison group whereas a
female teacher with 9 years of teaching experiences taught the treatment group. Both
teachers received their early training at the same teacher training institution. During
their in-service courses, the Ministry of Education identified both teachers as experts
in terms of subject matter (content knowledge) and pedagogical knowledge. The
teacher of the treatment group was provided with a manual containing the climate
change activities. Additionally, during the intervention, the first and third authors
were present to assist the teacher in case any problem arises in terms of implementing
38 M. Karpudewan et al.

the activities. However, throughout the five activities the teacher required no assist-
ance to conduct the activities as intended. The teachers were provided with lesson
plans and strictly advised to follow these. The teachers’ behaviours during the teach-
ing and learning process were observed by the first and third authors to make sure the
consistency in their teaching and the planning of the lessons (as in lesson plans) was
strictly followed.

Treatment and Comparison Curriculum

Students in the treatment and comparison groups learned about climate change in the
context of the official curriculum on energy, which lasted five weeks in both groups.
The central differences between the two groups consisted in the student-centred,
5E approach in the treatment group and the heavily teacher-centred approach in
the comparison group. Thus, for example, the students in the treatment group
engaged in 5E learning cycle laboratory activities, where they actively discussed
their findings. Subsequently, the groups reported back to the whole class, where the
teacher tended to probe the student presenters in greater depth and provided sugges-
tions for further consideration and study. The 5E learning cycle climate change activi-
ties involved (a) investigating the effect of greenhouse gases, (b) the carbon dioxide
role play, (c) modelling the melting of icebergs, (d) modelling the melting of glaciers
and (e) investigation of renewable and non-renewable energy that students use in their
homes. These activities were adapted from resource packages such as the Climate
Change Education Package, Air Watch Programme (Department of Environment
and Conservation, 2013) and from the Green Teacher magazine (Green Teacher,
2003) and integrated into the lessons on energy.
In the comparison group, the teacher followed the regular textbook. She mainly
lectured interacting little with students. When she asked questions, there tended to
be few responses so that the teacher most frequently answered her own questions
before going on. The teacher used activities suggested from the official syllabus to
deliver the topic of energy (Curriculum Development Centre, 2006). Students gen-
erally were referred to their textbook and tended to complete a workbook. In
Table 1, contrasting observations in treatment and comparison group are provided
for the five topics that constituted the climate change curriculum. Prior to the
implementation of the study, both the teachers were given a briefing about the
activities and the lesson plans that the researchers had prepared for each lesson.
Both teachers were advised to follow the planning as strictly as possible for the
purpose of limiting differential teacher effects on the treatment. (Detailed lesson
plans for both groups may be obtained from the first author.) Throughout the
study, the first and third authors observed all the lessons in both groups. This
was (a) to ascertain that the treatment groups were indeed taught equivalent con-
cepts (b) to observe the students engagement and (c) to ensure the lessons were
taught according to the lesson plans.
Climate change activities in this study refer to the activities that have been inte-
grated in primary science learning in relation to the topic of energy (Department of
 Table 1. Observations: in the treatment and comparison group

Treatment Comparison

Activity 1: After completing this lesson the students should be able to illustrate the effect of greenhouse gases
The teacher set the stage of learning by introducing the students the The teacher roughly sketches the diagram that shows greenhouse effect
concept of greenhouse effect. Teacher shows PowerPoint slides of how on the whiteboard. Students started to copy the diagram in their exercise
the greenhouse effect occurred and the greenhouse gases involved. book. The teacher continued her drawing and labelled the diagram
Teacher also asked questions to stimulate students’ inquiry regarding the accordingly. Students followed as well. After complete the drawing and

Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 39

topic. Students then worked in small groups and prepared a mini labelling the teacher started to describe the effect of the greenhouse gas:
greenhouse using the materials provided by the teacher and measured the greenhouse trapped the heat from the sun. At this time students
the change in the temperature in the greenhouse that they have listen to the teacher’s illustration. After that the students were given 10
developed. Students identified various types of greenhouse gases and the minutes to answer the questions in the workbook. After 10 minutes the
effect of these gases in trapping the heat teacher called the students’ name to read out their answer and the
teacher dictated the right answer. The students copied the right answer
given by the teacher
Activity 2: After completing this lesson the students should able to identify and list all the greenhouse gases
Students played the carbon dioxide game, which is a simulation game The teacher used a textbook and a reference book to note all the gases
that illustrated how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere trapped the heat listed on the whiteboard. She asked the students to read aloud all the
from the sunlight (Green Teacher, 2003). In this game, the students gases one by one. There was then a lot of teacher– student interaction.
assumed the roles of carbon dioxide molecules, the sunbeam, the earth For example, the teacher called on one student and asked ‘What is the
and the atmosphere. This role-play session was expected to allow effect of greenhouse?’ That student stand up and looking at the teacher
students to understand that carbon dioxide molecule will trap the heat. and could not answer. The teacher posed the question again and this
Based on the information provided in the flash card (one student will be time to the whole class, ‘Ok class anyone of you can answer?’ No one
appointed to read the information in the flash card) the number of responded to the teacher’s question. The teacher continued, ‘Since no
carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere will be moderated. one answering I will explain again.’ The teacher explained the whole
Information such human activities that could reduce (e.g. recycle, ride effect of greenhouse gases again. She then continued to lecture about
bikes and plant trees) or increase (e.g. drive more cars, cut down trees how gases are released from some of our daily activities such as open
and burn rubbish) the amount of carbon dioxide molecules were burning, emission from the vehicles
included in the card

(Continued )
 Table 1. Continued

40 M. Karpudewan et al.
Treatment Comparison

Activity 3: The objective of the third activity (melting of icebergs) is to impart the knowledge that greenhouse gasses which has contributed towards global
warming (from the previous lessons) resulted in the melting of the icebergs at the Arctic and Antarctic, which consequently increased the sea level
The students do a hands-on activity that reflects the situation at the In this lesson, the teacher-centered approach continued. Following
Arctic and Antarctic. Students depict the situation of the Arctic and questions, the teacher tended to pause for a while and, since students
Antarctic. The students worked in a group of three and filled a beaker rarely responded, the teacher continued by providing answers to her
with water and measured the volume of the water. A large ice cube was own questions or by lecturing new facts. Referring to her notes, the
immersed into the beaker with water. The teacher asked the students to teacher continued listing the causes of global warming on the white
observe what happens to the ice cube and the volume of the water. The board. After listing the points on white board she asked the students to
students were requested to measure the final volume of the water after all copy them in their exercise book
the ice melted. They were asked to compare the final volume with the
initial volume. In their working groups, students prepared illustration of
Arctic and Antarctic and presented their work to the class. With the
teacher’s assistance the students described how increasing global
temperature could cause the melting of the ice
Activity 4: Students are to come to understand the effects of the melting of glaciers on global water levels
Students do the hands-on activity ‘Melting of Glaciers’. Similar to the The lesson was conducted in teacher-centered fashion. She started to
activity on melting of icebergs, the hands-on activity was employed for talk about glaciers and icebergs that can be found at Arctic and
students to get a real experience of how the melting of ice. For the Antarctic. The teacher showed pictures of an iceberg and a glacier to
purpose of this activity, students worked in groups. They were asked to illustrate the melting of ice. Afterwards, she asked students to answer the
place a large ice cube on a slanted board. The board allowed the melting questions in the workbook and discussed the answers with them
water to run into the beaker. Students measured the height of the water
and left the plank and beaker under the sunlight. The height of the water
in the beaker was measured every 10 minutes until the ice cube was
completely melted. Students subsequently discussed the results in their
groups and then presented the outcome to the rest of the class. The
teacher interviewed the presenters at times with questions and
suggestions
Activity 5: Learning about renewable energy and its effect on global warming
Students were introduced the types of renewable energy and non- The teacher began by reviewing the previous lesson. Then she suggested
renewable energy and the contributions of renewable energy to global the use of renewable energy as a way of reducing the human impact on
warming. Students then discussed the topic in small groups to identify global warming. The teacher listed examples of renewable and non-
ways of reducing energy consumptions in their home and they were also renewable energy. She talked in detail about the sources of the energy
asked to design their own energy efficient house using renewable energy and differences between these two categories of energy. She described
and minimal non-renewable energy resources. Students were requested why it is important for us to non-renewable. Besides opting to use
to solve the problem faced by the local energy board of meeting the renewable energy we also should save energy. For example, switch off

Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 41

increasing demand for energy in the students’ local area the lights when you are not using, do not leave computers idle. The
teacher continued listing various other energy saving behaviours. After
completing her teaching she asked the students to answer the questions
in the workbook and discussed the answers
42 M. Karpudewan et al.

Environment and Conservation, 2013; Green Teacher, 2003). Both the greenhouse
effect and global warming are fundamental to understanding global climate change
(Lambert et al., 2012). Therefore, climate change activities in this study focused on
issues and problems associated with global warming and the increase in the green-
house effect. These issues were presented in the form of hands-on activities related
to the greenhouse effect, renewable and non-renewable energy, carbon dioxide,
melting sea ice and melting glaciers.
The climate change activities in this study were developed based on the 5E learning
cycle: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation. Fundamen-
tally, the 5E learning cycle is grounded in constructivist theory that focuses on enhan-
cing the learners’ ability to develop new knowledge by using an active inquiry
approach (Budprom, Suksringam, & Singsriwo, 2010). Consistent with a constructi-
vist perspective, the 5E learning cycle model describes the process of learning in five
stages (Llewellyn, 2005).
During the engagement phase, the teacher sets the stage by introducing the students
to the concept of the greenhouse effect. In the exploration phase, students conduct
hands-on tasks such as testing a hypothesis about the greenhouse effect. They
collect evidence and data, record and organise information, share observations, and
work in collaborative groups. In the explanation phase, students discuss the infor-
mation collected from the experiment. The teacher guides students in drawing con-
clusions from their findings. During the elaboration phase, the teacher assists
students in developing an understanding of the concepts by extending and applying
the evidence to real-world situations outside the classroom. During the evaluation
phase, the teacher assists students in summarising the relationships between the vari-
ables studied; and she poses higher-order questions that help students to make judge-
ments, analyse data and evaluate their own work.

Instruments
Knowledge of global warming. A true/false knowledge-based test was adapted from a
study conducted in the UK (Taber & Taylor, 2009) to examine primary students’
knowledge of global warming before and after the climate change activities. This
instrument consists of 20 items that evaluate the students’ knowledge of the
effect of global warming on climate change and the effect of climate change on
the natural environment. The test was translated into the Malay language. A
language expert ascertained that the Malay translation is consistent with the
English version and that it is appropriate for students at the age level. The original
test was reported to have high validity and reliability (Taber & Taylor, 2009). We
conducted a pilot study to ascertain the reliability and validity of the Malay trans-
lation. An experienced primary school science teacher and a senior lecturer in
science education at our university validated the content of the questions. Thirty
children participated in determining the consistency of the instrument. The
obtained Kuder –Richardson coefficient of KR20 ¼ 0.83 suggests high internal
consistency.
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 43

Attitude towards the environment. To examine the attitude towards the environment
among primary schools students, the New Environmental Paradigm Scale for Children
(NEP Scale for Children) was used (Manoli, Johnson, & Dunlap, 2007). This scale
measures environmental worldview and consists of 10 items instead of the 15 items
for the original NEP scale (Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, 2000). The items
are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree). The NEP Scale for Children tends to exhibit high internal consist-
ency values (Petegem & Blieck, 2006; Wu, 2012). For the purpose of this study,
the questionnaire was translated into the Malay language (Bahasa Malaysia). The
pilot study showed that the Malay version of the NEP Scale for Children also has
high internal consistency (Cronbach a ¼ .85). In this study, the NEP for Children
questionnaire was presented as single factor measure (Amburgye & Thoman, 2012)
rather than the three-factor measure that it has been in the original version (Manoli
et al., 2007).

