Research Insights and Challenges of Secondary School Energy Education: A Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells Case Study

Abstract

The research achievements of a university chemistry lab regarding dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were transformed into a high school hands-on course by simplifying the experimental steps and equipment. Our research methodology was action research. We verified the DSSC course step by step. First, 10 members of a high school science study club helped to revise the course over a school semester. A questionnaire survey revealed that all students agreed that the course increased their understanding of DSSCs and solar cells. Second, 35 students were enrolled in a 10th-grade elective energy course to study the revised DSSC topics for 3 weeks. A five-point Likert scale was used to collect students’ feedback, and students reported looking forward to making their own high-performance DSSC modules (4.60) and stated that being able to make their own solar cell was a great accomplishment (4.49). Third, the course was implemented at a junior high school science camp, and the 37 participating students were all able to complete the hands-on experiment. In the questionnaire survey, the students expressed that they enjoyed learning about scientific principles through a hands-on approach (4.59). Fourth, most of the 12 schoolteachers who voluntarily participated in the DSSC workshop agreed that integrating DSSC activity into school courses would be conducive to multidisciplinary learning. This course could facilitate participants’ self-evaluations in science knowledge, experimental skills, learning motivations, and positive attitudes toward sustainability.

Revisiting Education for Sustainable Development: Methods to Inspire Secondary School Students toward Renewable Energy

“…However, simply introducing the curricula would be insufficient if the teaching and learning approaches fail to explore active learning involving the community, home, and technological factors. The curricula must also feature multidisciplinary concepts [40,41] that integrate all the mentioned factors before introducing the curricula into the secondary education spectrum.…”

“…The educational strategies employed were active, interactive, game-based, project-based, experiential, action-based, collaborative, problembased, and multidisciplinary learning strategies (Table 3). The results indicated that the introduction of such content on RE and sustainable development concepts increased the overall interests of the students in RE concepts and STEM subjects, motivated them to learn more about the environmental issues and how to address them, increased their knowledge about RE concepts, and increased their awareness about the necessity of environmental safety and the different strategies for harnessing green and clean environmentally benign energy [20,27,28,30,36,[39][40][41][42][43].…”

“…The analyses revealed how secondary education and the introduction of different types of content and activities via different educational strategies can impact the student's perception regarding RE. Table 4 reveals that five articles among the selected ones directly highlighted the increase in the awareness of RE and SDG among the students when RE concepts and ESD were introduced into the secondary level of education [24,25,33,36,40]. Furthermore, five research works directly highlighted the increase in the students' motivation toward RE and SDGs [20,28,31,40,41].…”

“…Table 4 reveals that five articles among the selected ones directly highlighted the increase in the awareness of RE and SDG among the students when RE concepts and ESD were introduced into the secondary level of education [24,25,33,36,40]. Furthermore, five research works directly highlighted the increase in the students' motivation toward RE and SDGs [20,28,31,40,41]. Three of the articles highlighted the students' increased interest [20,23,27], and seven directly highlighted the increase in the students' knowledge about RE and sustainable development [26,30,32,34,[39][40][41].…”

“…Furthermore, five research works directly highlighted the increase in the students' motivation toward RE and SDGs [20,28,31,40,41]. Three of the articles highlighted the students' increased interest [20,23,27], and seven directly highlighted the increase in the students' knowledge about RE and sustainable development [26,30,32,34,[39][40][41]. Out of the selected 25 articles, only 14 articles dealt with and reported the impact of RE education on students' personal attributes, which shows a lack of studies that can identify the more in-depth impact of RE education in the secondary education on the students' behavior and attributes and also focus on their interest and motivation toward pursuing higher education or careers in the RE fields.…”