Guided Independent Learning Package for

Advanced Topics in Electrical Engineering,

Automation and Control Systems
Michel Van Dessel, member IEEE 1
Geert Van Ham 2
Geert Deconinck, sr. member IEEE 3
Tiene Nobels 4
Philippe Saey 5
Jos Knockaert 6
Eric Claesen 7
1

Campus De Nayer Departement Industrile Wetenschappen, Michel.VanDessel@denayer.wenk.be

KH Kempen Departement Industrieel Ingenieur en Biotechniek, Geert.Van.Ham@KHK.be
3
K.U. Leuven ESAT/ELECTA, Geert.Deconinck@esat.kuleuven.be
4
Groep T Leuven Hogeschool Departement Industrieel Ingenieur, Tiene.Nobels@GROEPT.be
5
KaHo Sint-Lieven Departement Industrieel Ingenieur, Philippe.Saey@kahosl.be
6
KHBO Departement Industrile Wetenschappen en Technologie, Jos.Knockaert@howest.be
7
KHLim Departement Industrile Wetenschappen en Technologie, Eric.Claesen@KHLIM.be
2

Abstract
Ever more students start their master programme with a
bachelor degree which does not provide the ideal background
for their study. Such students benefit from dedicated help when
they have to master advanced topics in automation, control and
electrical engineering. Because individual help is adequate but
too labour-intensive, a self-study package has been developed by
which individual students can select an optimal path to update
their required knowledge -depending on their foregoing
trajectory- and acquire the required competencies. Topics cover
electrical systems (medium and high voltage, power protection,
power quality), power electronics (prototyping, electromagnetic
compatibility), automation (drive control, drive efficiency,
industrial networks and diagnosis). The guided self-study
approach consists of a handbook and a digital learning
platform; practical hands-on laboratories take place, distributed
over several university colleges. A final assessment checks
whether students obtained the required competencies.
Approximately 12 groups of students, from 9 programmes in 7
institutions, cover 25 topics and laboratory visits yearly.
Keywords: guided independent learning, adaptive learning,
electrical engineering, automation and control systems.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Ever more students start their academic master programme

with an academic bachelor degree which does not provide the
ideal background for this master study. They have studied at a
different institution with a different set of courses, spent a
year abroad or they studied a different programme for their
bachelor degree, or finalised a professional bachelor degree
first. Additionally, because of the credit systems, a significant
portion of the students follows an individual trajectory
because not all credits from previous years have been
acquired.

978-1-4244-7252-9/10/$26.00 2010 IEEE

Such students benefit from dedicated help when having to

master advanced topics in electrical engineering, automation
and control systems, such as electrical systems (medium and
high voltage, power protection, power quality and
harmonics), power electronics (prototyping, electromagnetic
compatibility), automation (drive control, drive efficiency,
audible noise measurement, characterising wind generators,
industrial networks, fault diagnosis, machine vision), lighting
technology, etc.
Because individual help is adequate but too labourintensive, a guided self-study approach has been developed
by which individual students can select an optimal path to
update their required knowledge, depending on their
foregoing trajectory, and acquire the required competencies.
This approach has been conceived jointly by the authors from
seven different Flemish university colleges and the university
of Leuven, Belgium [1, 2] and is integrated in the educational
programmes of those institutions. This approach covers for
each topic a selection of the following elements.
A. An electronic self assessment tool where the students
can check whether they master the pre-required knowledge.
B. Introductory theoretical texts, where the basic theory
and foundations of the topic are provided.
C. A set of practice oriented texts, where the advanced
topic is treated from a hands on perspective, as an immediate
preparation to a practical laboratory session.
D. A physical setup in a laboratory environment where
students obtain a hands on experience for the specific topics.
Several of these setups have been described in earlier and
recent work of the authors [3, 4, 12, 13]. Similiar setups for
both on site and distance learning are reported in [19 21].

