r(e)flect

The Reflective Teaching Material about Energy, Behaviour and

Product Development

Magdalena Boork

, Susanne Engström

, Rebekah Olsen

and Therese Balksjö

SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden, Energy Technology, JTI, Box 7033, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

Department of Education, Uppsala University, Box 2136, SE-750 02, Uppsala, Sweden

Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Energy Design, Portgatan 3, SE-633 42, Eskilstuna, Sweden

Keywords: Teaching Material, Reflection, Visualization Tool, Energy Use.

Abstract: r(e)flect is a tangible curriculum kit for students age 10-15 to reflect on energy behaviour and make better

informed choices about energy use. Along with web-based material, the kit includes a minicomputer, smart

plugs (sensors), and an electricity visualization tool especially designed to be used in the classroom to

conduct experiments and measurements, perform project work in product development, and increase the

understanding of the kWh concept. The curriculum is closely connected to the new Swedish National

curriculum and supplies the teachers with appropriate support for assessment of different skills. The project

was initiated in 2011 and a first version of the curriculum was tested and evaluated with students and

teachers. The feedback from this trial influenced the second iteration of the kit. The new version will be

tested in at least 20 schools during the spring of 2014 and this second phase will continue until 2015. The

physical r(e)flect material can be borrowed by teachers free of charge, and the web-based platform is open

and accessible to anyone.

1 INTRODUCTION

In Sweden, a new national curriculum including

course plans in physics and technology was

implemented in 2011. Additionally, a new grading

system with clearer criteria was introduced. In

physics and technology, the subject content and

what should be assessed are clearly stated. Within

physics, concepts such as energy and power should

be dealt with, students should develop an

understanding, but also be able to discuss, debate

and reflect upon their own energy use. Within

technology, students should get insight into the

design and development process and their creative

and entrepreneurial abilities should be assessed.

(Lgr, 2011) The curriculum further states the

importance of increased use of computers, not only

to search information, but also as tools for learning.

Traditionally, students experience difficulties

understanding the concepts of energy and power

(Duit, 2007; Solomon, 1992; Wiser and Amin,

2001). Teaching materials have been developed to

support teachers with this problem, both in terms of

conceptual understanding, and connections to

technology and sustainable development (Hobson,

2007; SEET, 2013; Connecticut Energy Education,

2013). Teaching strategies are often based on an

investigative approach where the students have the

chance to learn the subject content while they

understand the situations where the content has

value (Barab and Luheman, 2003). Although

teaching materials have been developed and

curriculums have changed, evaluations (for example

PISA, 2009) show that Swedish students still have

difficulties solving problems and applying their

knowledge in science. Therefore, there is still a need

for educational materials supporting teachers.

Teaching within design and product development

has increased over the last few years due to its

implementation in the curriculum. However, the

research and development of practical teaching

materials to assist the teaching and assessment of

such topics is still needed. (Ritz and Martin, 2013, p.

391):

“research needs included determining what knowledge

and abilities that designing actually involves, criteria

for evaluating novice designs, gaining conceptual

knowledge through designing, and teacher trainee

conceptions of design”

336

Boork M., Engström S., Olsen R. and Balksjö T..

r(e)ﬂect - The Reﬂective Teaching Material about Energy, Behaviour and Product Development.

DOI: 10.5220/0004964503360341

In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2014), pages 336-341

ISBN: 978-989-758-021-5

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

The teaching material described in this article, which

among other things uses a computerized

visualization product for examinations in the

classroom and conceptual understanding, is based on

successful teaching strategies within the energy

field. Additionally, one part of the material focuses

on the product development process.

2 THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND

According to research in science and technology

education, students understand the scientific

concepts better when they are related to society and

technology issues (Bennett et al., 2003). Course

plans have also been developed to involve the

contextualization and focus on sustainable

development, which requires a change of teaching.

Research has shown that an increased degree of

exploration in different real contexts means that

students increasingly appreciate the subject content

(Barab and Luehmann, 2003). By teaching current

social issues, such as climate change while teaching

the traditional concepts of physics, Space (2007)

describes how the concepts become more useful,

relevant and interesting to the students. The students

start to ask questions about discussions they have

heard at home, seen on TV or read about in the

newspaper. Space also describes student-centred

discussions as successful as they develop an interest

in physics concepts that did not exist in earlier

education.

Research also shows that students become more

engaged by project-based, student-centred and

interdisciplinary education that is relevant to real life

(Blumenfeld et al., 1996; Barab et al., 2000).

Project-based teaching allows the students to work

with authentic problems and ask their own relevant

questions. This motivates them to find solutions they

can explain and argue for (Blumenfeld et al., 1996).

Studies show that visualization in varying shapes

makes it easier for students to understand abstract

concepts, especially when they can study different

phenomena and test hypotheses using visualization

tools (Kozma et al., 1996). While working with the

visualization tools, students should be given the

opportunity to express their own thoughts and allow

feedback from others. Additionally, a teacher should

be able to follow the thought process of a student

throughout the exercise. This should also occur in

situations that do not include written or oral

presentations (Lehtinen and Repo, 1996). If the

visualization provides a common view that explains

the problem, for example a screen shot that can be

studied and referred to, research shows that such

collaboration increases the meaningfulness

(Anderson et al., 2000).

