The effects of alternative fuel education program on knowledge acquisition in secondary agricultural settings

Currently the majority of the world's energy is supplied from non-renewable resources. Governments in North America have enacted legislation that mandates the use of renewable energies in applicable volumes on an annual basis. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of renewable energy curriculum in secondary agriculture classes. The study also sought to find if students tinkering self efficacies had an effect on knowledge acquisition and students attitudes toward method of instruction and perceptions about alternative fuels.;This study used a one-group pretest-posttest design with repeated measures. A total of eight classes (N=91) were tested. A two day educational program was developed. Day one consisted of a lecture where biodiesel history, emissions, general knowledge, and production methods were presented. Day two a mobile demonstration unit was used to present engine performance differences between petroleum diesel and biodiesel. A majority of the students were male and were in there sophomore year of high school. The educational program significantly increased student knowledge about alternative fuels. The pretest had a mean score of 5.39 (SD=1.99) while the posttest scores increased to 10.40 (SD=3.72). The educational program did not increase student perceptions about biodiesel. Students in the study strongly preferred the demonstration (4.25; SD=1.07) to the lecture (3.17; SD=1.48) in the educational program. There was a strong positive correlation between student tinkering self efficacies and posttest knowledge scores. The educational program was beneficial in educational secondary students about alternative fuels and where deemed appropriate the demonstration method of instruction should be used to increase student interest.