Teaching and Learning in Hydrologic Engineering

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Teaching and Learning in Hydrologic Engineering
March, 2006
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Amy Kaleita
• Assistant Professor,
• Soil and Water Conservation Engineering

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AE 431/531 Natural Resource Conservation
Engineering
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Combined course for upper-level undergraduates
  and graduate students
• Approximately 20 students per class
• 5 juniors (3rd year), Agricultural Engineering
• 10 seniors (4th year), Agricultural Engineering
• 5 graduate students Agricultural Engineering,
  Environmental Science, Civil Engineering, Natural
  Resources Management
• Meets 3 times per week for 15 weeks
• 2 50-minute class meetings
• 1 3-hour class meeting

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Course Description
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Planning and design of systems to conserve and
  utilize natural resources in the agricultural
  environment. Small watershed hydrology, water
  movement and utilization in the soil-plant-
  atmosphere system, agricultural water management,
  best management practices for control of erosion,
  and agricultural water quality.

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Planning the Course
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Student learning objectives and topics covered
• Stakeholder input
• Assessment
• Must stem from objectives
• Selected four methods
• Exams (written and oral)
• Homework problems (minimal)
• In depth laboratory assignments (one per week)
• In-class excercises

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Topics Covered
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Hydrologic cycle, watersheds and water balance
• Precipitation measurement and mapping
• Hydrologic data and frequency analysis
• Infiltration
• Evapotranspiration
• Runoff runoff estimation
• Open channel flow
• Vegetated Waterways

• Soil Erosion soil loss estimation
• Soil conservation practices
• Water Quality
• Dams and reservoirs
• Routing
• Hydrology models
• Natural constructed wetlands
• Subsurface drainage
• Irrigation

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By the end of the course, students will be able
to
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Understand, analyze, and interpret hydrologic
  data for land and water resources engineering and
  environmental protection.
• Assessment is primarily through exams and
  homework assignments.

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By the end of the course, students will be able
to
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Interpret and synthesize processes leading to
  natural resources degradation, formulate
  solutions, and design systems for land and water
  resource protection.
• Assessment is primarily through lab exercises and
  homework assignments.

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By the end of the course, students will be able
to
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Evaluate alternative scenarios and conduct
  engineering analysis to justify use of
  conservation solutions to protect valuable
  natural resources.
• Assessment is primarily through in-class
  exercises and labs.

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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Purpose
• To force students to interact with the material
• To determine if there are fundamental
  misunderstandings or questions
• Before covering new material
• Students adapt previous knowledge to new topics
• During and after covering new material
• Students adapt new knowledge to new topics.
• Students adapt new knowledge to old topics

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Example in-class exercise Before material is
covered
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering
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Two watersheds of identical area and slope,
but different flow lengths. Both have a culvert
at the outlet. Which culvert must be larger
(or are they the same)?
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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Assessment on a 0 to 2 scale
• 0 Student did not attempt an answer
• 1 Student attempted an answer, but it lacks
  analytical rigor
• 2 Student answered with good analysis

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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Emphasis is not on getting the right answer
• The answer is important
• The analytical approach is more important
• Encourages students to innovate and think
  outside the box
• Easier for instructor to determine where the
  misunderstandings are

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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Sometimes the questions have no right answer
• Helps the students understand that when
  considering natural systems, there are usually
  multiple ways to attempt to solve problems.
• Often leads to interesting discussion

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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Challenges
• Sometimes widespread misunderstanding is apparent
  ? more work for me!
• Some students feel that me asking them questions
  compromises my authority

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In-class exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Positive outcomes
• Students become proactive about the material,
  rather than memorizing my words and methods
• Students become comfortable asking me questions,
  which often leads to good discussion
• Students become more comfortable with surprise
  challenges to their way of thinking

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Laboratory exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Purpose
• Simulate real world design problems
• Encourage students to be self-learners
• Develop communication skills

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Laboratory exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Scenario
• Usually a design problem that begins with You
  have been hired by a local community to analyze .
  . . or something similar
• Does not include all the necessary information
  for developing a solution
• Students must find appropriate data and
  information from outside sources (manuals, maps,
  etc.)
• Students must make and justify assumptions when
  necessary

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Laboratory exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Product
• Computations and numerical analysis
• Technical memorandum accompanying computations
• Includes qualitative analysis
• Discusses any assumptions made, as well as
  implications of those assumptions
• Includes recommendations, when appropriate, on a
  course of action

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Laboratory exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Challenges
• Each students solution will be slightly
  different, depending on the assumptions made and
  the sources consulted ? grading can be time
  consuming
• Some students are poor writers ? balancing
  assessing analysis versus writing is difficult

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Laboratory exercises
Agricultural Biosystems Engineering

• Positive outcomes
• Student comfort level communicating technical
  material in a narrative form improves
• Qualitative analysis skills improve
• Students feel they have received both practical
  and theoretical experience

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