STEM Learning Platform Exemplified by Talkative Power Conversion

Abstract

This article presents a STEM learning platform focusing on renewable energy generation, energy storage, and simultaneous transmission of energy and data. These enabling technologies are classified already by teenagers as authentic, multidisciplinary, sustainable and future-oriented, which helps to stimulate their interest. Linking electric energy generation/storage/consumption and information transfer is done through the innovative concept of talkative power conversion. Students are not only provided with meaningful background information on the topics under investigation, but they also learn how to implement these concepts on a mixed hardware/software platform, which increases their motivation and understanding of STEM topics. The learning platform elaborated in this article is suitable for pupils at high school as well as undergraduate and graduate students in electrical engineering and related fields, since the level of difficulty is adjustable. Experiments are exemplified at a level suitable for undergraduate students in electrical engineering and information technologies after two years of study.