CLEAN Teleconference Call March 16, 2021
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Exploring the evolving electric grid as a strategy to promote energy literacy among educators and prepare students for careers in a low-carbon economy
Abstract: The grid faces many challenges that will require a diverse and innovative workforce as more renewables come online and as climate change increasingly threatens electric infrastructure and the communities that rely on electricity. The NC Energy Literacy Fellows Program is a year-long professional development experience for grades 8-12 STEM teachers that combines hands-on and minds-on energy investigations with place-based explorations of electrical generation facilities to build educator knowledge of the evolving electric grid, emerging technologies, and careers as a strategy to authentically engage students in learning about renewable energy and prepare them for careers in the energy sector. Learning about the knowledge and skills needed to support a low-carbon economy and modernize the electric grid enables teachers to explore numerous curriculum connections and update their energy instruction with relevant and engaging content. Results from a longitudinal program evaluation of the 2017-2019 cohorts reveal that visiting facilities and interacting with staff are significant learning experiences that ultimately enhance classroom discourse and increase student engagement during energy instruction.
Dana Brown Haine, MS, is the K-12 Science Education Manager for the Center for Public Engagement with Science at the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute for the Environment. Haine has been leading climate and energy education initiatives for K-12 students and teachers since joining the Institute in 2007. In 2009, she founded the Institute's first science enrichment program for high school students, the Climate Leadership and Energy Awareness Program (Climate LEAP), which ran until 2017. In 2017, she founded and serves as the program director for the NC Energy Literacy Fellows Teacher Professional Development Program. In 2018, Haine received NC's Outstanding Informal Educator Award in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education from the North Carolina Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education Center.
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