Student Impacts

This graph represents the enrollment history of BBE2201, through Spring 2016.
The average annual enrollment currently sits at 1082 students. 

The following table provides data regarding students enrolled from disciplines and colleges other than the host discipline and college of which BBE2201 resides.

The following is student feedback when asked to reply to the question,  "What did I learn from this class?"

Before starting this class, I had zero interest in learning about renewable energy, I needed to cover a liberal education requirement and this one fit perfectly into my busy schedule, so I decided to take it and I am so glad I did. The information in this class really brought to my attention that almost everything I do, can be related back to energy. It was really cool to see all the new technology being tested and developed to advance renewable energy.

I feel a lot more confident in my understandings of renewable energies and now feel like I can hold a conversation about energy policy and issues. This class truly taught me a lot.

I think that by taking this course I've developed a greater understanding and appreciation of energy and where the energy I use comes from, and that will help me be more conscious about my energy usage and more active in my efforts to develop habits that are good for the earth. 

The future of renewable energy is the most important thing I learned from this course.  It will shape me future by inspiring me want to lessen my impact.  I often imagine myself building my own house.  This class taught me many things to consider when building a house, such as installation and heat efficiency and even surface-near geothermal energy.

I very much enjoyed this course. As someone who did not have much background information going into this course I was not sure what to expect. I wasn't really sure If i was going to be able to keep my interest up over the course of the semester. I was worried that I would get really bored with the information. However I was very surprised. Throughout the semester I found myself becoming very interesting in the topics. I did not realize how much information was out there about energy. One thing that really surprised me was how many different types of renewable energy there are.

This course has definitely opened my eyes to all the different types of renewable energy. I did not realize the amount of alternative sources of energy, like wind, biodiesel, and algae. In addition to the benefits of renewable energy, I learned about environmental impacts of fossil fuels and climate change. I liked how the class also incorporates the policy or economic aspect of renewable energy because it revealed why renewable energy can be hard to implement. I also enjoyed researching current articles about new projects and policies that are developing currently. This class has made me so much more aware of this industry and the future of it.

As much as I hate to admit it, the course has definitely made a significant impact on the way I view electricity consumption. Knowing that we are still in the age of fossil fuels, I have noticed myself become very meticulous about my roommates leaving our lights and bathroom fan on… It is quite frustrating, if I may say so!

I really enjoyed this course and felt I learned a lot about renewable sources of energy. I really like how this class covered a large amount of topics and kinda went briefly into each topic, I felt like I got a good grasp of the whole renewable energy topic. I really like the layout of this course. I think I will use what I learned in this class later in life because it was helpful to learn about a lot of different types of renewable energy. And it was also really nice to learn about useful ways to reduce energy consumption in our everyday lives and also how to make our houses more energy efficient. I feel a lot more connected to the energy topic after taking this course and feel like I have an overall better knowledge of the whole topic in general. I really like how after taking this course not only do I have more knowledge on renewable energy, I realized that I care about it a lot more, I look for it in the newspapers and on the news, a huge reason for this is because I understand it better now because of this class. For the future I will definitely find ways to reduce my energy consumption in my home by making sure I have green appliances and figure out realistic ways to cut down on my energy consumption. Through this class I really enjoyed also learning about the environmental impacts that different sources of energy have on the environment and how some are harmful in some ways and better in others. Personally I really enjoyed the electricity unit and the electrical efficiency home unit because I felt like I learned a lot about energy and this is a realistic way I can help the environment and cut down on my energy consumption. Some of the units are a little bit out of my control, but these two units I could really make an impact on.