Interviews
Interviews were conducted to obtain further insights of students’ knowledge about
global warming, attitudes towards the environment, and (in the treatment group)
their views about the climate change activities. For this purpose, 30-minute semi-struc-
tured interviews were conducted individually with five students each from the treatment
and comparison groups. The sample size of 10 students participated in the interviews is
considered sufficient given the assertion that an appropriate sample size for a qualitative
interview that adequately answers the research question and for simple questions might
be in ‘single figures’ (Marshall, 1996). Following Marshall’s recommendation 10 stu-
dents were interviewed in this study. The same students were involved in the pre-treat-
ment and post-treatment interviews. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to
select the participants for the interviews based on the criteria of (a) willingness to par-
ticipate and (b) willingness to express themselves. The third author conducted both sets
of interviews. The initial interviews were conducted during the week before the treat-
ment began; the second set of interviews was conducted two weeks after the treatment
was completed. The interview questions (appendix) to assess students’ understanding
included: What is global warming? What do you understand about global warming?
What is the cause for global warming? If we had a way of making sure that there was
no rubbish in rivers, is that going to help reduce global warming? Explain how we
combat global warming by making sure the rivers are clean? The purpose of this ques-
tion is to identify whether students are competent to indicate the cause of global
warming correctly. We can rule out whether students will be linking river pollution
and global warming and why they think both river pollution and global warming
might be connected. To assess their attitudes towards the environment, students were
asked about the frequency with which they turn off the air conditioning or other elec-
trical appliances when not in use. To identify their views about climate change activities,
they were asked questions such as ‘Which activity helped you to better understand
about global warming?’
44 M. Karpudewan et al.

Results
This study involved a mixed-method approach, including a quasi-experimental quan-
titative part with pre- and (qualitative) post-test interviews conducted to probe stu-
dents’ knowledge and environmental attitudes. The quasi-experimental approach
that uses a pretest to comparison possible pre-treatment differences is the method
of choice for testing treatments in field settings where complete random assignment
and the use of no-treatment control groups are impossible for institutional reasons
(Shadish et al., 2002).

Quantitative Analysis
To rule out some of the possible hypotheses that arise for quasi-experimental studies, an
ANCOVA approach was used (Shadish et al., 2002) where the pretest comparison
within-group variance based on pre-experiment differences. This analysis requires a
test that the null hypothesis of equality of regression slopes within the treatment and
comparison groups is not violated to guarantee that the ANCOVA approach to
provide meaningful results (Kirk, 2013). To control experiment-wise error rates (i.e.
error rates for the study as a whole), Bonferroni adjustments were used to test each
hypothesis at the corresponding aadj ¼ aexp/3 levels (i.e. aadj ¼ .0167, .0033, .00033).
The first hypothesis stated that there would be no significant difference in understanding
about global warming between treatment and comparison treatment groups as
measured by global warming test. This hypothesis was (as presented in Table 2) rejected
(F(1, 112) ¼ 193.6, p , .00033). The treatment group (Mexp ¼ 17.07, SDexp ¼ 2.54)
outperformed the comparison group (Mcont ¼ 9.50, SDcont ¼ 2.75), suggesting that
they were more knowledgeable about global warming. A total of 15.6% (effect size h
¼ 0.156) of the total variance in the post-test scores was accounted for by the group
differences while controlling for the effect of the students’ pretest scores.
The second hypothesis stated that there would be no significant difference between
treatment and comparison groups in the attitude towards the environment as
measured by the NEP Scale for Children. This hypothesis (as presented in Table 2)
was rejected (F(1, 112) ¼ 7.52, p , .0167). The treatment group exhibited more
pro-environmental attitudes (Mexp ¼ 35.27, SDexp ¼ 4.66) than the comparison
group (Mcont ¼ 32.9, SDcont ¼ 4.29), suggesting that some or all aspects of the treat-
ment brought about a change in attitude, which became more positive than that in the

