Renewable Energy Projects Enhance Pedagogy in Foundational ECE Course

Devin Connor Whalen; Peter Mark Jansson

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Assessment-Driven Practices in ECE
Tagged Division: Electrical and Computer Engineering Division (ECE)
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44105
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44105
Download Count: 286

Paper Authors

biography

Devin Connor Whalen Bucknell University

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Devin Whalen is a graduate student at Bucknell University, pursuing a master’s degree in electrical engineering. His research focuses on microgrids and energy harvesting, and aligns with his passion for renewable energy and sustainable solutions. In 2022, Devin graduated summa cum laude with a B.S.E.E. from Bucknell, where he developed a strong foundation in electrical engineering. He demonstrates his dedication to his field through his involvement in curriculum development, academic and research-related activities, and presenting his findings at national and global conferences and workshops.

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biography

Peter Mark Jansson P.E. Bucknell University

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Professor Jansson currently is engaged as an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at Bucknell University where he is responsible for pedagogy and research in the power systems, smart grid and analog systems areas. His specialties include grid integration of large scale renewables and research of novel sensor and energy technologies.

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Abstract

Bucknell University instructors continue to make novel pedagogical changes to the ECE curriculum as well as the fundamental circuits course ECEG 210. In this course we designed and implemented a renewable energy focused, project-based learning aspect to reinforce the engineering design process which exists across all years of our curriculum to introduce second-year electrical and computer engineering students to some of the pressing challenges and opportunities presented by the decreasing costs of renewable energy. This paper examines the project innovations made to the ECEG 210 course to embrace more design-based learning and address multiple student outcomes specified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and provide students with early exposure to entrepreneurial opportunities. Throughout six weekly laboratories (at the latter half of the semester), teams comprising three students analyzed, designed, built, and evaluated a photovoltaic (PV) powered electrical appliance. Teams first broadly explored the challenge of taking typical residential end-use devices off-grid by researching three different end-use devices of their choice. They calculated the potential carbon reduction each device might have if powered by solar and analyzed the potential customer base for each device in the United States. Teams proposed their final project topic based on the value proposition they felt their innovations could offer. By performing energy and market analyses, teams defined and justified their device’s parameters and identified performance metrics. They created representations, including physical block diagrams and data flow diagrams, to convey the functionality and construction of their end-use PV systems to illustrate how each subsystem component would contribute to the finished product. Finally, each team constructed a minimum viable product (MVP) to demonstrate the viability of their innovation, and they performed tests to show that it met each of their established design criteria. To document their MVPs, each team created a functionality and performance-focused video directed at a technical audience, and a marketing video directed at a non-technical (potential market) audience. To evaluate the effectiveness of the design project, instructors required students to provide feedback on the benefits of this design project to the course and rate the value they felt each (carefully scaffolded) project phase provided. Students described methods that they found useful as well as changes they would like to see to benefit those taking the course in the future. Using this feedback and the results of the projects, the ECEG 210 will continue to evolve and improve. This paper is structured as follows: Section I outlines the organization of the project and the specifics of the scaffolding provided for each project-lab milestone. Section II addresses the benefits of the project experience to ABET student outcomes. Section III highlights and summarizes some of the final projects produced by the ECE teams. Section IV summarizes the project evaluation, student feedback, and plans for possible future course iterations.

Citation
Format

Whalen, D. C., & Jansson, P. M. (2023, June), Renewable Energy Projects Enhance Pedagogy in Foundational ECE Course Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44105

TY - CPAPER
AB - Bucknell University instructors continue to make novel pedagogical changes to the ECE curriculum as well as the fundamental circuits course ECEG 210. In this course we designed and implemented a renewable energy focused, project-based learning aspect to reinforce the engineering design process which exists across all years of our curriculum to introduce second-year electrical and computer engineering students to some of the pressing challenges and opportunities presented by the decreasing costs of renewable energy. This paper examines the project innovations made to the ECEG 210 course to embrace more design-based learning and address multiple student outcomes specified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and provide students with early exposure to entrepreneurial opportunities.
Throughout six weekly laboratories (at the latter half of the semester), teams comprising three students analyzed, designed, built, and evaluated a photovoltaic (PV) powered electrical appliance. Teams first broadly explored the challenge of taking typical residential end-use devices off-grid by researching three different end-use devices of their choice. They calculated the potential carbon reduction each device might have if powered by solar and analyzed the potential customer base for each device in the United States. Teams proposed their final project topic based on the value proposition they felt their innovations could offer. By performing energy and market analyses, teams defined and justified their device’s parameters and identified performance metrics. They created representations, including physical block diagrams and data flow diagrams, to convey the functionality and construction of their end-use PV systems to illustrate how each subsystem component would contribute to the finished product. Finally, each team constructed a minimum viable product (MVP) to demonstrate the viability of their innovation, and they performed tests to show that it met each of their established design criteria. To document their MVPs, each team created a functionality and performance-focused video directed at a technical audience, and a marketing video directed at a non-technical (potential market) audience.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the design project, instructors required students to provide feedback on the benefits of this design project to the course and rate the value they felt each (carefully scaffolded) project phase provided. Students described methods that they found useful as well as changes they would like to see to benefit those taking the course in the future. Using this feedback and the results of the projects, the ECEG 210 will continue to evolve and improve. This paper is structured as follows: Section I outlines the organization of the project and the specifics of the scaffolding provided for each project-lab milestone. Section II addresses the benefits of the project experience to ABET student outcomes. Section III highlights and summarizes some of the final projects produced by the ECE teams. Section IV summarizes the project evaluation, student feedback, and plans for possible future course iterations.

AU - Devin Connor Whalen
AU - Peter Mark Jansson P.E.
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Renewable Energy Projects Enhance Pedagogy in Foundational ECE Course
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44105
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44105
ER -