ABSTRACT
In this Innovative Practice Full Paper we present an approach where we coupled several proven pedagogical practices to enhance student engagement during the time of remote/hybrid instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these approaches was team-based learning throughout the entire semester which aided in student motivation. A second practice implemented was game-based learning to drive student engagement and excitement. This game-based learning approach used a semester-long scoring system which allowed students to compete for bonus points both on an individual and team basis. This enabled students to practice their teaming skills. Lastly, there was a major focus on diversity & inclusion in addition to teamwork in the course. Students were arranged into teams in an optimized manner by the CATME software. The optimization constraints were chosen using best practices for diversity in race & ethnicity, gender, skill levels, and leadership philosophy, while also considering students with similar schedules for availability purposes. The course also contained instructional modules on effective teamwork as well as contributions in the field of electrical engineering by underrepresented minorities. This paper details the innovative coupling of these practices and how they fit into the course's overall plan. Classroom activity and student perceptions associated with these practices were assessed via structured classroom observation using the COPUS protocol and collection of survey/focus group data, respectively. Assessment results are discussed, along with challenges encountered in this electromagnetics course in the hybrid/remote learning environment.
ABSTRACT
Having power sources close to the end user establishes resilience in the event of power outages. In order to effectively mitigate any risk of losing power and productivity, major office buildings usually have some sort of backup generation to sustain a business. Homes generally do not have a robust back-up power system, so when a person is working from home and the power goes out, productivity stops. Therefore, a new power grid solution is needed. Coming from the metric prefix atto, meaning 10-18, an atto-grid provides power to a singular room or section of room which makes it even smaller than a picogrid. This atto-grid powers the typical load of a standard, single-person office: a printer, a laptop, a phone, and a lamp. The atto-grid project was proposed by Dr. Robert Kerestes from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Pittsburgh as part of a senior design course, and required distributed generation, connection to the building electrical grid, and a monitoring system for volts, amps, and watts. With these requirements in mind, the senior design team was able to design the atto-grid with two types of distributed generation, an inverter, manual switches and contactors for isolation, and accessible outlet receptacles for users to supply power to their at-home office load. An economic cost-benefit analysis was conducted as well for the purpose of determining the atto-grid's availability to different income levels. For hardware, results of tests on power quality and uptime will be presented;for software, metrics covering response time and accuracy will be analyzed and discussed. Finally, the budget, timeline, and expectations from the department faculty and domain advisors are discussed. Throughout the design process and semester, the design team learned technical and practical lessons that were brought up due to the semester coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite technical and practical challenges, the team delivered on all requirements from the senior design curriculum, as well as the technical requirements based on the project proposal. The team acknowledges ways to improve the design if constraints were different, such as time, budget, and skillset. Finally, this paper will discuss feedback received from faculty and domain advisors throughout the semester, as well as reflect on progress and achievements for the atto-grid project. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021