Table 2. Quantitative results

Treatment Comparison
Decision with
0
Mean SD Mean SD F Effect size respect to H

Understanding 17.07 2.54 9.50 2.75 193.6 0.156 Reject

Attitude 35.27 4.66 32.9 4.29 7.52 0.006 Reject
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 45

comparison group. About 6% (effect size h ¼ 0.06) of the total variance in the post-
test scores was accounted for by the group differences controlling for the effect of the
students’ pretest scores.
The third hypothesis states that there would be no significant correlation between
pro-environmental attitude and knowledge about global warming of the treatment
group students based on the post-test results. This null hypothesis was not rejected
at the chosen a-levels (r(53) ¼ 0.285; p ¼ .035) suggesting that there was no signifi-
cant correlation between understanding about global warming and pro-environ-
mental attitude.

Qualitative Analysis: Understanding about Global Warming

The interviews with selected students from the treatment and comparison groups sub-
stantiated the quantitative results and deepened our understanding of the facets of
knowledge and attitudes. Prior to the study, students were asked to provide responses
to the question, ‘What is global warming?’ Their answers were brief, and in many
instances students indicated that they had not heard about the topic. This is consistent
with the observation that prior to instruction, students’ knowledge about the topic
was minimal in both groups. The brief responses also hindered the interviewer to
proceed with further questions to gauge any understanding.
The same question was posed to the students from comparison and treatment
groups after the treatment. The students in the comparison group declared little
knowledge about the curriculum despite the five-week exposure to it in the lecture
format. For example, Su said ‘I think teacher has mentioned about it but I don’t
remember lah.’ Other responses included ‘Never heard about it’ (Adib), ‘I think I
heard about it but I don’t have clear idea’ (Shae) and ‘I don’t know lah . . . the
teacher have mentioned in the science lesson’ (Siti). The short responses obtained
from the comparison groups prevented the interviewer to conduct deeper probes by
means of the remainder of the prepared questions. The majority of the students
had heard about global warming and climate change. However, they did not describe
the phenomenon in any detail. Therefore, in the following session only the interview
responses of the treatment group are discussed.
The students in the treatment group provided brief, but specific and knowledgeable
responses. For example, in response to the question ‘What do you understand about
global warming?’ students made statements such as ‘Global warming is the increase of
global temperature. The hot climate is due to global warming’ (Adi), ‘I think it is
because the increase of temperature. The hot climate . . . less rain and dry outside
there’ (Ali) and ‘maybe about the climate now is too hot . . . like how we are experien-
cing now’ (Amar).
In their responses students tended to link global warming to the increases tempera-
ture and hotter weather. A more sophisticated understanding of global warming is
reflected in the students’ statements that they are actually experiencing the phenom-
ena in their real life, which they also supported with examples from their everyday life.
When asked about the causes for global warming, the treatment students showed that
46 M. Karpudewan et al.

two weeks after the unit, they made appropriate connections. Thus, for example, they
suggested ‘I think because of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide trapped the
heat from the sunlight’ (Adi), ‘Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trapped
the heat from the sunlight’ (Rogayah) and ‘Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
trapped the heat from the sunlight’ (Amar).
The responses show that even though the students did not yet provide complete illus-
trations for the causes of global warming, they did in fact talk about the idea of carbon
dioxide as one of the greenhouse gases trapped the heat from sunlight and contributes
towards global warming. Since the treatment students identified the underlying reason
for global warming the question on how to reduce the global warming was posted. The
students were asked to respond to the question: ‘If we had a way of making sure there
was no rubbish in any rivers, is that going to help reduce global warming?’ They
suggested, for example, ‘Hmmm . . . rubbish doesn’t produce carbon dioxide that can
cause global warming. It’s just about keeping our environment clean’ (Adi), ‘I think
yes. It can reduce global warming. Because when river is clean, global warming will
reduce’ (Amar) and ‘No. Because global warming happens due to more carbon
dioxide trapped the heat from the Sun. It’s not related to river pollution’ (Rogayah).
Mixed responses were obtained for this question. Some students correctly indentified
that river pollution is a different environmental issue than global warming. Others
incorrectly stated that river pollution might contribute to global warming.

