Conference Session

Problem- Project- and Case-based Learning in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Maeghan Marie Brundrett, Texas Tech University; Dylan Christenson, Texas Tech University; Paula Ann Monaco, Texas Tech University; Kevin A. Nguyen, Texas Tech University; Audra N. Morse, Texas Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

down the watershed. Data collected from their sample was then gathered into alarger data set representing data from all three lab sections and the three lake sites. Students werethen given the task of analyzing and reporting the data throughout the semester. To examine therelationship between field work and student attitudes and perception on field studies, students inan environmental engineering laboratory course were assigned a reflection paper before and afterperforming the field work exercise. Further reflection was given by the instructor of the labcourse on student’s performance, attitudes, and the instructor’s perception of the field study.Final results revealed a positive response by both students and instructors in regard to

Conference Session

Enviromental Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alandra Kahl, Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

earlierinterdisciplinary efforts. The EnGAGE project was used as an innovative way to promotecollaboration between the two classes while achieving traditional course goals in each. Studentswere involved in all aspects of the project, including site assessment, design, planning and willbe an integral part of construction of the garden. Participants completed short pre and postsurveys during various phases of the project, and will be resurveyed at the project conclusion aswell as asked to write reflections on their to gain qualitative and quantitative data regardingproject success.Introduction:Entry level engineering courses are beginning to emphasize production of a more well-roundedengineer through service and community involvement. Interest in outside of the

Conference Session

Enviromental Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Veera Gnaneswar Gude P.E., Mississippi State University; Dennis D. Truax PE, BCEE, F.ASCE, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

-directed learningoutside of class create opportunities for the students to apply knowledge and identify questionswhich can be resolved in the SI session. Students follow a set of steps to develop properquestions and find their own solutions by applying critical thinking skills. Finally, project basedlearning creates interactive and collaborative learning opportunities that promote the logicalprogression in creative thinking that leads to critical thinking. This paper presents theobservations made through these learning methods and provides a platform for discussion onthese topic areas. The improvement in students’ critical thinking skills were reflected by thequality of the writing assignments and the higher grades obtained by the group of

Conference Session

Enviromental Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Veera Gnaneswar Gude P.E., Mississippi State University; Dennis D. Truax PE, BCEE, F.ASCE, Mississippi State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Taxonomy1 defines higher levels of learning as “synthesis - to create, design,develop, formulate...; and evaluation - to evaluate, rate, defend, predict”. To promote higherlevels of learning (or taxonomies), proper instructional strategies should be implemented. Theseinstructional strategies should include learning elements that provide authentic contexts, criticalthinking, authentic activities, multiple roles and perspectives, coaching and scaffolding, access toexpert performances and modeling, promote reflection to enable abstraction and articulation.These elements should support collaborative construction of knowledge and the use of authentic

Conference Session

Problem- Project- and Case-based Learning in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paula Ann Monaco, Texas Tech University; Maeghan Marie Brundrett, Texas Tech University; Dylan Christenson, Texas Tech University; Kevin A. Nguyen, Texas Tech University; Audra N. Morse, Texas Tech University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

5.00±0.00 4.00±0.00environmental policy and regulations* Rank (5-Strongly Agree; 1-Strongly Disagree) Page 26.678.12Student rankings from the Likert scale and comments from both the survey and post-questionnaire highlight key outcomes addressed following completion of the capstone designcourse and outcomes that could have been addressed with more detail, better preparing them fortheir pending careers. Faculty ranking of outcomes reflects what they perceived was discussedand addressed during the capstone design course not necessarily the time allocated orthoroughness of how the outcomes were addressed throughout the course. Practicing

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Pedagogy and Innovation

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Walter McDonald, Virginia Tech; Daniel S Brogan, Virginia Tech; Vinod K. Lohani, Virginia Tech; Randel L. Dymond, Virginia Tech

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Page 26.238.7assessment model tests students’ level of motivation based upon five recommended componentsthat an instructor should consider when designing instruction: eMpowerment, Usefulness,Success, Interest, and Caring. The assessment instruments are modified by changing thequestions to reflect the student’s use of OWLS according to the recommendations by Jones14 inorder to test specifically how use of the OWLS by engineering students impacts their motivationlevels. The questions based on the MUSIC model are being used in the spring 2015 assessments. Quantitative data and analysis (discussed later in the Data Analysis section) results instatistics that provide insights and answers to the research questions in this study. However

Conference Session

Enviromental Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ivar G. Johannesen, HiOA

