The Curriculum Infusion project used a number of approaches to facilitate and promote curriculum change.  Not only did the project aim to produce a 15 module alternative energy curriculum, but also to infuse renewable energy content into 20 existing courses and 12 current programs at OCtech and South Carolina State University.  The project also provided professional development activities on renewable energy for 225 educators at a variety of levels including undergraduate students, K-12 teachers, and college and university faculty.  The content used to produce the learning modules was carefully selected to best serve the regional workforce.  Based on South Carolina's current reliance on private renewable energy systems, it was decided that the content would focus on photovoltaics systems, solar collectors, wind turbines suited to private or small scale industrial applications, battery systems, grid-connected and stand-alone systems, applications of fuel cells and alternative energy in the automotive industry, and passive energy topics such as home insulation, building design,and efficient lighting.  The curriculum was developed using a modular approach in order to make it as flexible as possible, instructors are free to cherry-pick useful modules for insertion into their courses as needed.

Exceeding its original objectives, the program succeeded in producing 25 alternative energy training modules.  The modules and associated activities are included in a new course, Introduction to Alternative Energy (CHT 110), which is online and hosted on the College's Learning Management System (LMS).  The course is accessible to all 16 colleges in the South Carolina Technical College System and the secondary schools in their service areas.  The modules can also be combined to design a course of study that would allow continuing education students to prepare for a nationally recognized certificate in alternative energy.   Alongside the new curriculum, several improvements have been made to OCtech's infrastructure, including a 2.5 kW solar array, two solar collectors, two small scale wind turbines, and a complete system of alternative energy trainers that provide project-based activities for the alternative energy course.

The following two outcomes demonstrate the success of the infusion project at the College.

1)  The project has had a significant impact on the 2 + 2 agricultural program that OCtech has established with Clemson University.  Students and faculty at OCtech have developed a sustainable hydroponics project in which tilapia are raised in tanks in a greenhouse.  The waste produced by the fish is pumped through separators and then into the hydroponic growth beds.  The NSF interns working with the students in the agriculture program, have established this closed system utilizing the 2.5 kW solar array to power the greenhouse,the system pumps and the controls and the solar collectors to provide heat for the tanks and to supplement the greenhouse heating system.

2)  Students in the automotive program have collaboated with the NSF interns, the NSF Co-Ops, and the faculty in the insturmentation in engineering an electric vehicle (EV) project.  Automotive program students utlilized the trainers acquired with project funds to prove their concept for the EV.  Working as a team, students from both programs have completed the conversion of a standard Chevrolet S-10 to a fully functional electric vehicle.

Last Modified: 08/14/2015
Modified by: James E Payne