Project-Based Learning Strategy in the Renewable Energy Education at State University of Jakarta
Pages : 663-668Download PDF
The purpose of the article is to highlight the effectiveness of Project Based Learning (PBL). The present paper presents an eloquent model for implementing the PBL strategy, in a Department of Chemistry, with a course on renewable energy. Students worked cooperatively in teams to conduct a series of laboratory investigations through which they explored the engineering aspects of renewable energy production, properties, characterization, quality control, performance testing and decided the proper strategy with a view to solve the problems at hand. The experiments were designed to be cost effective and transferrable. The laboratory experiments were conducted within the ‘how people learn framework’. A survey was used to evaluate the acquisition of specific and generic competences, as well as the students’ degree of satisfaction with respect to the use of these learning methodologies. The results of the survey and the perceptions of the lecturers show that PBL encourages students’ motivation and improves their results. They not only acquire better technical training, but also improve their transversal skills. It is also pointed out that this methodology requires more dedication from lecturers than traditional methods
Keywords: Laboratory Experience, Project Based Learning, Renewable Energy