Curriculum Design for the Knowledge Domain of ESCO Industry

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1 US-China Education Review A, ISSN X November 2013, Vol. 3, No. 11, D DAVID PUBLISHING Curriculum Design for the Knowledge Domain of ESCO Industry Pao-Mei Liao, Chih-Mei Chou Jinwen University of Science and Technology, New Taipei City, Taiwan This study aims to develop the concept of knowledge domain for personnel working in the field of energy services, as well as in the field of property management. By analyzing the required knowledge of energy technology services to the community, the necessary expertise, and core technology of relevant personnel, it is able to design the curriculum by the analysis outcome. Therefore, the target of personnel nurturing and cultivate, together with the functions to improve the industry could be achieved. The teaching plans were completed by the ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) model; it can enhance the talent and technology of property management and increase the industrial competitiveness. The benefits of this research are not only to upgrade industrial value, but also to create the economic value of this industry. It also contributes to the promotion of low-carbon communities, and thus, reaching the goal of a sustainable society and homeland. Keywords: ESCO (energy service company), property management, curriculum design Introduction ESCO (energy service company) is a new kind of business providing a full range of services in energy efficiency improvements to achieve energy conservation for the enterprises. ESCOs help the implementation and diagnosis of energy conservation in commercial buildings, factory lighting, air-conditioning, etc.. ESCOs provide specific techniques of energy conservation and introduce new energy-saving equipment simultaneously. The costs of its services was amortized by the savings of energy costs, this is also the typical characteristic of ESCO business (Hansen, 2009; Goldman, Hopper, & Osborn, 2005). ESCO is a model for the energy throttling which can be easily extended. It has a complete business and financial model in many countries. In the United States, there are about two billion business opportunities each year. While, in Taiwan, the ESCO industry is still an emerging industry in the very beginning. There are many services fields covered in ESCOs, such as the financial model, contractual mechanisms, energy-saving technology, project management, and other cross-sectoral aspects. Therefore, not only no domestic institution with correspondent department in education system has been established, but also no comprehensive mechanism to nurture personnel required by the market. Even in the existing industry, whether in the supply side or the customer side, the personnel familiar with service mechanism of ESCOs is still very Acknowledgement: This study was sponsored by the National Science Council of Taiwan, ROC with the project number NSC S The authors are grateful to their support in budget to complete this research. Pao-Mei Liao, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Environment and Property Management, Jinwen University of Science and Technology. Chih-Mei Chou, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Environment and Property Management, Jinwen University of Science and Technology.

2 818 CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ESCO INDUSTRY few. Over the past many years, the main service targets of Taiwan s energy service technology industry are the larger business owners, who consume energy from electricity and use a large amount of fuel. But for the energy services of private housing or community buildings, they still received less attention. This will cause a vulnerability of our efforts on energy conservation. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to analyze the required knowledge for technical services to communities and the core expertise and technology needed by the relevant personnel. Beside, curriculum design for knowledge domain of ESCO was proposed so as to response to industry demand for talent development. Learning Theory for Professional Courses In curriculum development, U.S. Army has developed an IPISD (Inter-service Procedures for Instructional Systems Development) model long time ago. The objective of this model is to improve the effectiveness of military training. In this model, the instructional design is divided into five stages as analysis, design, implementation, execution, and control. The extended form of ADDIE (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation) is a set of traditional programming used for teaching and training developers, as shown in Figure 1. In this figure, the design patterns of the majority of today s instructional system are mostly resulting from the evolution of this pattern. The most accepted of this model is that it can immediately plan out the system prototyping (Morrison, 2010). Figure1. Framework of ADDIE. Content of the five main stages of ADDIE are described below (Macchia, 1992): (1) Analysis: During the analysis stage, issues of teaching must be clarified. In addition, knowledge of the environment and learners must be confirmed. It is possible to decide what knowledge and skills must be obtained from the course through analysis of learners needs; (2) Design: It is necessary to set learning goals in the course design stage. The hardware estimation, activity, content, subject analysis, chapter programs, and media selection are all included. For this reason, the aim of design phase is to complete a series of learning objectives. In the design, it must be systematic and clear. Use the logic and rules of order to develop and evaluate a range of teaching strategies. In the implementation of teaching, plan must also pay attention to every detail; (3) Development: At this stage, the teaching process and content should be established. In order to achieve learning objectives, it should focus on the characteristics of learners and take full advantage of teaching

