The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions

participant. Once the data was collected, spreadsheet statistical techniques, including pivot tables, were used to analyze participant data based on responses to different items. After evaluating the survey responses and noting themes in the utility of the course and per- sonal climate change mitigation strategies, we followed up with focus group interviews to gain more in-depth understanding of the enduring influence of the course on students’ personal and professional lives. Including a qualitative approach, such as focus group interviews, can comple- ment the survey analysis and ultimately enhance the quality of the resulting analysis [33]. Focus group participants were randomly selected from the 100+ survey respondents. We conducted two focus groups with a total of five participants in a classroom at San Jose´ State University. Participants were asked a series of open-ended questions about the course and its impact on their current lives. Once the focus group interviews were completed, focus group transcripts were analyzed according to thematic analysis. The goal of a thematic analysis was to identify patterns in the data to bring clarity to the research questions. First, we interpreted patterns in the focus group responses by identifying themes in the transcripts that were com- mon across the interviewees in different focus groups. Then select quotes and phrases were chosen to illustrate the identified themes. These quotes and phrases were woven into a narra- tive to describe the focus group responses in a coherent way. This exploratory approach to the-

matic analysis enabled us to present a rich description of student experiences in the course and perceptions of climate change issues. Copies of the survey, focus group scripts, and focus group protocols are provided in S1 and S3 Texts. 2.3. Estimating carbon emission reductions from the survey responses Once responses to the survey questions were obtained, the potential carbon reductions from the decisions made by participants were estimated. Details of the procedure used are provided in S2 Text, but we briefly describe the method here. We use the CoolClimate Calculator [34] an online household carbon footprint calculator that has been well documented and verified in a number of studies (e.g., [35]; [36]; [37]; [38]). The carbon footprint calculator is used to estimate how a particular action attributed to taking COMM 168 would impact individual annual carbon emissions. We start by calculating the annual carbon emissions for an average person in Califor- nia. Then, based on the response to a particular question (e.g., participant attributed their cur- rent purchasing of renewable energy from their utility to the COMM 168 course), we use the calculator to determine the reduction in annual carbon emissions due to that particular action (e.g., participant reduced emissions by 1.38 tons/year by purchasing renewable energy from their utility). This procedure is repeated for each of the actions identified in the survey, and thus allows us to estimate how particular actions have changed individual carbon emissions. We

acknowledge that although participants attributed particular actions to the COMM 168 course, other experiences either before or after the course may have also contributed towards these pro- environmental attitudes and behaviors. Our notion is that this intensive one-year class on cli- mate change played a key or leading role in the development of these attitude and behaviors. 3. Course design The COMM 168 course was designed to promote lasting responsible environmental behavior through an educational model broadly based on the environmental education research of [17]. In this research, Hungerford and Volk identified three predictor variables or factors that contribute to pro-environmental behavior. The first factor is labeled as an entry-level variable and describes the importance of an empathetic perspective towards nature and the environment. The second factor is labeled as the ownership variables and describes the importance of both in-depth knowl- edge about the issue and a personal connection to the issue. The third factor is the empowerment The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206266 February 4, 2020 4 / 23