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國立成功大學「邁向頂尖大學計畫」
延攬優秀人才工作報告表
NCKU’s “Aim for the Top University Project”
Work Report Form for Distinguished Scholars
□續聘
continuation of employment
□離職
resignation
100 年 7 月 13 日更新
受聘者姓名
Name of the Employee
Pankaj Sharma
▓男 �女
Male Female聘 期
Period of Employmentfrom 2017 年(y)9 月(m) 6 日(d)
to 2017 年(y) 10 月(m) 6 日(d)
研究或教學或科技研發與
管理計畫名稱
The project title of research, teaching, technology development and management
The project title of research, teaching, technology development and management
計畫主持人
（申請單位主管）
Project Investigator (Head of Department/Center) Ta-Hui Lin 林大惠補助延聘編號
Grant Number
HUA
106-22T-20-130
一、
研究、教學、科技研發與管理工作全程經過概述。
（由受聘人填寫）
Please summarize the entire research, teaching, or science and technology R&D and management work process (To be completed by the employee)
Introduction
The current world population is 7.6 billion people and it is expected to reach about 10 billion people by 2050. The energy and food production need to double under the constraints of clean environment/water and global warming. The course brought together opportunities for both interdisciplinary and team learning. Students were engaged in an interdisciplinary discussion that focused on complex topics at the intersection of energy strategy, society, and policy, including several other skills critical to thinking holistically and as a future leader.
The engineering education is going through radical changes in the 21st Century. Examples of critical areas of development include: (1)
Collaboration and teamwork, (2) Creativity and imagination, (3) Critical thinking, and (4) Problem solving. Other critical skills for student success encompass: (1) Flexibility and adaptability, (2) Global and cultural awareness, (3) Information literacy, and (4) Leadership. The following set of additional skills will benefit the students in becoming a well-rounded leader: (1) Civic literacy and citizenship, (2) Oral and written communication skills, (3) Social responsibility and ethics, (3) Technology, policy and strategy literacy, and (5) Initiative. An important emphasis was to incorporate many elements of active learning where students interact and learn from fellow students. The course, as described below, allowed for 13 NCKU registered students (plus 3 audited) to learn many of the above skills. This was reflected in informal pre/post/daily assessments.
Course Objectives
The one-week summer course (1 credit hours; September 11-15, 2017) focused on ‘Energy Sustainability at the Nexus of
Climate/Environment and Food/Water’. This was a part of a three credit hours course ‘Energy Strategy and Policy’. Dr. Rodney Matsuoka of RCETS is giving the remaining two credit hours portion. This course allowed students to learn grand challenges for sustainability at the nexus (interconnections/interdependencies) of energy, food, and water. Three of the primary learning objectives included the opportunity to: (1) improve students’ understanding of energy technology and role of entrepreneurship/innovations/strategy in technology development and deployment, (2) increase students’ awareness of the impact of energy technology on society (e.g. climate/environmental,
economics/business, food/water) and the role of policies/regulations, and (3) increase students’ global perspective, engage in interactive/collective learning and consider multiple viewpoints.
Course Delivery
The content of the course was delivered in two sessions: one lecture in AM hours and one lecture in PM hours. Various components of deliveries included: (1) Icebreaker and team formation, (2) base lectures, (3) classroom interactive group exercises, (4) case studies, and (5) daily quiz and mid/final exam. An informal assessment (pre/post/daily) was conducted to evaluate various components of deliveries. This provided important feedback to enable us to improve the course for future deliveries.
1. Icebreaker sessions and team formation
1.1. An icebreaker session was conducted to allow the students to get to know each other and assist in forming their respective groups for teamwork. This was an important activity so that students could function in a team environment, learn from each other, and finally listen to other viewpoints.
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2. Base Lectures
2.1. There were eight lectures that covered the following topics: (1) sustainability and policy/regulation/strategy, (2) fossil energy, (3) renewable energy, (4) electric grid/system and energy storage, (5) energy utilization (industry, buildings, and
transportation), (6) water/food, (7) climate/environment, (8) energy Economics/business and nexus, and (9) case studies (BP Oil Spill, Fukushima Disaster, Nam Theun 2 Hydro Dam). Each lecture consisted of slides at the introductory, intermediate and advanced levels. Students were encouraged to ask questions and an interactive exercise was given to allow them to interact with each other and express their viewpoints. They learned complexity while making decisions with limited information.
3. Case Studies
3.1. The case studies provided a critical thinking and holistic viewpoints about previous manmade and natural disasters. The case studies stimulated group discussion and addressed various political, advocacy, citizens, business, disaster response,
communication/media, infrastructure, regulation, and social issues.
Assessment
A total of 16 students attended the course: 1/3 with Taiwanese nationality and the remaining 2/3 from over 8 other nationalities; 25% female and 75% males; equal distribution among second, third and fourth year of undergraduate. Graduate (M.S./Ph.D) degree. Students from several departments benefited from the course offerings: Aerospace, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, and Information Engineering, Energy, Management, and Engineering Science. An informal assessment (pre/post/daily) was carried out to obtain feedback on various components of course delivery. An analysis of assessment is progressing well. This was guided by the following questions, with results listed along with them.
1. What motivated the participants to sign up for the class and what were their expectations?
Regarding their expectations, most students hoped to learn about energy sustainability. They hoped to learn about the future of energy and how the different types of renewable energy play a role in energy sustainability.
Student comment: “I hope to enhance my knowledge on energy policy, politics, regulation, and strategies, so as to integrate them and apply them in my field of study and further help me in my future research.”
2. What impact did the program have on the participants in terms of the knowledge that was gained?
Qualitatively, the students showed significant increase in knowledge on sustainability, water issues, energy economics, energy policy and regulation, and the nexus of energy-food-water in relation to climate change and impact on environment.