3 CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ESCO INDUSTRY 819 resources or media to develop effective teaching skills. If the teaching-oriented course includes e-learning, then, the program designers should develop the course by its information technology. The tester then debugging in the process and the teaching plans should be reviewed, and modified according to the user s response; (4) Implementation: At the implementation stage, the training process for learners should be constructed. The content of this training process should include curriculum, learning outcomes, teaching approaches and assessment methods, and preparations in advance for the learners to use new software, tools, or materials. This is a stage for teachers or project managers to confirm that the textbooks, software tools, or teaching strategies are effective; (5) Evaluation: There should be two parts in the assessment stage, one is structured assessment and the other is summative assessment. Structured assessment was in every stage of ADDIE model, and the summative assessment provides learners with the opportunity to respond, as well as the theories associated with. Assessment process should address the questions to the learners to know whether learners achieve the learning objectives or not. Curriculum Design Theory Curriculum design model is the epitome of the actual operation situation of curriculum design. It is also a representation of ideal working condition through presentation, communication, curriculum blueprint, or demonstration to make guidance for future actions of curriculum design. There are three main types of curriculum design (McGrath, 2003; Bianchini, 1997; Skilbeck, 1982). Curriculum Design by Objectives Model From the course objectives, teaching objectives, or the expected learning outcomes to design the process, the goal is to show the behavior of the students after teaching. Curriculum design has to support goals. The disadvantages of the target model are as follows: (1) Skills preference, inflexible procedures; (2) Value neutrality, threw the dilemma of design to the teachers; (3) Neglect of human liberation and independent, only emphasis on training; (4) Too standardization and the narrations of goals, do not meet the true intentions of education. Curriculum Design by Process Model Process model emphasize on the way of education and teaching process, it does not focus on the content of education, instead, on active learning of learners and professional thinking of teachers. This model has no pre-determined and specific educational goals and no mandatory behavioral outcomes of student learning. The principles of curriculum design are described below: (1) Allow learners to make an informed choice; (2) Give students an active role; (3) Enable students to access specific things; (4) Students should deal with controversial issues in the classroom; (5) Teachers should not use their authority; (6) Use discussion as a way to explore; (7) Respect the different opinions of participants; (8) Teacher is an facilitator rather than an instructor.

4 820 CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ESCO INDUSTRY Process model still has a lot of controversy, such as how to make a choice for different learning needs and how to choose from the different interests of students? Process model relies heavily on teachers professional qualities. Curriculum Design by Situation Model Situation mode was also known as scenario analysis mode or cultural analysis model. It begins from the research of Stilbeck (1976; 1982; 1984). The basic assumption of the curriculum design is to use individual schools and their teachers as the focus of curriculum development, which is school-based curriculum development. Curriculum design proceeds from learning context assessment and analysis to provide different plan content. Curriculum design of situational model advocates interpreting courses from a cultural selected perspective, thus, engaged in curriculum design. According to Stilbeck s point of view, the concept of curriculum, the experience of teachers and students, and environmental communication are all parts of this model. There are five main elements of situational model: (1) Situational analysis; (2) Propose targets; (3) Design scheme; (4) Interpretation or implementation of the curriculum program; (5) Assessment, feedback, and reconstruct. Research Methods The first step of this study was through literature review, expert meetings, and group discussion. Then, analyze the knowledge needed for the technical services of community energy saving, so that the technique could support the service of ESCO. The second is the course design according to the core knowledge, as well as the school curriculum for college students. The infusion curriculum was designed with collaborative teaching approach, and focuses on the topic of energy service. The existing courses are included. These courses include the fundamental courses, such as physics, chemistry, and electrical subjects; and the environmental management courses, such as creating a low-carbon communities, building energy conservation, and carbon reduction; and property management courses, like equipment and facilities management, financial management, intelligent and green building, etc.. The technology and application of energy services-related knowledge were included in these courses. It can build the technology and attitudes in energy-related professional services for students future work. The development of instructional design can refer to the ADDIE model. The learning modules of this course are designed by using the multiple modes of learning, and with the industry experts to put into practice. Research methods used in this study are described below: (1) Literature review. Literature review is one of the main ways to gather information. The followings are main reference for research and analysis, such as the development of ESCOs in different countries, curriculum development theories, overview of intelligent buildings and green buildings, the major science and technology development policies in Taiwan, etc.; (2) Focus group. For ESCO, a focus group was established to study the teaching mode, teaching operations, industrial care, and other issues for discussion;