35

E. A set of questions to be filled during or after the

laboratory sessions in order to check whether the students
obtained the required competencies.
F. An evaluation form with which students assess the
material and practicalities in order to continuously improve
the guided independent learning approach.
The guided independent learning approach is materialised
on three levels.
- A handbook [5] brings together all texts in a handy format
for the students.
- The digital learning platform Toledo [6] is used by all
students in the different institutions, hosting the self
assessment tools, the evaluation forms as well as additional
background texts and links. Toledo is the electronic learning
environment of the Associatie K.U. Leuven [1], based on the
commercial Blackboard software package [7].
- The laboratory setups at seven locations in university
colleges and the university throughout Flanders.
This paper describes the need for the guided self-study
package from the perspective of non-traditional intake into
the study programmes in section 2. The contents of the selfstudy package and its relation to guided independent learning
is discussed in section 3. An actual trajectory through one
dedicated advanced topic is illustrated in section 4. Students
feedback is summarised in section 5. Conclusions and a
future outlook are provided in section 6.
II. INVENTORY OF NON TRADITIONAL INTAKE INTO
MASTER PROGRAMMES
The following section deals with the intake in the relevant
master programmes (master of engineering sciences, master
of industrial science) for the sake of identifying the non
traditional intake, based on the backgrounds of the students,
into the master programmes. The goal is to motivate the need
for an adaptive learning trajectory towards the advanced
topics in automation, control and electrical engineering. In
earlier work an inventory of non traditional intake into master
programmes was presented based on a survey of the involved
lecturers during the academic year 2008-2009 [8]. The
premise that there is a significant non traditional intake in the
master programmes has been confirmed by this inventory.
Typically transition programmes or individual trajectories are
used to bring the students to the required entry level of the
master programme. These programmes are determined by the
programme director or programme coordinator.
Nevertheless, a significant level difference remains among
the students, based on the background (and obviously also
depending on their capabilities and motivation). Because
master programmes require such students with different
backgrounds to acquire competencies in advanced topics in
electrical engineering, automation and control systems, a
guided self study approach that allows students to follow a
particular trajectory is utmost welcome in order to maximise
the opportunities for students to successfully acquire the
required competencies.

III. CAPITA SELECTA IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING,

AUTOMATION AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
For the collaboration project among the different
institutions, the advanced topics in electrical engineering,
automation and control systems have been selected on the
basis of the available research and educational experience
among the different partner institutions and the relevance of
the material for the engineering curriculum. These topics
have been named "Capita Selecta" to handle the diversity of
subjects within one framework. The programmes at the
different institutions all take a different set of elements from
these selected topics, and they have integrated these topics
into their set of obligatory or elective courses in the
curriculum. Fig. 1 shows the cover of the handbook [5].
A. Contents of the Capita Selecta
The advanced topics are grouped into four categories.
The first category deals with generation, transmission and
distribution of electricity and contains 6 chapters.
1. Scaled medium voltage grid: grid structure, security of
supply, operation, protection.
2. Deducing primary line currents for electrical faults at the
secondary winding of a distribution transformer.
3. High voltage testing.
4. Harmonics in low voltage grids: basic theoretical
aspects.
5. Harmonics due to electrical drives.
6. Micro grids (chapter to be added in the future).
The second category deals with power electronics and
contains 3 chapters.
7. Power electronics: simulation and use of the Triphase
rapid prototyping platform [9].
8. Parasitic components in power electronic circuits.
9. EMC and electric drives.
The third category deals with automation, control and
drives and contains 10 chapters.
10. Structure of control blocks for electric drives (chapter
to be added in the future).
11. Control for electric drives.
12. Practical aspects to optimise control for electric drives
(chapter to be added in the future).
13. Characterising a wind turbine.
14. Determining drive efficiency according to different
standards.
15. Balancing rotors.
16. Sound measurement for electric installations.
17. Fault diagnosis in automation installations.
18. Industrial communication
networks:
set-up,
configuration and diagnosis.
19. Practical aspects of machine vision.
The final category deals with lighting technology and
contains 4 chapters.
20. The eye.
21. Radiometric and photometric quantities.
22. Colorimetrics.
23. Design of lighting installations.

36

Fig. 2. The global scheme of GIL [10].

