Subject Knowledge and Perceptions of Bioenergy among School Teachers in India: Results from a Survey

Resources

Pradipta Halder¹  Sari Havu-Nuutinen²  Janne Pietarinen²  Anas Zyadin¹  Paavo Pelkonen¹ 

[1] School of Forest Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu 80101, Finland; E-Mails:;School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu 80101, Finland; E-Mails:

关键词: bioenergy;    teachers;    knowledge;    perceptions;    India;   

DOI  :  10.3390/resources3040599

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of bioenergy, and their motivation to teach such a topic, can largely determine the success of implementing bioenergy related education in schools. The study aimed to explore science teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of bioenergy in India. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 28 science teachers from four urban schools in India. Results indicated that the science teachers were fairly knowledgeable regarding bioenergy and they also demonstrated positive perceptions of bioenergy. In addition, they were positive towards the prospect of receiving more information to increase their own knowledge of bioenergy. However, the science teachers appeared to have some misconceptions regarding the issue of CO₂ emission from using bioenergy. It also emerged that although the existing Science syllabus for Grade X in Indian schools includes a topic on bioenergy, the majority of the science teachers were not aware of it. Policy makers and educators are recommended to provide science teachers more support to improve their capacity for teaching energy and environmental topics in schools in India. In addition, an improvement of the current learning and teaching environment in Indian schools could help teachers to deliver energy and environmental education more effectively to their students.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.