5 CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ESCO INDUSTRY 821 (3) Group discussion. The group is composed of researchers. For information collected or curriculum development, they will discuss the correctness and completeness and confirm the data collection. Results and Discussion In this study, 17 infusion teaching plans were completed by the ADDIE model and were shown in Table 1. Each lesson includes teaching plan, teaching presentations, and description file applied to the relevant courses. Table1 Theme of Teaching Plan and Related Courses No. Name of infusion curriculum Lesson plans, theme for personnel training Sustainable development, sustainable property management 1 studies, energy systems, and energy and resource Introduction to energy management 2 Sustainable development, field practice of property Introduction to personnel capabilities of energy technology management, and energy and resource management service industry 3 Sustainable development, sustainable property management Energy management regulation and energy consumption studies, and energy and resource management verification 4 Sustainable development, introduction to environmental Energy and life engineering 5 Sustainable property management studies, energy and Indicators for energy management resource management 6 Field practice of property management, creating low-carbon Introduction to measurement and verification methods communities 7 Field practice of property management Air-conditioning system 8 Field practice of property management, sustainable property Application of energy-saving technologies and air management studies, and creating low-carbon communities conditioning operation 9 Field practice of property management Lighting equipment 10 Field practice of property management, sustainable property Applications of energy-saving technologies on lighting management studies, and creating low-carbon communities system 11 Power electronics, energy circuit analysis, and basic Concepts and practices of power systems electricity 12 Computer network practice Energy-saving technology of computer room 13 Creating low-carbon communities, energy and resource Energy saving and energy Management management 14 Case field practice of property management Building energy and resource management 15 Creating low-carbon communities, case field practice of Energy management systems of residential and commercial property management, and energy and resource building management 16 Creating low-carbon communities, introduction to Green building plans daily energy saving 17 sustainable property management Environmental planning and management, regulations for property management Three regulations of energy and greenhouse gas reduction strategy In this study, energy services course was developed and introduced into the personnel education of property management service. The property management personnel can provide environmentally-friendly energy management services in response to modern trends, rather than limited to traditional thinking of cleaning, maintenance, and preservation. So, it can provide new industrial technologies and create new value to the industrial personnel. Promotion of the talent and technology of property management could increase the industrial competitiveness and get rid of the embarrassment situation for competition by cheap price in traditional property management market. In addition, knowledge of building energy management to the property management staff could carry out the work of carbon reduction in the community, and then, create high quality of life and promote the

6 822 CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN OF ESCO INDUSTRY low-carbon communities for customers. Furthermore, it can expand into the outside environment to reach the goal of low-carbon society and sustainable homelands. Conclusions and Recommendations The work in property management industry is quite complicated and trivial. Most of them mainly focused on administrative and routine maintenance services. Because the technical problems often outsourced to the third party, therefore, the personnel of property management generally lacked of understanding and cognition to the energy system. They were not capable of energy management and could not import the energy management services to communities. It could be done by the relevant departments in schools to cultivate the talents or provide the in-service education to the staff in the workplace. In the future, it is expected to expand to a complete training mechanism of energy management by the development of foundation courses from this research. It is also possible to set the program or module in the related departments of property management, or create a job training model in the continuing education system. These can enhance the competitiveness and irreplaceable of property management staff in the workplace. References Bianchini, J. A. (1997). Where knowledge construction, equity, and context intersect: Student learning of science in small groups. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34(10), Goldman, C. A., Hopper, N. C., & Osborn, J. G. (2005). Review of US ESCO industry market trends: An empirical analysis of project data. Energy Policy, 33(3), Hansen, S. J. (2009). ESCOs around the world: Lessons learned in 49 countries (1st ed.). Lilburn, G.A., USA: The Fairmont Press Inc.. Macchia, J. P. (1992). Total quality education and instructional system development. Educational Technology, 6, McGrath, D. (2003). Designing to learn: A focus on design in project-based learning. Learning & Leading With Technology, 30(6), Morrison, G. R. (2010). Designing effective instruction (6th ed.). Danvers, M.A., USA: John Wiley & Sons. Skilbeck, M. (1976). School-based curriculum development. In J. Walton, & J. Welton (Eds.), Rational curriculum planning. London: Ward Lock Educational. Skilbeck, M. (1982). School-based curriculum development. In V. Lee, & D. Zeldim (Eds.), Planing in the curriculum (pp ). London: Hodder and Stoughtion. Skilbeck, M. (1984). School-based curriculum development. London: Paul Chapman.