Abstract
Decision-making regarding energy determines carbon emissions and the severity of climate change. Energy literacy plays a crucial role because well-informed citizens can support the design and implementation of smart and forward-looking policies. Research has shown that people hold misconceptions about energy, and for young students these may persist into adulthood. Thus, this study is to understand the energy literacy of junior high school students in Taiwan and what their misconceptions are as well as why and how they hold these. Energy literacy scales (ELS) were developed and served as the basis for a survey of 1652 students in five regions of Taiwan, in which most indicators for knowledge were designed corresponding to common misconceptions in the scientific and social context of energy issues. Through analyzing the survey questions and survey results, interview questions were designed and 10 students were interviewed to identify their misconceptions. A “conceptual logic map” model was developed for demonstrating the sources and patterns of misconceptions and their linkages. Potential educational strategies were then proposed, showing the applicability of the model. The combination of concept-oriented energy literacy surveys, interviews, and the conceptual logic map was proven to be an effective design for misconception identification and treatment.
Highlights
Climate change is one of the most critical challenges that human beings face at this stage of human development
Energy is about decision-making; energy literacy plays a crucial role as well-informed and well-educated citizens are the basis for the design and implementation of smart and forward-looking policies
It needs to be stated again that questions in the “knowledge” category of the questionnaire were designed corresponding to the component “energy knowledge” (EK) and some sub-components of the component “energy and life” (EL) of the energy literacy scales developed; questions in the “attitude and action” category were designed to correspond to the component “citizen responsibility and action” (CRA) and some sub-components of the component “energy and life”
Summary
Climate change is one of the most critical challenges that human beings face at this stage of human development. Carbon reduction in the electricity sector is one of the priorities for climate change mitigation, as most electricity is generated from fossil fuels in many countries. Energy literacy is not just about knowledge, which is cognitive, and aspects related to affect and behavior. Misconceptions related to energy are common and may lead to erroneous information, misunderstandings, false interpretations of energy issues, and insufficient support for sustainability-oriented energy policies. An energy literacy scale was developed for the purposes of understanding Taiwanese junior high school students’ knowledge, attitude, and actions regarding energy, in which most indicators for knowledge were designed to correspond with common misconceptions about energy issues. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews the literature related to energy literacy and misconception.
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