Comparing alternatives-power systems or energy conversion: which path students choose and why

Summary form only given. The undergraduate electrical engineering degree program at the University of Missouri-Rolla requires students to take one or more courses in each of the six "core" areas: computers, circuits, control, communications, electromagnetics, and power engineering. The UM-Rolla power engineering faculty were faced with the problem of determining what material should be included in a single core course in the event that a student chooses to take only one course in power engineering during their degree program. Rather than to condense several disparate topics into a single course, the faculty decided to separately offer both an electromechanics course and a power systems course and let undergraduates choose which specialization they prefer. As a junior, a student may choose between electromechanics and power systems. As seniors, students may then choose from a group of electives that have either electromechanics or power systems as a prerequisite. Students may also choose to take the other "core" course as an elective as well. Since the other core course may also be taken, the two core courses are designed with little overlap in material