Workshop: Third National Energy Education Summit: Engineering Connections for Broad Energy Education

National Council For Science And The Environment/Cedd, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The need for energy education has never been clearer. Energy services undergird all modern, industrial societies. Despite the fundamental importance of energy, problems of sustainability and reliability afflict the energy industries. The need for a trained workforce and an informed public necessitate improvements in and expansion of education about energy. The 3rd National Energy Education Summit will take place in January of 2018 in Washington, DC. The purpose of the Summit is to engage energy educators, including pre-college, higher education and public education, in sharing best practices and developing partnerships with leaders from business, government and civil society. The Summit will cover what we teach in energy education, how we teach it, how we can collaborate to teach it better, and how we can overcome critical challenges. The Summit builds on a report from the 2016 Summit, available at www.EnergyEducationSummit.org, which presents a vision for energy education in the US. The emerging meta-field of energy education is in its infancy, but builds on over a century of experience in engineering disciplines including mechanical, chemical, biological, electrical, petroleum and natural gas, and others. Educators who have pioneered the recent expansion of this academic territory have done so largely in isolation without maps to identify pedagogical, instructional, or evaluative approaches particularly well-suited to incorporating energy into the broader landscape of education. Some of the key questions are: How can we best prepare students to be future energy professionals? What combinations of technical knowledge (primarily physics and engineering) and contextual knowledge (economics, societal context, environmental aspects and entrepreneurial skills) are appropriate for students at different levels and fields? The 3rd National Energy Education Summit will serve as a forum for energy, environmental and STEM educators in K-12, higher education, and informal education to gather with leaders from business, industry, government and civil society to share best practices and develop new partnerships in order to expand the scale, impact and effectiveness of energy education. Outcomes of the Summit include building a community of practice in energy education identification of critical learning outcomes and effective practices in key areas of energy education. A report on the Summit will be widely disseminated to inform future efforts in energy education.