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Cooling fans help students get off desert island in government backed problem based learning initiative

Leading manufacturer of equipment cooling fans Papst has provided support for a government backed initiative to increase the profile of problem based learning (PBL) in university physics and astronomy courses. Under the name of Project LeAP, the University of Leicester heads the project consortium along with the universities of Hertfordshire, Reading and Sheffield.

One specific project is the 'Desert Island Rescue Problem'. First-year physics undergraduates are told that they are stranded on a desert island, with only a limited stock of components, including capacitors, resistors, fans, wire, switches and so on, with which to build a power source to light two rescue beacons.

The problem - for which Papst has donated a range of fans of various sizes - is run across seven afternoon laboratory sessions comprising five 'stages'. The students are given the 'Problem' and first stage brief at their first PBL session. They work on the problem in groups of up to eight for about two hours, and then deliver a short presentation on the subject as detailed in the stage brief. After the presentations, the next stage brief is given out ready for the next session, and so on throughout the five stages. After the fifth stage the students hand in a final report and deliver a presentation about their work and results.

In this particular problem the groups are expected to research alternative power methods, including water and simple batteries - but to focus on wind power. The students investigate the properties of the various fans, choosing a suitable one to generate enough power to activate their rescue beacons. They also have to design and build a circuit that will allow power to be stored, to run the beacon when the wind briefly drops.

Papst's Engineering Director Ian McLeod said, "Project LeAP is an example of modern teaching methods which will help develop the problem solving capabilities of students. These are the scientists and engineers of tomorrow, and the sessions will equip them for the very real problems that they will encounter, especially in the increasingly sophisticated electronics engineering arena. Papst is delighted to play a part in the project."

Dr Sarah Symons, Project Manager for Project LeAP at the University of Leicester, said, "We are very excited at the success of LeAP so far. From the results of the pilot project that we have been doing at Leicester, we will be able to further hone the course and thus implement similar projects at universities throughout the country. The fans provided by Papst were a key part of the Desert Island Rescue Problem, and I'm sure the students learnt much from them about the characteristics of fluid flows. This information and the thought processes involved will undoubtedly help them in their future roles as scientists and engineers."