Supporting students in practical design assignments using design-based learning as an instructional approach

This paper aims at presenting the experience of the Power Conversion project in teaching students to design a proof-of-principle contactless energy transfer system for the charging of electrical vehicles. In this second year electrical engineering project students are to gather and apply electrical engineering knowledge to design and test a system that can work with power level and operates independent from an electricity grid. In doing so, students are to construct electric circuits with preliminary defined component values with the possibility of using as well certain assumptions. The added value in this project is the instructional methodology used, i.e. design-based learning, to have students learn aspects of an electronic system such as the implementation of the speed controlled and the use of the wind turbine operation while working on open-ended assignments. In this project students are to act as professional engineers in teams and design iteratively a contactless power delivery system. Therefore, they play the role of production manager, electrical circuits’ designer or electrical engineer. The support of the students’ learning encounters have a double structure: on the one hand, students are to learn how to apply the knowledge and theoretical insights in their professional role as electrical engineers. Moreover, the technical feedback the students receive by experts is embedded in authentic tasks such as that the modelling and simulating in an industry scenario. On the other hand, students are guided by a project leader, i.e. tutor, who provides feedback on not only the methodology regarding the process, but also on the self-development of the student. The latter task of the tutor is framed within the formative assessment approach for product design. The assessment instrument used, among others, is the rubric. Rubrics are based on the quality criteria of the final system, e.g. Power (W), Efficiency, Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm (MPPT), Load detection and Grade demonstration.