Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TeacHy (Teaching Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Science and Engineering Across Europe within Horizon 2020)
Teaser
As fuel cell and hydrogen (FCH) technology and businesses emerge across Europe, the recruitment of new staff with expert knowledge in FCH technologies is creating an urgent need for specialist training. Specifically for the EU13 countries, but also for Portugal, the lack of...
Summary
As fuel cell and hydrogen (FCH) technology and businesses emerge across Europe, the recruitment of new staff with expert knowledge in FCH technologies is creating an urgent need for specialist training. Specifically for the EU13 countries, but also for Portugal, the lack of specialised experts in FCH technology is a hindrance for their deployment and one of the reasons for the low participation of these countries in the FCH JU programme. Close to 200,000 trained specialists, of which around 100,000 with a university degree, are expected to be needed in FCH businesses across the EU by the year 2030.
A number of courses, summer schools and other training measures have been established in the past but – as isolated measures – they lack coordination at a European (and global) level. Textbooks exist, but do not cover the whole area of FCH technologies. In various countries, the lack of text books in the local language creates problems in terminology and hinders communication between groups. Many universities offer single courses and modules on FCH aspects, but lack the staff, resources, and infrastructure to offer full MSc degrees. Electrochemistry as university-taught topic is still on the decline all across Europe although it is key to understanding FCH technologies; this also links FCH to battery technology and thus the general topic of energy storage.
TeacHy therefore specifically addresses the supply of undergraduate and graduate education (BEng/BSc, MEng/MSc, PhD and equivalent) both for students (university and specialist vocational) and trained professionals in Europe in the field of FCH technologies.
The main objective of TeacHy is to design, establish and run a university course that delivers an MSc degree in FCH technologies. This course is to be run at as many universities by the end of the project, as practically possible.
Having accomplished this, the TrainHy consortium will empower educational and training institutions across Europe (and beyond) to deliver FCH-themed modules: institutions which would otherwise face difficulties in developing and providing the teaching and training material by themselves will have access to a repository of FCH teaching and vocational training material that can be integrated into local educational offers. TaecHy will supply support in course design and accreditation.
In this way a large number of European educational institutions – across academia, but also including vocational training institutes – will be able to participate in an MSc course infrastructure by offering typically 25 to 35% of courses locally and integrating teh remainder as web- and network-based teaching (e-learning and remote courses) delivered by TeacHy. In this way a large number of institutions can offer high-quality courses to students located all across Europe, thus dramatically increasing the numbers of students having access to and enrolling in FCH specialised courses. What is more, is that the course content can be chosen from a variety of material in order to tailor the courses offered by individual universities to the varying needs of university specialisations (e.g. sciences, engineering, economics, or vocational training etc.), specialisation of university staff (leaning more towards physics, chemistry, electrochemistry, or engineering, industrial process safety etc.), regional and national specificities, student requirements, and finally teaching languages.
All courses will be accredited locally (institution and nationally) with the support of TeacHy. We avoid conflicts between an EU-wide and Member State accreditation and keep the door open for non-EU network partners with other educational systems.
TeacHy has established a network currently already encompassing over 75 bodies and persons from Europe, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, and the U.S.A. We involve ‘associated partners’ who will contribute to and support the project in providing the MSc course. The T.I.M.E. network is part of this and
Work performed
During Periopd 1 of the project (01 Nov 2017 to 30 April 2019) TeacHy has delivered:
Using the vast experience of its consortium members from a high number of previous projects, e.g. building a FCH syllabus in project TrainHy, developing e-learning material and platforms for different student groups etc., educational material in the shape of lecture slide sets was collected from the partners via the TeacHy web site. A short brief accompanied each slide set.
It was discussed which training needs to concentrate on and a university MSc course was the final structure adopted by the project. It was identified that other student types (BSc/BEng, CPD students etc.) could be addressed relatively easily by adapting course material.
The full course was structured with a total of 7 mandatory modules and 11 optional modules out of which 5 have to be completed. With every module carrying 5 ECTS credit points, the total value of the taught element is 60 ECTS (120 credit points in the UK system), a typical value across Europe. Modules were designed by partners and uploaded to the CANVAS e-learning support sytem at the University of Birmingham in order to structure the course and collect feedback from students at partner organisations. Lectures are delviered by a \'silde show\' with an underlying audio track, delivering the lecture in real time. The software Panopto, widely used by University of Birmingham, or PowerPoint functions wer used for this. Training was performed in recording lectures, even when not connected to the UoB system.
All modules were documented via a \'module proposal\' form in order to structure all data and documentation for a smooth accreditation at University of Birmingham.
Early project results were shared with the Advisory Board for confirmation and critical feedback. A Project Assembly with Associate Network partners was held in Brussels on 13 Nov. 2018, also inviting the general public.
LinkeIn, Facebook, and Twitter accounts were established in order to address the wider community. Flyers were designed to be distributed at events, and TeacHy was mentioned and explained in a variety of conference presentations.
Final results
The delivery of a topical blended learning MSc course has to date not been attempted. This type of educational offer will considerably expand the number of students addressed, since professionals wanting to follow studies in parallel to their job will be able, though with a high effort, to avoid a part-time involvement. TeacHy offers any university with a basic number of lecturers that are able to deliver part of the syllabus face to face, to be able to join into the porject activities.
By the end of the project several universities will have offered a TeacHy-related course. The course will be fully operational and ready to be adopted by a number of Network partners.
Website & more info
More info: http://www.teachy.eu.