Fig. 1. Cover of the handbook "Capita Selecta in electrical engineering,

automation and control systems"

B. Guided independent learning

The entire concept of the course fits with the educational
concept of guided independent learning (GIL) [4, 10], based
on the assertion that teaching and research must be closely
connected. As much of the pooled laboratory equipment that
is the basis for the advanced topics has been used or acquired
in research projects, this link is easy to make. There are
several examples of publications that were published by the
lecturers about scientific research performed using laboratory
infrastructure which is also available to the students [11-16].
The GIL concept itself specifies a number of goals for
university teaching as well as responsibilities of both students
and faculty members, as is often the case for student centered
learning [17]. Elements to consider when elaborating the
concept are schematically portrayed in fig. 2. It specifies that:
(1) learning activities are at the core of the concept,
(2) learning activities are focused on reaching the goals,
(3) depending on their characteristics, learners will more or
less spontaneously engage in these learning activities,
(4) evaluation has to be tuned to the goals,
(5) support either through materials or instructional
approaches, is oriented toward stimulating appropriate
learning activities as described in [18], and
(6) goal oriented interactions between learning activities
and support are context dependent.

The self study guide follows this GIL concept. The central
learning activities are the hands on laboratory sessions
encouraging the learners (students) to organise themselves to
reach the goals, based on an individual trajectory throughout
the accompanying material. These goals are threefold:
1. Knowledge: gather insights and understand the state-ofthe-art of the concerned items;
2. Competence: be able to apply theory in practical lab
sessions, and to report correctly, concisely and completely;
3. Attitude: be able to evaluate measurement results
critically, to efficiently and adequately carry out assignments;
and to adhere to safety instructions.
The learning environment is adapted to reach these goals. It
is bordered by the pre-existing knowledge of the students and
the requirements of the topical items. This determines the
contents of preparation phase (in advance), laboratory phase
(on site) and reporting phase (after the lab session). An
electronic learning environment, supported by a web site with
tools, examples and documents, contains relevant material. In
several cases, it is complemented by lecturers ex cathedra
sessions. Several electronic formative assessments allow
students to autonomously assess their level after the
preparation phase. During the laboratory sessions, emphasis
is on the active participation of the students, working in small
teams (3 to 6 students) under supervision. Different
deliverables ensure that milestones are met, and continuous
feedback from the supervisors ensures that cognitive and
behaviour goals are met.
Evaluation is based on continuous assessment of the
students, qualitative and quantitative task results, reports, and
attitude. The mark is jointly determined by the local
supervisor (knowing the laboratory sessions best) and the
visiting supervisor (knowing the students best).

37

IV. ACTUAL TRAJECTORY

This section provides an elaboration of a specific advanced
topic, showing the opportunities for an adapted trajectory
throughout the provided material, in order to take any
deficiencies in the pre-required knowledge of the students
into account. The concerned topic deals with power quality:
the influence of harmonics on a low voltage installation. The
main goal of this advanced topic is to acquaint the student
with harmonic distortion, to understand and recognise typical
phenomena of harmonics, and to learn how to mitigate the
effects of them. The major element supporting this goal is a
three hour hands on session on a laboratory setup of a low
voltage installation. The setup consists of a separate 10 kVA
transformer on which several loads (linear and non-linear)
and filter types can be switched on and off. Measurements of
voltage, current and harmonic distortion can be done at each
level in the setup in fig. 3. Using a set of elaborate questions
and assignments the students are guided through the session
to acquire the competencies of the topic. The switching of the
loads and the measurements are remotely controllable via a
LabVIEW interface (fig. 4). In this way a group of
maximum 12 students can do the session at the same time.
To be able to successfully execute the hands on session
students need to be well prepared. To that end a theoretical
course text, two LabVIEW simulations and an elaborate
laboratory text are available for them. The theoretical course
text is included in chapter 4 of the handbook [5] and
discusses the theoretical foundations of harmonic distortion,
its effects and mitigation. Additionally it contains information
related to harmonic grid pollution for students that want to
explore the topic to further extent. The text is written for non
specialised students independent of their foregoing trajectory.
The first LabVIEW simulation Simulharm visualises the
abstract phenomenon of harmonic distortion, its causes and
its effects on the grid (fig. 5). This deepens the insight in the
theoretical background. The second LabVIEW simulation
Simulnet provides a computer model of the laboratory setup
(fig. 6). In this simulation students can switch on and off
multiple linear and nonlinear loads to visualise their influence
on harmonic pollution; they can integrate different filters and
manipulate parameters to see their mitigating effect and more.
Finally the laboratory text describes the laboratory setup, the
goals of the session and the laboratory assignment.
A self test on the digital learning platform Toledo [6] has
been developed to guide the students through the preparatory
material and to allow them to evaluate whether they are
sufficiently prepared for the hands on session. The test
consists of 15 multiple choice questions. Depending on the
results an individual learning trajectory is proposed to the
student.
- If a student scores less than 8 on 15, then his theoretical
basis of the subject is insufficient and he needs to carefully
study the theoretical course text, as well as intensively
prepare both simulations 'Simulharm' and 'Simulnet' and read
the laboratory text in advance of the hands on session.