The teaching material developed within this

project aims at providing the students with a

visualization tool to explore and understand, among

others, the concepts kilowatt-hour, power and

energy, through reality-based examinations. By

using the material the problems can be visualized

and analysed, measurements can be critically

examined, and various alternatives can be compared.

According to researchers in science and technology

education, students should be given the opportunity

to plan and conduct their own investigations, make

hypothesizes, search for information, and create

models, so they can develop these skills. Also

important are debates with peers and teachers, which

give students the chance to use their knowledge and

strategies to take a position and use well-formulated

arguments. (emphasized by for example Linn et al.,

2004).

The teaching material further allows the students

to discover the process of developing a digital

visualization tool. It lets them conduct reality-based

design tasks in which they work practically,

adopting professional roles. De Vries (2012) claims

that project work with reality-based tasks, combined

with computer modelling and visualization, works

well to integrate the subjects of physics, technology,

engineering science, and mathematics, and allows

further insights into engineering.

This teaching material is based on the idea that,

by starting from their own ideas and in interaction

with the digital teaching material, students and

teachers can together merge the ideas into coherent

chains of thoughts and investigations (characteristics

of a successful dialogic teaching, according to

Alexander, 2004). The material also provides the

students the opportunity to reflect upon their own

choices and its consequences, which are important

bases for understanding, in particular within

technology (Pitt, 2006). The material is also based

on the following specific strategies, favourable for

learning according to Dylan Wiliam (2007):

(1) learning objectives must be clearly defined,

understood and shared by everybody, (2) discussions

and tasks in the classroom need to show if and how

learning in class works, (3) teachers must give

students feedback that help them progress,

(4) teachers should in different ways use classmates

as resources to each other and (5) the teachers need

to make students own their own learning, for

example by self-evaluation and reflection.

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3 MATERIAL DESCRIPTION

The teaching material r(e)flect aims at providing

students with increased awareness and tools to

reflect upon energy use and related behaviour. It is

not a normative material, claiming right and wrong

energy behaviour. The long-term goal is rather that

students, by using r(e)flect, acquire enough

knowledge about energy use and its consequences

that they can make better informed choices

regarding their own energy-related behaviour.

r(e)flect consists of four different parts, (1) the

visualization tool (e)lVis which clarifies the

concepts of energy and power and enables real-time

experiments, (2) the product development process,

(3) reality-based practical exercises and (4) the

WattVett challenge that enables self-reflection upon

energy behaviour. The new approach of this

teaching material is twofold:

1. the combination of the four parts in the same

material (there are other teaching materials

focusing on one or two at the time)

2. all parts following the common theme of energy

(where electricity visualization tools are a

recurring issue in all four parts)

3.1 r(e)flect Box

The teaching material consists of a website (see

Section 3.3.) and a physical material, see Figure 1.

The packaging has been given an interesting and

exciting design to attract both students and teachers.

Figure 1: Parts of the teaching material r(e)flect are

packaged in an interesting and excitingly designed box.

When opening the lid, one finds a mirror with the

minicomputer of the electricity visualization tool

(see next section) mounted on it. The mirror both

symbolizes the self-reflection and ”to look oneself in

the eyes”. Apart from the computer-based

visualization tool, the physical box also includes

material for different activities connected to energy

use, concepts used in physics and technology as well

as developing skills in presentation and

argumentation. The box can be borrowed by

teachers free of charge.

3.2 Electricity Visualization Tool

(e)lVis

The electricity visualization tool (e)lVis (Figure 2) is

the main reason for a physical material. It aims at

enabling experiments with electrical appliances from

everyday life. It clarifies the concepts of energy and

power by real-time representation of electricity use.

Furthermore, electricity visualization tools are a

common theme throughout the teaching material. In

the material, the students can follow the product

development process that led to a similar

visualization product. The two solutions, built on

similar systems of components, are compared.

(e)lVis has been designed to stand long-term use in

the school environment, while the other product

suits workplace applications. This also provides the

students with inspiration to their own project work.

(e)lVis is composed of a set of smart plugs

(sensors), a minicomputer, and a knob. Although the

hardware is made of commercial products, the

software was custom developed for this project.

Figure 2: Illustration of a setup with the visualization tool

(e)lVis. The tool comprises five smart plugs, a knob and a

minicomputer. The minicomputer is connected to the

classroom projector to show the measurement and result,

i.e. a pie chart where each colour represents a device.

By locating one of the smart plugs between an

electrical device and the power outlet the electricity

use of appliances can be measured. Each plug is

associated with a particular colour. The total amount

of energy to be used within the experiment is set

with the knob. As the measurement starts the

electricity use of each connected device can be

followed by its colour in a pie chart. The

minicomputer is connected to the classroom

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projector to show the real-time measurement and pie

chart to the students on a screen or the wall. When

the full amount of energy has been used, the

proportion and number of watt-hours used by each

appliance, along with the duration of the complete

measurement will be shown, see Figure 2.

