Exploring Contemporary Issues in Sustainable Energy

The overall aim of this research is to promote engineering graduate success in complex, interdisciplinary environments relevant to sustainability. In this study, two unique engineering courses were compared in terms of individual student responses to multiple-choice questions before and after in-class online research, in addition to active discussions. The two courses, both focused on “sustainable energy,” were a 90-student 1 year science-core course with primarily non-science majors, and a 33-student 4 year technical elective course with primarily seniorlevel engineering majors. The in-class online research and discussions were structured in a manner to focus on five issues (science/engineering, environmental, social, economic, and political) related to hydraulic fractured oil/gas well stimulation, or “fracking.” This topic was chosen as a contemporary societal issue with significant engineering considerations. Eight (8) multiple-choice questions were aimed at identifying students’ understanding of basic science and engineering concepts, as well as gauging opinions on the practices and policies related to fracking. Following initial questions, students were presented basic fracking science, engineering, impacts and policy information in video format. Students, pre-assembled into equal-sized groups, then conducted individual online research focusing on the specific issue to which their group was assigned. Student scribes were self-identified within the groups to compile and distill information collected during online research, which they subsequently shared in open discussion. Students were then asked identical questions following the discussion, in addition to rating the effectiveness of the class format on their individual learning. In general, students’ basic understanding of fracking improved significantly, their opinions on the topic shifted from neutrality, and the majority agreed that the format was effective in their learning. Additional results from comparing the two courses, as well as examples of student-generated materials are presented and discussed in context of the overall research aim.