Attitude Towards the Environment

The responses obtained prior to the treatment from comparison and treatment group
students generally exhibited little concern for the environment, consistent with lower
scores on the New Environmental Paradigm for Children. Thus, for example, in the com-
parison group the responses to the question whether students regularly turned off the
air conditioning or other electrical appliances when not in use included ‘I don’t really
care whether it is on or off’ (Su), ‘No . . . it is not my work. Usually my mother or sister
will do that’ (Amin), ‘I don’t do it unless my mother asks me to off them. I tend to
forget. After using I will just leave the room. I will not really check whether it is on
or off’ (Adib) and ‘No . . . because it will be very hot then no use . . . because it is
hot weather we still need to switch on, better to just leave it on’ (Siti). Similar self-
ascribed behaviours were evident in the treatment group prior to treatment: ‘Some-
times I will turn it off. But most of the time I don’t do it unless my mother ask me
to switch off ’ (Adi), ‘The fan will be always on in my home. Because it is simply
too hot. No one bothers to switch it off. I don’t do it’ (Ali) and ‘No when I get scolding
from my parents then I will switch off the light or fan’ (Amar). Prior to the study, stu-
dents in both groups indicated that they would not act according to pro-environ-
mental attitudes unless they were told to so. The students noted that they are not
really interested in performing the pro-environmental acts because of inconveniences
they would experience, including that of hot weather.
Following the intervention, differences were observed. Thus, the responses to the
same question posed to students in the comparison group included ‘We have
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 47

learned in the class but I don’t really care’ (Su), ‘I will try to turn them off but I tend to
forget about it’ (Amin), and ‘I don’t want them off . . . because it will be very hot then’
(Siti). Consistent with the quantitative results, students in the treatment group
expressed more pro-environmental attitudes. Their responses to the question about
turning off electrical appliances and air conditioners included: ‘After the activities,
it make me realized that I can make a small change at my home such as not use elec-
tricity that much and turn off the lights or the television when I’m not using them’
(Adi), ‘I reduce using electricity. I only use it if really necessary. I don’t wait for my
parents to remind me’ (Adi) and ‘I make a point to check before I leave the room
making sure all the switches are off’ (Ali). Compared to the students from the com-
parison group, the interview responses reflected somewhat more positive attitudes
together with self-reported changes in pro-environmental behaviours.

Treatment Group Students’ Views about the 5E Learning Cycle-based Activities

Following the treatment, the interviewer also asked the students from the treatment
group about those aspects of the activities that they had found most effective for their
learning. The treatment group students suggested that the activities helped them to
better understand the issued related on global warming. They found the activities are
enjoyable and informative. For example, in response to the question ‘Which activity
helped you to better understand about global warming?’ they suggested
I liked carbon games activity. I learned how the greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
trapped the heat from the sunlight. I also learned activities that will increase the green-
house gases in the atmosphere such as burning rubbish or we should use more public
transport. (Adi)

or
I now understand what causes the global warming and what its effect on our climate is . . .
I think our first activity that is greenhouse activity that helped me a lot. I could visualize
how greenhouse effect happens from power presentation. It was colourful . . . interesting
. . . like to learn more about this. (Rogayah)

