Final Thesis Done

Link to thesis:
http://bulldog2.redlands.edu/fac/cwalker/apus/Walker.Thesis_Final_no_sig_page.pdf

Pictures of me with diploma and at graduation.

It is edit time

My draft thesis has gone through many revisions.  My first reader, Dr. Carol Ann Franklin, has given her input.  Those changes, as well as many others, have been made.  It is now in the hands of my primary advisor, Dr. Jason Siniscalchi. 

Given that I am also preparing to teach in the fall, Dr. Siniscalchi is working with me as we have shortened the review process by at least a week.

More later as this work continues.

Draft thesis done!

A complete draft of my thesis is done.  I have 79 pages.  The first 30+ are the write-up of my project.  I have included in my appendices the energy framework, the survey instrument, my lesson plan, the supply list for all of the models, the GIS lesson, and samples of my teaching materials. 

Dr. Carol Ann Franklin, my on-ground advisor, will read first and then it is off to my Capstone advisor Dr. Jason Siniscalchi. 

This was really a great learning experience.  In reflecting about my work, I realized that it would be rather difficult to manage a change in attitudes and behaviors with regards to energy usage in just my short time with the students. 

I have elected to post here the closing paragraphs of my thesis:

The subject of energy is rich in content.  When choosing to teach about energy, this researcher elected to construct and deliver an instructional treatment that many would consider to be a comprehensive overview.  The instructional treatment covered sources of energy, the generation of electricity, what it means to make sustainable choices, and lessons on renewable energy (solar, wind, and hydroelectricity).  From the results of the pre and post surveys, content knowledge regarding energy was gained.  Progress, however, was not noted in the areas of attitude and behavior.  Given the three week instructional period and an audience of students too young to be in decision making roles, it is not too surprising that there were not big shifts in those results. 

There are, however, two special instances stemming from the Summer Success Academy that gives this researcher hope for the future.  One came while playing the Energy Choices (n.d.) board game during the first day of instruction.  This game was developed at Clarkson University (where DeWaters and Powers are professors) through the support of a National Science Foundation grant.  The purpose of this game is to put the players in decision making roles that mimic real life energy-based situations.  Each player starts with a home card and a mode of transportation card.  These two factors dictate what the player will have to pay for the energy used in order to support those life-style choices.  As they move around the game board, the players learn through their choices, such as driving one’s personal vehicle instead of taking public transportation or deciding which refrigerator to buy, that there are environmental consequences as well as associated costs with each decision.   The game finished with a group discussion based on the questions provided along with the board game.  One Summer Success Academy student remarked that, “Energy from renewable sources saved money.”  Another stated that, “It is better for the environment to ride a bike instead of driving a car.”  Lastly, another said, “Energy costs a lot of money.”  These true statements show the power of this game.

Another special aspect comes post-Summer Success Academy.  It has been reported to this researcher that some of the foster youth group homes served by the Summer Success Academy have decided to create an energy incentive program where conservation is the goal.  This will be a competition amongst the group homes that are managed by the same director.  Each home will compare their current utility bills to the previous year’s bill and then a goal for reducing energy usage (and therefore saving money). 

This latter example shows that change comes in its own time and in unique ways.  It may not be the results of a survey that tell a researcher that change has occurred.  The creation of this new energy incentive program demonstrates that learning about conservation and sustainability happen (regardless of the motivation for change).  For other Summer Success Academy students, change may not come until they are living on their own.  However, by the responses given to the energy board game questions, there is an indication that something was indeed gained through this learning experience.  Individual attitudes and behaviors with regards to energy do count.  As all of these students are faced with their own energy decisions, this researcher believes that, by having this past experience, the students will use the knowledge gained when considering both the environmental factors and the associated costs that accompany their choices.

Offer to teach

I am pleased to report that I have been offered an opportunity to teach one section of EVST100 - Introduction to Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands during the fall 2012 semester.

I selected this book:

Environmental Science

G. Tyler Miller (Author), Scott Spoolman (Author)

Post Instruction - Writing, writing, writing... (and statistical analysis)

At this stage, it is all about the creative project write-up.  This involves analyzing the pre and post survey data and reporting on the significance of my findings.  Thus far, evaluating the curriculum based on someone else's survey is not looking as promising as I hoped. 

The survey consists of 61 questions that have been well vetted with over 900 students.  In the past use of this survey, the two researchers reported on their findings without there being an instructional treatment and a post survey.  I am using their survey instrument to see if there has been a change in content knowledge, as well as attitude and behavior after my instructional treatment.

I can report, from my preliminary findings, that there was a statistically significant improvement in content knowledge (although the overall scores are very low). 

I do not see, though, in my first run through of the data, a change in attitude or behavior.  In fact, for most of these questions the scores went down slightly.  The stat picture you see to the right comes from the question, "Energy education should be an important part of every school’s curriculum."  As you can see, the post survey results were lower than the pre survey results.  In this instance, the students in my study group neither agreed nor disagreed, that energy is an important academic subject.  Well, at least they didn't strongly disagree!

I am still trying to sort out my conclusions with regards to my findings.  I do feel that my curriculum is viable, however, I did not "teach to the survey."  By this I mean that there were many instances where I hoped I was leading the students to make a connection between what they were learning and some of the questions on the survey (such as should every appliance come with a sticker detailing its energy requirements).  

There will be more on the writing portion of my project as I move through the process.

Week 4 - End of the Summer Success Academy

On Friday, July 20, 2012, the Summer Success Academy officially came to an end.  The culminating event was a celebration which includes the students, Academy staff, the University of Redlands community, and the grant partners (San Bernardino Superintendent of Schools and leaders from the group homes). 

The 2012 Summer Success Academy celebration was an inspiring event where students spoke and showed off their work, where acheivement awards were given, and the community came together to celebrate a truly success summer program.  The image shown on the right is the staff being honored by Dr. Carol Ann Franklin.

Each student in the program made a movie that highlighted their summer experience (which were each shown).

Their energy literacy posters were also on display, along with a table that showed all of the models that we had built as part of this program..

One could only leave this event knowing they had been part of something special. 

Week 4 - Tuesday - Energy Literacy Posters

To demonstrate their knowledge of energy literacy, the students have produced posters.  These posters serve as a visual demonstration of the students' learning.

The day began with the students working through the poster writing prompt worksheet.  Each student was asked to include the following on their poster:
1. The definition of energy,
2. A paragraph regarding the importance of knowing about the different energy sources (renewable and non-renewable),
3. A paragraph that describes the different renewable energy sources,
4. A paragraph about why using energy from renewable sources is important,
5. A map of one of the energy-related sites that was visited (Southern California Edison, Wind Farm, JPL, and the Seven Oaks Dam) and a paragraph about why you picked this site, and
6. A paragraph regarding their favorite energy activity.

The students typed their text and selected images to go with that text. 

The last step was to position the text and images in an attractive and informative fashion.  These items were then glued into place.


Shown below is a collection of the finished posters.