AN EVALUATION OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL ENERGY EDUCATION PROGRA

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the energy education program Understanding Basic Electricity, as it related to the acquisition of energy conservation attitudes by middle school student groups.;Specifically, the following hypothesis was tested. There will be a significant difference between the adjusted mean score of the student group which has been exposed to Understanding Basic Electricity and the adjusted mean score of the student group which has not been exposed to the treatment, with respect to their attitudes toward energy conservation, as measured by an effective questionnaire.;The study included the development of an affective measurement instrument, the Energy Conservation Questionnaire, r = 0.67 (Cronbach's alpha). Correlation procedures were used to establish contruct validity. A panel of energy education experts was used to establish content vailidity. A pretest posttest format was used to administer the instrument to a sample group of 330 fifth graders over a six-week period. The treatment for the experimental group was administered at the mid-point of the six-week pretest posttest period.;Analysis of covariance was used for this adjustment to correct for any differences between groups. The unit of analysis was the mean posttest scores which was adjusted on the basis of the pretest score. Fisher's Z was used to establish significance at the 0.05 level. The data collected was analyzed for the total sample and for subgroups according to the rural, suburban, and urban characteristics of the sample.;Findings of the study reported that use of the treatment did not cause significant change in energy conservation attitudes for the total group or for the urban or suburban subgroups. Use of the treatment did cause significant positive increases in energy conservation attitudes for the rural subgroup.;Conclusions include support of the use of infusion as a technique for including energy education in science instruction; consideration of the rural, suburban, and urban characteristics of student groups when considering the use of the Understanding Basic Electricity program; and lack of support for the use of the Understanding Basic Electricity program as a singular method for teaching energy conservation attitudes to middle school students.;Recommendations include use of the Energy Conservation Questionnaire as a tool for establishing the intensity and direction of energy conservation attitudes in middle school students before prescribing instruction; consideration of the rural, urban, and suburban characteristics of the groups with which the program is used, and consideration of inservice teacher training for the use of the prepresentation and postpresentation materials which are part of the program.