Pedagogical Strategies and Climate Science Awareness of Junior High School Students

Education, particularly during the formative Junior High School (JHS) years, plays a crucial role in fostering awareness and understanding of climate issues within the field of Science. Guided by theory of Cognitive Development of Jean Piaget (1952) this study determined the pedagogical strategies and climate and its effect to the awareness of JHS students. This experimental study involved 132 Grade 7 students from Lutayan National High School, wherein these students were randomly divided into three section comparing the effectiveness of content-based instruction in a control group with context-based and collaborative instructional strategies in an experimental group. The study found very satisfactory implementation of content-based instruction strategies, as evaluated by academic evaluators. Context-based instruction was rated outstanding, while collaborative instruction was also highly regarded. Pretest results indicated that the climate cognition of both control and experimental groups did not meet expectations. However, posttest results showed a significant increase in performance, with the control group achieving a satisfactory rating and the experimental group, taught using context-based and collaborative methods, showing satisfactory improvement. The study also explored the association between the level of implementation of pedagogical strategies and the level of climate awareness among JHS students. It was found that content-based and collaborative instruction had a weak positive correlation with climate awareness, while context-based instruction showed a slight negative correlation. This indicated no significant association between the pedagogical strategies' level of implementation and students' climate awareness. Furthermore, analysis revealed no significant difference in climate awareness literacy between the experimental and control groups. However, significant differences were observed in students’ cognition and behavior regarding climate change, favoring the experimental group. This suggests that while pedagogical strategies may not drastically alter awareness literacy, they significantly impact students' understanding and actions concerning climate change.