MULTIMEDIA COURSEWARE SPARKS INTEREST IN THE INDUSTRY

The PowerLearn approach to power engineering education is under development by a core group of faculty and students at Iowa State University (ISU) and Virginia Tech (VT), under funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Four basic features characterize the approach. Courseware modularity provides that the material is organized by topic rather than by course. A Web site provides module storage and dissemination. Interactive visualization and simulation tools are heavily used in module construction. In addition, this project is integrated with efforts at both schools to develop new introductory undergraduate courses in electric power engineering. These courses serve well to illustrate the modular approach to course design.