| NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | May 5, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | November 11, 2020 |
| Award Number: | 2000714 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Virginia Carter
vccarter@nsf.gov (703)292-4651 DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | July 1, 2020 |
| End Date: | June 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,055,284.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,246,391.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2021 = $191,107.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1701 WRIGHT ST MADISON WI US 53704-2599 (608)246-6676 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1701 Wright St Madison WI US 53704-2599 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, renewable energy has grown at a much faster pace than many other industry sectors. This growth results from recent technological advances, government policy and regulatory reforms, and tremendous reductions in the cost of solar and wind equipment. As a result, the electricity sector is now engaged in a dramatic shift from energy obtained from fossil fuels to energy obtained from renewable resources. STEM careers in renewable energy provide technicians with well-paying jobs that can support families, that cannot be easily exported, and that benefit the local community. The Resource Center for Renewable Energy Advanced Technological Education (CREATE) aims to support preparation of a new generation of renewable energy educators and skilled technical professionals. The expected outcomes include greater use of renewable energy, an improved power infrastructure, greater resilience of US energy systems, and a larger role for the United States as a global industry leader in renewable energy technology.
CREATE will support two-year institutions to develop, promote, grow, and advance robust academic programs to provide the renewable energy industry with a skilled technical workforce. This goal will be accomplished through six key objectives: 1) provide support, mentoring, and professional development for faculty and prospective NSF principal investigators in renewable energy technology; 2) coordinate and support additional renewable energy industry, business, and academic partnerships; 3) educate the public about renewable energy and renewable energy technician careers; 4) develop, screen, validate, update, and distribute renewable energy teaching materials, curricula, and pedagogical practices; 5) connect and support existing and new ATE project Principal Investigators in renewable energy and related fields; and 6) develop a plan for achieving sustainability and institutionalization of key center functions. Additional plans include serving high school educators to create bridges to higher education. The Center will also reach out to faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Historically Black Colleges to encourage them to apply to the ATE program. Increasing the number of women in the renewable energy fields will continue to be a focus of CREATE. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The goal of the CREATE Energy Resource Center was to advance the field of renewable energy and strengthen two-year college renewable energy programs. As an NSF Advanced Technological Education Resource Center, CREATE supported the field of renewable energy through five major objectives:
Objective 1) Provided support, mentoring and professional development for faculty and prospective NSF principal investigators in renewable energy technology.
Objective 2) Coordinated and supported additional renewable energy industry, business and academic partnerships.
Objective 3) Promoted renewable energy technician careers and the public image of renewable energy.
Objective 4) Developed, screened, validated, updated, and broadly distributed exemplary renewable energy materials, curricula, and pedagogical practices.
Objective 5) Connected and supported existing and new ATE project Principal Investigators in renewable energy and related fields.
As a result of the CREATE grant award, over 300 teachers completed virtual faculty professional development workshops that were developed and delivered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual workshop topics included solar photovoltaics, wind energy, hydropower, energy storage, and electrical grid infrastructure. Workshop participants were sent bench scale kits that included small renewable energy devices, along with meters, tools, and additional supplies needed to perform hands-on activities remotely from their home.
Following the easing of the pandemic, sixty-seven additional teachers completed the three day in-person CREATE Solar PV Institute professional development program. These teachers gained hands-on experience working outdoors, with full residential size solar installations. They also learned about industry practices in sustainable construction and building energy management. Pre- and Post-tests demonstrated significant knowledge gains by the participants, who earned university graduate credit to help with their professional career advancement.
Multiple newsletters, webinars, and peer reviewed publications were produced by the CREATE Resource Center. This included presentations and studies that identified gaps in clean energy education, and provided recommended practices for educators that were developing new academic programs. Much attention was directed towards the equipment and infrastructure needed to instrument instructional laboratories for instruction of STEM students in clean energy technology.
The CREATE Resource Center developed a collection of classroom lessons for teachers seeking to incorporate clean energy technology into existing STEM courses. The series of lessons covers a range of topics and technologies appropriate for both college and high school students. A special emphasis is placed on solar photovoltaics, since this sector employs the largest number of technicians in the clean energy industry. The lessons include student handouts, teacher guides, sample data sets, assessment tools, and answer keys. The lessons are published in an open-source format that teachers can edit and customize. To facilitate integration into the curriculum, cross reference documents are provided, linking to the Next Generation Science Standards and DOE Energy Literacy Standards for each lesson. These materials are archived on the CreateEnergy.org and ATE-Central websites, and will remain available to teachers until such time as they are rendered obsolete by changes in industry practices and/or improvements in technology.
A significant outcome of this Resource Center was the evolution of a nationwide community of practice of clean energy educators. At the conclusion of the grant award, the CREATE network's email list included nearly 900 faculty members representing all fifty US states, plus three US territories. The faculty network also includes several international educators who work with the US State Department and US Armed Forces to teach individuals and their family members who are living and working abroad. This community of practice continues to grow, and collectively this group will sustain the impact of the CREATE Resource Center long after the end date of the NSF grant award.
Last Modified: 07/17/2024
Modified by: Kenneth A Walz
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