Misconceptions and biases in German students’ perception of multiple energy sources: implications for science education

ABSTRACT

Misconceptions and biases in energy perception could influence people's support for developments integral to the success of restructuring a nation’s energy system. Science education, in equipping young adults with the cognitive skills and knowledge necessary to navigate in the confusing energy environment, could play a key role in paving the way for informed decision-making. This study examined German students’ knowledge of the contribution of diverse energy sources to their nation’s energy mix as well as their affective energy responses so as to identify implications for science education. Specifically, the study investigated whether and to what extent students hold mistaken beliefs about the role of multiple energy sources in their nation’s energy mix, and assessed how misconceptions could act as self-generated reference points to underpin support/resistance of proposed developments. An in-depth analysis of spontaneous affective associations with five key energy sources also enabled the identification of underlying concerns driving people’s energy responses and facilitated an examination of how affective perception, in acting as a heuristic, could lead to biases in energy judgment and decision-making. Finally, subgroup analysis differentiated by education and gender supported insights into a ‘two culture’ effect on energy perception and the challenge it poses to science education.

KEYWORDS:

• Energy knowledge
• affective imageries
• subgroup analysis

Acknowledgement

The research was carried out at the Chair of Management, Leadership and Human Resources, TU Bergakademie Freiberg. The author thanks Michael Nippa for his feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript as well as the support provided by colleagues including Michael Höck, Tanja Hornung, Jan Schulz and Jens Ulbrich in facilitating the study implementation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributor

Roh Pin Lee is a Singaporean postdoctoral researcher in TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany. She has a Bachelor in Psychology from the National University of Singapore and an MBA in International Management of Resources and Environment from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. She received her PhD from the Faculty of Economics in TU Bergakademie Freiberg in 2015. Her current research activities focus on risk perception and public engagement for controversial energy sources and associated technologies.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the grant 03IS20221A awarded to the German Center for Energy Resources.