3.3 r(e)flect Website

All material included in the box, besides the

visualization tool, can be downloaded from the

website. This makes r(e)flect widely available to

Swedish teachers. The website also provides

instructional videos for teachers and engaging

informational videos for the students. Throughout

the website teachers can find hints, or how to

sections, for how the material can be used and linked

to the traditional classroom learning. The website is

under development, but some screenshots from the

current website are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4.

Figure 3: Front page of r(e)flect website (under

development).

Figure 4: Website page showing the four parts of the

teaching material (under development).

3.4 WattVett Challenge

An important feature found on the website is the

WattVett challenge. It has not yet been

implemented, but the concept and how students are

supposed to work with it is described in Figure 5.

Figure 5: The students’ work flow with the WattVett

challenge.

In the WattVett challenge, students are invited to

challenge themselves or other students and classes.

The aim is to encourage self-reflection on the energy

behaviour, but also to encourage an energy saving

behaviour. Students report their energy use by

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making an energy diary. Additionally, the self-

reporting system can be used to follow up the energy

saving potential connected to the teaching material.

4 PRELIMINARY RESULTS

The teaching material was evaluated in two different

schools and with totally eight teachers. About 150

students tested different parts of the material. By

using short questionnaires, observations and a few

interviews we collected feedback and response on

specific activities. All eight teachers appreciated the

material because it generated interest from the

students. Teachers commented in both interviews

and questionnaires that the material had a "nice and

professional" feel and that it contributes to an

entrepreneurial approach, that it helps visualize the

students' own electricity usage, and that it can

contextualize physics and technology. Teachers

appreciate that the activities are linked to curriculum

and assessment criteria, and enables cross-curricular

elements. All teachers further stress the importance

of a teaching material that contains "everything",

that clearly describes what needs to be prepared and

sourced prior to an activity, e.g. current and relevant

links to reports, websites, etc. and reproducible data,

forms, etc. These resources are of great value

because they are provided within the material.

Students aged 10-15 have used the material in

the ordinary physics and technology education. In

total, 50 students filled in a feedback questionnaire,

another 50 students were observed and six students

were interviewed. In all 50 questionnaires the

students expressed excitement that "something

unusual" happens with a device in the classroom and

that they can see the measurement in progress and in

real time. Teachers that were interviewed told us that

the students can then correlate the measurement to

the use of their own electrical appliances.

In the interviews, all eight teachers further

expressed appreciation for the tool's measurement of

a real situation that can be followed here and now,

but also that the students could follow the electricity

usage of different products. They can initially guess

which one uses the most electricity and then receive

a result directly. Subsequent discussion of the

concept of power is relevant and highlights the need

to consider how long a device is in use.

About 50 of the students in the trial were part of

a debate, which proved to be an excellent activity in

middle school, even though two teachers expressed

concern with the activity in interviews. Observation

of the debate did, however, highlight that some basic

knowledge must be substantiated. Within the debate

students must take a stand for different energy

sources and use evidence-based arguments. The

debates showed the importance for students to have

knowledge about, for example, how electricity is

generated by generators and solar applications. The

debate also highlighted the importance of the teacher

as moderator, guiding the discussion, spreading the

word and picking up interesting threads.

About 50 students in lower secondary school

tested the "electricity diary" within a homework

assignment. The students first measured the

electricity use of some "regular" devices of their

own choice in the classroom. They reflected upon

their everyday life and use of electrical appliances.

As homework, they went home and noted their use

of electricity during the day, talked to other family

members, reflected on the effects on the electricity

bills, and estimated the time and measurement of

electricity use and costs. In interviews with six

students, but also when observing discussions in the

classroom, we found that the students, within their

reflections, were given opportunities to reflect on

aspects they would otherwise never have done.

Moreover, in interviews, two teachers said that

the activities contributed to practical lessons for the

students, such as realizing that the time aspect plays

an important role for the electricity use. The

exercises made the concepts power and watt visible

to the students, and made them realize that both

power and duration has to be taken into account

when discussing total electricity use.

In interviews, all eight teachers expressed

appreciation for teaching materials with the

possibility to make power usage visible to students.

They also emphasized the importance of a teaching

material that exemplifies idea generation and

product development, something that they lacked.

5 FUTURE WORK

We will continue developing the teaching material

based on the initial evaluation. Twenty complete

teaching kits have already been produced and

distributed to schools.

In March 2014, we will let about 10 classes (i.e.

around 250 students aged 10-15) and 10 teachers use

and evaluate the teaching material. Students’

perception of the material will be in demand, and

their knowledge of energy will be tested after certain

activities. Feedback will be collected through

questionnaires, observations and interviews. The

teachers’ views will be sought through

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questionnaires. Other students and teachers will also

use the material during this period, but they will not

be part of the formal evaluation. The evaluation will

be based on methods described in Robson (2011).

At the end of the project, in 2015, both the web-

based platform and the physical teaching material

will be in their final design.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The project is funded by the Swedish Society for

Nature Conservation (Naturskyddsföreningen)

thanks to the sale of electricity labelled “good

environmental choice”.

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