Exploring the Cognitive Structure of Elementary Pre-Service Teachers' Concepts of Atmosphere and Climate: An Analysis Through Word Association Test

Objectives This study utilized the Word Association Test (WAT) to conduct an in-depth analysis of how elementary pre-service teachers understand the concepts of atmosphere and climate. Through this process, the study aimed to identify the conceptual connection structures of pre-service teachers, explore scientific misconceptions, and propose effective teaching methods in science education based on the findings. Methods The subjects of the study were 65 elementary pre-service teachers enrolled in a science education course at a university located in Jeonju. A WAT was conducted, including key concepts such as “climate,” “atmosphere,” “temperature,” “pressure,” “wind,” “humidity,” and “precipitation.” The data were quantitatively evaluated through frequency analysis and concept network analysis. Results The results indicated that pre-service teachers showed high connectivity with everyday concepts such as “rain,” “pressure,” and “high pressure,” but demonstrated low understanding of more complex scientific concepts like “convective rainfall” and “solar angle of incidence.” Misconception analysis revealed scientific misconceptions such as “climate is the same as weather” and “high pressure always creates clear weather.” The concept network analysis showed that the connectivity between major concepts was fragmented, indicating a lack of understanding of complex interactions. Conclusions This study demonstrates that pre-service teachers have limitations in scientifically understanding the concepts of atmosphere and climate. Therefore, there is a need for the development of systematic educational programs to correct misconceptions.