2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work describes the introduction of circuit analysis in an introductory engineering course taken by students majoring in engineering, engineering technology, as well as students deciding on a major course of study and pre-college students earning college credit. This one semester course gives a broad introduction to the field of engineering and the engineering design process. The laboratory component consists of constructing and testing a small vertical axis wind turbine, VAWT. Because students come to the course with disparate prior academic experience, this can present a challenge when balancing the accessibility of the topic while at the same time introducing the theoretical background necessary to provide a meaningful opportunity for students to perform analysis of the VAWT. The purpose of this activity was to bring the students to a common level of proficiency so that they could perform an iterative engineering design experiment investigating the performance of the VAWT under different conditions.

Students are taken through the analysis of a simple series circuit consisting of three components connected in series, a voltage source, the resistance of the generator coils, and the resistance of the load. This circuit provides a model that is used to predict the performance of the VAWT. Low risk, scaffolded activities are introduced to provide the practice that builds the foundation to make it possible for students to participate in more challenging open-ended analyses. Students begin by applying Ohm’s law to the series circuit, then learn to make power calculations, and eventually draw conclusions related to impedance matching. This activity remains relevant because the calculations are reflected in laboratory measurements with the VAWT.