Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Martha Garcia-Saenz, Purdue University-North Central; Maria Consuelo Garcia Alvarez, Universidad La Gran Colombia

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

thanthose who only contacted the co-op. During this service-learning project, it was beneficial forstudents to receive feedback directly from users because it allowed then to connect withcustomers and accomplish the technology-transfer.After the final presentation, students had the opportunity to reflect on their experiences. Belloware some of their comments:• “I am glad to be an engineer because I can apply my creative talent and skills to serve the community”.• “I never imagined that as a student, I could develop a real project like this one”.• “It’s incredible that solar energy can have many applications and give economic solutions to the low-income families”.• “Because we started studying the more expensive water heater system, I never

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alexa N. Rihana Abdallah, University of Detroit Mercy; Mark Schumack, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

core curriculum, satisfying theobjective for scientific literacy in natural sciences. It is the first general education offering fromengineering faculty.Challenges in the development of this course included attaining the right balance betweenqualitative and quantitative material and tempering faculty’s enthusiasm for rigorousmathematical analysis in deference to a nontechnical audience that largely reflects the region’sdiversity. The overriding goals were to inform students about energy production andconsumption patterns, various technologies and their environmental consequences, and the prosand cons of renewable and nonrenewable energy systems. Other objectives were to provide astraightforward yet sophisticated appreciation of the negative

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

that these elements are included inrequired courses. Programs must produce documentation that students have actually learned thisinformation and acquired these skills; the result of an outcome based system. Russell et al.5 notethat the Civil Engineering BOK represents a long term direction for the profession, and over timemore of its requirements could be explicitly reflected in accreditation requirements. It isassumed, therefore, that similar expectations would hold true for the EnvE BOK.In January 2007 professors representing environmental engineering programs from across theU.S. met in Tempe, Arizona, to discuss whether a BOK for EnvE was needed and what it shouldcontain.6 At this NSF-sponsored workshop there was significant disagreement in

Conference Session

Service-Learning in Developing Communities

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Giannelli, Lafayette College; Sharon Jones, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

of a community and is coordinatedwith an institution of higher learning and with the community; helps foster civic responsibility; isintegrated into and embraces the academic curriculum of the students enrolled; and includesstructured time for the students to reflect on the service experience.”2According to studies done at the Higher Education Research Institute of the University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles3, certain things must be done to ensure that a service-learningexperience is effective. The first is that students must receive sufficient training through coursematerial before engaging in the service. The second is that instructors must engage students inconversation about their service. The last is that students must reflect on their

Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan E. Powers, Clarkson University; Stefan J. Grimberg P.E., Clarkson University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

and the third room for tomatoes. Because northern climates do not provide sufficient light for plant growth, artificial lighting is also needed. We use high efficiency LED lights that make the rooms glow pink (Figure 3). Plants reflect green light, but they absorb light in the red and blue wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Thus, we can reduce energy use

Conference Session

Techniques to Enhance Environmental Engineering Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Stephanie Luster-Teasley, North Carolina A&T State University; Cindy Waters, North Carolina A&T State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

). The students were junior level, Civil Engineering majorsand there were no other majors enrolled in the course. The class demographics consisted of 56%minority groups (i.e. African American, African, and Hispanic). Students were asked to completethe Felder and Soloman “Index of Learning Styles Survey (ILSS assessment,http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/ILSpage.html). This survey instrument is a 40 questionassessment instrument tool which categorizes the student’s learning into several groups. Theselearning styles are: Active Learners versus Reflective learners, Sensing Learners versus IntuitiveLearners, Visual Learners versus Verbal Learners, and Sequential Learners versus GlobalLearners. The PI provided a discussion about learning styles which

Conference Session

Sustainability in Engineering Curricula

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

-class survey on sustainability.Students also responded to in-class questions during the two sustainability lectures in real timeusing a Course Response System (clickers). The new assignment specifically on sustainabilityrequired the students to read the Royal Academy of Engineering’s “Engineering for SustainableDevelopment” report and part of the “Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States”document. The second new assignment required the students to assess and compare differentbiofuel options based on journal articles that had conducted life cycle assessments (LCA). Thisassignment proved particularly challenging for the students. The reflective essays that studentswrote in the final assignment of the semester indicated that the new

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 3: Teaching Environmental Engineering in the COVID-19 Era

