A PORTAL TO UNDERGRADUATE MATERIALS FOR TEACHING ABOUT ENERGY FROM ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Current events such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, rising and falling gas prices and the emergence of wind farms across the landscape serve as frequent reminders of the importance of energy in our everyday lives. This underscores the need to ensure that energy issues are understood by students and the general public. Advances in energy education are essential so that citizens are prepared to make informed decisions about their personal use of energy and are able to have thoughtful input on local, national, and international polices on energy.

The availability of training and materials to assist faculty in teaching this topic is an important part of the overall educational effort for energy literacy. The On the Cutting Edge faculty development program has created a series of websites and workshop opportunities to provide faculty with information and resources for teaching about energy. An online collection of teaching materials was developed in conjunction with the On the Cutting Edge workshops “Teaching about Energy in Geoscience Courses: Current Research and Pedagogy.” The website contains examples, references and ideas for incorporating energy topics into existing geoscience courses or for designing or refining a course about energy. There is a collection of over 30 classroom and lab activities contributed by faculty and covering such diverse topics as renewable energy, energy policy and energy conservation. Course descriptions and syllabi for energy courses address audiences ranging from introductory courses to advanced seminars. Presentations and related references from the teaching energy workshops provide access to recent research, emerging topics, perspectives on energy policy and examples of effective pedagogy for teaching about energy. Other materials available on the website include a collection of visualizations and animations, a catalog of recommended books and related references from the teaching energy workshops, and ideas for novel approaches or new topics for teaching about energy in the geosciences.

All of these materials can be found at http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/energy. Faculty are encouraged to submit their own teaching materials to the web collections via on-line forms for submitting information and uploading files.