Renewable energy education in faculties of engineering in Jordan: Relationship between demographics and level of knowledge of senior students

• Published in: Renewable & sustainable energy reviews Vol. 73; pp. 452 - 459
• Main Authors: Jaber, Jamal O., Awad, Wael, Rahmeh, Taieseer Abu, Alawin, Aiman A., Al-Lubani, Suleiman, Dalu, Sameh Abu, Dalabih, Ali, Al-Bashir, Adnan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2017
• Subjects: Demographics; Energy; Engineering education; Jordan; Renewable energy; Demographics; Energy; Renewable energy; Jordan; Engineering education
• ISSN: 1364-0321; 1879-0690
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.01.141

This research paper is the 2nd part of field investigation about renewable energy education in different engineering departments in state and private universities in Jordan. The prime objective is focused on assessing the influence of some students’ related characteristics, namely age, gender, department and university on their levels of knowledge and awareness regarding existing energy situation and renewable energy potential. To achieve such goal, common statistical methods such as ANOVA, Chi-square test & Post hoc comparisons were used for data analysis. The study in hand investigated two aspects of energy knowledge are considered, i.e. energy situation and renewable energy sources. The principal findings of this research showed consistent significant difference in the level of energy knowledge among students with respect to university, but insignificant difference in the level of energy knowledge pertaining to age. On the other hand, gender and department showed inconsistent findings: both were significant with respect to the first aspect, but insignificant with respect to the second aspect. This is due to the fact that some universities have taken necessary steps and introduced new courses related to energy conversion and renewable energy technologies in close cooperation with some universities in Europe. Others such as German-Jordan University went further by introducing new engineering stream which specialized in renewable energy. It is deemed that such programs will reduce the existing gap in energy education and local renewable energy industries as well as disseminating energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in the country. However, there is still an urgent need to develop energy and renewable energy education and training in order to provide the desired skillful engineers and technicians to support related industries in the local and regional markets.