Collection

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Authors

Andrew Ross Pfluger, United States Military Academy; Michael A. Butkus, United States Military Academy; Benjamin Michael Wallen P.E., United States Military Academy; Mark Robert Read, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

transitioned tohybrid in-person / remote learning approaches to prevent further outbreaks on campuses. WhileCOVID-19 has been devastating, we propose that the pandemic also presents anunprecedented opportunity to reflect, reassess, and ‘bounce forward’ to become more efficient,effective, and resilient. The National Academy of Sciences’ definition of resilience has spurred atheory of resilience that centers on four successive stages surrounding a disruptive event, suchas COVID-19: (1) plan and prepare, (2) absorb, (3) recover, and (4) adapt. In this paper wepropose a framework that environmental programs can employ to ‘adapt’ (stage 4) and ‘bounceforward’ to a more resilient modus operandi long-term. The framework first identifies eachactivity a

Conference Session

Sustainability in Engineering Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Scott Morton, University of Wyoming; M.P. Sharma, University of Wyoming

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

in1016, the effects of the annual mass flow across the earth control surface can be consideredinsignificant.Significant energy fluxes do cross the boundaries of the defined earth thermodynamic system.Approximately 177,500 terawatts (terawatts = 1012 Watts) of short wave radiation,predominately solar radiation from a black body of about 6,000 degrees centigrade6, enters theupper atmosphere. About 50,000 terawatts is reflected back into space7 as described by Equation58. E& r ? aE& i (5)where E& r is the rate of reflected energy flux, a is the albedo or reflectivity of the earth, and E& i isthe rate of incident energy impinging on the earth. The average

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

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

Collection

2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

MaryShannon Williams, University of Missouri, Columbia; Sara Elizabeth Ringbauer, University of Missouri, Columbia

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Accreditation Board forEngineering and Technology (ABET) professional skills7, 8. Page 24.974.3Review of LiteratureWhat is PBL? Jonassen6, in his handbook on designing problem-solving learning environments, definesPBL as an instructional strategy characterized by: focusing on authentic, ill-structured problems;being student centered; allowing for self-directed learning by the students; and requiring regularself-reflection, where students monitor and adjust their learning. PBL has its foundations insituated learning, which is known for active learning, social mediation, meaningful learning,purposeful participation in communities of practice, and

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

will have itsown regulations related to solid and hazardous wastes that may vary significantly (or in somecases, almost no regulations), devoting class time to this topic in the UNESCO setting seemedless beneficial to students. Page 12.1288.4As shown in Table 3, the topics that received the most emphasis in the UNESCO course werebiotreatment and landfills. This reflects the technologies that are most sustainable given thehighly organic nature of the wastes in many developing countries, and the technologies that areappropriate and most widely used.Table 3. Approximate number of contact hours spent on Topics Covered in the various CoursesTopic

Conference Session

Sustainability in Engineering Courses

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Aurandt, Kettering University; Terri Lynch-Caris, Kettering University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

members from other institutions are members of the advisory board. Theywere asked the question: “I believe the topic of Green Chemistry should be integratedinto IME 540.” Four out of six respondents agreed or strongly agreed to this statement.One stated concern was “About Green Chemistry -> the topic is appropriate but if toomuch is put into one course, the course will have breadth but no depth. I think depth isimportant so this issue must be weighed.” Narratives that were provided by theadvisory board state, that “Green Chemistry is emerging to be one of the next bigissues.” The formative and summative assessment reflected that green chemistryshould be incorporated into the Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturingcourse as long as

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel B. Oerther, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

developed by the Internal Council on Systems Engineering is usedthroughout the course, and sustainable development reflected by a balanced appreciation forpeople, planet, and prosperity is utilized as a common theme.Course Delivery. This course includes: a blended format; a flipped classroom; mastery learning;and a buffet of optional summative assessments used to assign a final grade13. Briefly, contentdelivery via both online digital media and via face-to-face lecture is known as a ‘blendedformat’, and some of the benefits include accommodating diverse learning styles (i.e., listeningor reading) while improving student satisfaction with content delivery14,15. A ‘flippedclassroom’ enhances the opportunity to use inductive learning strategies (i.e

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kevin Bower, The Citadel; Kenneth Brannan, The Citadel; William Davis, The Citadel

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

documentation, with the over-arching goal ofestablishing a better system for comprehensively tracking improvement items.Systematic tracking of improvements is structured to occur at both the individual classlevel as well as allowing meaningful aggregation at the curriculum level, reflective of theentire program.The objective of this paper is to highlight the usefulness of the thread (outcome linkagebetween specific course goals and sub-areas) as a framework for assessment. This paperdescribes the process used to develop threads and provides an example course goal andoutcome thread for the environmental engineering curriculum within the Department ofCivil and Environmental Engineering. In addition, the paper addressees the subsequentchanges that have

