How <i>Green</i> Is your Fuel? Creation and Comparison of Automotive Biofuels

Wagner, Eugene P.; Koehle, Maura; Moyle, Todd M.; Lambert, Patrick D.

doi:10.1021/ed100390s

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The production process itself was redesigned into more sustainable form [71]. The process was also improved with regard to the applicability of conventional technologies [72]. These findings make biodiesel more sustainable.…”

Section: An Example In Practice: Biofuels From Vegetable Fatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability

2015

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Developing skills and attitudes among students in terms of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) requires that educators address issues of sustainability in both formal and non-formal education. However, up to now, ESD seems to have been insufficiently implemented in secondary science education in many countries in general, and in high school chemistry learning in particular. A lack of suitable experiments, coupled with missing teaching and learning materials and insufficient teacher professional development have been identified as the reasons for this gap. This paper describes a project of innovation and research in the field of ESD for secondary school chemistry education. Within the project, both half-and full-day learning environments have been developed for non-formal, laboratory-based learning of secondary level students at the university. The research-based development focuses on teaching-learning modules which link formal and non-formal learning. The pedagogy employed is both learner-centered and inquiry-based. All the modules focus on sustainability issues in chemistry-related contexts. Data was collected by questionnaires from teachers and students both prior to and after the visit of the non-formal learning environment. Likert-items were analyzed statistically and the evaluation of the open-ended questions was done by Qualitative Content Analysis. An overview of the project, OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 1799 a case from the non-formal laboratory setting, and findings from accompanying research and evaluation are discussed in this paper. Potential impacts on teacher professional development and curriculum innovation are also outlined.

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Section: An Example In Practice: Biofuels From Vegetable Fatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability

2015

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“…To demonstrate the use of biomass or diverted waste as feedstocks in teaching laboratories, exercises have been developed where diverse biobased feedstocks can be processed in the teaching laboratory to make valuable chemicals or components of consumer products. Notable examples include the following: lignin or sawdust can be used to synthesize vanillin; − various fresh and spent plant oils can be used to make biodiesel − ,,,, and soap; ,− lignocellulosic material has been processed into bioethanol , and sunscreens; and bioplastics − have been generated from waste paper and chitin/chitosan …”

Section: Assessment Of Feedstocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Feedstocks, Processes, and Products in the Teaching Laboratory: A Framework for Students To Use Metrics to Design Greener Chemistry Experiments

Silverman

Hudson

2019

J. Chem. Educ.

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Exciting developments in the field of Green Chemistry spur the continuous innovation of experiments in the teaching laboratory. Beyond learning practical techniques, students can critically assess experiments using relevant metrics to propose further improvements and identify the most important interconnected impacts of these alternative products and processes. Herein we review popular laboratory experiments through the simple framework of feedstocks, processes, and products, offering data-driven methods for student evaluation of experiments used in the teaching laboratory. These evaluations employ techniques from life-cycle assessments and techno-economic analyses leveraging freely available data from online databases and safety data sheets. These methods may be used by students and educators to first assess seemingly distinct facets of a chemical transformation (energy inputs, reagent toxicity, etc.) and then relate these to meaningfully address system-wide improvements (replacing harmful solvents, reducing reagent costs, etc.).

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“…Parker, de los Santos and Anderson (2015) describe how students' challenges with tracing matter and energy through carbon-transforming processes may impede student understanding of biofuels since these difficult concepts are at the center of analyses of the performance of biofuels. Other science education literature has described techniques for using biofuel technology in a laboratory setting (Blatti & Burkart, 2012;El Seoud, Loffredo, Galgano, Sato, & Reichardt, 2011;Wagner, Koehle, Moyle, & Lambert, 2010). Themes emerging from students' positions on biofuels may reveal gaps in understanding about scientific, social, and economic dimensions of the issue.…”

Section: Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of Informal and Formal Decision-making about a Socioscientific Issue

Dauer¹,

Lute²,

Straka³

2016

IJEMST

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We propose two contrasting types of student decision-making based on social and cognitive psychology models of separate mental processes for problem solving. Informal decision-making uses intuitive reasoning and is subject to cognitive biases, whereas formal decision-making uses effortful, logical reasoning. We explored indicators of students' formal decision-making in a socioscientific issue-focused general science post-secondary course that used a seven-step decision-making framework based in decision-science models. We found that students' value orientations predicted students' stance towards biofuels at the beginning but not at the end of the course, indicating some students' post-survey opinions were less rooted in affective value-judgments. Themes in student personal reasoning about biofuels were primarily focused on environmental and economic dimensions of the issue and revealed a greater awareness of alternative options and potential consequences of biofuel use at the end of the course. We observed a decrease in students' emotive arguments and an increase in students' justificatory arguments about biofuel use. A formal decision-making framework may be a useful tool in supporting students' formal, reasoned approach to deciding what we should do about complex socioscientific issues.

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How Green Is your Fuel? Creation and Comparison of Automotive Biofuels

Cited by 20 publications

References 13 publications

The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability

The Potential of Non-Formal Laboratory Environments for Innovating the Chemistry Curriculum and Promoting Secondary School Level Students Education for Sustainability

Evaluating Feedstocks, Processes, and Products in the Teaching Laboratory: A Framework for Students To Use Metrics to Design Greener Chemistry Experiments

Indicators of Informal and Formal Decision-making about a Socioscientific Issue

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