This contribution shows, how a practically oriented lab experience can be realized even under pandemic conditions by offering low cost “take home labs”, which allow real, practical, and hands-on experience by bringing the lab home and letting students work on experiments. To ensure success, the lab material was well prepared, and the students were tutored via conference tools. The authors present solutions and experiences for two different skill levels. Freshmen in electrical engineering learned to set up electrical circuits on individual bread boards with low-cost equipment, while experienced students in mechanical engineering, had to design, build, and put into practice a “handheld test rig”, based on strain gauges, a cheap amplifier, and Arduino, for a freely chosen research task.

To successfully teach students utilizing a project-based learning approach, lecturers need deep technical expertise and experience, soft skills, and didactic competencies, usually obtained over years of a professional career path. In this paper, we show how advanced high potential senior students that participate intensively in international engineering competitions can successfully act as self-reliant peer teachers for first-year students after receiving training in teaching and leadership skills. We explain how such high potential peers can set up a tailor-made project teaching approach based on their content-wise semi-professional expertise. We also highlight their preparation for this task and their own benefits from this activity. In particular, computer-aided design and electronic circuit board design were taught by the peer lecturers based on examples from their expertise in semi-professional formula race car design. At the same time, professors acted solely as mentors and course organizers. Performance analysis showed that not only did the course participants achieve excellent learning outcomes, but also that the peer teachers benefited enormously: In focus groups and interviews we learned that the high potential students obtained a much deeper understanding of the topics they taught self-reliantly. The experience of successfully teaching complex technical knowledge also resulted in increased self-confidence and prepared them to take over responsibility in future leadership positions. Furthermore, various prerequisites for a successful peer teaching approach were identified, e.g., the motivation to teach innovative content required in professional environments and a close long-term connection between student groups and the faculty.In conclusion, our faculty views the participation of expert students in the teaching process as a greatly beneficial addition to the overall course program. It gives student teachers and learners desirable opportunities for new learning experiences and professors the possibility to concentrate on personal mentoring activities.

Motivation to learn is a cornerstone for learning success. It can be promoted through active participation, reference to the topic, and a good learning atmosphere. One way to ensure an active role for the learner is through project-based learning approaches, which offer the opportunity to work on complex tasks that go far beyond classic theoretical modules. A rarely tried approach in an academic context to foster a good learning atmosphere and students’ connection to the topic would be to use highly qualified peers as instructors.As we strive to increase the level of understanding, we explore how peer teaching by specially trained senior student teachers can be set up in application-oriented project modules to augment learning outcomes for engineering university learners. To do so, the modules “Applied Computer-Aided Design” and “Applied Electronic Circuit Design” were chosen. We investigate in which respect the learning process is altered if advanced peers act as teachers. We also discuss what abilities are prerequisites for the students to act as peer teachers. They include experience in team leadership and project management, accompanied by strong technical skills.A survey-based analysis shows that participants significantly improved their technical skills compared to their level before the project. Furthermore, the data clearly indicates that learners felt more comfortable participating actively in the course if it was taught by a peer familiar with specific real-world applications compared to when it was led by professors. In addition, students were motivated because they were able to choose their own project as well as being encouraged and assisted in working on their own. In conclusion, we show that course modules taught by specifically trained and selected peer teachers can be a valuable addition to an overall engineering curriculum.

A traditional way to teach bachelor students in electrical engineering is organized such that theoretical knowledge is predominant in the first year while applications and practical experiences are reserved for later stages of their education. In this contribution, we want to introduce a reverse approach: In a freshmen course at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Science, students gain hands-on experience with resistances, condensers and other active parts, like transistors or relays from the very first day. We present how the combination of practical experience directly linked with theoretical knowledge enhances students' learning. It promotes deeper understanding of the theory and a better transfer between theory and practice. This teaching approach is adapted to address two main goals: First, to give practical experience to first-semester students as a basis for further laboratory and working situations. Second, to create a deeper and more sustainable understanding of physics by directly observing the effects that are described in formulas. The key to success is to find an efficient solution to carry out this approach with the given spatial and financial resources - which means, to do it in the lecture hall with very few material resources. To show that this innovative teaching concept really enhances the competencies of the students, an innovative evaluation approach was used where the students have to reflect upon their competencies before and after the course.

In this contribution we briefly recap the general concept of the BRSU Race Academy. We then concentrate on and demonstrate how practical projects can be set up and executed within this framework. We discuss what is needed to train the members of the Race Academy properly and how the faculty advisor could change his course of action during the projects. The feedback and the results of such projects have been extremely positive so far: The Race Academy members have been perceived as role models to their peers, and an efficient peer-group atmosphere could be set up that facilitated learning. With their experience, solid user knowledge and the close contact to several industrial partners, a productive, authentic and practical working atmosphere has been established. We will give examples of how to use our new teaching approach to surpass the qualities of classes held in the traditional way. Furthermore, it is shown that the technical understanding is improved, as well as the personal experience to work with and integrate into a professional team.

At the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (BRSU), Germany, students of engineering sciences are trained in thinking and acting like an engineer right from the start - by creating a Rube Goldberg machine in an introductory project, organized with SCRUM techniques

At the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Science, Germany, students now learn about sustainability in each semester. Climate change and limitations of fossil resources are demanding problems engineers have to solve today and much more in future. They will be asked to find solutions for providing energy from renewable sources, reducing consumption of resources and enhancing efficiency of energy and material input. To prepare the students for this challenging work, the department of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Technical Journalism (EMT) has decided to educate their students of electrical and mechanical engineering in every semester in topics of sustainability and the students of Technical Journalism in ecology and environmental sciences. This continuous sequence of topics in the curriculum is called the “Blue Track“. Contents are e.g. E-Mobility, Smart Grids, sustainable product development and renewable energies.