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

Service-Learning in Developing Communities

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Phillips, Michigan Technological University; Ann Brady, Michigan Technological University; Karina Jousma, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

experience.One goal is to provide students a service-learning design experience situated in the developingworld so they can explore the technical, economical, environmental and social implications of Page 12.944.3engineering design and construction. 2A second goal is to afford students a cross-cultural learning experience, that is, to prepareengineering students for ethical, reflective, quality service to diverse communities anddemonstrate that social responsibilities of engineers are fundamentally important and addressreal facets of sustainable engineering

Conference Session

Assessment Issues in Environmental Engineering

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gayle Davis, United States Military Academy; Michael Butkus, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

ethical considerations in an engineering design problem could begraded definitively with a grading rubric and thereby rendering a value or score as a part of theABET assessment, much like quizzes or homework grades. Inculcation of engineering ethicscould then be assessed as students’ progress through the engineering program. Secondly,develop a mechanism to help students reflect upon and appreciate social and cultural issuesfollowing study abroad experiences. This might be accomplished with a reflective essay.Shuman et al.9 suggests that globalization and cultural awareness through study abroad programsdevelops individuals with a broader understanding and tolerance towards social issues that couldaid in future ethical decision making processes

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Deanna Matthews, Carnegie Mellon University; Robert Heard, Carnegie Mellon University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

reflection of their own use and disposalof products enlightens them further to the intricacies of technology and the environment.Life cycles of technology development, launch, and replacement highlight the rapid growth anddissemination of technology products. While strides in technology have scaled down the size ofproducts, it has also shortened time to obsolescence. For example, desktop computers havebenefited from the developments in circuitry miniaturization that have significantly reduced the Page 11.673.3materials requirements for significant increases in memory and speed. However, computers areeffectively a disposable item and are typically

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan S. Hoback, University of Detroit Mercy; Alexa Rihana Abdallah, University of Detroit Mercy

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

other industries. The data does notdifferentiate the type of incidents that contribute to the injury rate. A low overall injury rate doesnot necessarily correlate to the degree of lab safety since some injuries will be unrelated to labwork. Actual injury rate is likely higher than the data shows because it only includes reportedinjuries above a certain threshold. The BLS tracks causes of days away of work by industry, butit groups education with health services, which is the industry with the highest injury rate.Therefore, no analysis was done on whether the types of injuries at universities could reflect labaccidents.Generally, city governments are responsible for building and fire safety. Other alternative safetymonitors are found at the

Conference Session

Engaging Students

Collection

2010 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicole Berge, University of South Carolina; Joseph Flora, University of South Carolina

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

solution within the context of this newknowledge. Students work in their design groups, review their decision worksheets, and discussand estimate the factors to consider in their design. Students submit an individual final reportwith their design.Design and Implementation of the Environmental Engineering EFFECT The initial design of the environmental engineering EFFECT occurred in 2007, was pilot-tested in Summer 2007 at a USC Science and Engineering Summer Camp offered primarily tominority high school students, and was implemented in ECIV 101 during the Fall 2007 semester.Using student feedback and instructor reflection, slightly modified versions of the EFFECT weresubsequently implemented during the Summer 2009 high school camp and the Fall

Conference Session

Project-Based Service Learning

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Adam Czekanski, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

quantitative in nature and do notcontribute to the scope of this paper. The results of the survey questions are shown in Table 4and reflect results taken from villages centered around the larger population centers of Nebaj andSalquil, both of which are in the heart of the Ixil Triangle, as well as those villages in the vicinityof the much larger department capital of Santa Cruz. Table 4 – Survey addendum results pertaining to socio-economic issues in Quiché 3 Average Highest Level of Families with Region of Location # of

Conference Session

Project-Based Service Learning

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Beverly Jaeger, Northeastern University; Ethan LaRochelle, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

concept that EWB is modeled on is the ability to work with acommunity to identify, formulate, and solve problems within –and sometimes beyond– theengineering domain. Typical EWB field challenges require brainstorming outside our ownsocietal norms and are further served by reflection on implemented projects. This requirementfor ingenuity has the potential to offer students lateral and complex problem skill development.This can be more demanding and challenging in comparison to participation in the customaryprojects offered by the current standard engineering coursework or local fieldwork. Page 14.597.13 Photo 7: EWB

