In eg a ing Hands-On, Vi ual, and Ou doo Lea ning o Clima e and Renewable
Ene gy Educa ion
Jillian Jankowski, Pay on Keblish, Aleksand a Dukleski, Philip Sedalis, Zhiming Zhang
Depa men o Ci il and En i onmen al Enginee ing, Rowan Uni e si y, Glassbo o NJ 08028
Rising CO2 emissions, global empe a u e inc eases, and sea le el ise highligh he u gen need
o clima e educa ion, ye public eluc ance o ansi ion om ossil uels sugges s a gap in
unde s anding he en i onmen al and social impac s o ene gy consump ion. Addi ionally,
misconcep ions a ound ce ain solu ions, such as elec ic ehicles (EVs), e eal he need o deepe
discussions on sys emic challenges and uly sus ainable ene gy al e na i es. Despi e inc easing
clima e awa eness, many educa ion sys ems do no su icien ly equip s uden s wi h he knowledge
and c i ical- hinking skills equi ed o e alua e en i onmen al challenges and de elop solu ions.
To add ess hese gaps, his s udy de eloped an in e ac i e and esea ch-backed ini ia i e designed
o enhance clima e li e acy and p omo e in o med decision-making h ough expe ien ial lea ning.
In eg a ed lea ning modules we e de eloped o engage K-12 s uden s, educa o s, college s uden s,
and communi y membe s. These modules inco po a e hands-on, ou doo , and i ual ac i i ies o
help pa icipan s unde s and he ela ionships be ween human ac i i ies, ene gy consump ion, CO2
emissions, and clima e ends. Fo example, he clima e change module explo es his o ical da a on
global empe a u e ise, sea le el changes, and ca bon emissions, illus a ing long- e m
en i onmen al shi s and hei impac s on di e en egions. The enewable ene gy module
in oduces s uden s o clean ene gy echnologies such as sola , wind, and idal ene gy. Th ough
in e ac i e expe imen s and simula ions, pa icipan s assess he easibili y and e iciency o hese
ene gy sou ces by analyzing key ac o s such as sola panel ou pu , wind eloci y, and idal heigh ,
p o iding p ac ical insigh s in o sus ainable ene gy ansi ions. The p ojec also emphasizes he
need o in e disciplina y lea ning, encou aging s uden s o explo e he in e sec ion o enginee ing,
en i onmen al science, and public policy in add essing ene gy challenges. Th ough hands-on
explo a ion, he s udy p omo es deepe engagemen wi h sus ainabili y opics, helping s uden s
mo e beyond heo e ical knowledge o ac i ely pa icipa e in p oblem-sol ing p ocesses. The
ini ia i e is pa icula ly aluable o s uden s in STEM ields, as i in oduces hem o enginee ing
concep s ela ed o ene gy p oduc ion, e iciency, and en i onmen al impac s, aligning wi h he
b oade goal o p epa ing u u e p o essionals o ackle clima e- ela ed challenges. The p ojec
se es as a model o enhancing clima e and enewable ene gy educa ion, empowe ing u u e
gene a ions o c i ically e alua e ene gy choices, unde s and human-en i onmen in e ac ions, and
con ibu e o a low-ca bon u u e.
