Industry-based case studies for an online graduate certificate wind energy program

This project involved the addition of practical, real world, experiences for online Graduate Certificate in Wind Energy students via case study based problems developed in cooperation with wind industry partners. Overall, five case studies were developed and integrated across three courses offered in Summer 2016, Fall 2016, and Spring 2017. A qualitative study employing focus groups gathered feedback from the students in these courses. The students reported learning from and being motivated by the inclusion of the case studies. They were more inclined to be focused on the accuracy of their results because they were based in the real world. They particularly appreciated the practicality and applicability of the case studies, the opportunity to hear from a real-world industry partner, and the insight into industry jobs and how a project works from start to finish. In execution of the case studies, the biggest challenges were adapting the expectations of the students, balancing the workload along with other course assessments, and encouraging the students to pace their work to optimally interact with and engage with the industry partner.