The project is a collaboration involving Texas A&M University, Stanford University, The Pennsylvania State University, California State University Long Beach, and, Prairie View A&M University. The team of investigators is developing a continuously updated online textbook on energy sustainability to support core science and engineering courses for both majors and non majors. The project builds on an earlier NSF project in which attempts to develop a traditional textbook suggested the need for alternative educational material for such a dynamic and extensive field. This need is being met by an online resource that grows and is updated systematically as the knowledge base expands, using technologies that are not available in a typical printed textbook. The textbook addresses fossil, alternative, and renewable energy sources; energy conversions, utilization and extraction; and environmental impacts. The project goals are to: (1) implement collaborative technology that enables many content writers to work simultaneously (2) write the textbook content and assemble it in a form that is effective for each of the partner institutions, (3) assess the pedagogical value to student learning compared to that with a printed textbook, (4) conduct outreach to underrepresented groups in the K-12 teacher population as potential developers and users of the created on line content, and (5) disseminate the textbook itself and study results assessing its pedagogical value. Evaluation efforts, under the direction of an independent expert, are using an assortment of approaches to monitor (1) the impact of the online textbook on student content leaning, attitudes about energy and the engineering field, and learning skills with online resources; (2) the characteristics of faculty collaboration in developing online resources; and (3) the adoption of the developed resources. The Connexions website is being used to publicize and disseminate the textbook; evaluation results will be posted on the investigators' website, presented at engineering education conferences, and described in journal articles. Broader impacts include the collaboration among a diverse set of institutions, the focus on underrepresented groups in the K-12 outreach, and the dissemination of the material and evaluation results.
"Live Energy" is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded collaborative research project aimed to develop an online textbook on energy and environment tailored to the needs of undergraduate students interested in the subject. The textbook is co-authored by five engineering professors at five university campuses, Texas A&M University (TAMU), College Station, Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), California State University Long Beach (CSULB), The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), & Stanford University. The team of collaborators have worked for three year and have completed authoring the textbook that addresses the critical issues of energy resources (both mineral-based, and renewable), and their political, environmental, and economic impacts. Various chapters were written by faculty with their core competency in their subject areas. Because of the geographic locations of the five faculty members, most of the communications were held online through emails, weekly teleconferences, and telephone calls. In addition surveys were conducted of the students taking energy courses at the beginning and end of each semester. Results are disseminated through posters, conference presentations, and by journal publications. To assure the consistency and smooth flow of content, each PI was assigned to review, in detail, three to four other chapters written by other colleagues, and comment on the remaining chapters. Furthermore, to assure all information is up-to-date; each author has made a commitment to regularly update his/her chapters regularly. The table of contents for the most current version of the online textbook (version 0.9.4.4) is presented in Table 1. Table 1. The Table of Contents Section 1. Past, Present, and Future of Energy Chapter 1.1 Energy Sustainability Chapter 1.2 Energy Sources and Uses Chapter 1.3 Energy Conversions Section 2. Fossil Energy Chapter 2.1 Coal Chapter 2.2 Oil Chapter 2.3 Natural Gas Chapter 2.4 Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources Chapter 2.5 Environmental Consequences of Fossil Fuel Use Section 3. Nuclear Energy Chapter 3.1 Nuclear Energy Technology Chapter 3.2 Advanced Nuclear Reactors and Future of Nuclear Energy Section 4. Renewable Energy Chapter 4.1 Hydro Energy Chapter 4.2 Geothermal Energy Chapter 4.3 Solar Thermal Energy Chapter 4.4 Solar Photovoltaic Energy Chapter 4.5 Wind Energy Chapter 4.6 Bio-Energy Chapter 4.7 Transmission for Energy Sources Chapters authored by this PI include: Chapter 2.5 Environmental Consequences of Fossil Fuel Use Chapter 4.1 Hydro Energy Chapter 4.7 Transmission for Energy Sources A prototype iBook was completed by January of this year and used in courses taught in 4 of the campuses represented by the collaborators in this project. This was in line with the proposed schedule. Baseline student surveys were collected in spring 2011, fall 2012, spring 2012, and fall 2012. In spring 2013 the student surveys had responses from students who used the iBook instead of conventional printed textbooks as in previous semesters. Analysis of the spring 2013 data is partly complete, and we plan to report this analysis in an ASEE paper in 2014. The group is currently exploring options for electronic publication of the textbook, and its delivery to various colleges and universities. Several publishing companies have expressed interest in the project. CSULB contractual obligation is completed at this point; other collaborators are completing their tasks. The final report will be submitted by the collaborative team upon completion of the project in its entirety.
