Some Aspects of the Problem-Based Learning applied to Electrical Engineering

1. Some Aspects of the Problem-Based Learning applied to Electrical Engineering E. Helerea Transilvania University of Brasov Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty

2. CONTENTS • INTERACTIVE METHODS IN TEACHING -LEARNING PROCESS • PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING • CONCLUSIONS

3. I. INTERACTIVE METHODS IN TEACHING -LEARNING PROCESS WHAY? • Because the administrative resources of higher education institutions become more and more limited, • The teachers must expose the scientific contents to a greater number of the students. • The direct communication between teacher and student becomes even more difficult • The quality of learning process could decrease. • In the conditions of globalization and of the development of a society based on knowledge for the graduates are required new tasks.

4. I. INTERACTIVE METHODS IN TEACHING -LEARNING PROCESS • NEW APPROACHES on the methods of teaching-learning-evaluation processes must be taken into account • to save time, • to make the process efficient. • IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • to create the professional competences, • the define the moral profile of Homo Technicus Eminens, • to take into account the students and their learning needs.

5. I. INTERACTIVE METHODS IN TEACHING -LEARNING PROCESS COMPARISON

6. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) • PBL- an active method of teaching - learning, which transfers the responsibility of learning process on the students; • PBL- based on the process of analyzing a conflict (problem) -situation, and clarifying the sources of conflict based on the previous and newly acquired knowledge; • In PBL - students have an active role in creating the problem, in analyzing and giving solution/solutions; • PBL- increases the student responsibility and motivation for learning.

7. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • HISTORY OF PBL • In the late 1960s - PBL approach started in medical schools of USA (see Howard Barrows) / University of Delaware adapts PBL method (Tutorial Methods of Instruction), • In 1974 - the University of Aalborg – Denmark declares his educational strategy in using PBL and PJL (faculties of Humanities, Social Science and Engineering and Science), • In 2000 - the University Catholic of Leuven – Belgium (Candis 2000 project - PBL for building engineering education), • New trends in Europe - training courses for teachers and tutors to get skills in designing and implementing the PBL method (Maastricht, Paris 7 – Denis Diderot,Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg etc.), • EU Commission sustain new projects on education.

8. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • Leonardo Project – COMPLETE New Strategies of COMPetence Acquisition for Lifelong Learning in Energy – Transport – Environment Engineering

9. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • Main objective and actions of COMPLETE project: • To introduce innovation in using the interactive methods PBL and PJL for engineering education • To prepare the teachers as trainees: • how to design the processes, • how to assist the students, • to promote thinking and discussion, • to establish and maintain positive group dynamics, • to provide students new resources.

10. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION • Application domain is multidisciplinary one: Energy-Transport-Environment • due to its complexity - this area offers many combined situations submitted to analysing (energy-environment; transport – environment, etc.), • many attractive problems could be solved, having as active solvers the students, • an e-platform will sustain this innovative approach.

11. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION STEPS FOR DESIGNING THE PBL SCENARIO: • Establishing the PBL team of teaching staff; • Studying the different parts of the course and proposing to the way/modality they will be best taught; • Preparation of the support material for students’ work; • Selection of the tutors; • Choosing/designing the lab facilities if is necessarily; • Defining the Agenda; • Preparingthe ways for a good communication for the groups of both teachers/tutors and students

12. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION Process of implementing the PBL method

13. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

14. II. PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

15. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING • PBL perspectives: • Some researches prove that PBL is not appropriate as a method for acquiring basic skills such as reading or computation, • Some researches show that PBL enhances the quality of learning for specific competences, • Relevant and engaging instructional models should be developed in concordance with learning environment.

16. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING • Requirements of a good PBL problem: • to be engaged and oriented to the real world, • to generate multiple hypotheses, • to be consistent with desired learning outcomes, • to build upon the previous knowledge and experience, • to promotes development of higher order cognitive skills.

17. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING A SIMPLE CASE IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING - Example - ELECTRIC CAPACITOR AS ENERGY STORAGE DEVICE • PBL for the undergraduate students • an opportunity to activate the old concepts and to discover new concepts in EEE: • old concepts: electrical field; physical quantities: electric charge, capacitance, electric energy and forces; ideal capacitor, • new concepts: static and dynamic processes of charging and discharging, real capacitor, equivalent schema, dynamic characteristics; ageing of the materials; reliability of the capacitor; etc.

18. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING THE PROPOSED SCENARIO OF RUNNING THE PBL PROCESS A) START MEETING Problem-situation exposing • many electrical capacitors are used today for energy storage, but their characteristics are not reliable. Problem-situation analyzing • What is a capacitor? • How is energy accumulated in a capacitor? • What happens when an electric voltage is applied? • Is it possible to represent a real capacitor? • Could the SPICE program be used in showing the charging process? Etc. • How to reduce the charging time for an electric capacitor? or • Does temperature have a great influence on the charging time? or • What charging-discharge characteristics are required for the energy stocking capacitors?

19. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING Establishing learning objectives • to clarify the charge-discharge processes in capacitors, • to clarify what a real capacitor is, • to introduce different equivalent schema for real capacitor, • to apply the electrical circuit methods in description of the static and dynamic characteristics, • etc.

20. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING B) INDIVIDUAL/AUTONOMOUS STUDY • References, papers, lab applications, and computer applications to find the explanations for the list of questions. • it should also use some computer techniques. • For example - a simulation of the real RC serial capacitor supplied with step voltage, with SPICE program.

21. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING • Solving this problem with SPICE, NEW QUESTIONS will be generated: • What is a step signal? • What is the significance of the time constant of the RC circuit? • What is the connection between the time constant of a RC circuit and charge time? • What is and for what a marker is used? Etc. • In this step, each student will note on the LIST OF QUESTIONS / tasks the plausible explanations and also the points of ambiguities.

22. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING C) MEETING FOR COMMON USE OF ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE • Objective – to realize the balance of group, and to evaluate if the learning objectives are achieved. • The discussions will generate further questions: • These questions will generate other further problems/problem-situations, such as: • How could the charge-discharge times be modified? • Etc.

23. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING It is possible now to establish new learning tasks: • A new SPICE program model for real capacitor could be proposed, for example, RC circuit with two different resistors for charge/discharge processes. • Time of charge/discharge processes can be varied by two resistors Rext and RL; • For different values of resistors different values of charge/discharge times are obtained.

24. III. HOW TO DO PROBLEM DESIGNING - Diagram of Concepts Electric field Capacitor - energy stocking Energy & electric forces Electric circuits Capacitor electrods Dielectric Charge / discharge processes Metals Electrolytes Anorganic Organic Semiconductors Thin layer technology Super-capacitors technology Models Real capacitor

25. IV. CONCLUSIONS • Education needs to adapt to a changing world • PBLis of an increasingly interest - to create new instructional practices, reflecting the environment in which students live and learn now; • Different strategies can be applied, depending on several criteria: the number of students, special environment, and objectives of syllabi/curricula, time requirements; • In PBL method, the specific responsibilities for the actors involved - teachers, tutors and students – are required; • In electrical engineering education, the problematicof electric capacitor could be use in PBL applications, and computer could sustain learning and solving problems, initiating the new ones.