Rethinking power engineering education for Generation Z

Abstract

AbstractOn the basis of STEM, STEAM, and STREAMS, this paper presents a holistic multidisciplinary improved method for power engineering education of Generation Z students. The proposed STREAMS strategy is based on using the latest developments of technology for a mixed on‐the‐move and in‐house university educational approach. A case study on STREAMS is used within power engineering education. To validate STREAMS, a pilot application and a survey are used. While 66% of the students in power engineering chose to attend on‐the‐move visits to complete classical teaching, the participation in field visits showed an improvement of the grades by about 20%, the increase of the number of students with comparative cognitive level, and a significant decrease of the fail percentage from 84.2% to 15.8%. The results show that the use of STREAMS in power engineering education allows a better understanding of both theoretical and practical issues, improves the overall attitude on studying the field, and develops critical thinking, thus leveraging the entering into the workforce. The authors consider that on‐the‐move STREAMS also proves to be a valuable improved teaching method, even under coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic restrictions.