Paired teaching approach to earthquake education: a cross-country comparison between Dushanbe, Tajikistan and London, United Kingdom

<p>Lack of access to science-based natural hazards information impedes the effectiveness of school-based disaster risk reduction education. To address this challenge, we have created 10 geosciences video lessons (https://www.youtube.com/user/EuroGeosciencesUnion) that follow an innovative pedagogy known as paired teaching. This approach is used to supplement the standard school curriculum with video lessons instructed by geoscientists from around the world and activities carried out by local classroom teachers.</p><p>To evaluate the effectiveness of these virtual lessons, we tested selected videos with 38 sixth grade students (12 years of age) and 39 nine grade students (12-13 years of age) from two school classes in Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and London (United Kingdom), respectively. By examining the same videos with two different groups of student populations, we aimed to identify potential factors (e.g., geographic location, culture, level of hazard experience) influencing students’ learning and/or teachers’ teaching of natural hazard information. We asked students from both groups to complete questionnaires before and after video implementations. Questionnaires probed students on topics covered by each video including the Earth’s interior, tectonic plate boundaries, and nonstructural hazards.  </p><p>Prior to video implementation, a significant percentage of students from Dushanbe (71%) and from London (51%) demonstrated no conceptual framework about the Earth’s interior. However, when asked about the causes of earthquakes, 90% of London students mentioned plate tectonics in their responses while 51% of Dushanbe students only made references to mountains and volcanoes. Both groups responded similarly to questions concerning earthquake forecasting where most students said it is possible to know the location of future earthquakes, but not their exact time of occurrence. Similarly, both groups demonstrated some knowledge of nonstructural hazards found in typical school classrooms prior to video testing. Following video implementation, a notable portion of Tajik students (71%) showed an increased level of understanding of the Earth’s interior. This is 40% higher than the level of improvement observed in the responses of the UK students. Tajik students showed little improvement (23%) in their understanding of the causes of earthquakes, and continued to list mountains and volcanoes as the primary reasons for earthquake occurrence. For nonstructural hazards identification, both groups showed significant improvement in classroom hazard identification (60% and 80% for Dushanbe and London groups, respectively).  </p><p>Our video testing and result comparison between two groups reveal a number of factors affecting curriculum testing (e.g., level of teachers’ participation and suitable classroom culture) and students’ learning of content (e.g., past hazard experience). In this presentation, we discuss these factors and how to maximize the impact of school-based risk reduction education.  </p>

Overcoming Ambiguity: Conflict Between Emergency Warning Messages and Socio-Environmental Cues

Introduction:Emergency services are not the only source of information that the public uses when considering taking action during an event. There are also environmental cues, information from the media, or actions by peers that can influence perceptions and actions. When cues from different information sources are in conflict, it can cause uncertainty about the right protective action to take.Aim:Our research responds to concerns that conflicting cues exacerbate community non-compliance with emergency warnings.Methods:The sample consisted of 2,649 participants who completed one of 32 surveys.Results:The findings from this project confirmed emergency services agencies’ suspicions that conflicting cues can affect information processing and risk perceptions, and therefore prevent people from taking appropriate protective action. The results were reasonably consistent across fire and flood scenarios, suggesting the problem of conflicting cues is not hazard-specific. When presented with consistent cues, participants were more likely to evacuate, perceive risk about the event, share information with friends, family, and peers, find emergency warnings to be effective, and comprehend information. When faced with conflicting cues, participants were more likely to seek out additional information. It affected their information processing and self-efficacy. The results did not change for people of different ages, native language, country of birth, or post-hazard experience. This is contrary to most emergency literature research findings, which show that individual differences play a role in impacting propensity to take protective action. However, there does appear to be a significant gender effect. These results require further exploration.Discussion:These findings may be used to assist emergency services agencies to tailor community warnings during time-critical situations, and develop ways to mitigate ambiguity caused by conflicting cues to encourage protective action in order to save lives and properties.

