INTRODUCTION TO AIR RESOURCES – JUST IN TIME!

This paper describes one of four curriculum modules that are used in an introductory environmental science and engineering course taught at Humboldt State University. ENGR 115: Introduction to Environmental Science and Engineering focuses on a resource approach to environmental management, with modules on air, land, water and energy resources. Blackboard® is used to assist in the course delivery. One of the course goals is to increase confidence in environmental engineering and environmental science majors via hands-on projects, case studies and active learning. The air resources module is taught over a three-week period in a fifteen-week semester. The module curriculum is delivered over 6 lectures and two 3-hour laboratory periods. This paper describes the lectures, labs and out of class activities. The pedagogical approach incorporates web-based teaching strategies including Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT), developed by physics instructors and used by many different disciplines. After completing assigned readings, the students take online quizzes that summarize these readings. The lecture period is used to clarify misconceptions that were discovered in the students’ responses to the online quizzes as well as present new material, using the JiTT approach. Air resources lab activities include an air resources allowance-trading auction, the determination of the ventilation rate of a student chosen enclosed space using a CO2 meter, and the measurement of CO levels from the campus fleet of vehicles. The curriculum development project is partially funded by a NSF Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Grant Award 0127139. The curriculum that is available for download at includes reading assignments, online quizzes, laboratory activities and selected portions of PowerPoint presentations. Course Description Engineering 115: Introduction to Environmental Science and Engineering is a required introductory course for both Environmental Resources Engineering students and Environmental Science students at Humboldt State University (HSU), with between 60-75 students enrolled each semester. The course has two 50-minute lecture periods per week where all students meet together and a three-hour laboratory period with 24 students in each of three lab sections. The lecture periods are more of a recitation period, as they are interactive sessions, rather than a traditional lecture. The course includes critical analyses of problems from both engineering and science perspectives through case studies in air resources, geotechnical resources, water resources and energy resources. The course integrates lecture, discussion, student projects, computer labs, wet labs and outdoor field labs in the context of environmental engineering and science students working together on resource management issues. P ge 912.1 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2004, American Society for Engineering Education Students are introduced to a number of problem solving and research skills, including using the Internet for research, web page design, word processing, data collection using field instruments, and data analysis using spreadsheet modeling and Geographical Information Systems. Students are expected to take this course their first or second semester on campus and the only requirement is a co-requisite of college algebra. A key component of this curriculum is the use of the online quiz aspect of the Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) approach, which blends web-based preparatory assignments with classroom learning. The JiTT strategy has been pioneered by physics faculty and has been used by faculty at more than 50 institutions across the country 1 . Two of the documented benefits of the JiTT approach are increased attendance and decreased attrition 2,3 . Once a week, students complete the web-based JiTT quizzes on Blackboard up to an hour before the class that will address the topic occurs. The instructor reviews the responses “just in time” for class and adjusts and organizes lessons based on those student responses. Students come to class motivated to cover the given topic as they know their comments and questions from the JiTT quiz will be addressed in class. The instructor then spends class time addressing students’ misconceptions communicated in the quizzes, rather than lecturing on material students have already grasped. Air Resources Module The air resources module consists of reading assignments, lecture topics, JiTT quizzes and responses, air quality data collection and analysis assignments, and an air emissions trading simulation. Supporting materials (including PowerPoint slides) can be found at the CCLI project website 4 . Each component of the curriculum is described below. Readings Students are assigned readings from Henry and Heinke’s Environmental Science and Engineering 5 . They also are provided articles and web pages to read. Table 1 below summarizes the topics and related readings. Lecture Topics and JiTT Quizzes The air quality module is taught over a three-week period with two 50-minute lectures each week. Table 2 below summarizes a potential list of topics that have been addressed over the three-week period in the lecture periods and the JiTT quiz topics. Due to the nature of JiTT pedagogy, the students drive the specifics of what is discussed in lecture periods and each semester the focus has been different in terms of the details of coverage in the course. Likewise, JiTT quiz topics vary as a result of answers to previous quizzes and questions raised in lecture periods. The CCLI Project Website 4 has the corresponding PowerPoint slides and example quizzes for each of these lecture topics.