Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Cardenas, Harvey Mudd College; David Wayne Kelley, Department of Geography, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN; Warren Roberts

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

withGIS, were taught ArcGIS (a GIS mapping program) in the context of an IntroductoryEnvironmental Engineering course. Students learned how to map locations, find and downloadgeo-encoded data, and join data layers, in order to graphically present toxic release hazards neartheir home towns. ArcGIS skills and knowledge were assessed through completion of homeworkproblems, and through the students’ use of GIS data, software, and mapping during the design ofa debris flow barrier for a local wilderness land parcel.Assignment #1 consisted of students learning how to map and characterize toxic releases neartheir hometowns; these data were downloaded into a spreadsheet for later use in the ArcGISsoftware package. In Assignment #2, the students used

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Woolschlager, Saint Louis University, Parks College of Eng.

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

program review are shown in Table 1. Out of the sixty ABET accreditedenvironmental engineering programs, fifteen programs (25%) reflected sustainability in theireducational objectives, eighteen programs (30%) incorporated sustainability in their studentoutcomes, sixteen programs (27%) had at least one course that reflected sustainability, andnineteen programs (32%) incorporated sustainability somewhere on their website or in theprogram catalog. However, only four programs (7%) incorporated sustainability concepts in allof these categories (objectives, outcomes, courses and website/catalog), which were classified as Table 1. Results of Program Review Number of

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ben D Radhakrishnan, National University; Shekar Viswanathan, National University; James Jay Jaurez, National University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines 1.Game play and mini games have been used to help reach students and assist in learning thefundamentals of these disciplines2. By providing fault tolerant environments and theenvironment to approach content at the students own pace, games provide a vehicle for studentsto experiment and approach course concepts through a sandbox of play.Games have been shown to have a number of distinct benefits when applied to education 3,4:  Fault tolerant (iterate to solution/fail forward)  Opportunity for continual feedback  Tools within the game have many purposes  Builds on prior knowledge and allows for progressing to new levels  Players are rewarded for persistence  Players can work at

Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lupita D Montoya, University of Colorado, Boulder; Robyn Sandekian, University of Colorado Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

changing their major toengineering.19 Through this course, students put engineering theory into practice early in theirundergraduate years by working in teams to design, build, and test new products and inventions.Longitudinal studies on engineering student retention have shown consistent gains in retentionfor students participating in FYEP compared to students who did not participate in the course.15Figure 1 shows data from the first 11 years (1994-2005) of offering the FYEP course at ourinstitution and demonstrates the 6-year graduation rates associated with participation in thatcourse. Six-year graduation rates shown are for students who enrolled in the course between1994 and 2005. Findings showed statistically significant improvement in

Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Youngwoo Seo, University of Toledo; Kimberly Mary Coburn, University of Toledo; Donald V. Chase, University of Dayton

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

Works Association compiled statistical data on water distribution systems andreported that there is over 800,000 miles of distribution pipes are buried in the US [1, 2]. Waterdistribution systems are complex inter-connected networks where biological and chemicalreactions occur during the hydraulic conveyance of water.Though the water distribution system is a major component in the water infrastructure, there hasbeen a fundamental discrepancy of integrated and interdisciplinary methods to educate civilengineering students. Integration of chemical, biological and hydraulic dynamics are required forfield engineers at water utilities and engineering consulting firms to effectively understand,upgrade and design water distribution systems

Conference Session

Problem- and project-based learning in environmental engineering

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Ross Pfluger, P.E., United States Military Academy; Matthew P. Baideme, United States Military Academy; Katie E Matthew, United States Army; Stephen A. Lewandowski, United States Military Academy; Jeffrey A. Starke P.E., United States Military Academy; Michael A. Butkus P.E., U.S. Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

. Page 23.804.2(1) Introduction and BackgroundAll environmental engineering and environmental science majors at the United States MilitaryAcademy (USMA) begin their educational experience with an introductory course (titled EV301)taken in the first semester of their junior year that incorporates basic principles of environmentalscience. A modified version of the course (titled EV300) is taught to approximately 170 non-engineering majors each year to fulfill our university‟s requirement for all non-engineeringmajors to take a three-course sequence in an engineering discipline. EV300 and EV301 eachpossess 40 1-hour lectures, which are divided into 4 blocks of instruction: ecology, risk, energy,and pollution. Within the context of both courses, our

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Mueller PE P.E., Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; John Aidoo, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

building construction. Pre- and post-surveys wereconducted at the beginning and end of the quarter, respectively, to assess student learning.Results confirmed an increase in student awareness and understanding of sustainable designconcepts that were incorporated on a weekly basis throughout the course and how they can berelated to civil engineering projects.IntroductionIn the Fundamental Canons of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Code of Ethics,it states that engineers “shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development inthe performance of their professional duties.”1 Additionally, in the statement Dialogue on theEngineer’s Role in Sustainable Development – Johannesburg and Beyond (NAE 2002)2, anumber of American

