Industry-based Case Studies for an Online Graduate Certificate Wind Energy Program
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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College Industry Partnerships
- Page Count
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8
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30658
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30658
- Download Count
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315
Paper Authors
Susan White Stewart
Pennsylvania State University
orcid.org/0000-0002-1762-7083
Dr. Susan Stewart is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Aerospace Engineering and Architectural Engineering Departments at Penn State. She oversees Penn State's Graduate Certificate Program in Wind Energy. She is also the director of the Pennsylvania Wind for Schools Program, advisor for the Penn State Wind Energy Club, and a member of the North American Wind Energy Academy's Education Committee. Her research interests lie in energy system design optimization as a function of component design, economics, and renewable energy resource conditions. She received her PhD & MS in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2003 and 2001, respectively, and obtained a BSME from Penn State in 1999.
Stephanie Cutler Pennsylvania State University
Stephanie Cutler has a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. Her dissertation explored faculty adoption of research-based instructional strategies in the statics classroom. Currently, Dr. Cutler works as an assessment and instructional support specialist with the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education at Penn State. She aids in the educational assessment of faculty-led projects while also supporting instructors to improve their teaching in the classroom. Previously, Dr. Cutler worked as the research specialist with the Rothwell Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence Worldwide Campus (CTLE - W) for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Sven Schmitz Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Sven Schmitz joined the faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University in 2010. He received a diploma degree in Aerospace Engineering from RWTH Aachen (Germany) in 2002 and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering from the University of California Davis in 2006. Dr. Schmitz spent four years as a post-doctoral researcher and project scientist at Davis before coming to Penn State. He is an expert in rotary wing aerodynamics with an emphasis on vortical flows. His research program embraces the areas of wind turbine aerodynamics and rotorcraft aeromechanics. Current activities include wind farm wake modeling, icing on wind turbines, rotor hub flows, and rotor active control.
Alexa Kottmeyer
Alexa Kottmeyer is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Psychology at Penn State. She has an M.Ed. in Mathematics and taught high school math. Currently, she works as a Graduate Assistant with the Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education at Penn State. Her research interests include the roles of conceptual and procedural knowledge, as well as the role of multiple representations in high school and college level mathematics learning and instruction.
Abstract
This project involved the addition of practical, real world, experiences for online Graduate Certificate in Wind Energy students via case study based problems developed in cooperation with wind industry partners. Overall, five case studies were developed and integrated across three courses offered in Summer 2016, Fall 2016, and Spring 2017. A qualitative study employing focus groups gathered feedback from the students in these courses. The students reported learning from and being motivated by the inclusion of the case studies. They were more inclined to be focused on the accuracy of their results because they were based in the real world. They particularly appreciated the practicality and applicability of the case studies, the opportunity to hear from a real-world industry partner, and the insight into industry jobs and how a project works from start to finish. In execution of the case studies, the biggest challenges were adapting the expectations of the students, balancing the workload along with other course assessments, and encouraging the students to pace their work to optimally interact with and engage with the industry partner.
Stewart, S. W., & Cutler, S., & Schmitz, S., & Kottmeyer, A. (2018, June), Industry-based Case Studies for an Online Graduate Certificate Wind Energy Program Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30658
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