2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Active learning in introductory environmental engineering course

Conventional ‘sage on stage’ style of teaching may be inadequate, outdated, and inefficient for the newer generations of students. Numerous studies on the attention span of students also support the theory that students have difficulty with traditional lecture format of classes. That is why a lot of instructors are adapting active learning techniques in their classes. This study investigates the impact of three active learning approaches that were used for an introductory environmental engineering course. The first active learning technique used is ‘wrap up in-class activity’ at the end of every lecture. To wrap up the lessons, students in the class spent the last 5-10 minutes completing in-class assignments which could be quizzes, reflection question, minute paper, muddiest point etc. The second active learning technique is ‘Friday videos’. Every week on Fridays, the class spends first 15mintes on an activity that includes watching a video related to environmental topic outside of course syllabus, followed by in-class discussion. The third active learning technique is ‘student project’. For the student project, they form a team of 2-3 students per group and submit a topic of their choice related to environmental engineering. Then each team provides 8–10-minute power point presentation on their chosen topic and submits one page summary writeup based on their review. The hypothesis of this study is students’ performance and retention rates are improved because of these active learning techniques. Student survey, homework assignments, exam grades, student evaluation will be accessed to evaluate the outcomes of this study. This is ongoing research, and so far, the instructor has found a significant increase in student interaction because of the implementation of these strategies.

Authors

Dr. Namita Shrestha Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Namita Shrestha earned her PhD in Civil/Environmental Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; Master of Science in Civil/Environmental Engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Her research interests include bioelectrochemical systems, microbial electrochemistry, resource recovery from waste/wastewater, waste treatment and nanomaterial for bioelectrochemical application. She is passionate about research‐based learning and student-centered pedagogy. She serves as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) and ASEE.
Dr. Michelle Marincel Payne Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Michelle Marincel Payne is an Associate Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, and her B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla (same school, different name). At Rose-Hulman, Michelle is co-leading a project to infuse an entrepreneurial-mindset in undergraduate students’ learning, and a project to improve teaming by teaching psychological safety in engineering education curricula. Michelle also mentors undergraduate researchers to investigate the removal of stormwater pollutants in engineered wetlands. Michelle was a 2018 ExCEEd Fellow, and was recognized as the 2019 ASCE Daniel V. Terrell Awardee.
Dr. Timothy Chow [biography]

Timothy Chow serves as the Director of Institutional Research in the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment (IRPA) at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is a member of Rose-Hulman’s Data Governance Committee and the Quality of Education Committee. Timothy is a longtime member of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), Indiana Association for Institutional Research (INAIR), and Overseas Chinese Association for Institutional Research (OCAIR), and he currently serves as a member of the ASEE Data Collections Advisory Board, as well as a Peer Reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and for the OAAAQA Register of External Reviewers . Timothy has a PhD from Indiana State University in Technology Management with specialization in Quality Systems.
Mitchel Daniel Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025