This course has taught me so much on Renewable Energy and how crucial thinking about energy is in our everyday lives. I am really glad that we learned a lot about how much energy we use every day and how there is a chain of production, transportation/ distribution, and use that all factor in to how much energy we use. I also found the lecture on Nuclear energy particularly interesting, mostly because my father and I had talked once about nuclear energy being the future of renewable energy and it was really great to think that there are other people out there that are researching and working towards this goal. This course has definitely taught me to be more conscious and conservative when it comes to energy. Throughout our lives we as Americans take a lot of everyday things for granted, particularly energy. One of the greatest assets I think was seeing and learning about the energy audit of your own home and some of the key things to look for because eventually I would like to buy a house someday and these could be massively important details and information to have. I have a better appreciation for energy and am likely to be very conscious as a citizen as to how we move forward with energy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this course.  It brought a lot of understanding to many topics that I have heard of before but did not know much about.  I believe all the assignments helped bring better understanding to these topics and also helped me apply things to my everyday life.  For example, I did not know that using electricity was a big source of fossil fuel emissions.  I always thought that only transportation was the source of fossil fuel emissions.  Also, I never knew what nuclear energy was or what the purpose of it was.  For me, the the final paper was the most interesting part of the course. I was able to take my knowledge and apply it further my understanding by applying it to my own life.  For me, I am majoring in mechanical engineering and I got to look further into the renewable energy aspect of it.  I saw how transportation was working its way to become more green and all of the cool ways cars are able to reduce their green house gas emissions.  I am excited for the future as I become even more aware of renewable energy.  I hope that my future job will involve something with renewable energy because I believe global warming is a huge issue and I hope I will play a role in stopping it.  I will also use the knowledge I have learned in this course to be smart about the energy I use and also make others aware of the impacts they may not know they are making.

I would like to begin by saying that I greatly enjoyed this course.  All of the instructors and teaching assistants were incredibly helpful and enthusiastic. With plenty of other extremely challenging courses in my schedule, it was always a relief to sit down and begin learning in a course that truly seemed to care more about students being informed than anything else, so thank you all very much!  

I learned plenty of interesting information in this course, but the knowledge I value the most is what we were taught regarding all of the misconceptions behind renewable and clean energy that stem from politics, biased sources, and general scientific illiteracy of the public.  Most people (including myself prior to this course) have the idea that the answer to the energy crisis is simply to implement as many technologies as we can and on the largest scales possible until traditional sources of energy are no longer needed.  Now, you could say this is true in a way, but I have learned many valuable lessons in why this idea is more complicated than it appears. Things that many people would not consider prior to being properly educated are things such as return on investment, energy capacity versus energy production, and by-products other than GHG that can come from non-traditional sources of energy.

I came into this course with a very generic and surface level understanding of the big players in the game of renewable energy. Thanks to this course I now feel confident enough to create educated opinions that I can back up with sound reasoning and facts. I'm using the information I've gained in class to more consciously use energy like making sure I turn the lights off when they're not being used, turning down the thermostat organizing carpools, and using mass transit whenever necessary. These may seem like minut changes, but in this stage of life it is the most realistic changes I can make aside from educating my family and friends. 

This class has turned my ignorance about energy practices into an interest for how I can help the renewable energy revolution. Since taking this class I have improved on conserving more energy by not showering every single day, turning off and unplugging appliances when not in use, walking to places that are closer than 2 miles, and creating conservation with my peers about the importance of caring about our environment.

I'm glad I was able to take this class because it helped further my knowledge in home efficiency, new fuels of the future, and the aspects of various renewable energies. 

First off, I thought this class was fantastic. This was quite possibly the most informative class I have taken here at this university. I had some previous knowledge about renewable energy and fossil fuels, but this course went in depth on the both the informative aspect and the modern day issues, which I really enjoyed. I personally used the information I learned in this class in other classes. For example, I am in public speaking, and my two biggest speeches were about fossil fuels and renewable energy. I spoke for 8 minutes in my informative speech about fossil fuels and the different types of renewable energy, and I spoke for 7 minutes about why we should switch to renewable energy from fossil fuels, on both a large and small scale. I also used the information I learned in this class about petroleum and natural gas in my ENGL 3502, Nature Stories course. 

