Project-Based Learning and Rubrics in the Teaching of Power Supplies and Photovoltaic Electricity

Abstract

Project-based learning (PBL) and cooperative learning are, in various aspects, very superior education methodologies compared to other traditional ones. They are highly appropriate methodologies for elective courses, as they exert a strong attraction on the students, quite apart from their educational advantages. This paper describes how PBL and cooperative learning have been used to teach the topics of power supplies and photovoltaic electricity within two elective undergraduate courses. A project is carried out for each of the two topics. Moodle is used as the e-learning platform to provide the course materials and the wiki resource and to allow the submission of assignments. The simulation is done by means of Simulink. Work has been done to develop skills for project planning, group management of the work, technical document writing and presentations in public. The methodology has been seen to be successful, as all the students who have followed it over the last few years have passed the courses in which it was included, Design of Industrial Applications and Industrial Electronics. Examples of the rubrics for assessing the projects and examples of the projects themselves are also included.