Improving energy literacy among middle school youth with project-based learning pedagogies

Abstract

Energy literacy was measured among a sample of middle school students (n=865) before (pre) and after (post) their middle-level physical science course using a written quantitative questionnaire developed for this research. Overall, students demonstrated significant cognitive gains, with no significant change in their energy-related affect, self-efficacy, or behavior scores. A sub-set of students who participated in project-based energy curricula demonstrated greater cognitive gains, particularly on items that related to topics that were more practical and related to everyday life. One group of project-oriented students who were academically challenged demonstrated significant gains on every non-cognitive subscale score. Qualitative outcomes indicate that most project-oriented students thought more about their energy consumption and made a greater effort to conserve energy, after studying energy in school. They also reportedly talked more with their families about saving energy, felt more strongly about saving energy, developing and using renewable energy resources. The findings underscore the complex relationship between knowledge, affect, and behavior, confirming that energy-related behaviors are more strongly related to affect than to knowledge, and support the benefits of project-based instruction for improving students' broad energy literacy.