Throught the laboratory practices students acquire an appreciation for the physical, chemical, and biological principles studied, and the instrumentation necessary to obtain reliable measurements. By studying the fundamentals of different unit processes in environmental engineering, students acquire an understanding of the mathematical and natural science principles used in the analysis of water and wastewater treatment processes. This relates to the CEE educational outcome of acquiring the ability to apply general purpose computer tools to solve well defined problems. Assessment of student progress toward course objectives Students' progress is assessed through a combination of exams, written laboratory reports, and homeworks. A lab report is required, and is due one week after the laboratory practice is completed.
Students receive feedback and comments along with a grade for each laboratory report.
After the completion of the laboratory practices related to drinking water treatment, students' progress is evaluated with a mid-term exam. The exam includes sections that evaluate basic concept understanding, ability to integrate basic physical and chemical concepts with the performance of specific unit operations, and their ability to extrapolate basic engineering concepts to analyze the performance of unit processes and operations related to the specific processes and operations discussed during lecture and lab sessions. A final exam provides an oportunity to gauge students' understanding of both water and wastewater treatment processes. This final exam has same format and similar objectives as the mid-term exam. Finally, homeworks are used to provide students with additional practice exercises and to reinforce concepts throughout the course.