Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela Bielefeldt, University of Colorado at Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

major; (2) place a greater emphasis on sustainability and globalengineering in the course. In fact, it was hypothesized that the emphasis on sustainability andglobal engineering could help achieve the recruiting and retention goal, particularly for femaleand minority students. Previous research has indicated that these topics help attract women toengineering.7 In addition, Seymour found that: “In the process of developing and clarifying their Page 12.987.2career goals, however, women expressed more altruism than men and were more likely to switchto career paths that reflected humanitarian goals or offered more satisfying work.”8 The

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

podcast viewing application (iTunes or similar)is automatically notified when a new episode is available. This eliminates the need forstudents to continually check for new episodes at the class web site.3. Pedagogical DesignIn the Introduction to Environmental Engineering class the enhanced-podcast wasdesigned as a critical component to a balanced learning environment, not as a newdelivery of ineffective teaching methods (e.g. creating hour-long lectures on an iPod).Core lecture segments were shifted to the podcast, allowing class time to be used foractive learning exclusively. Podcasts have the advantages of pause and replay by thestudent, important for such reflective course elements like lecture. The podcast, andcompanion web site, directed

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

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

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

Environmental Engineering Curricula III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Khosrow Farahbakhsh, School of Engineering, University of Guelph; Warren Stiver, University of Guelph

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

period and scheduling proved to be somewhat difficult. The overall consensus of thestudent was that performing five labs during the last three weeks of the term placed unnecessarystress on student during an already stressful time. Student evaluation was also modified fromprevious years to reflect the addition of five laboratories. Student evaluation was based on onemidterm (15%), laboratory design (30%), other labs (15%) and the final exam (40%).For winter 2007 the course is unchanged from the previous year except for a drop in the numberof labs required from five to three. The evaluation scheme has also changed slightly, placingmore emphasis on the laboratory design (35% from 30%) and less on the final exam (35% vs.40%).Evaluation of the

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Seamus Freyne, Manhattan College; Micah Hale, University of Arkansas; Stephan Durham, University of Colorado at Denver

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

nation’s roadways are now built with asphalt, which has traditionally had the lowestinitial costs. But asphalt has less durability than concrete and regularly needs repairs andreplacement. Asphalt is also an oil product and subject to unpredictable price swings. The darkcolor of asphalt contributes to the heat island effect, where temperatures in cities can be morethan 10 ˚F above those in the surrounding countryside, which substantially increases energyconsumption in the summers. Light in color, the reflectivity of concrete could help reduce theheat island effect. Additionally, these roadways would need less illumination at night. Concretematerials are readily available everywhere and do not contain oil products.Pervious concrete is made with the

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Xiaoqi Zhang, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Clifford Bruell, University of Massachusetts-Lowell; Yexin Yin, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Praveen Jayaradu, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Mark Hines, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

in the bubble that best reflects your opinion. Strongly Neither Agree Strongly Disagree Disagree nor Disagree Agree AgreeI have a better understanding of nanotechnology aftercompleting this course.I would like to experience additional nanotechnologymodules in other courses.My interest in science (and/or engineering) hasincreased as a result of this course.I will enroll in other courses that have nanotechnologymodules in them. Please answer the following questions. If you need additional space, please use the back of this survey.1. What did you like about this module?2. What was most

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula III

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michelle Jarvie, Michigan Technological University; Kurt Paterson, Michigan Technological University

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

DominionUniversity found increased retention of students within the college, and more studentstransferred from engineering to engineering technology12. It is possible that students that maynormally be averse to the traditionally reflective math and science course work of engineering,may be attracted to the more active and applied classes offered in engineering technology. If theloss of these students was due to the desire for more experiential learning, the implementation ofthese techniques within engineering classes could increase retention.Another introduction to engineering course at the University of Virginia focused on teaching Page 12.1073.8engineering

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Eric Beckman, University of Pittsburgh; Mary Besterfield-Sacre, University of Pittsburgh; Gena Kovalcik, University of Pittsburgh; Matthew Mehalik, University of Pittsburgh; Robert Ries, University of Pittsburgh; Kim Needy, University of Pittsburgh; Laura Schaefer, University of Pittsburgh; Larry Shuman, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

progress at the end of the first yearwith respect to research and pedagogy with a special emphasis on describing the new coursedevelopment.1. IntroductionThe hallmark of US engineering has always been innovation, especially in the design of newproducts and processes that are optimized to reflect performance and price ideals. Althoughengineering designers have focused on performance and price criteria for over a century, the Page 12.371.2growing recognition that the world’s resources are finite while its population continues toincrease have led to a new criterion – sustainability – that now must be incorporated into thedesign process often as an

Conference Session

Environmental Engineering Curricula II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth Eschenbach, Humboldt State University; Jami Montgomery, WATERS Network - CLEANER Project Office; James Johnson, Howard University; Chris Brus, University of Iowa; Dan Giammar, Washington University; Patricia Carlson, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Bette Grauer, McPherson High School; Liesl Hotaling, Stevens Institute of Technology; Gbekeloluwa Oguntimein, Morgan State University; Steven Safferman; Tim Wentling, National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering

shared research and education tools.With proper training and financial support, it is anticipated that the WATERS Network will leadto: • modernization of curricula content and pedagogical approaches to reflect critical competencies for the 21st century including trans-disciplinary instructional units and project learning that integrate advanced information and instructional technologies into teaching, learning, and advocacy of water resources issues Page 12.1595.8 • reciprocal relationships between research and education and increased vertical collaboration among all levels within the education community

Conference Session

Sustainable Engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Llewellyn Mann, University of Queensland; David Radcliffe, University of Queensland; Gloria Dall'Alba, University of Queensland

Tagged Divisions

Environmental Engineering