The Supercourse concept is leading the nation.  Developed by Dr. Joseph Simmons and Dr. Kelly Potter, both University of Arizona and AzRISE faculty, to meet the needs of educating people from diverse disciplines while providing a range of preparation levels in multidisciplinary fields of study. Supercourses are composed of coordinated learning modules that are vertically integrated, that are designed to be delivered by web, by classroom and by laboratory experience, and that provide a complete set of pre-requisite knowledge for students coming from varied science and engineering backgrounds. Specifically, Supercourses aim to develop complete, stand-alone, web-based course structures appropriate for a range of learning levels (pre-college, undergrad, grad). Instructors at each level have access to all necessary materials for course instruction at any and all levels. Vertically-integrated hyperlinks enable instructors and students to move up and down in difficulty, as desired and according to the students’ ability, between instructional levels. Linked and integrated content modules cover topics at various levels to include conceptual, mathematical, diagrammatic, and laboratory experimental approaches. A critical advantage of this approach is that these courses can be taught remotely, through a web-based format, such that course delivery can be implemented broadly.

 

Faculty researchers from UA/AzRISE are working with one of our partner institutions, the University of Phoenix, to develop a series of training courses for solar systems installation. These courses are targeted toward tradesmen working in solar energy with the goal of preparing them for national certification examinations. Training courses will be offered, initially, in Tucson and Phoenix through the University of Phoenix, with the intent to expand the offerings nationwide.