Student Knowledge of Energy Issues

Students' Knowledge of Energy and Attitudes to Energy Conservation

“…Advanced level students responded less often with the "I don't know" response. Although students were generally well informed about energy conservation, they had specific deficiencies in their knowledge about such energy conservation matters as: the difference in energy usage for upright and open freezers in supermarkets, vegetable oil being used in diesel engines, the differences in light produced by fluorescent and regular light sources, energy losses in energy changes and Lawrenz's (1983) results that males in grades 10-12 had consistently higher scores than females on an energy knowledge questionnaire are supported by these data. In a similar manner, the significant correlation between attitude and knowledge is consistent with Kuhn (1979), who reported a positive correlation between knowledge of and the attitudes toward energy conservation for a group of U.S.A. grade 10 to 12 students.…”

“…However, there have been studies in other countries involving high school students' knowledge of energy (Lawrenz, 1983) and their attitudes toward energy Kuhn, 1979;Koballa, 1981). An Australian-wide survey of adults' attitudes to energy issues showed strong support for the formulation of an Australian energy policy (West & Tapp, 1980).…”

“…The reason for this difference between Australia and other countries appears to be the drive toward It is therefore not surprising that there have been no surveys in Australia specifically concerned with high school students* knowledge of energy and attitudes toward energy conservation. However, there have been studies in other countries involving high school students' knowledge of energy (Lawrenz, 1983) and their attitudes toward energy Kuhn, 1979;Koballa, 1981). An Australian-wide survey of adults' attitudes to energy issues showed strong support for the formulation of an Australian energy policy (West & Tapp, 1980).…”

Energy literacy and agency of New Zealand children

“…(Eleni). Running out of power was the second most commonly identified problem arising from the use of energy (see similar results by Ayers 1977;Kuhn 1979;Lawrenz 1983;Solomon 1992;Stubbs 1985;Toth et al 2013). This notion is surprising, considering that in NZ electricity largely comes from renewable Environmental Education Research 7 sources (MBIE 2013).…”

“…Bodzin et al 2013;DeWaters and Powers 2011a;Newborough et al 1991;Vásquez, Vásquez, and Poveda 2005), but has only rarely been chosen as a topic by the interviewed teachers, because: (1) they have, or wish, to give priority to other aspects of the curriculum; (2) they do not feel confident in their knowledge of the topic; and (3) the children usually do not mention electricity when asked about what they wish to learn. The same issues have been identified as major barriers to energy education across the globe (Lawrenz 1983;Morrisey and Barrow 1984;Newborough et al 1991;Stubbs 1985), and further research is needed to determine how they might be overcome in NZ. Nevertheless, when prompted, those teachers with previous experience in running environmental projects (at enviroschools) could quickly envision a unit on energy education in line with literature recommendations (Demeo, Feldman, and Peterson 2013;Morrisey and Barrow 1984;Zografakis, Menegaki, and Tsagarakis 2008).…”