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

answers are rather vague in the student’s ears. Typical answers might be thatmathematics constitutes the basis for all scientific disciplines, that calculations underlie most studywork, that a good understanding of mathematics enables you to think clearly and logically and makeabstractions based on the present situation. Even less constructive responses might be thatmathematics reflects the beauty of nature, or that everything in nature can be explained inmathematical terms. These things may be true, but such answers are not helpful in relation to the Page 26.1402.2students’ ongoing struggle with arithmetic.One way of attacking the relevance

Conference Session

Sustainability and Hands-on Engineering Education

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

which students intended to persist in their major. In thecivil and architectural engineering course, students also wrote a reflective essay where they Page 26.1449.6indicated their intent to stay or leave engineering; this information was used to compare with thesurvey data.Data analysis to compare the pre- and post- survey results used two methods. First, Wilcoxontests were used to compare pre- and post- responses from the same students. The Wilcoxon testwas used because it is suitable for ordinal data and does not require normally distributedresponses; this is in contrast with the more traditional paired t-test. In the case of the civil

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Pedagogy and Innovation

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Johanna Lönngren, Chalmers University of Technology; Magdalena Svanström, Chalmers University of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

and Kitchener’s suggestion that interview and essayapproaches to assessment (rather than multiple choice tests and questions with definite answers) Page 26.255.11are preferable13. Neither group has explicitly suggested an approach that would allow theeducator to assess how students arrive at their conclusions. While the approach suggested bygroup I requires students to provide arguments for why they think a certain problem is a WSP, itdoes not require students to reflect on the process of identifying the problem and arguments forit’s description as a WSP. We suggest that this aspect could be added by asking students to alsoexplain to each

Conference Session

Sustainability and Hands-on Engineering Education

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rachel A Brennan P.E., Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

reflect on their learning experiences in the course compared toother courses taken throughout their time at university. The survey consisted of 50 randomizedmultiple choice questions, provided in both positive and negative voice, with five possible answersto select from: strongly disagree (SD), disagree (D), neutral (N), agree (A), and strongly agree (SA) Page 26.75.6(Table 1).Table 1. Online survey questions and responses (n = 21 out of 23 students) at the conclusion of the course.The questions were automatically randomized for each student by the survey software.Question

Conference Session

Enviromental Engineering Division Poster Session

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Marincel Payne, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Michael Robinson P.E., Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Jennifer Mueller PE P.E., Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

the master’s program. The summer practicum is acknowledged as a course,where students are required to submit routine deliverables that address professional and businessskills through reflection on the student’s work experience or discussion with a supervisingengineer on his/her work experience.MethodsAs we develop a Master in Environmental Engineering program, we surveyed existing master’sprograms to determine what coursework is typically included in course-based as well astraditional environmental engineering master’s degree programs. This survey provided insightinto the collection of courses expected for an environmental engineering master’s degree. Foradditional insight, we surveyed our board of advisors, composed primarily of practicing

Conference Session

Sustainability and Hands-on Engineering Education

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Monica Palomo P.E., California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Jeffrey Alan Cole, Pasadena City College

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

fall 2014. Page 26.712.11Preparation of a research manuscript is a challenging experience that requires a lot of trainingand practice. In fall 2013, nine of the ten engineering students were able to individually generatea full research manuscript. However, skill level varied significantly. The results in Table 1indicate that overall, all papers matched expectations, with most values above 3.0. Allmanuscripts included reference lists, but the sources of information were not consistently cited,which is reflected in the score (3.33) in the analysis level. Analysis of results could have beenstrengthened by the use of existing knowledge to support

Conference Session

Sustainability and Hands-on Engineering Education

Collection

2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan E. Powers, Clarkson University; Jan DeWaters, Clarkson University; Stefan J. Grimberg, Clarkson University; Daqing Hou, Clarkson University; Mary Margaret Monica Small, Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

aclimate-controlled space. The 650sq. ft. pilot greenhouse (GH)utilizes innovative technologies andcontrol systems for the year-roundproduction of leafy greenvegetables, herbs and tomatoes.The state-of-art aeroponic growingsystem (Figure 2) uses only a smallfraction of the water and nutrientinputs required by traditionalgreenhouse growing operations. Figure 1. Schematic of the closed-loop cycling of many energy and material flows through the integrated greenhouse-Because northern climates do not digester system.provide sufficient light for plantgrowth, artificial lighting is also needed. We use high efficiency LED lights that make the roomsglow pink (Figure 2). Plants reflect green light, but