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

that our Nation will face over the next several decades.1 Indeed,sustainability meets all of the need for interdisciplinary approaches, with ambiguity, imprecision,and complexity characteristics. Experimentation and discovery are keys to producing workablesolutions. 4 Capitalizing on the combination of students’ desires, opportunities on a Universitycampus to provide real-world experiential learning sites, and a National need for educating allstudents with advanced STEM and critical thinking skills, it makes sense to develop campusexperiential learning facilities to include campus sustainability systems into classes from manydisciplines. 5 Page

Conference Session

Environmental engineering pedagogy and innovation

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sukalyan Sengupta, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; Jeffrey A Cunningham, University of South Florida; Sarina J. Ergas, University of South Florida; Ramesh K. Goel, University of Utah; Dilek Ozalp, University of South Florida; Teri Kristine Reed, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

. Page 23.412.2Therefore, the objectives of this project are to: (1) develop a Fundamentals of EnvironmentalEngineering Concept Inventory (FEECI) that quantifies students’ conceptual understanding ofkey FEE concepts, (2) administer the FEECI at 10 US universities with required undergraduateFEE courses, and (3) refine and disseminate the FEECI following its initial administration. Theexpected outcome of this work is a validated, reliable instrument for assessing conceptualunderstanding in a core curriculum course for Civil and/or Environmental engineering. Such aninstrument will play an important role in assessment for programmatic accreditation under theABET standards, and provide a needed technique for formative assessment of

Conference Session

Environmental engineering pedagogy and innovation

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marty Anne Gustafson, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Carl Vieth, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Patrick Eagan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

campus.Sustainability Competency Models and Curriculum DevelopmentCompetency models differ from other approaches to job task assessment because models focuson performance rather than credentials, and define exemplary rather than minimal performance.The value of competency models is to provide consistent and relatively unbiased criteria forexemplary performance in a role or function.1 Competencies are identified knowledge, skills,abilities and mindsets, evaluated through demonstrated behaviors, which directly and positivelycontribute to the success of the organization and to the success of employees in their job role,position, or function.2Through interviews with faculty and industrial stakeholders, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kim LaScola Needy, University of Arkansas; TAHAR MESSADI, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS; John Henry Kester III, University of Arkansas

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

ofsustainability.To provide a framework for the purpose of research methods it is useful to draw from thefoundational work of Pasteur16 (Figure 1). His quadrant points to the differences in research thatcan clearly be distinguished between basic and applied research.17 The y-axis represents the firstdistinction of defining the direct outcomes of the research. Basic research is associated with theadvancement of knowledge primarily and developing theories for why things are the way theyare. The y-axis depicts the relevance to the advancement of knowledge with basic researchassociated with a greater degree of relevance because of its theoretical implications. Whereas,the x-axis represents the second distinction of the ability of research findings to be applied

Conference Session

Sustainability and engineering education

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alexandre David Wing, Colorado School of Mines; Cristal Hibbard, Colorado School of Mines; Jennifer Strong, Colorado School of Mines; Jörg E Drewes, Colorado School of Mines; Junko Munakata-Marr, Colorado School of Mines

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

assessment.Prof. J¨org E Drewes, Colorado School of Mines J¨org E. Drewes is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Research for the NSF Engineering Research Center on Reinventing the Nation’s Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt). He also serves as Co-Director of the Advanced Water Technology Center (AQWATEC) at the Colorado School of Mines, which he co-founded in 2007. Prof. Drewes’ research and scholarly activities have been in four areas for which he is internationally and nationally recognized and which are closely related based on the common thread of drinking water augmentation with water of impaired quality: (1) design and operation of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems including riverbank

Conference Session

Environmental engineering pedagogy and innovation

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R Bielefeldt, University of Colorado Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

for future use of the inverted coursemodel and recommendations for others are provided.BackgroundA number of studies in engineering, physics, and other disciplines have shown that activelearning by students during class rather than traditional lectures enhances student learning.1 Buthow can instructors de-design a class to allow more active learning? A flipped or invertedclassroom moves lectures out of class time to videos, thereby allowing time for active in-classactivities such as small group problem solving.2-7 A recent search of the American Society forEngineering Education (ASEE) conference proceedings website identified 238 papers thatincluded the search term “inverted classroom”. These lecture videos allow students to watch attheir own

Conference Session

Environmental engineering pedagogy and innovation

Collection

2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alison M Cupples, Michigan State University; Susan J. Masten P.E., Michigan State University; Weimin Sun, Rutgers,The State University of New Jersey

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

this did not change in 2011. The pre- and post- surveys indicated the studentsrecognized the value of in class assessment as well as the use of response pads. The post- surveyshowed a statistically significant more positive response to considering the CLOs when studying.The final assessment method concerned an analysis of student performance on questions relatingto each CLO. In 2009 over five CLOs were not achieved, however in 2011, only 1 CLO was notachieved. These data indicate the introduced pedagogical approach was highly successful atimproving student learning of CLO content.Introduction and BackgroundActive learning has been defined as any activity that engages students in the learning process 1.This approach is often compared against