After the pilot test, the designer of each lesson made edits to their module (see Appendices WW through ZZ). Each module had its successes and pitfalls throughout the program, so the team members collaborated to make suggestions and edits to all of the modules. The team compiled a list of improvements for each module after the program; and then presented the list to the EduVentures staff and asked for any further input. Once the staff completed the list was sufficient, the designers made the adjustments to the modules.
4.8.1 Introduction to Renewable Energy Modifications
The Introduction to Renewable Energy Module was the longest module, therefore the designer made several modifications to decrease the length. The first modification was the first group activity. The observers found that the learners took longer to brainstorm different technologies in their community than anticipated. To reduce this time, the EduVentures educator will now assign one technology to each of four self-created (?) groups. The learners will then brainstorm the effects of the technology on their community. After
brainstorming for ten minutes, each group will share their ideas with the class for another five minutes. The module designer also deleted three slides on different renewable energies: nuclear, biogas, and geothermal. These renewable energies are the least relevant to Namibia, so they do not have to be in the module. Since the module designer removed three of the different types of renewable energy, the fill-in-the- blank activity changed as well. The observers found that it took a long time for the learners to come up to the SMART board and write down answers, so the team deleted some slides that asked the learners to write a response. Instead the teacher will ask the learners verbally and have volunteers answer the question orally.
The second modification was removing the industrial revolution video. Learners were unable to follow the video because the English was too complex and the speaker spoke too fast. The designer replaced the video with key bullet points to help discuss the positive and negative effects of the industrial revolution.
Lastly, the designer changed one scenario in the last activity. The second scenario confused the learners because they did not understand how flooding relates to building a wind turbine. The new scenario explains that Tauno will not be able to pay for electricity because of crop failures, so he wants to build a wind turbine. Hopefully the learners will have an easier time understanding this scenario.
After the field test, the module designers made edits to their modules. The following week, each designer presented their changes to the EduVentures staff and asked for their input. They provided the suggestions listed in Table 4.9. The educators believed that the content in the first module was sufficient but they suggested that the designer re-order the slides to explain the importance of renewable energy in a clearer way. The adjusted Introduction to Renewable Energy Module is in Appendix WW. Since the order of
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the module changed drastically, the designer also created a new teacher’s guide, which is shown in Appendix AAA.
Table 4.9: Module One suggestions from EduVentures educators
Introduction to Renewable Energy – Educator 1
What didn’t go well Modifications/Suggestions/Comments
Good content but wrong flow. - Start with fossil fuels and how greenhouse gases contribute to climate change, then move into renewable energy.
- Emphasize the importance of renewable energy to Namibia; move the slides to the beginning, before explaining the types of renewable energies. - Namibia needs renewable energy because importing
energy is expensive.
- Move the renewable and non-renewable energy sorting activity to after the explanations of the renewable energies.
Edits already made by Designer before meeting:
- Changed industrial revolution video to a slide with bullets.
- Changed the technology activity to only have 4 technologies choices. - Fixed the scenario that confused the learners.
- Removed writing on the board and replaced with oral discussion.
4.8.2 Wind Energy Modifications
Overall, this module was a success. The main weakness of the module was the time at which the EduVentures staff taught the module. Since they taught it right after lunch time, the learners were tired and disengaged. However, in regards to changes in the slides of the lesson, the educators found the writing slides, where the learners come up to the board and write their answers, took too long and therefore, needed to change. The EduVentures staff requested that the question appear on the slide and then the educator can simply facilitate a discussion with the learners. The educator who taught the wind energy module
accidentally skipped the last activity in the lesson, which was the activity where the learners had to brainstorm activities that they could do in their community to battle climate change. As such, this paper cannot conclude whether that activity was successful or not. Therefore, the designer is going to leave the activity in the lesson. EduVentures employees can remove it if it is not successful in the next implementation of the renewable energy modules. The adjusted wind energy module is shown in Appendix XX.
The EduVentures educators did not have any modifications for the wind energy module besides the modifications already made by the designer of the module. Table 4.10 shows the points talked about with the EduVentures educators.