Discussion and Conclusions

This study was designed to test the effect of a 5E learning cycle-based climate change
curriculum on Malaysian primary students’ knowledge about the global warming and
attitudes towards the environment and the relationship that exist between knowledge
and attitude. The results show that treatment group appeared to have helped the stu-
dents understanding global warming-related issues. This is consistent with various
other studies that revealed using the 5E learning cycle approach improved students’
achievement, basic science process skills and critical thinking (Budprom et al.,
2010), acid–base chemistry (Seyhan & Morgil, 2007), force and motion (Campbell,
2006; Yildiz-Feyzioglu & Ergin, 2012), and states of matter (Bilgin et al., 2013). The
48 M. Karpudewan et al.

outcomes of the study also confirm studies that reported on the effectiveness of hands-
on activities on primary school students’ understanding of the issues on global
warming (Taber & Taylor, 2009) and increases in knowledge of climate change
science when elementary methods course students were taught using inquiry-based
science lessons on carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect (Lambert et al., 2012).
The improved understanding observed in this study may be due to the dynamic
and interactive aspects of the 5E approach. Our classroom observations show that
the students were challenged about their understanding of global warming and
climate change. Frequently they tended to improve their understanding, as was
observed in other studies (Bilgin et al., 2013). The 5E approach provided students
with opportunities to construct their own knowledge particularly during the explora-
tion and elaboration phases. In this study, we only investigated achievement differ-
ences. Future studies might be designed to include clinical interviews that probe
student understanding in depth.
This study shows that students participating in the 5E learning cycle-based climate
change curriculum exhibited more positive environmental attitude than those in a
course on the same topic taught by means of a teacher-centred, lecture-oriented
approach. Despite the climate change curriculum resulted in better understanding
the effect size appears to be low. Even though the quantitative results shows smaller
effect the qualitative results also exhibited changes in the attitude and the students
indicated the changes they have experiences is due to the treatment. If the overall
effect is due to the 5E approach, the present study would be consistent with others
that demonstrated improved attitudes (Lawson et al., 1989; Siribunnam & Tayrauk-
ham, 2009; Soomro et al., 2011). The outcomes of this study confirm those of other
studies that investigated the effects of integrating environmental activities. One study
reported positive changes in student’s attitude towards environment change that fol-
lowed the integration of green chemistry experiments in the curriculum (Karpudewan
et al., 2012; Leeming et al., 1997). In both studies, the treatment group students con-
currently improved conceptual understanding of climate change and pro-environ-
mental attitudes. The improved knowledge and attitude observed in this study
possibly is due to the nature of 5E learning cycle that requires students to be respon-
sible of their own learning. In other words, the students while going through the five
phases of 5E learning cycle are constructing and assessing their own understanding.
The active involvement of the students in constructing knowledge enables them to
develop positive attitude to the subject. This consequently results in building self-
esteem of the students about the subject matter in the case of this study the students’
experienced improved self-esteem towards engaging nature-related activities as part of
their daily life routine (Karpudewan et al., 2012). Issues concerning climate change,
greenhouse gases and global warming are integral component of Malaysian primary
science curriculum. In teaching these aspects teachers generally use activities
suggested in the curriculum specification as conducted in the comparison group.
These activities generally focus to impart knowledge with aim of preparing students
for examination. Due to the heavy exam-oriented education system, Malaysian stu-
dents tend to follow the instruction closely with the purpose of memorising the
 Enhancing Primary School Students’ Knowledge and Attitude 49