Fig. 3. Laboratory setup for power quality experiments.

Fig. 4. User interface for remote control of the laboratory setup.

- If he scores between 8 and 12, he has a reasonable

knowledge of the subject; hence there is no need to study the
theoretical course text. It suffices to prepare both simulations
Simulharm and Simulnet well and read the laboratory text
in advance of the hands on session.
- If he scores 13 or more, he has a good knowledge of the
subject and only has to prepare the Simulnet simulation and
read the laboratory text in advance of the hands on session.
An assessment of the students after the hands on session
evaluates their acquired competencies. Thanks to this
combination of learning materials in an individual trajectory,
students with different backgrounds are able to successfully
complete the hands on session. An initial try-out of this
learning trajectory on a group of students yielded satisfactory
results. All students had been able to successfully complete
the session and evaluated the concept positively. Further tryouts are necessary to refine the individual trajectories.

38

Fig. 5. Simulharm: simulation package visualising harmonic distortion.

Fig. 6. Simulnet: simulation model of the electrical installation.

39

REFERENCES

V. FEEDBACK FROM THE STUDENTS

Students who participated in the lab sessions from 20082010 have evaluated both content and organisation. In general
they approve of the content and have some remarks
concerning the organisation. The students awarded the
highest added value to the encounter with specialised lab
infrastructure and researchers that are not available in their
own college. For some of the labs they reported them to be
rather demonstrative or they desired more profundity. Those
remarks are mainly due to the limited time available, but
shows the interest of the students. The available course
material and preparatory tests were evaluated positive.
However, for a few lab sessions study material was still
missing. For those lab sessions the students asked explicitly
for course materials. Organisational remarks by students
mainly comprise timing in heavily loaded lesson schedules
and distance as the university colleges are up to 200 km apart
from each other. Nevertheless most of the students would
select those lab sessions over an in-college equivalent course.
Yearly, approximately 12 groups of students, from 9 study
programmes in 7 institutions, cover 25 advanced topics and
perform laboratory visits. All involved lecturers consider this
to be a success, and the course topics have been anchored in
the student programmes.
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND OUTLOOK
An earlier version of these exchange laboratory sessions
has been ongoing since 2004-2005, but only focused on
students with the suited background [4]. The growing nontraditional intake into the master programmes was neglected.
The presented approach for guided self study allows
students with and without a traditional background to master
advanced topics in electrical engineering, automation and
control systems This approach consists of a handbook and a
digital learning platform, as well hands on laboratories,
distributed over several institutions of the Associatie K.U.
Leuven. A final assessment checks whether students obtained
the required competencies. Individual, adaptable trajectories
are possible throughout this learning material to optimally
suit the students needs. Gradually, the material is being
extended to fully cover the non traditional intake into the
master programmes involved. For the next years additional
sets of self tests and background material will be developed,
while the feedback from students will be closely monitored in
order to provide changes where required. This paper has
elaborated this approach and has positioned it in the context
of guided independent learning; it has enumerated the
involved topics and explained example trajectories for
students with different backgrounds.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

[1]
[2]

[3]

[4]
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[15]

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[19]

[20]

[21]

This project was sponsored by Associatie K.U. Leuven in

project OOF-2008/01. The authors thank the K.U. Leuven
Industrial Research Fund for financial support for the
research as described in this paper in project IOF/07/HB/013.

40

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