Table 4.10: Module Two suggestions from EduVentures educators
Wind Energy – Educator 2
What didn’t go well Modification/Suggestions/Comments
Slides that required the learners to write on the board - Nothing Edits already made by Designer
- Removed the slides that required the learners to write on the board. Replaced the slides with a question that required the educator to facilitate a discussion.
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4.8.3 Solar Energy Modifications
Overall, this module was a success. However, there were several changes that the designer made to the solar module after its field test in the Ombombo mobile classroom. The first modification pertains to the emerging technologies slide in the lecture, shown in Figure 4.20 below.
Figure 4.20: Emerging technologies slide from the Solar Energy Module
The learners did not grasp the different technologies when presented with the information. As a result, the project team, along with the EduVentures staff, thought it was best to delete this slide all together in order for the learners to stay engaged. The solar operation portion of the lecture also needed
modifications. These modifications, however, are more directed towards adding further explanations into slides with the diagrams showing how solar operation works. For example, in the first portion of this process the designer of the module used the term ‘UV light’, but did not explain that reason why UV light has the ability to remove electrons from the silicon atoms in solar panels. These changes will allow future learners to understand the process, as well as make the lesson easier for the educator to teach. Additionally, the team member edited the drawing activity to make it simpler and make the module shorter. The last modification was the deletion of all writing activities on the board. The modified solar module is shown in Appendix YY.
The EduVentures employees suggested that the designer of the module find a way to further simplify the solar panel operation, and to move the drawing activity to the end of the module due to the amount of time the activity required. They believed it would be best at the end of the module because it would not break up the lesson into two halves. In addition to, the SMART Technology malfunctioned on the slide in which the learners needed to select the regions which were good candidates for solar farms. Therefore, the designer needed to lock the names of the regions with their matching pictures. Table 4.11 shows the breakdown of the discussion.
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Table 4.11: Module Three suggestions from EduVentures educators
Solar Energy – Educator 2
What didn’t go well Modification/Suggestions/Comments
Operation and storage was too complex. - Find an easier way to explain energy operation and storage.
- Drawing activity should come at the end.
- Lock the names of the regions in the solar farm activity Edits already made by Designer
- Made drawing activity simpler: only draw one type of solar technology. - Removed the slides that required writing on the board.
- Added more descriptions and details to operation and storage. - Deleted emerging technology slide.
- Added more definitions of “passive” and “active”.
4.8.4 Bush-to-Energy Modifications
Throughout this module this module, the team members conducting observations found that the educator performed some of the interactive activities intended for learner volunteers. This led to all
interactive elements occurring at the end of the lesson, rather than throughout. Moreover, this led to a lower observed learner engagement. To account for this, the designer made modifications to the module. The slides that the educator performed themselves instead of calling for a learner-volunteer now have instructions on the slide to ask for a volunteer. The team member also moved the review activity slides, including the “good vs. bad harvesting practices” and “advantages and disadvantages of Bush-to-Energy” into the lesson so that the learners could perform these activities right after they acquired the material. This should split up the lecture portions of the lesson and allow for the learners to actively participate throughout the duration of the module. There were also instances of a language barrier in which the learners did not understand some of the English used in the module, which caused the module designer to further simplify the English.
When meeting with the EduVentures educators, the designer of the module suggested replacing the terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘alien’ with ‘native’ and ‘not-native’, as this was the most visible language barrier issues. The educators disagreed and said that the learners should learn the terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘alien’. As such, they instructed the designer to incorporate the definitions of indigenous and alien on the invasive species slide. The educators also suggested to remove the fossil fuel slide from the presentation because it confused the learners. Table 4.12 shows the description of the conversation between the project team and the EduVentures staff. The modified Bush-to-Energy module is depicted in Appendix ZZ.
Table 4.12: Module Four suggestions from EduVentures educators
Bush-to-Energy – Educator 1
What didn’t go well Modification/Suggestions/Comments
Some confusion with flow - The participants should learn the terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘alien’- add to invasive species slide
- Remove fossil fuel from Bush-to-Energy definition - Remove fossil fuel slide
- Explain encroacher bush first then explain what invasive is
Edits already made by Designer
- Changed definition of encroacher bush
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