Planning Committee:Transformation of Undergraduate Curricula in Energy

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This project is a workshop to begin transforming energy education from a stove-piped, technology-driven field to a diverse interdisciplinary enterprise engaging many students and institutions. It responds to calls for improved energy education from blue ribbon groups. The National Science Board (2009) and the California Council on Science and Technology (2011) have noted the difficult challenges of building a new energy economy and have identified expanded and improved educational resources as part of the solution to these challenges. Currently, engineering schools and community colleges provide substantial education and training for energy specialists, but most other academic units and institutions offer little. The workshop is addressing five key issues: (1) identification of needed curricular innovations, (2) identification of administrative barriers to innovation, (3) promotion of interdisciplinary faculty teams, (4) identification of needs to develop new faculty expertise, and (5) planning of assessment methods. After the workshop, participants will return to their home institutions to implement new and improved courses and programs. After two years, participants will form the core of a national conference to report on and further promote innovation in energy education. The larger vision for this proposal is to address the critical need for new, market-tested courses, internships, and service learning within an intellectually coherent framework. The work will build upon the findings of the larger STEM community and spread the innovations through an enduring consortium of faculty from four-year and community colleges. The overall project is sponsored by the Council of Energy Research and Education Leaders (CEREL) of the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). CEREL includes leaders from over 35 institutions with energy programs and has identified improvement of energy education as a high priority. NCSE has over 150 affiliated universities and colleges and is thus in an excellent position to foster wide dissemination of curricular innovations.