subject matter, which might lead to minimal environmental knowledge acquisition

(Aini et al., 2011) and attitude (Karpudewan & Chin, 2013). The 5E climate
change activities employed in this study would be an alternative for the teachers to
adapt and implement in their teaching. Besides delivering positive outcome the activi-
ties are feasible to be implemented because the activities address equivalent concepts
as the traditional activities.
The results of this study at best demonstrate a weak association between pro-
environmental attitude of the students in the treatment group with their knowledge
about global warming. This result suggests that knowledge and attitudes are not as
strongly related as suggested by other studies (Arcury, 1990; Dhindsa & Chung,
2003; Osborne et al., 2003; Simpson & Oliver, 1990). This is probably because atti-
tude towards environment is a varied construct and may depend on the particularities
of the attitudinal object (e.g. panda bears versus snakes or mosquitoes as objects of
attitude towards wildlife within natural environments). We, therefore, suggest
future studies to specify attitudinal objects related to the environment and, thereby,
differentiate the attitude construct. Alternatively, because attitudes and conceptions
‘are general possibilities that inherently belong to the collective other’ (Roth, 2010,
p. 99), shared in/through the medium of talk, future research could take a discourse
psychological approach to investigate any relations of knowledge talk and attitude
talk. Rather than using different measures for knowledge and attitude subsequently
correlated, language (discourse) becomes the single object. Such an approach has
shown to be fruitful for understanding (a) students’ discourses on the environment,
environmental protection and environmental attitudes generally (Zeyer & Roth,
2009) and (b) the meditational effects of discursive repertoires on personal attitude
talk (Zeyer & Roth, 2013).
In countries such as Malaysia, where a nation is experiencing exponential progress
towards achieving the status of fully developed nation by the year 2020, it is imperative
for citizens to be educated about the relationship between environmental behaviour
and climate change. At this point, too many citizens still are involved in activities
that are damaging to the environment and contribute to the elevation of greenhouse
gas levels and global warming. Working with children at the primary level is important
because they are less likely to subsequently require ‘unlearning’ any acquired harmful
environmental behaviours (Leeming et al., 1997). Implementing climate change
activities as proposed in this study is expected to deliver intended attitude and
increased knowledge levels about global warming. This has the potential to lead to
more pro-environmental behaviours on a national scale in the future. However,
further future research is needed to evaluate how the attitude and knowledge
change expected from climate change activities will lead to development of pro-
environmental behaviour at a larger, state- or nation-wide scale.
Improved attitudes towards the environment and knowledge about global warming
as reported in this study is significantly important in the context of Malaysia to ensure
less people are performing environmentally destructive behaviour. However, further
research is needed to confirm whether the findings obtained in this study will scale
up. Although the quasi-experimental design is by far the most appropriate design to
50 M. Karpudewan et al.

determine the effectiveness of an instruction strategy in field settings (Frohlich et al.,

2013; Gottlieb et al., 2013; Porter et al., 2012), there are certain limitations that
emerge from the setting of the research design. One of the main limitations is the
teacher effect which was not considered in this study might affect the validity of the
data. Thus, for example, the treatment is nested within teachers and schools.
Although the quasi-experimental design employed is an acceptable design in measur-
ing the effectiveness of the treatments in everyday settings, where comparison groups
without treatment similar to those in psychological laboratories are not feasible
(Shadish et al., 2002), this design cannot rule out that the treatment effects are due
to particulars of the teacher or whether they are in fact due to the specifics of the
5E curriculum (Creswell, 2012). On the other hand, we used Bonferroni adjusted
a-levels to make the study more conservative to counteract over-confidence in any
effects. Further studies are warranted to rule out teacher-related effects from curricu-
lar effects; moreover, studies are required to tease apart the effects derived from the
hands-on part and those derived from the increased levels of social interactions
with peers and teacher.

Funding
This work was supported by Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Delivering of Excellence
Grant [1002/PGURU/910334].

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Appendix. Interview Questions

Pre-instruction interview questions
1. What is global warming?
2. What do you understand about global warming?
3. What is the cause for global warming?
4. If we had a way of making sure that there was no rubbish in rivers, is that going to
help reduce global warming?
5. Explain how we combat global warming by making sure the rivers are clean?
6. Do you turn off the air conditioning or other electrical appliances when not in use?
How often you performed this behaviour?

Post-instruction interview questions

1. What is global warming?
2. What do you understand about global warming?
3. What is the cause for global warming?
4. If we had a way of making sure that there was no rubbish in rivers, is that going to
help reduce global warming?
5. Explain how we combat global warming by making sure the rivers are clean?
6. Do you turn off the air conditioning or other electrical appliances when not in use?
How often you perform this behaviour?
7. Which activity helped you to better understand about global warming?’