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Mother Nature’s Hit Single: A mixed-methods evaluation of traditional versus musical climate change communication
  • P. Zion Klos,
  • Brennan Duarte,
  • Olivia Fabrizi
P. Zion Klos
Marist College

Corresponding Author:zion.klos@gmail.com

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Brennan Duarte
Marist College
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Olivia Fabrizi
Marist College
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Abstract

Climate change is an important issue that affects all aspects of human life and the environment. Through this project, we wrote an original pop song about the local impacts and solutions to climate change in the Northeast. We used a mixed-methods evaluation to test the effectiveness of musical science communication in relation to traditional methods, to change the mindsets of college students and encourage them to take political action. Marist students responded to surveys asking about their sustainability and lifestyle choices, as well as their opinions on climate change. After watching either the traditional presentation or listening to the song, participants answered whether their stance toward climate change had changed, whether they had learned more, and whether they plan to take specific steps to make their lifestyles more sustainable. Through a Fisher Chi-Square analysis, we determined that the change in stances between the two treatments was not significant (p-value = 0.33). However, to an 84% confidence level, there were differences between the two treatments in whether students learned about climate change, and whether they were more likely to change their lifestyle. We found that the traditional science presentation was better at teaching new information (p-value = 0.08), while the song was better at convincing students to act in the future (p-value = 0.16). In summary, we found that traditional science communication is better at teaching someone about climate change, but if the goal is to convince someone to take action to do something about it, then communicating that message through music is the better option. Examples of these types of communication can be found on YouTube, https://youtu.be/gXedvKkpLGs for the song, and https://youtu.be/gbf6cTDNp18 for the traditional presentation.