Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Experiences and Assessment in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

4.6 responsibilityWritten communication NR 4.8 4.3 5.3 5.0 4.9Oral communication NR 5.0 3.2 5.6 5.1 5.0Impact of engineering in a NR 4.7 4.5 4.8 4.9 5.1 societal contextLifelong learning NR 4.5 3.5 4.7 4.8 5.1Contemporary issues NR 3.6 3.4 4.6 4.6 4.4NR = not rated since the question was not asked that year; items with ratings above 5.0 havebeen highlightedStudents’ Reflective EssaysAll students in the course were required to write reflective essays. This was a

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Experiences and Assessment in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Cheryl J.K. Desha, Queensland University of Technology; Charlie Hargroves, The Natural Edge Project

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

previously co-authored text books16,17,18,19 and morethan 150 hours of educational material in the field to which they have previouslycontributed,20 to distil five threshold learning concepts that would act like rungs of a laddertowards students realising the overarching ‘capstone’ threshold concept/ capability ofsustainable business practice.Authors such as Holloway et al21, Scott et al,22 and Bernhard23 have inquired into a range ofquantitative and qualitative methods to reliably identify threshold learning concepts. For thisproject, and in the absence of time or budget to conduct a process described by Baille,24 theidentification process included reflection and consultation with colleagues, building on 8years of the authors’ inquiry into the

Conference Session

Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Mueller PE P.E., Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Corey M. Taylor, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Patricia Brackin, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Richard A. House, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Kathleen Toohey, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Michael S. DeVasher, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Rebecca Booth DeVasher Ph.D., Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Mark H. Minster, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

; despite enrolling in a sustainability-themed first-year program, theyproved susceptible to the belief that an overemphasis on sustainability might prove detrimental totheir overall learning.Student feedback also reflected positively on the extracurricular activities hosted during the firsthalf of the academic year. These included a welcome cookout, field trips to nearby state parksand other wilderness areas, weekly faculty-student lunches, decision-making meetings and guestpresentations at Blumberg Residence Hall, and participation in the campus Day of Service. Topromote community involvement and professional development in sustainability, several HEREstudents and faculty attended a local Greentown conference where speakers and workshopsfocused

Conference Session

Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sarah Kathryn Bauer, Rowan University; Andrea Rose McFarland, Rowan University; Mary M. Staehle, Rowan University; Kauser Jahan, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

two years of Page 25.1467.11the Engineering Clinic sequence, multidisciplinary teams of Juniors and Seniors advance tosolving real-world problems for industry. “What industry loves about this is that they have had astudent who has solved similar problems during the last two years of clinic,” said Dr. RobertHesketh, Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Rowan University13. “When theystart work within that industry, they know what to do.”13 “These individual honors arenoteworthy and are no doubt a reflection of our multidisciplinary approach to engineeringeducation that includes contributions from all programs in the college,” said

Conference Session

Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Noel E. Bormann P.E., Gonzaga University; Mara London, Gonzaga University; Andrew Douglas Matsumoto, Gonzaga University; Melanie Ruth Walter; Spencer Joseph Fry

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

overcoming potential economic, educational andcultural obstacles to implementation and suggests ways in which the technologies developed bythe team can be successfully adopted in rural Africa.The challenging project requirements are observed to increase the efforts expended and overalltime spent by the team members on the project. The greater effort required from students isbelieved to reflect a greater student interest in the successful completion of the project andappears to improve the student learning outcomes related to sustainability.1 IntroductionThere is a growing understanding that the solutions to the significant problems facing societyrequire that a systematic evaluation of the many dimensions of a problem be undertaken beforeacting

Conference Session

Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Qiong Zhang, University of South Florida; Linda Vanasupa, California Polytechnic State University; James R. Mihelcic, University of South Florida; Julie Beth Zimmerman, Yale University; Simona Platukyte, University of South Florida

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

the NationalScience Foundation (NSF) being the major granting institution1. The increasing sustainabilitytrend is also reflected in the increase in papers presented at the American Society forEngineering Education (ASEE) related to sustainability education3. The need for sustainabilityeducation drives the strategic faculty cluster hiring in the area of sustainability science andengineering as advertised in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The importance of sustainabilityin education has been recognized by policy makers worldwide and the period between 2005 and2014 has been declared the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development by

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Experiences and Assessment in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Butler, University of Oklahoma

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Disagree Strongly disagree Figure 5. Please choose the best response to the following statements.and engineers can affect the quality of life around the globe” (Figure 5d, Appendix question 5d).This is because most students (93%) chose “strongly agree” or “agree” in response to thisquestion both before and after the module on sustainable engineering, indicating a priorappreciation of the role of scientists and engineers in improving the quality of life around theglobe, as called for by ASCE BOK Outcome 102. This may reflect, in part, students’ motivationsfor choosing civil and environmental engineering and environmental science as career paths

Conference Session

Hands-on Laboratory and Design Experiences in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sandeep Sathyamoorthy, Tufts University; Linda Jarvin, Paris College of Art; Michael Hollis, U.S. Air Force Academy; John Anthony Christ, U.S. Air Force Academy; C. Andrew Ramsburg, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

aspect of theactivity, so additional, perhaps longitudinal, research is needed to quantify the benefits of PBLboth within the classroom and laboratory environments. Overall the observational, anecdotal,and instrumental data in our study support more widespread evaluation of PBL and otherconstructive pedagogical techniques in environmental engineering curricula.AcknowledgementsPartial support was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant CMMI 1000714.Additional support was received from Teagle Foundation in the form of a grant toMr. Sathyamoorthy. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed inthis material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NationalScience Foundation or

Conference Session

Hands-on Laboratory and Design Experiences in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Parhum Delgoshaei, Virginia Tech; Vinod K. Lohani, Virginia Tech

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

associated with developing an outdoor lab for environmental monitoring will belisted. In the following section, the design of LEWAS to overcome these challenges will bereviewed. In the following section, ongoing challenges associated with implementing LEWASwill be listed. Finally attitudinal data collected from students on LEWAS in the freshmanengineering course will be reflected upon and its educational applications in energy andenvironmental sustainability will be discussed.Educational Context of LEWAS and Prior Programming InitiativesA few years before implementation of LEWAS, a number of program-wide hands-on activitieswere developed and implemented in the freshman engineering program of Virginia Tech as aresult of an NSF funded curriculum

Conference Session

Hands-on Laboratory and Design Experiences in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Radian G. Belu, Drexel University; Irina Nicoleta Ciobanescu Husanu, Drexel University; Dunia Tania Periverzov, Drexel University (Tech.)

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

engineering design. The societal impact of theproject, Solar Energy Scavenging, also makes students more aware of what engineering can do toaddress current energy issues worldwide. Presently we are modifying the content of the projectto address the main concern that many students expressed in their reflection papers, i.e. the levelof complexity and the amount of time needed to complete the project. The project presentedabove, together with other projects proposed by the authors in the areas of renewable energy,energy harvesting and wireless sensor networks have been used to draw student’s interest in thefield of renewable energy sources, advanced and intelligent monitoring systems

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary Experiences and Assessment in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

indicated a greater preference to select astudent without previous research experience. This is disappointing since NSF states that a goalof the REU program is to expose students to a research experience. Despite the variability in thefaculty preference for under-represented students, the average score for this criterion made it the3rd highest rated item. This is important since increasing diversity is a stated goal of the NSFREU program. The variability in the GPA criteria may reflect our historical success for anyonewith a GPA above 3.0, and little correlation between student success on the research project andGPA.The faculty survey on the increased abilities in the undergraduate students due to the summerresearch experience was administered in