Improved Power Engineering Curriculum: Analysis in a Year 3 Course in Electrical Engineering

Modern electrical power systems have an increasing penetration of distributed generation (DG). This increase yields the requirement for integration of renewable energy and distributed energy generation into the educational curriculum of power engineering. However, the integration of associated knowledge in the curriculum framework is challenging because power system industry is experiencing a fast and continuing transition and associated teaching and learning materials are becoming quickly outdated in higher education institutions. This paper demonstrates the use of the backward design model in the power engineering discipline, where a Year 3 course is redesigned. The course is entirely implemented in an online mode, and the feedback and perception from the students are presented and analyzed. The results show the necessity of the curriculum framework development for power engineering education in a qualitative manner and provide guidance for course instructors to integrate distributed energy generation in undergraduate coursework programs.