Wastewater treatment in Myanmar: A multidisciplinary learning experience for engineering and science students from two countries

Chun Kit Chui; Hayden Kwok-Hay So; Nyein Thwe Khaing

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Conference: 2017 ASEE International Forum
Location: Columbus , Ohio
Publication Date: June 28, 2017
Start Date: June 28, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Concurrent Paper Tracks Session II - Study Abroad
Tagged Topic: Main Forum (Podium Presentation)
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29311
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/29311
Download Count: 1440

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Paper Authors

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Chun Kit Chui University of Hong Kong

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Dr. Chui received the BSc degree in Computing Studies (Information Systems) from the Hong Kong Baptist University in 2004, the M.Phil and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong in 2008 and 2010 respectively. He is interested in database and data mining research in Computer Science, as well as pedagogical research in computing education. He aimed to provide high-quality computing education to students in primary, secondary and tertiary levels in Hong Kong. He was selected for the University Outstanding Teaching Award (Individual Award) of the University of Hong Kong in 2015-16, and the Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award (Individual Award) of the Faculty of Engineering in 2012-13. He has also received the Teaching Excellence Award in the Department of Computer Science in 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.

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Hayden Kwok-Hay So University of Hong Kong

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Hayden K. H. So received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computer sciences from University of California, Berkeley, CA in 1998, 2000, and 2007 respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor of in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. He received the Croucher Innovation Award in 2013 for his work in power-efficient high-performance heterogeneous computing system. He was also awarded the University Outstanding Teaching Award (Team) in 2012, as well as the Faculty Best Teacher Award in 2011.

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Nyein Thwe Khaing Dagon University

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Ms. Nyein Thwe Khaing (Myanmar) is now a lecturer of English Department, Dagon University, Myanmar. She has been teaching at the university for 12 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Dagon University. She completed a master's degree in Arts from Yangon University. She is now doing another master's degree in education at Hong Kong University. She is strongly interested in teaching, doing research related to teaching and learning process and collaborating with other teachers from different academic fields.

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Abstract

The ever changing technology landscape is driving engineering education to become increasingly global, cross-disciplinary, and collaborative in nature everywhere. Besides delivering technical knowledge in classroom, a comprehensive engineering curriculum must also engage students in practical learning experiences that place equal emphasize on professional skills training including teamwork, lifelong learning and social responsibility. These are traits that form the core competencies for not only professional engineers but also entrepreneurs.

Sharing the above vision, a group of engineers and scientists from University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Dagon University in Yangon, Myanmar embarked on a cross-country and cross-disciplinary experiential learning project to work on one of the major environmental sustainability issues of the 21st century – wastewater treatment. In this reported pilot programme, 16 engineering students from University of Hong Kong travelled to Myanmar for a weeklong programme where they worked with 40 students from Dagon University to study wastewater quality at Yangon, Myanmar. This project has enriched students’ understanding on the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene as keys to national development. They also experienced first-handedly how engineering and science professionals can work together in developing solutions with real-world impact in wastewater treatment. Students from both universities collaborated in teams to design, develop, and deploy an experiment to examine the wastewater condition in Myanmar. Engineering students took the lead on the development of technologies (e.g. implementation of Arduino-based remote data sensing and cloud-based database) to measure and report the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in wastewater samples, which is commonly used as an indicator of the degree of organic pollution of wastewater. Science students took the lead on the wastewater sample collections, the experimental design and the reporting of the results beyond the project time frame.

In this paper, we report the design and delivery of the experiential learning project, the teaching and learning activities, the learning outcomes, as well as the evaluation results on the effectiveness of this project on professional skills training such as lifelong-learning skills, teamwork skills and global citizenship.

Citation
Format

Chui, C. K., & So, H. K., & Khaing, N. T. (2017, June), Wastewater treatment in Myanmar: A multidisciplinary learning experience for engineering and science students from two countries Paper presented at 2017 ASEE International Forum, Columbus , Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--29311

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The ever changing technology landscape is driving engineering education to become increasingly global, cross-disciplinary, and collaborative in nature everywhere. Besides delivering technical knowledge in classroom, a comprehensive engineering curriculum must also engage students in practical learning experiences that place equal emphasize on professional skills training including teamwork, lifelong learning and social responsibility.  These are traits that form the core competencies for not only professional engineers but also entrepreneurs.

Sharing the above vision, a group of engineers and scientists from University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong and Dagon University in Yangon, Myanmar embarked on a cross-country and cross-disciplinary experiential learning project to work on one of the major environmental sustainability issues of the 21st century – wastewater treatment.  In this reported pilot programme, 16 engineering students from University of Hong Kong travelled to Myanmar for a weeklong programme where they worked with 40 students from Dagon University to study wastewater quality at Yangon, Myanmar.  This project has enriched students’ understanding on the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene as keys to national development.  They also experienced first-handedly how engineering and science professionals can work together in developing solutions with real-world impact in wastewater treatment. Students from both universities collaborated in teams to design, develop, and deploy an experiment to examine the wastewater condition in Myanmar. Engineering students took the lead on the development of technologies (e.g. implementation of Arduino-based remote data sensing and cloud-based database) to measure and report the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in wastewater samples, which is commonly used as an indicator of the degree of organic pollution of wastewater. Science students took the lead on the wastewater sample collections, the experimental design and the reporting of the results beyond the project time frame.

In this paper, we report the design and delivery of the experiential learning project, the teaching and learning activities, the learning outcomes, as well as the evaluation results on the effectiveness of this project on professional skills training such as lifelong-learning skills, teamwork skills and global citizenship.

AU  - Chun Kit Chui
AU  - Hayden Kwok-Hay So
AU  - Nyein Thwe Khaing
CY  - Columbus , Ohio
DA  - 2017/06/28
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Wastewater treatment in Myanmar: A multidisciplinary learning experience for engineering and science students from two countries
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/29311
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--29311
ER  -