GEP 374a Assessment Instructions

Assessment Requirements

Your screencast narration should be 30-60 seconds in length and address the following elements

  • Your thought process for the problem
  • The changes in your thinking and mental models as you learned this material.
  • If this is a repeated attempt, discuss how your thinking has changed since the last attempt.

For full credit, the work on the page must be correct and your narration must show evidence of your understanding.

Assessment Assignment Tips

Here is a suggested workflow to create your video assignments for these. Let me know if you find apps or ideas that could help others.

  • Take a photo or scan of your assignment, ensure it is legible.
  • Use Zoom (or other screencasting software) to create a video focused on the window with the scan.

1 Energy Issue

Find a news or academic article online about an energy issue (technical, social, justice, etc.) you are interested in. Explain how the application of energy knowledge could improve that issue in a short essay (150 words). This is a written assignment with no video upload.

To receive full credit your work must

  • meet the word length
  • demonstrate understanding of the concepts
  • demonstrate effective writing (organization, grammar, tone)
  • demonstrate a depth of engagement

2 Camping Stove

You have a camping stove putting out 11000 BTU per hour of heating power. It is cold, and you have one liter of very cold water at 5C that you want to bring to a boil. Assume the stove is 80% efficient at converting the 11000 BTU per hour of power into the water. Answer the following in your submission.

  • draw a picture and show the variables in your equation in the drawing
  • how long will it take to bring this to a boil in seconds

3 Insulating Wall

You have a wall with an Imperial R-value of 20. The wall is 20 feet long and 10 feet high and 6 inches thick. The wall has a temperature of 20C on the inside and 5C on the outside.

  • Draw a picture showing how the variables relate to the physical situation
  • How much power is flowing through the wall in watts?

4 Living Space Example

Find an example in your living space of something utilizing conduction or convection. This is a written assignment with no video upload.

  • Take a photo of the object
  • Write a short (50 word) description of how the object uses heat transfer (conduction or convection)

5 Stove Resistance and Power

You are designing a resistance-heating electric stove. This means the coil that heats up is a simple resistor. The stove uses a voltage of 220 volts. You want the heating power to be 2 kW when the resistor is connected to 220 volts.

  • Draw a circuit
  • What is the value of the resistor?

6 Power Scaling Resistor

You have connected a resistor with a resistance R to an ideal voltage source V and it creates a power P. You want to double the power while leaving the voltage the same and changing the resistance.

Do you

  • Use a new resistor with a value of 2R?
  • Use a new resistor with a value of \sqrt{2}R?
  • Use a new resistor with a value of R/2?
  • Use a new resistor with a value of R/\sqrt{2}?
  • Neither of these?

Your explanation should make your reasoning clear. You may use either algebraic or graphical explanations.

7 Power Scaling Voltage

You have connected a resistor with a resistance R to an ideal voltage source V and it creates a power P. You want to double the power while leaving the resistance the same and changing the voltage.

Do you

  • Use a new voltage source with a value of 2V?
  • Use a new voltage source with a value of \sqrt{2}V?
  • Use a new voltage source with a value of V/2?
  • Use a new voltage source with a value of V/\sqrt{2}?
  • Neither of these?

Your explanation should make your reasoning clear. You may use either algebraic or graphical explanations.

8 Net Present Value

For this exercise you will create a spreadsheet to calculate a net present value of a series of loan payments. You will make a series of 10 equal payments over 10 years that are paid at the end of each year. The exercise is to calculate the equivalent value of this series of payments at the start of the loan (the beginning of the first year) and show that it is equal to the loan amount.

Choose a payment amount between $1000 and $5000 per year and an interest rate between 3% and 8%.

  • Create a spreadsheet
  • include a column for the year
  • include a column for the value of the payment each year
  • include a column for the present value (the value at year zero) for each year’s payment
  • include a cell for the interest rate
  • include a cell for the payment value
  • show the calculation for the net present value of the stream of payments at the end of year 1. (The same time as the first payment.)
  • explain why the sum of your present values is equal to the loan amount and that the CRF formula agrees with your numbers

9 Cost of Conserved Energy

Assume you are making an energy efficiency investment. The investment is $50K financed at 5% over 10 years with yearly payments. This investment will save 150,000 kWh of energy per year.

  • What is the conserved cost of energy?
  • Under what conditions (range of electricity costs) would this be a favorable investment?

10 Policy Argument

For this assignment you will write a 500-word persuasive essay arguing for the adoption of an energy reduction policy. You may choose an existing policy or your own policy. You may also choose the organization you are persuading to adopt the policy.

In your essay please address the following points

  • Describe the policy and its goals.
  • Discuss how the policy meets its goals. You may refer to a theory of change or logic model.
  • Propose prospective evaluation metrics that should be collected.
  • Discuss the physical mechanisms for the energy reduction using technical concepts from class if relevant.
  • Discuss why you expect this to be a cost-effective proposal.

11 Final Review and Self-Assessment

This essay assignment gives you an opportunity to look over the class and reflect on what you’ve learned and how you’ve spent your time. (You may want to keep a copy of this essay for when you write job search materials in GEP 310 and beyond.) Before answering the questions below, please review your notes and assignments for this class and reflect the work you have done.

Based on this review, please write a 400-word essay that addresses the questions below.

  • What skills and knowledge have you gained?
    • How do you know that you’ve mastered that material? You can reference assignments from the course here.
    • How has your confidence or belief in your skills changed?
  • What skills and knowledge do you want to continue to work on?
    • Why do you think you need further study?
    • How will you continue to learn beyond this class?
  • How will the things you’ve gained in class be valuable for your future goals?
  • Which of your attendance and time-management practices were most and least effective?
  • What achievement are you most proud of?

For full credit the essay must

  • Meet word count
  • Address all questions
  • Demonstrate a depth of engagement