POTSDAM -- Jan DeWaters, associate professor of engineering & the Institute for STEM Education at Clarkson University, and New York State Master Teacher Lisa Dunkelberg of Gouverneur High School, recently returned from Taiwan where they gave a week-long workshop on Energy Education at the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan City.

DeWaters and Dunkelberg, along with master teachers Andrew Calderwood of Liverpool Central School and Andrea Inserra from Indian River High School, led a four-day workshop at the Platinum-LEED certified Magic School of Green Technology located on the NCKU campus.

The workshop was one component of a multi-year initiative by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, to promote energy literacy, energy education, and green energy technology development, in an effort to shift Taiwan toward a more energy-secure future.

The collaborative team of workshop organizers was formed as a follow-up to the International Forum on Energy Education, which was held at this same facility in December 2018.

The workshops were attended by a large diverse crowd of educators and students.

Teachers engaged in a variety of interactive learning experiences focused on energy resources and energy consumption, as well as energy conservation and efficiency.

Participants learned to use Kill-a-Watt meters to measure electricity use, they constructed an insulated box and a small wind turbine, and they participated in a variety of critical-thinking exercises about energy production and use.

Workshop organizers at NCKU were particularly pleased with the hands-on aspects of the workshop, and hope the teachers will incorporate them into their own teaching.

The local teachers who accompanied DeWaters on the trip called it a “life-changing experience.”