Conference Session

Project-Based Service Learning

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder; Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University; Chris Swan, Tufts University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

in both courses and extracurricular EWB andsimilar service projects and trips. The exercise can benefit the student by forcing them to reflecton the experience, serve as a “catharsis” to vent when negative experiences occur, etc. Mostservice-learning pedagogy explicitly indicates that student reflection is a necessary part of thelearning process. Without thoughtful reflection, the full value of the SL experience may not berealized.23 These same reflective essays can serve as an assessment instrument. They yield richqualitative information beyond the student learning of technical topics, and indicate changes inattitude and identity of the students. These essays can be coded to yield quantitative findingsfrom the qualitative student statements

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula

Collection

2006 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Jarvie, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

described discussions as: gets you involved and talking about the topics which helps me to learnbetter.While student NN explained about discussions: It makes the information sink in well through the use of real-lifeapplicationThese statements both reflect increased student learning through the discussionsthemselves. Thus, the students found both the preparatory assignments and thediscussions as tools that increased their understanding of the course material.Student leadership of the discussion groups resulted in no complaints. In fact,only one student commented negatively on the discussion group format, in thewords of Student H: Discussions should be better formatted. Sometimes it is hard to talk about certain

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Freya Willicks, IMA/ZLW of RWTH Aachen University; Kathrin Schoenefeld, IMA/ZLW of RWTH Aachen University; Valerie Varney, IMA/ZLW of RWTH Aachen University; Anja Richert, RWTH Aachen University; Sabina Jeschke, RWTH Aachen University; Frank Hees, IMA/ZLW of RWTH Aachen University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

guide the students, but they do not disseminate knowledge (Hung, Jonassen, and Liu 2008, 5). This reflects the student- centeredness that is typical of PBL. Moreover, a course using the didactical concept of PBL is self-directed, self-reflected and problem-focused (Hung, Jonassen, and Liu 2008, 4). The purpose of PBL is not only to increase the students’ knowledge about a given topic but to also make them gain experiences in fields like communication, teamwork, problem solving, independent responsibility for learning as well as sharing information and respect for others (Wood 2003). In view of this, it is evident that the EWB Challenge clearly is an example for PBL. A list of generic skills and attitudes PBL enhances is provided in

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 1

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel B. Oerther, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

(data not shown), the ‘no miss’ policy for all ‘required’exercises was relaxed slightly and students were allowed ‘one miss’. Thus, every student wasassigned a single, ‘free pass’ that could be used for any ‘required’ exercise. Table 2 suggeststhat the change to a ‘one miss policy’ corresponded to a reduction in the motivation of studentsto complete ‘optional’ exercises as reflected in a downward distribution of the percentage ofTable 2. Percentage-distribution of letter-grades among all students.Grade Spring 11 Autumn Spring Autumn Autumn Spring Autumn (‘traditional’ 11 12 12 12 13 13 format) (8am

Conference Session

Sustainability and Engineering Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Daniel Lynch, Dartmouth College

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

the ASCE Body of KnowledgeIn 2008, ASCE released the second edition of the Body of Knowledge (BOK2) for CivilEngineersvii. Reflecting the Visions of ASCE and NAE, BOK2 requires that all Civil Engineersmaster sustainability: Page 13.1129.3 The 21st century civil engineer must demonstrate an ability to evaluate the sustainability of engineered systems and services, and of the natural resource base on which they depend; and to design accordingly.There are specific requirements for both academic undergraduate preparation, and for early-career development; these are summarized in Table 1.Clearly, the notion of Natural Resources pervades these

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division Technical Session 2

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Diane L. Bondehagen, Florida Gulf Coast University; Simeon J. Komisar, Florida Gulf Coast University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

assess and address more successful curricular applications andteaching methods in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Departments.Currently, the senior-level course in Sustainability is required for Environmental Engineers andserves as an environmental elective for the majority of Civil Engineers. Environmental and Civilengineers at Florida Gulf Coast University share the same course template for the first two years.Performance in the senior level Sustainability in Engineering course varies even though thetopics reflect all varieties of infrastructure including energy efficiency, construction,transportation and water and waste infrastructure as well as project planning, life cycle analysesand economic topics. Students in both disciplines

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Division: Engagement, Experiential Learning, and Balance

Collection

2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Veera Gnaneswar Gude P.E., Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

able to quickly learn how to use new instruments with capabilities designed to meet thespecific needs of an Environmental Engineering laboratory and only a small amount of class timewas spent explaining how to use the Virtual Instruments. In another study, to reinforce thelecture portion of the course and address the concerns over reflective experiences in cooperativeeducation opportunities in a mechanical engineering curriculum, Peters et al18 introducedmathworks® simulation exercises. The redesigned lab experiments provided a positiveexperience for the students while meeting the course objectives. This type of platform may behelpful to meet the objectives of distance education programs remotely which seems to be arecent trend with increasing