
Research Article
Smart Greenhouse Project: A Sustainability-Focused Learning Experience for Undergraduates
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-030-73585-2_4, author={Rick Todd Kaske Jr. and Brady Connaher and Mohammad Upal Mahfuz}, title={Smart Greenhouse Project: A Sustainability-Focused Learning Experience for Undergraduates}, proceedings={Sustainable Energy for Smart Cities. Second EAI International Conference, SESC 2020, Viana do Castelo, Portugal, December 4, 2020, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={SESC}, year={2021}, month={4}, keywords={Project-based learning Smart greenhouse Sustainability Sustainable design}, doi={10.1007/978-3-030-73585-2_4} }
- Rick Todd Kaske Jr.
Brady Connaher
Mohammad Upal Mahfuz
Year: 2021
Smart Greenhouse Project: A Sustainability-Focused Learning Experience for Undergraduates
SESC
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-73585-2_4
Abstract
In this paper, a smart greenhouse project has been presented as an example of a sustainability-focused learning experience for undergraduates. While project-based instruction and learning experience has already gained enough momentum in several fields of education, the inclusion of sustainability perspectives from the science and engineering fields of studies is yet to make its room in the current course curricula as well as in the mindset of new generations of engineering undergraduates. This smart greenhouse project is an example of how sustainability can be brought into a classroom setting of engineering and technology programs as a project-based learning experience. The objective of this smart greenhouse project is to create an automated system capable of growing vegetation with little human input by utilizing electricity, computer programming, and a microcontroller operation. While this project was implemented by a group of two students with electrical engineering technology (EET) major as parts of theirIntroduction to Programming(ET 142) andSupervisory Control and Data Acquisition(ET 342) courses requirements at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, USA, a similar sustainability-focused learning approach can also be applied successfully in other courses at different levels of engineering and technology programs at other academic institutions.