To those of you who have joined KTH on an exchange year and do not have experience of the Swedish education system, the level of self-led learning and responsibility placed upon you as a learner during this course may come as a surprise. MJ2383 is run using a “flipped-classroom” approach. This means that the majority of lecture-type material is delivered through self-led activities, including reading, videos, writing short essays and exercises; while classroom activities are devoted to discussion, interactive exercises and student-led question and answer. In other words, you are responsible for the aspects of learning relating to memorising and understanding fundamental concepts. In the classroom you get the opportunity to clarify, and apply the concepts in different settings. Assessment work encourages you to reflect upon and critique the same concepts in different settings.
One challenge with this approach is that you cannot coast passively through the course. If you do not do the preparatory work, you cannot participate effectively in class. If you cannot participate in class effectively, then you will not progress. We encourage you to approach the course in an active and enthusiastic way!
One other difference is that this course is examined continuously and that there is no final examination in January. However, this means that you will have weekly written or exercise assignment.
Self-led Activities
In this course, it is essential to complete the self-led activities before class. Ensure that you plan in at least three-hours every week of own work ideally a few days before the lecture to give time for the material to “sink in”. If you’re given a journal article to read, you may need even more time to get a good understanding of the content. If you’re doing a complex exercise and are a bit out of practice with Excel, again, you may need a bit more time.
Reading
You will be given preparatory readings before most lectures and labs to complete. Reading materials include peer-reviewed journal articles, and articles from popular science publications and the mainstream press. Take notes when reading, use tools such as concept diagrams to situate the concepts introduced in a broader context. You’ll be applying the concepts introduced in the readings in the classroom. In some cases you’ll be summarising the content of the reading for your peers.
Exercises
Some practical exercises are provided for you to practice calculating techno-economic indicators such as levelized cost of electricity and net-present value. Sometimes these are given in a Excel Workbook for you to complete. Sometimes a Jupyter notebook is provided.
Short Essays
You are asked to write reflective essays on the activities from the classroom or lab. These should be written by you, and describe your own opinions about went well and what did not go well. Use this opportunity to practice your writing skills. Do not use any AI authoring tools to write responses – these will not provide information on your beliefs or perspective – while ChatGPT has its place in a learning environment, in this case it will waste the teaching staff’s’ time providing feedback on the output of an algorithm!
All writing should be spell-checked. You are welcome to use a Grammar checker, such as Grammarly. If English is second (or third) language, you are encouraged to use Grammarly or a similar tool.
Classroom Activities
Class time during the course often involves discussion, working together in groups and presenting ideas and concepts to one another. As mentioned above, preparation is key. Ensure that you complete the readings or exercises before the class. Likewise, if after the reading you are stuck, prepare any questions you have so you can ask clearly.
Jigsaw
During the class, we make use of one active peer-learning method called Jigsaw. Prior to class you will be spit into groups or four to six and assigned a reading on your “expert” topic. In class you first meet in your expert group to discuss and summarise the expert topic. The aim is to reach a consensus on the key aspects of the topic. Next, you will join a “mixed” group where you will “teach” your subject to your peers.
Group Discussions
Discussion in small groups, in pairs, or groups of three to six, forms a common part of classroom activities. Please remember the following guidelines:
- Be respectful. We come from different cultures, different disciplines and use different languages.
- Remember we are all here to learn. We have different levels of knowledge of the subject being taught. If you’re already fluent in the concepts we’re learning, then practice communicating those concepts to others.
- Avoid confrontation. Direct confrontation is not appropriate for a supportive and safe learning environment. If you disagree with someone, feel free to state this, but do not engage in destructive behaviour.
In short, be nice, be active, enjoy yourself and support each other in your learning experience.
Computer Labs
We schedule four mandatory “computer labs” during the first half of the course. It is mandatory to attend these (0.5 hp) and attendance is collected during the lab. Normally two teaching staff will be present. The activities differ in nature.
Python & Jupyter Notebooks
In labs 1 and 3 you will be using Python and Jupyter Notebooks. No prior knowledge of Python is assumed, so don’t worry if you’ve never used Python before – an introduction to Python is given in the first self-led part of the lab. The material is available under an open license on Github, so you can explore and use the notebooks after the course.
Market Game
In Lab 2 we play an “energy market game” in groups in which you experience a simulation of electricity trading. It is worth preparing for the lab, particularly if you take on the role of “system operator”, by familiarising yourself with the Excel Workbook used to collate the bids. It is quite tight to finish the rounds of bidding and results within the time we have during lab so as to leave enough time for discussion and reflection.
Role Play
In lab 4 we explore multi-criteria analysis. Again, in groups each participants plays a role based on a case-study in the Balkans. Again, it is good to prepare for the lab by familiarising yourself with your “role” and thinking through the priorities and perspectives of that role. For example, a company may prioritise employment, profit, and a benign regulatory environment over biodiversity and diversity. You will need to argue for these types of issues and perspectives, during the lab so as to make your case and “win” the exercise…
Group Work and the Project
The group project is worth 3 hp plus 0.5 hp for the seminar, more than half of the whole course's credits, so the tasks play a significant role in determining the final grade received. Students are graded individually, based on the quality of the group work, the individual peer-review and the information included in individual reflections.
This project is an opportunity to work together with your peers to conduct a comprehensive analysis in which you can combine efforts and skills to create something bigger than you might be able to do alone. Students have some freedom to pursue the interests of the group as the problem provided is open-ended. However, this does mean that students need to work harder to define a research question and then answer that question.
In previous years, students have found this aspect of the course both challenging and rewarding. Here’s some advice paraphrased from the teaching staff and students from previous years:
- Start the project early. There is little time to waste and it is essential to get a rough idea together sooner rather than later.
- Use the allocated project time effectively. Some time is scheduled during the course for you to use for project work.
- Work out how to schedule your time as a group as soon as possible. Many courses have project work and it can be overwhelming to manage all the group meetings.
- Working in groups can be challenging. One of the main reasons for group work not working is unrealistic expectations of self or others. Establish early and discuss what you want to achieve in the group project and how much time you wish to put in. Note that many students made use of the material and country-specific knowledge they gained during the project for their Masters thesis.
While each project is led by the student groups, student work supported by the teaching staff through tutorials and the seminar.
Tutorials
These are “open door” sessions available for each group to meet the teaching staff for one-to-one direction on the project work. These can be handled remotely or in person. Groups can ask clarifying questions on scope or direction of the work, or ask for technical advice.
Peer Review
Each student will need to produce an individual peer review of another groups project report draft. The individual peer review is graded (not the draft report). The peer reviews provide invaluable feedback to each group report and is a way of sharing ideas across the groups. The peer review is entered using a Rubric provided on Canvas, and reviewers need to fill in the online form on Canvas. Reviewers can also comment directly upon the submitted draft report.
Seminar and Group Presentation
Around the same time as individual peer reviews, groups prepare a presentation on their group project, together with a summary of the peer review comments they’ve received and a plan for the final weeks of the report work. The seminar is held several weeks prior to the end of the term, which allows plenty of time for the groups to finish the project report and include the feedback from the peer-reviewers.