When I first registered for BBE 2201, I was just doing it as a way of earning a lib ed credit. I came in with barely any knowledge about the many different kinds of renewable energies. At the end of the semester, I can honestly say that taking this class was worth it. I already had a good idea of the current climate issues, but now I know that we have a lot of options available to us and we just need more people to embrace those choices. The one renewable energy I knew a lot about was wind energy. I was pretty convinced that it was our best option as far was renewable energy goes. Now I know that we have options such as nuclear power, geothermal, solar and their pros and cons, I can form an educated opinion as to their viability. 

I honestly went into this course not expecting to learn anything, just trying to get it out of the way for my graduation requirements. Surprisingly enough, I feel like I've learned more that is related to my actual life than all of my other classes combined. I thought that the final paper was really helpful in kind of relating everything that we have learned throughout the semester to what I actually want to do with my life. I didn't realize that you don't necessarily have to be majoring in anything environment or energy related to have this stuff pertain to your life, it actually pertains to everyone. This is one of the major things I learned. Along these lines I also learned that I am actually able to make a difference. I can start by changing how often I drive and adjusting certain things at my apartment. Simply changing the type of lightbulbs I use in my lamps and lights can not only save a few dollars on my energy bill each month, but also reduces the overall energy use in America. I have already started unplugging my phone charger when I am not using it and I have gotten my roomies to unplug our toaster when we aren't using it. I am just one person, but it all starts with oner person and this is the main message that I have gotten out of this class. 

The following is student feedback regarding comments on course format, as well as things the instruction team could do differently.

I really like that you're all so passionate about your topics and how you find people to lecture some videos who actually work in the field that they're talking about.

I thought this class was great. You guys know what you're talking about, and it was nice to take a class on these concepts that wasn't too hard to comprehend. I was worried going into it as a major that is far away from science that I wouldn't be able to understand anything. That wasn't true, and I was able to keep up with the lessons. Thanks! I learned a lot.

Best class in years for me. What I would suggest doing for each lesson: In the hydro lesson, you started adding small video segments that were from youtube. I thought this was a great way to break up the lectures and keep me focused.

I thought it was cool that we covered all sorts of topics in energy since I didn't know much about it prior to this class. Thank you!

I liked the variety of lesson types - sometimes a lecture, sometimes videos, sometimes readings, sometimes a mix. The lectures were always excellent, and the content assigned was consistently interesting and on point. Each topic was relevant and captured my complete attention - and I seldom say that about "science."

The lessons were very thorough and helped me learn the material, I enjoyed having quizzes and then reflecting on the lesson in writing.

I really thought that the DSARI project fit well with this course. It makes a lot of sense to teach students a new topic and give them an incentive (large part of the grade) to apply these learnings in real life. My parents actually performed some of the recommendations I developed after the energy audit that I performed on their home for this project. Not only was it helpful to my family, but it was also pretty fun!

One thing that was done well, but that still could've been more heavily emphasized was the economics of the energy sources mentioned. It was great that the instructors encouraged us to look at both sides of the issue and cost-benefit analysis is essential to understand which options are better for a population.

The lessons are very nicely structured and the class is nicely formatted, so that the harder, more complex lessons are later in the semester than the basic ones. I think some of the reflections/forums were longer than they needed to be (I felt myself rambling after a while), but overall, they were useful and forced students (in a good way) to become up to date with current information and projects revolving around renewable energy occurring in the world.

I really enjoyed this class. The communication between instructors and myself was very efficient, prompt, and thorough. The presentation material was in conjunction with the quizzes, and gave good information on the topic it was covering. Great class!

I liked the way this class was structured. One of my concerns taking an online class was that I would lose track of the assignments. Having consistent due dates (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and consistent assignments (a quiz and a written response) helped me keep track of things. I found the amount of work required for this class very reasonable. This class struck a good balance of work (making me feel as if it wasn't a waste of time, while not contributing a lot of stress).

I think you guys did a great job, I feel like an energy expert!

My favorite topics were the ones on the specific renewable energies. I learned so much about them and it was great!

I did not know much about renewable energy coming into this class, so I would have to say that I learned a lot about everything! I think that all the topics were great and this was an awesome 'eye-opener' for someone who did not know much about any of this in the first place.