NDLI: Jump-starting a senior-level capstone project through hands-on laboratory exercises

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Bluman, J. Klosky, J.L.
Copyright Year	2011
Description	Author affiliation: U.S. Military Academy at West Point (Bluman, J.; Klosky, J.L.)
Abstract	Many universities incorporate either a senior-level thesis research requirement or a senior-level capstone design experience for their engineering majors. One of the biggest challenges in advising such projects is providing a means for students to make meaningful progress early in the project timeline, very often due to the steep learning curve associated with the technical details of the projects. This paper reports on a technique that requires students to complete a series of laboratory exercises designed to give them an operational awareness of the technical issues associated with small wind turbines. The three main efforts required of students were characterizing the efficiency of small generators, characterizing the efficiency of different wind turbine designs, and determining the charging characteristics of lead-acid batteries. This technique has been found to be much more effective than classroom-style instruction or pure literature review, most likely because it appeals to active, visual, and sequential learning styles. This technique, which is based on earlier work in this area, is broadly applicable to many engineering capstone design efforts. Survey data and project performance data will be presented and the effectiveness of the method is evaluated.
File Size	700287
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781612844688
ISSN	01905848
e-ISBN	9781612844695
e-ISBN	9781612844671
DOI	10.1109/FIE.2011.6142810
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2011-10-12
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Generators Wind turbines Laboratories Voltage measurement Materials Batteries Current measurement small wind turbine design Capstone project management active learning styles
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Education Computer Science Applications Software

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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