Background and justification of the project
When I reflect on the experience which made me grow up as lecturer at TU/e, I believe that high quality communication is as essential as a solid content. The former requires also activating methods to motivate (and engage with) the students and arise their interest on the topic to teach. The experience within the Bachelor College, specifically with more than 200 millennials, has taught me this. The subject of the course, i.e. Physics of New Energy, is very close to my daily research. Because research and education are intertwined, sharing my own passion with students definitely feels natural and it is a very satisfying experience. However, experimenting with several activating tools has been essential in delivering well- balanced lectures. The balance is between the quantitative aspect of concepts to transfer and the proper selection of interactive teaching methods, where the teaching phase leaves enough room for the learning phase of the students.
As I experience a gradual shift in my role from “teacher” to “facilitator of the learning process”, I believe that hands-on activities are an essential element in the design of a learning environment. Hands-on activities represent one of the major assets of the Dutch educational system, i.e. starting from primary education: learning and experiencing by doing it. Furthermore, by educating millennials to become future engineers, I am convinced that the knowledge acquired during classes should be always related to real-life research and challenges which our society faces. Working on solutions to real-life problems will engage students. They will begin to develop empathy by experiencing the application of sometimes abstracts concept which they have learned during lectures.
This BOOST! project has supported the re-design of the Bachelor course 3DEX0 “Physics principles of new energy”. This is a 1st year course with the following learning goals: students should be able to explain the physics principles of energy production and energy conversion; students should be able to identify the prospects and challenges of several different renewable energy sources. The course, highly appealing to more than 200 students, copes with the challenge of presenting the complex and interdisciplinary field of energy conversion to a rather large class. While several efforts in the past years have been made to size the concepts of physics of energy conversion to the pre-knowledge of a rather heterogeneous class of Bachelor students, I believe that standard lectures are not sufficient to engage, motivate and transfer knowledge in depth to such a large and heterogeneous class, also given the multidisciplinary character of the course. Therefore, the major innovative element in the re-design of the 3DEX0 course has been the setup of a “thermodynamics for energy lab” in the Innovation Space at TU/e, providing the students with hands-on activities on the theme of energy conversion and storage. The latter consist of experiments focusing on key-concepts in thermodynamics, as well as in renewable energy conversion and storage. The second innovative element is the presentation of the state-of-the art research in energy conversion & storage as developed locally, by involving research groups at Applied Physics dpt. and DIFFER researchers. This approach includes the development of short-term assignments on selected research and R&D aspects related to the development of renewable energy sources and storage. These assignments focus on the whole range from established sources to the exciting challenges which we are witnessing in the field of solar fuels, CO2 capture, (Li-ion) batteries and thermo-chemical storage materials. In this academic year the following lecturers have been involved: Prof. Jaspers (fusion), Prof. Creatore (photovoltaics), dr. Tao (solar fuels), dr. Hendriks (batteries) and dr. Huinink (thermo-chemical storage materials).
Objectives and expected outcomes of the project
Objectives: The objectives of this proposal are: To explore whether mirroring the theory concepts of the thermodynamic laws to hands-on activities does lead to a more efficient understanding of abstract concepts; to evaluate whether students, with a diverse background, but with a common interest in the field of energy do succeed in applying the theory concepts during the hands-on activities. These objectives are supported by lectures on thermodynamics, in combination with studio-classrooms and three web-lectures. The latter are meant to explain basic key-concepts prior to the lectures, but also to “interact” with students, by means of questions while playing the video or at the end of it. Interaction moments with the students allows the teaching phase to leave enough room for the learning phase of the students.
Expected results: I expect that the combination of theory presented during lectures, web-lectures and exercises with the newly developed hands-on activities, synergistically supports and facilitates the learning process of the student. Moreover, the hands-on activities take place in groups which will facilitate the discussion among students and their learning process, when reflecting on the achieved results. This contributes to the development of soft-skills among 1st year students. This new setup of the 3DEX0 course is really meant to prove that we, as lecturers, can size the learning style almost at single student level, even when dealing with a large attendance of students. Finally, by focusing on established renewable energy sources as well as on the research (and, in specific cases, R&D) challenges at energy storage level, the aim is two-fold: 1) to let the students experience theory and concepts in real-life applications and societal relevant challenges; 2) to generate awareness in the students on the present, real challenges in energy transition, with the final goal to motivate them to pursue further this interest and make their choice in terms of studies as well as complementary activities (e.g. Honors program) being oriented towards energy.
Dissemination and sustainability of the project
As earlier mentioned, I foresee several opportunities to disseminate information on the re-design of the 3DEX0 course and its progress, as well as on improvement steps in the next academic years. Specifically, I see opportunities at departmental level, during the several meetings which the Director of Education and the ESA team organize each year, such as education lunches and education days. Moreover, at TU/e level, dissemination will take place during the TU/e innovation day. I also see the possibility to expand the concept of hands-on, and more research-oriented, activities to other energy-related courses, and specifically within the SET M.Sc. program. Furthermore, dissemination is expected to take place also through publications, for example related to AUTIQ (Advanced University Teaching Innovation Qualification), as well as through participation at conferences on education innovation.
Results and learnings
The course has just been completed and the final exam took place at the end of January. Evaluation of the course is now taking place.
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