TY - THES ID - 134738889 TI - Bringing Climate Change Adaptation to the Classroom: A case study of WebQuest development and evaluation AU - Gielis, Hanne-Lore AU - Verbist, Bruno AU - Steegen, Anna AU - KU Leuven. Faculteit Wetenschappen. Opleiding ICP Master of Science in Sustainable Development (Leuven) PY - 2021 PB - Leuven KU Leuven. Faculteit Wetenschappen DB - UniCat UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:134738889 AB - To reduce vulnerability towards the impacts of climate change, societies have to accelerate climate change adaptation (CCA). The recent ‘Adaptation Gap Report’ (UNEP, 2021) reveals that current efforts are not sufficient, and that capacity building for and awareness-raising of adaptation issues needs to be enhanced. Education can play a vital role in learning societies about the risks related to climate change and how to deal with them on a local, regional, and global level. Education about CCA still has unlocked potential to contribute to speed up CCA but teaching about this topic comes with several challenges for teachers. Therefore, this master’s thesis studies how CCA can be integrated into the curriculum of secondary education in Flanders and what teachers' needs are for digital teaching materials about CCA. Moreover, it contributes to the development of teaching material on CCA and shows how a digital tool can contribute to capacity building for CCA. To respond to this question, a needs assessment was carried out with mainly geography teachers in secondary schools. This needs assessment consists of a survey and two focus groups underpinned by the TPACK framework providing a structure to analyze the technological, pedagogical, and content needs of the teachers. Based on the results of the needs assessment an online teaching and learning tool was developed. The format of this tool is a WebQuest in which students have to come up with a climate adaptation plan for their school or town supported by five modules introducing them to climate change adaptation through several inquiry-based activities. This WebQuest is designed based on the concept of powerful knowledge, meaning that it integrates different kinds of knowledge to empower students. Finally, the WebQuest has been partly implemented in two classrooms and has been evaluated by teachers. The needs assessment shows that teachers participating in this study are already engaged in the topic of climate change and most of them already address adaptation issues. In general, they believe that CCA is a necessary topic to teach about because of its relevance and link with climate action. The results of the needs assessment reveal the specific needs of teachers for future teaching materials about CCA. Teaching materials on the topic of CCA should foremost include a local and relevant topic for the students, focus on knowledge and activating methods and ideally consist of blended learning. Based on the teachers’ experiences and needs, three barriers and three levers for CCA integration in secondary schools have been identified. The main challenges to enhance the integration of CCA in the classroom are the persistent misconceptions about climate change, the complexity of climate change and CCA, and the insufficient support for teachers to successfully educate students about CCA. Nonetheless, the teachers’ insights also revealed three important factors that can help to make CCA education more powerful and better integrate it into the curriculum. These factors include the link with local problem-solving and a focus on what can be done, actively engaging the students in the classes, and a focus on knowledge while also applying a critical perspective. In sum, this research reveals that teaching about climate adaptation is a complex task, but one that has the potential to support capacity building for more resilient societies when taking into account some key barriers and levers. ER -