Engineering students knowledge level on renewable energy resources: Bangladesh military engineering institute context

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine the Engineering students’ knowledge on Renewable Energy (RE) resources. An online survey through proving Google form was conducted by using descriptive methodology. The participants for the survey were the engineering undergraduate students from Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka, Bangladesh. A set of e-questionnaire with 19 items including 4 demographic and 15 knowledge measuring items was developed to collect data from the MIST undergraduate students. A total of 153 students responded to the survey. The demographic results indicated that male students of first and third study year with 20 to 30 years of age range from mechanical or industrial and production-engineering fields of study are the maximum respondents to the survey of this study. The main findings of the study highlighted that engineering students at MIST possess a higher level of understanding about various aspects of renewable energy, including solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, biogas energy, laws and policies of renewable energy (RE), establishment of RE, sources of information for RE, and the application of renewable energy in Bangladesh. Since the mean score for the questions was 3.72, reflecting a knowledge level between neutrality and agreement, the majority of the students responded positively to all the questions, indicating their strong grasp of these topics. The results also revealed that female students had a good understanding of renewable energy compared to male students, with an average score of 3.83 for females and 3.69 for males. Additionally, the study found that 3rd-year students displayed the highest level of understanding, while 1st-year students exhibited the lowest level of comprehension regarding renewable energy resources.