Energy literacy is a minimum required capacity for developing a sustainable society that participates in and discusses on energy and environmental (EE) issues. Understanding the energy literacy structure is of significant importance for providing effective energy education to promote people’s awareness of EE issues. In this article, an energy literacy structural model integrated with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Value-Belief-Norm Theory was investigated for 1070 lower secondary students (ages 13-15) in Japan. Structural equation modeling uncovered that the awareness of consequences is the most powerful predictor for the causality between basic energy knowledge and energy-saving behavior through the attitude toward the energy-saving behavior. A conditional process analysis elucidated that (1) the conditional effect of basic energy knowledge on the awareness of consequences depends on scientific literacy, critical thinking ability, and environmental worldview, and (2) the conditional direct and indirect effects in the mediation model of awareness of consequences on the attitude toward energy-saving behavior through the ascription of responsibility depend on environmental worldview or values and family discussion of energy-related issues. The energy literacy model proposed provides a theoretical contribution to the development of an effective energy education program.

Understanding the structure of energy literacy is of importance to provide an effective energy education. This article reports the difference in attributes of energy literacy by applying the energy literacy structural model proposed in our previous study through lower secondary school students in Thailand (N = 635) and Japan (N = 1070). Results indicated that Thai students scored higher than those of Japan except the basic energy knowledge and awareness of consequences. On the other hand, the amount of basic energy knowledge did not affect to increase the entire energy literacy of Japanese students. Moreover, mean values of Japan tended to decrease with the school year progression. The energy literacy model was able to support our previous outcome that the awareness of consequences plays a critical role to link between basic energy knowledge and energy-saving behavior. The social expectations or pressures may affect the structure of energy literacy of Thai students. This study suggested that the energy education required in Thailand is to enable students to derive solutions by their own critical thinking based on knowledge relevant to the energy and environmental issues. While, for Japan, it may be necessary to implement energy education as early as possible to enhance students’ awareness of consequences in an appropriate manner incorporating with family participation and visiting energy-related facility. These findings contribute the development of energy education for improving energy literacy in an effective manner.  

The objective of this research was to assess the efficacy of project-based learning in enhancing the analysis of student worksheets in the domains of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) with the integration of the ecoprint technique, focusing on its influence on student motivation and creativity. This investigation was conducted as a quasi-experiment involving a sample size of 150 students selected through cluster sampling. Data collection was executed using standardized tests, with instrument validity ascertained through the Aiken index and instrument reliability determined via Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed using multivariate analysis (MANOVA) and descriptive quantitative methods. The study's findings reveal a significant disparity in the mean scores of both learning motivation and student creativity. In conclusion, the implementation of project-based learning coupled with STEAM-based student worksheet analysis utilizing the ecoprint technique yields a substantial enhancement in learning motivation and student creativity. These findings underscore the success of employing STEAM-based worksheets in conjunction with the ecoprint method to foster students' motivation and creativity, as ecoprint inherently encompasses all STEAM components within the manufacturing process.