Social Representations of Natural Hazard Risk in Swiss Mountain Regions

The term “risk” is connoted with divergent meanings in natural hazard risk research and the practice of risk management. Whilst the technical definition is accurately defined, in practice, the term “risk” is often synonymously used with “danger”. Considering this divergence as a deficiency, risk communication often aims to correct laypersons’ understanding. We suggest to instead treat the variety of meanings as a resource for risk communication strategies. However, there is however to date no investigation of what laypersons’ meanings of risk actually comprise. To address this gap, we examine the meanings of risk by applying a social representations approach within a qualitative case study research design. Results of the study among inhabitants of Swiss mountain villages show that differences in meanings were found according to hazard experience and community size. We found commonly shared core representations and peripheral ones. We conclude with suggestions on how to make usage of the knowledge on SR in risk communication.

Social Representations of Natural Hazard Risk in Swiss Mountain Regions

The term “risk” is connoted with divergent meanings in natural hazard risk research and the practice of risk management. Whilst the technical definition is accurately defined, in practice, the term “risk” is often synonymously used with “danger”. Considering this divergence as a deficiency, risk communication often aims to correct laypersons’ understanding. We suggest in reference to Breakwell (2001) to treat the variety of meanings as a resource for risk communication strategies instead. However, there is no investigation so far, of what laypersons’ meanings of risk actually comprise. To address this gap, we examine the meanings of risk applying a social representations approach (Moscovici, 2001) in a qualitative case study design. Results of the study among inhabitants of Swiss mountain villages show that differences in meanings were found according to hazard experience and community size. We found commonly shared core representations, and single peripheral ones. We conclude with suggestions on how to make usage of the knowledge on SR in risk communication.

Global Climate Change Risk and Mitigation Perceptions: A Comparison of Nine Countries

<p><span lang="EN-US">To broaden our understanding of global climate change (GCC), this article presents results from an ongoing longitudinal research project that investigates public GCC risk perceptions in nine countries focusing on different perceptions important in policy formulation. A key goal of the study is to understand which nations express similar or different viewpoints with respect to explanatory factors such as threat perceptions, hazard experience, socio-demographics, knowledge of climate change, and other factors found in the environmental hazards literature. Despite many variances in GCC perceptions among the surveyed national populations, the analysis shows that some differences are marginal, while others allow the grouping of countries based on different perception factors. Survey results reveal a high degree of uncertainty with regards to climate change dimensions including risk, science, knowledge, and policy approaches to mitigate GCC.</span></p>

The Effects of Past Hurricane Experiences on Evacuation Intentions through Risk Perception and Efficacy Beliefs: A Mediation Analysis

Individuals’ past experiences with a hazard can encompass many different aspects, which can influence how they judge and respond to a future hurricane risk. This study, which utilizes survey data from coastal residents who are at risk from hurricanes, adds to understanding of past hazard experience in two ways. First, it examines six different aspects of people’s past hurricane experiences and the relationships among them. Then, it draws on risk theories of behavioral responses to explore how these different experiences influence people’s evacuation intentions for a hypothetical hurricane as mediated through multiple dimensions of risk perception (cognitive, negative affective) and efficacy beliefs (self efficacy, response efficacy). The results suggest that people can experience emotional or otherwise severe impacts from a hurricane even if they do not have experiences with evacuation, property damage, or financial loss. The results also reveal that different past hurricane experiences operated through different combinations of mediating variables to influence evacuation intentions. Some of these processes enhanced intentions; for instance, experience with evacuation, financial loss, or emotional impacts heightened negative affective risk perceptions, which increased evacuation intentions. Other processes dampened evacuation intentions; for instance, people with past hurricane-related emotional impacts had lower self efficacy, which decreased evacuation intentions. In some cases, these enhancing and dampening processes competed. Exploring people’s different past weather experiences and the mechanisms by which they can influence future behaviors is important for more deeply understanding populations at risk and how they respond to weather threats.