Survey of the energy knowledge and attitudes of secondary fifth year students in official high schools having both science and humanities majors in Venezuela

Thesis/Dissertation · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5230388

Villasmil, R J

Information is presented on the energy knowledge and attitudes of Venezuelan fifth year science and humanities students as the starting point for the future inclusion of energy topics into the existing curriculum. The study examined (1) relationships between students energy knowledge and attitudes and demographic, experiential, perceptual, cultural, and educational, background variables and (b) differences in energy knowledge and attitudes among science and humanities majors, students in the four regions, and males and females. These differences were examined using multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis as a follow-up procedure. The instruments developed consisted of two forms (A and B) each containing 20 knowledge items and 25 attitude items, and a socio-educational survey. Students' scores on the energy knowledge items were low. They had a poor understanding of energy transformations and units of electrical power and lacked basic understanding of the laws of thermodynamics. Most students were knowledgeable about transportation conservation methods. Response patterns on the attitude items indicated that students held a positive attitude toward energy related matters. The majority of students reported that their knowledge of energy matters has been obtained from sources outside the classroom. They perceived the need to conserve energy and believed that energy concepts should be part of the school curriculum.

• Research Organization: Ohio State Univ., Columbus (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5230388
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290000 -- Energy Planning & Policy
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320900* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Education & Public Relations-- (1980-)
ATTITUDES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EDUCATION
ENERGY
LATIN AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
VENEZUELA