This summer, I got the opportunity to participate in the Open Pedagogy Fellowship program to develop a module on Economic Analysis for Renewable Energy Generation in engineering courses.
The idea of developing this module started with a talk with my student. The student was wondering if renewable energy generation can sustain without government subsidies. This question inspired me to introduce economic analysis in traditional engineering courses. Besides knowledge delivered in the STEM classes, the students are eager to get a full picture of the application and feasibility of the knowledge in practical applications through economic and marketing analysis. Especially in recent times, the need to develop low-emission and alternative energy resources drives wind and solar generation construction all over the country. Large penetration of the new generation forms is changing the power industry’s landscaping.
In this Open Pedagogy, I integrated a new module “Economic Analysis of Renewable Energy Generation” in a senior course Electrical Power Systems. In the module, I introduced: (a) the shrinking revenue that utilities are facing because the renewable generation reduces their electricity sales; (b) the business innovations that are emerging to take advantage of the new generation forms; and (c) how to do a cost-benefit analysis of investing a renewable generation station.
I developed six submodules in this module:
- Introduction
- Essential economic concepts
- Case studies
- Assessment and rubric
- Student project samples
- Timeline
Submodules 1-4 are mainly about the structure, content, and assessment of the module. The submodules 5-6 provide sample deliveries and a suggested timeline. The module is wrapped up as a course on Canvas and open to the public.
The Open Pedagogy program opens a door for me to access lots of free and interactive educational resources, like how to get open textbooks and how to search open resources on Commons. On the other hand, developing OER also plays an important role to understand the open resources, from license identification, platform selection, to content arrangement and presentation.
The last stage of student feedback is valuable. The student reviewers engaged in the module and provided comments from their perspectives. These comments help me polish the module from aspects of the content arrangement, language usage, assignments, and evaluation. I wish I had involved them from the beginning of the summer.
Overall, the Open Pedagogy program helps me learn what OER resources are and how to develop them. I will regularly check the OER to find practices and resources for curriculum development. In addition, I would expect regular meetings and share with the Open Pedagogy even after the summer.
