A Place-Based Sustainability Approach to Learning about Photovoltaic Solar Energy

Abstract

An ethical and effective engineering practice is inherently place-responsive and designs for a sustainable future. Engineering students must therefore be educated within a sustainable and sociotechnical paradigm. In the spring of 2022, the integrated engineering department of the University of San Diego offered a new photovoltaic solar energy course for junior and senior students. Informed by place-based pedagogies and culturally sustaining pedagogies, we designed the course to be relevant to the students’ lived experiences by coupling the learning about the technical elements of solar energy with a focus on solar energy projects and sustainability on campus. Prior to running the course, we identified four potential new solar investment/upgrade projects for the university. We divided the class into four teams, with each team assigned to assess the feasibility of a solar project through (1) social, (2) technical, (3) economic, and (4) environmental analyses. Finally, the students integrated their findings and made recommendations to key university stakeholders about how to proceed with solar energy investments on campus. In this paper, we share the course project design, our findings from implementing it, and ideas for adapting it to other place-based sustainability learning experiences.

Celebrating and Leveraging Classroom Geographic and Cultural Diversity to Enhance Student Learning

“…The findings presented in this paper are from a single course offering using this pedagogical model, which included a small sampling of students. However, this is our second time developing and piloting a course using this hybrid place-based and CSPs pedagogical model, as we previously used it for a solar energy engineering elective, which also had favorable outcomes [19]. Most of the students in the course (13 out of 16) were from the integrated engineering department and had taken other sociotechnical courses that emphasized sustainability.…”

“…We previously developed a solar energy course using the same hybrid place-based and CSPs model, but operationalized the model differently in that course context [19]. Students explored the feasibility of potential solar energy projects on campus while learning about solar energy from a technical engineering standpoint.…”

Work in Progress: Student Reflections from a Semester-Long Place-Based Photovoltaic Solar Energy Project

“…This approach is consistent with the overall goals of the integrated engineering department at the University of San Diego which aims to help students see engineering as a sociotechnical endeavor. More details about courses in this curriculum are available in additional publications [13][14][15][16][17], including a deeper discussion about this specific course [18].…”