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There is growing recognition that children and young people have valuable contributions to make within their schools and communities. This special issue, which focuses specifically on the notion of ‘pupil voice’, brings together a collection of articles and reports presented and developed as part of the 2004–06 ESRC seminar series ‘Engaging critically with pupil voice’ (RES-451–26–0165). The seminar series brought together representatives reflecting a range of practices and research that can be identified as ‘pupil voice’, with the aim of identifying ‘pupil voice’ activities, delineating key advances, gaps and debates in theory, methodology and ethics. The series helped advance records and forums through which ‘pupil voice’ work is documented and can be further developed. This journal considers cross-disciplinary research and practice which explores the complexities of ‘voice’ in varying contexts and how ‘voice’ can be used in school improvement initiatives.

This paper describes the work in progress for education in Electric Power, Control and Energy Systems (EPCES) at undergraduate and graduate levels, initially commencing in high schools. Further, the paper describes a methodology to build a robust pipeline of high school students who go on to choose electric power/control/energy as a field of study as undergraduates. This paper describes the graduate courses developed and being developed. This paper is based on previous papers and provides the updates since the results reported therein. Resulting from this process are students having the flexibility upon graduation to work in industry or to go on to graduate school and doctoral research, or to work in a field different than power/control/energy.

Existing frameworks for biophilic design have similar strategies and attributes as useful checklists for designers; however, the focus has been on adults rather than children, and there remains the need for more guidance related to school design by extension. The application of biophilia would be a design resolution in schools because of its impact on children’s health and well-being, which has been more important since the pandemic started; however, it remains quite unexplored in school design in many countries, including the UK. Biophilic design patterns can be used in school buildings and grounds for greater connectivity between spaces and nature in order to promote children’s well-being. This paper focuses on ten biophilic design patterns under two categories of ‘nature in the space’ and ‘natural analogues.’ This study presents the findings of case studies in various countries. The analysis focuses on the manifestations of biophilia to inform the application of biophilic design patterns for primary schools. Finally, this paper suggests how primary school children could be involved in a co-design process in order to evaluate biophilic design patterns.

ABSTRACT Three graduate-level short courses on ecological agriculture and food systems were held in 1995–1997 in Norway to introduce systems thinking, creative research methods, and innovative learning approaches. In 1999, a three-day evaluation and planning workshop was held to assess course impacts, to determine relative importance of content areas, to compare learning methods with special attention to case studies, and to vision and develop action plans for future education in the region. Students and faculty agreed that soft systems research methods and varied learning processes in the course were more valuable than specific technical content that can be learned in other venues. Nine priority education areas were identified for ecological agriculture: (1) systems thinking, (2) research methods, (3) farmer/stakeholder participation, (4) improving production methods, (5) relating agriculture to food systems, (6) learning about learning, (7) values and ethics, (8) faculty development and institutional ch...

A survey was conducted to collect the student’s learning outcomes when using virtual (simulation) labs in teaching. Two general physics courses [Phys I (2425) and Phys II (2426)] were chosen to conduct the survey. Five simulation experiments were performed by our students in Physics I and five experiments in Physics II. PhET (University of Colorado) interaction simulations were used by our students. The simulation experiments are covering most of the General Physics courses topics (Mechanics, Electricity, Heat, Thermodynamics, and Waves). Survey results show that performing the conventional simulation labs enhances the student's understanding of the theory and the physical concepts covered by the simulation. The resemblance of most simulations to real-life enables some of the students to improve or think of improving the simulation scenarios. The responses of our students indicate that the majority prefer that virtual experiments to be part of the conventional lab and not to be fully substituted.

There is a growing trend within education establishments to teach electrical power system theory within lectures and back this up with software simulation laboratory sessions. This allows the courses to be taught at a lower cost than if real hardware was implemented. However, the students that are graduating from these programs are missing out on the opportunity to learn about real equipment and issues such as health and safety of voltages above 50V, mismatching component sizes and accuracy. Bespoke electrical power systems teaching equipment is expensive to buy. This paper details a low cost hardware setup that can be used to enforce electrical power system theory. The proposed equipment employs real off-the shelf equipment with some interfacing units which can be reproduced by laboratory technicians to enhance the student learning experience by offering students experience of real machines operating on an electrical power systems network.

ABSTRACT This article describes the development of techniques for integrating energy audits into an energy education program targeted to provide experiential educational to accelerate the development of related knowledge and skills. These techniques were refined in the classroom during the fall of 2005 as part of an electrical/mechanical engineering course concerned with the design and analysis of systems for the production, conversion, and use of energy. Major goals of the class were (1) to facilitate the development of analytic capabilities and skills for the design and optimization of various energy systems in commercial businesses and industry in new ways; and (2) to enhance the speed, quality, and efficiency of learning. The approach has resulted in increasing both the level of understanding and the rate at which it is obtained. This is accomplished by directly involving students in energy audit and research activities and by using computer visualization tools to facilitate the development of needed ...

The way an energy system is designed and operated has a direct impact on the environment (during normal operation) and the society (mostly during major disturbances and blackouts). Electrical engineering students in general learn about the environmental concerns associated with various power generation technologies as well as the importance of the availability of power for the society. However, these topics are typically not discussed in sufficient detail to teach the students about the delicate interrelation between energy, environment and the society. Most assignments, class activities or course projects focus on engineering excellence and cost efficiency. What seems to be missing is having the students exposed to realistic operation and design scenarios that present one or more ethical dilemmas. It is only then that the students learn to make environmentally and socially aware decisions and view the problem beyond engineering principles alone. This paper presents a pedagogical perspective on developing educational modules and active learning exercises centered on social and environmental ethics, suitable for graduate and undergraduate courses that focus on the design and operation of energy systems.