![]() ![]() Students were thinking more deeply about the actual scenarios within the zones rather than only the social impact score that I assigned. My impression of this year’s learning included both students ability to analyze 3D equilibrium systems and synthesize and analyze the conflicting interests of different groups. Some additional preparation should enhance the effectiveness of this activity. However, many of the students had not spent much time working on the project at this time, so there was too much time spent at this hands-on station with them becoming familiar with who the stakeholders were. This year, during the hands-on activity, they were asked to think about the stakeholders in the different zones. One change that I will make before running the project again will be to have the students read or respond to something in the project description to ensure that they have read all of the content before their hands on activity. Student excitement was much higher and they were more engaged. While the project was successful the first time around, the second time around was much more engaging. Rather than accepting a social impact score within a zone, they thought about how they could reduce the impact in that zone once they had more revenue from the sales of energy from the turbine. Additionally, this time around they were much more willing to look beyond the assigned zones. They asked many more questions about both the social and technical aspects of the project. Students seemed much more engaged during the project. ![]() I also gave the students more opportunity to be creative and develop their own ideas by having them scope the elements that they would power within the community. The second time around I did a better job motivating the project for students. Overall, my impression was that students enjoyed the project, but were not especially excited about the work they were doing. This lessened the “value added” in the poster development process as the posters became more of a display of calculations. ![]() This deliverables structure resulted in all calculations displayed on the pitch posters. Students were asked to develop a pitch poster to the community which explained how the balloon anchoring would work and its costs. Students developed a sense of how the wind forces acting on the balloons made tensions increase and decrease in different cables. There were many groups who met the project criteria, but few who went above and beyond.ĭuring the hands-on session, students were asked to think broadly about technical aspects of the problem, and not the social elements. While the overall project went well, and the students were able to practice the 3D particle equilibrium technical skills, many weren’t as excited as I expected. My lack of project introduction in class, and lack of using lecture time to revisit the project made it feel a bit ancillary. I was excited to run the project for the first time, but I didn’t convey that excitement well to the students. The project's deployment is described in the Timing and Logistics document provided.īelow are my general impressions (written very informally) for how the overall project as well as the individual activities went the first and second times I included the project in my course. See the KEEN'zine article about the project here: The exciting part of the project is the map which is used to provide a framework for both social and financial interactions. This version of the project is contextualized within a sub-Saharan rural community, but this context could easily be modified to other locations or other structures. It allows students the chance to see the potential effects that their decisions have on the people whom their design is serving. ![]() The basic underlying fundamental skill is 3D particle equilibrium, but the project is designed to give students the opportunity to solve a technical challenge that is directly linked to social and financial factors. In this project, students are calculating tensions in cables used to hold a floating wind turbine in a given location. There are high levels of complexity that require the integration of a broad range of skills. However, if you want your students to see an even bigger picture and connect with the course content, this EML is for you! By integrating an EML-based project into one of their first core engineering courses, students learn from the get-go that engineering is not an exact, straightforward process. You may have used this theoretical vector analysis to solve example problems such as suspending traffic lights or potted plants. In its most theoretical form, 3D particle equilibrium applies several known force vectors at a single point in space. 3D particle equilibrium is one of the first techniques that you will likely cover in your course. ![]()
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