Measuring practical energy literacy: Exploring current scales’ applicability to understand engineering students’ energy knowledge

The purpose of this empirical research brief paper is to analyze current energy literacy research for assessing literacy within domain-specific contexts. Most research knowledge surrounding energy literacy is focused on understanding how well individuals understand energy production, consumption, and conservation from a general energy perspective. However, engineers’ energy literacy typically requires a more focused and practical competency, since engineers are at the forefront of energy technology development, use, and improvement. Equipping future engineers with practical energy knowledge prior to entering their careers can improve the technology they produce. Exploring energy literacy at the undergraduate level will better prepare students for energy-related careers, improve educational experiences, and help internalize practical energy knowledge. To understand how prepared undergraduate engineering students are for future careers in energy-related industries, measuring energy literacy in students can provide greater insights for understanding and improving practical energy literacy development. This brief explores current energy literacy scales’ transferability to measure energy literacy within specific domains as well as key indicators of quality and reliability for future scale development and assessment. From our review of current scales, we explore areas where change is necessary to capture undergraduate engineering students’ domain-specific energy literacy.