Perception and confidence on weather forecasts among Spanish undergraduate students enrolled in different subjects related to physics

Abstract

The current study focuses on Spanish undergraduate students enrolled in Meteorology-related subjects that would make use of weather forecasts in their future professional careers. The main aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, to evaluate the students’ confidence in the current weather forecasts. Secondly, to analyze the students’ perception and understanding of uncertainty associated with weather-related forecasts. To address these issues, a Google Form questionnaire was developed. A total of 101 students participated in the corresponding survey during the academic year 2018-2019. Results show that students have a well-founded opinion and a fairly solid knowledge of weather forecasts, both regarding confidence and in relation to the trend found in the current weather forecasts towards less accurate predictions for larger lead times. The results found in the current study are in line with previous research conducted in different specific contexts and should be taken into account to implement different learning strategies in the classroom.