A STUDENT CENTERED LEARNING LAB TO INCREASE MOTIVATION AND INTEREST IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Problem based learning (PBL) is a well established student-centered approach which promotes application-based learning, enhances problem solving skills and fosters peer learning. This paper describes implementation of a PBL lab within a junior-level course on environmental engineering processes. The PBL exercise was an open-ended, two-hour lab, where student teams designed, built and tested a prototype water treatment system to achieve stated water quality criteria (UV transmittance and turbidity). Each team was given a scope of work that outlined the problem, objectives, design criteria, available materials, constraints, effluent quality testing protocol (using a synthetic influent) and evaluation criteria. Students were given no prior information about the lab, and the PBL lab was the first lab of the semester. A multidimensional survey was developed and administered three times throughout the semester. Questions were designed to evaluate whether or not the PBL lab had a quantifiable effect on learner motivation (for the course and for environmental engineering), and self efficacy. Results indicate that the students enter the course as highly motivated learners (cohort motivation for course (out of 5): median=5, mean=4.32). This ceiling effects limits assessment of the direct impact of the PBL lab on learner motivation. The data do, however, suggest that learner self efficacy increased as a result of the PBL exercise. Evidence from post-lab student presentations supports this observation, with teams applying knowledge from previous classes to this new problem. The PBL lab was well received; students reported enjoying collaborating with their peers to develop a tangible solution to a real-world problem. Student feedback suggests the influence of the PBL lab may increase if learners had an opportunity to see the influent prior to construction. This study provides additional empirical evidence to encourage more widespread inclusion of PBL teaching/learning experiences into environmental engineering curricula.