Photo: Courtesy of NREL.
Dialogue #1: Energy in the Classroom
June 26th 3:00 - 5:15 PM
The Energy 101 Dialogue Series: Dialogue #1: Energy in the Classroom Webinar Slides
How can we catalyze and increase opportunities for students learning about energy in the Nation’s two-year and four-year colleges and universities?
The Energy 101 initiative is an effort to support energy education in the post-secondary setting to increase students’ opportunities to enter the energy workforce, ensuring that the Nation continues to excel in energy research and innovation, and also to maintain our world-leading technical workforce.
The 2012 President’s Council on Science and Technology (PCAST) report entitled Engage to Excel: Producing one-million additional college graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, highlighted the need for improved STEM student recruitment and retention in the first two years of post-secondary education, noting that fewer than 40% of students who begin college planning to major in a STEM field actually earn a STEM degree. The retention of just half of these current STEM losses in the first two years would help in the goal of producing one million STEM graduates. One recommendation was to diversify the pathways to STEM degrees, and it is here where energy has the potential to become a major new pathway to careers in STEM and energy.
An initial product of the Energy 101 initiative was the Energy 101 Framework, a curriculum structure in the form of a semester-long energy fundamentals course that conceptualizes the idea that energy is a broad topic encompassing scientific, technological, and societal aspects, and thus can serve as a wide net for capturing the interest of students into the energy STEM pipeline early on in their academic careers.
The Energy 101 dialogue series goals are to identify best practices surrounding teaching energy in the post-secondary setting, to amplify those best practices, and to support the creation of a community of practice of energy education experts.
This first dialogue will concentrate on issues surrounding teaching energy fundamentals in the classroom within the first two years of post-secondary education and will feature energy education subject matter experts and an online discussion panel.
Dialogue #1 will concentrate on issues surrounding teaching energy fundamentals in the classroom within the first two years of post-secondary education.
Energy 101 Initiative: Framing the Issue - Matt Garcia
2) Instructors in Energy Education Series
Energy in the Classroom presentations from the following speakers:
- Professor Leigh Abts - Research Associate Professor, University of Maryland (Energy 101 Pilots & DoD Energy 101)
- Professor Daniel Kammen - Professor, Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkley; Director, Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (Energy and Society)
- Professor Andy Bunn - Associate Professor, Western Washington University; Director, Institute for Energy Studies (Energy Fundamentals)
- Professor Douglas J. Reinemann - Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Department Chair, Biological Systems Engineering (Undergraduate Energy Education)
- Professor Kenneth Klemow - Professor, Wilkes University; Associate Director, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (Undergraduate Energy Education)
- Professor Justin Hougham - Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Extension; Director, Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Centers (Energy in the Classroom: Pedagogy, Energy Literacy, and NARA)
3) Online Energy Education Discussion Forum
Interactive and pre-populated discussion points and comments
4) Resources Discussion
- Todd Cohen (SEED Center) - American Association of Community Colleges; Director, Sustainability Education and Economic Development Centers
- Dr. David Blockstein (National Energy Education Summit) - National Council for Science and the Environment; Senior Scientist and Director of Education
- DOE and EERE Undergraduate Student Engagement Activities
Summary, take-aways, action items, and next steps