This project is a workshop to begin transforming energy education from a stove-piped, technology-driven field to a diverse interdisciplinary enterprise engaging many students and institutions. It responds to calls for improved energy education from blue ribbon groups. The National Science Board (2009) and the California Council on Science and Technology (2011) have noted the difficult challenges of building a new energy economy and have identified expanded and improved educational resources as part of the solution to these challenges. Currently, engineering schools and community colleges provide substantial education and training for energy specialists, but most other academic units and institutions offer little.
The workshop is addressing five key issues: (1) identification of needed curricular innovations, (2) identification of administrative barriers to innovation, (3) promotion of interdisciplinary faculty teams, (4) identification of needs to develop new faculty expertise, and (5) planning of assessment methods. After the workshop, participants will return to their home institutions to implement new and improved courses and programs. After two years, participants will form the core of a national conference to report on and further promote innovation in energy education.
The larger vision for this proposal is to address the critical need for new, market-tested courses, internships, and service learning within an intellectually coherent framework. The work will build upon the findings of the larger STEM community and spread the innovations through an enduring consortium of faculty from four-year and community colleges. The overall project is sponsored by the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL) of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). CEREL includes leaders from over 35 institutions with energy programs and has identified improvement of energy education as a high priority. NCSE has over 150 affiliated universities and colleges and is thus in an excellent position to foster wide dissemination of curricular innovations.
Energy touches all lives, and the prosperity and security of the United States depend heavily on the extensive production and use of energy resources. For many reasons, however, the country must reduce its current high dependence on fossil fuels. The most important issues include (1) the high levels of carbon dioxide emissions causing disruption of global climates and (2) rising levels of air pollutants with threats to human health. The United States should be a global leader in the transition to a new energy economy. Higher educational institutions in the United States (community colleges, four-year colleges, and universities) currently do not provide adequate educational resources to make the needed changes. Although the country does an excellent job in training highly specialized engineers and technicians to run its immense energy industries, these specialists are not provided with the education to give them a broad understanding of energy problems as a whole. Students in other fields usually learn little about energy. As a result, the country’s next generation of technical experts and citizen leaders will have inadequate tools to help them face the challenges ahead. In short they lack "energy literacy." This NSF grant supported a planning committee to explore the scope of needed changes in energy education for college and university students. Its four major findings included: Energy literacy means that both faculty and students must understand the reasons why the Nation needs to change its energy budget "quickly," meaning starting now and extending over the next three decades. Energy literacy means that all students must have the opportunity to learn about the energy as a whole. Too often, energy specialists and other citizens think only of just one or two energy sources and uses, for example gasoline and automobiles. Energy literacy requires the ability to think about multiple ways of achieving mobility. Energy literacy means that all students must learn how energy connects to other fields, including technology, science, economics, politics, and ethics. Excellence in energy education requires contributions from the natural sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, and the arts. Achievement of energy literacy requires a significant new effort to expand interdisciplinary energy education in colleges and universities. The effort will require means for energy educators to (a) share resources and experiences; (b) develop new curricula, courses, and degree programs; (c) collaborate on pathways from two-year colleges to baccalaureate institutions; and (d) recruit diverse students into energy fields. The participants of this project are now pursuing ways to enhance the ability of existing and new faculty to develop stronger courses and programs in energy education. They are also urging educational leaders to develop ways for students to easily pursue courses and programs that will enhance their energy literacy, regardless of their field of specialization.
