Environmental Energy Course Adopted into a University's Core Curriculum.

Most people are aware of the global energy challenges of pollution, greenhouse gas production, dwindling nonrenewable resources, and the environmental consequences of resource exploitation. Although recognition of these problems is widespread, many studies have shown that America's "energy literacy" rate is low. This article describes the development and execution of an introductory environmental engineering course offered to nontechnical students to address the problem of low energy literacy. Previous studies classified energy literacy into three domains: cognitive, affective, and behavioral, and concluded that effective energy education should target knowledge and values. As engineering faculty, the authors believe that a technically literate public is crucial to the development of rational energy policies. A course on energy was developed for nontechnical students with majors including accounting, architecture, mathematics, chemistry, education, biology, business, criminal justice, political science, and history. The course has been adopted into the university's core curriculum, satisfying the objective for scientific literacy in natural sciences. It is the first general education offering from engineering faculty. Challenges in the development of this course included attaining the right balance between qualitative and quantitative material and tempering faculty's enthusiasm for rigorous mathematical analysis in deference to a nontechnical audience that largely reflects the region's diversity. The overriding goals were to inform students about energy production and consumption patterns, various technologies and their environmental consequences, and the pros and cons of renewable and nonrenewable energy systems. Other objectives were to provide a straightforward yet sophisticated appreciation of the negative effects of unconsidered energy consumption, a knowledge of the physical laws governing and technologies behind conventional and alternative energy production, and an array of tools to evaluate and implement energy conservation strategies on personal and corporate levels. To achieve these objectives, several projects were implemented calculating heat usage and heat loss during a winter month for a campus building, performing energy audits for the residences in a neighbouring community and calculating estimated energy savings. In addition, a term paper researching atmospheric pollution and its sources and effects was required. This activity helped students gain a deeper appreciation of the impact of energy-related choices, behavioral actions, and human activities, as well as the price of technological advances and modern lifestyles on the environment. The instructors wanted to gauge the effectiveness of the class on the students' energy literacy. Questions from the NEETF report were chosen, allowing for a comparison between student and national responses. Survey questions were divided into those addressing knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Results from pre- and post-course energy questionnaires indicate that the course was effective in improving student energy knowledge and awareness of important energy issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]