2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Transcending Disciplinary Boundaries to Improve Life on the River: Expanding students' conceptual understanding through interdisciplinary engineering service learning approaches

Presented at Community Work and Communication - ENVEST Division (Tech Session 1/7)

Given the multi-faceted nature of sustainability challenges, courses on environmental topics must be correspondingly interdisciplinary. This proposal outlines the design of a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study of an engineering service learning course: “Life on the River,” a team-taught, interdisciplinary course focused on the human ecology of the Lower Passaic River. The course was developed through a collaboration between instructors from three different departments at a mid-size polytechnic university on the East Coast. The course structure, which requires students to tackle complex, interconnected systems, is organized around four concurrent lines of action: (1) The development of an eco-cultural mapping tool to visualize the sociocultural, economic, and environmental conditions of the Lower Passaic and surrounding communities, (2) educational and service programming that will engage the local community in the process of learning about and addressing the environmental and social impacts of the River on their communities, (3) the measurement of pollutants in and along the River, and (4) the creation of preliminary designs for water and sediment remediation. The pedagogy is designed to advance conceptual understanding by applying engineering design principles to improve the human ecology of the Lower Passaic region through service learning.

Considering the course’s interdisciplinary approach to analyzing possibilities for remediating the Lower Passaic, we hypothesize that course participation will transform students’ conceptual models of the River and possibilities for its restoration as well as their worldviews on sustainability in urban areas. The proposed SoTL study will examine student learning outcomes (SLOs) by tracking conceptual advancements across the three phases of engagement before and during the course: summer research, fall research, and coursework. The primary methodology will be concept mapping, a technique ideal for capturing the development and organization of interconnected concepts, administered at key junctures throughout the course lifecycle. This paper serves as a Works in Progress submission to gather crucial feedback on the project's pedagogical model, the viability of the concept mapping methodology, and best practices for coordinating student learning across multiple engagement pathways. We aim to present a working model that other institutions can replicate. We anticipate that this work will be highly relevant to the overall ASEE community, but in particular to the members of the Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Division.

Authors

Dr. Emily Tancredi-Brice Agbenyega http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2248-6123 New Jersey Institute of Technology [biography]

Emily Tancredi-Brice Agbenyega is a University Lecturer in the Albert Dorman Honors College at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. In this role, she teaches interdisciplinary service learning courses as well as research methods. Dr. Agbenyega's research focuses on the intersection of identity and educational experiences, with an emphasis on how STEM students’ identity can serve as an asset that fosters their persistence. Dr. Agbenyega holds a PhD in Urban Education from Temple University
Dr. William H Pennock http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7194-1372 New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Ashish D Borgaonkar http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3375-889X New Jersey Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Ashish D. Borgaonkar is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT) Newark College of Engineering (NCE) located in Newark, New Jersey. His primary research focuses on the translation of advanced research topics and novel technology, including AI, into engineering education and curriculum, as well as preparing the next-generation STEM workforce through student academic enrichment and workforce development training programs. For this, he has received multiple federal, state, local, and foundation grants. In addition, he has also been involved in sponsored research projects in water and wastewater treatment, waste management, transportation engineering, civil infrastructure, and stormwater management for flood and pollution control. He is the Founding Director of NJIT's Grand Challenges Scholars Program, endorsed by the National Academy of Engineering. He has also worked on several research projects, programs, and initiatives to help students bridge the gap between high school and college as well as to prepare students for the rigors of mathematics. He has developed and taught several engineering courses, primarily in first-year engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and general/interdisciplinary engineering. He has won multiple awards for excellence in instruction and service; most recently, the ASEE-MAS 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award, the Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award, the Excellence in Lower Division Undergraduate Instruction Award, and the Saul K. Fenster Award for Innovation in Engineering Education.
Tristan Cunanan New Jersey Institute of Technology [biography]

Tristan Cunanan is a second-year B.Arch student in the Albert Dorman Honors College at NJIT, where he is also pursuing an accelerated dual-degree with a Master of Urban Design. Minoring in Psychology and Business, he is particularly interested in how design can respond to the human experience from the pedestrian level. Since May 2025, he has been a researcher for the Honors College’s ‘Life on the River’ Initiative under Drs. Emily Tancredi-Brice Agbenyega and Ashish Borgaonkar as part of an interdisciplinary team of students. His research work has centered on assessing urban riverfronts on the Lower Passaic River Superfund site and investigating potential ways to reactivate these degraded, underutilized spaces in a manner that both reflects the local communities’ perspectives, and responds to environmental issues such as site flood risks and industrial water/soil contamination. He has presented at the 2025 NJIT Undergraduate Summer Research and Innovation Symposium, December 2025 NJIT Honors Interdisciplinary Research Forum, Spring 2026 American Society of Engineering Education Middle-Atlantic Section Conference at the University of Delaware, and was a finalist at the 2026 NJIT Dana Knox Student Research Showcase.
Divija Gullapalli

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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