Student comment: “I'm starting my first year master program in energy engineering so I feel there is a big room of knowledge awaiting for me.”
Student comment: “I'm not too educated in the field of economics, but I haven't learnt a lot from this class. I am planning to take some extra classes to propel my knowledge and improve my decision making and reasoning in the field of energy and policy making.”
Student comment: “There are a lot of politics that governs the economics of energy. There will be a lot of economic power displacement if the world shifts from fossil fuel to renewable energy.”
Inspiring future leaders in energy sustainability
Student comment: “The teamwork was really important in the course and that's how you develop this way of thinking as a leader.”
Student comment: “This inspired me due to learning and taking almost every factor Into decision making as possible whether it be humans, food, water, energy, and environment. It is a very tough and difficult decision making process to find the best possible solution that will least impact all the sectors.”
3. How did the participants perceive the course instructors, components/sessions?
Many students loved how there was so much discussion between participants and how the instructors encouraged the sharing of ideas and even respectfully disagreeing instead of making everyone agree on the "right" answer.
Course instructor
Student Comments: “Very good, the way professor teach is very different from my experience in NCKU. The discussion part is innovative but my English skill cannot support it.”
Student comment: “I really like this course. This is the course that I really want to take in the university. Also, I feel professor is very nice to us. Thank you very much for giving us this wonderful summer course. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot energy-related common sense.”
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Student comment: “The course was well planned and paced. I loved the fact that the whole class participated in the discussions. Hearing different points of views and opinions made the class more intriguing and educational because you learn or hear something that you probably didn't think or take into consideration for. The ppts were well organized with many examples and graphs. Overall, it was a very intriguing and excellent class. The professor always made the class feel included and more willing to participate in discussions and share their opinions.”
Student comment: “The group exercise was valuable to consider the issue from different perspectives.”
Student comment: “Interactive sessions, group discussions about the topics and hearing different perspectives in solving problems related to energy.”
Case studies
Student comment: “I liked the case studies where we had to form a group and discuss and agree on our answers. We learn a lot from each other and furthermore make friends with them.”
4. What suggestions did the students have for course/instructors improvement?
There were about 30 students showed up on first day of class and more than 2/3 decided to drop out because the remaining 2 credit hour class to be taught by co-instructor (Rodney) did not fit into their overall schedule during fall semester. Also one week is too short to allow students to digest many important aspect of broad sustainability topic. It is suggested to give this course as two weeks instead of one week and make it as a standalone 3 credit hour course.
In order to make presentations better, it was suggested to include videos or posters so that the audience can follow the speaker.
Student comment: “Some small required readings before class so that everyone can have some more background on the issue.”
Student comment: “Maybe just have one short video per class. Some Students usually learn better visually.”
Student comment: “The course was fantastic. It was intensive and gave a great comprehensive view of issues facing the world today. I would have liked it to be a two-week long course. The interactive method of teaching learning was great way to really understand and apply the concepts taught in class.”
Next Steps
Professor Pankaj Sharma (Purdue University, USA) has been enthusiastic and creative in developing this interdisciplinary course on ‘energy sustainability’. He brought a wealth of experience from a well-known and top-notch U.S. research university with a global reputation in engineering. He was instrumental in using several innovative ways to enforce key learning objectives: teamwork, critical thinking/reading, interactive learning, role-playing, communication, problem solving, and complex issues at the nexus of
food/water/climate/environment/economics/business/policies/regulations. There is an excellent opportunity to make energy sustainability as a mandatory summer course as a part of NCKU International Bachelor/Master Degree Program in Energy.
A few suggestions to improve future offerings are:
A number of students (~35) showed up during first day of classes. Unfortunately, they could not continue as many of them had conflicts during fall semester for the remainder 2 credit hours course. A student from Management was told that this course will not count towards her degree and as a result, she just audited.
Students pointed that condensing two weeks into one week included lots of information and they would prefer going back to two weeks offering sot that they could better digest new information. It means decoupling one credit with two credit hours and make it as standalone 3 credit hours course. Also, contacting local industries and asking them to suggest team projects. Students would write reports and make short presentations to industry management representatives. This will provide many benefits: (1) students will have an opportunity to work on real life problems and provide them with a better understanding of businesses and the market place, (2) foster public/NCKU-private partnerships, and (3) allow students to network with industry for possible future jobs. Another opportunity is to explore having Purdue students as exchange students allowing them to take the same course and work in teams with NCKU students. This will help the NCKU-Purdue students to learn collectively and culturally about complex global issues related to energy sustainability. An upfront work is needed about 4-6 months in advance (with a possible short trip to engage industries in Taiwan) if NCKU would like Pankaj Sharma to implement corporate projects.
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二、
研究或教學或科技研發與管理成效評估（
由計畫主持人或單位主管填寫
）
Please evaluate the performance of research, teaching or science and technology R&D and management Work: (To be completed by Project Investigator or Head of Department/Center)
(1)是否達到延攬預期目標？
Has the expected goal of recruitment been achieved?
(2)研究或教學或科技研發與管理的方法、專業知識及進度如何？
What are the methods, professional knowledge, and progress of the research, teaching, or R&D and management work?
(3)受延攬人之研究或教學或科技研發與管理成果對該計畫(或貴單位)助益如何？
How have the research, teaching, or R&D and management results of the employed person given benefit to the project (or your unit)?
(4)受延攬人於補助期間對貴單位或國內相關學術科技領域助益如何？
How has the employed person, during his or her term of employment, benefited your unit or the relevant domestic academic field?
(5)具體工作績效或研究或教學或科技研發與管理成果：
Please describe the specific work performance, or the results of research, teaching, or R&D and management work:
