ENVENG 200 : Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
Engineering
2024 Semester Two (1245) (15 POINTS)
Course Prescription
Course Overview
- Current global environmental challenges such as climate change, resource depletion and environmental degradation
- The interdisciplinary nature of environmental engineering
- Emerging challenges in environmental engineering
- Drinking water, waste water and stormwater management
- Air quality and noise
- Assessing the environmental impact of engineering projects
Capabilities Developed in this Course
| Capability 1: | People and Place |
| Capability 2: | Sustainability |
| Capability 3: | Knowledge and Practice |
| Capability 4: | Critical Thinking |
| Capability 6: | Communication |
Learning Outcomes
- Understand and explain current global challenges related to the environment and the interdisciplinary nature of environmental engineering (Capability 1.1, 4.1 and 6.1)
- Perform experiments relating to key parameter measurements, and know which tests are appropriate for given environmental parameters (Capability 1.1, 3.1 and 3.2)
- Formulate and solve material mass balance equations related to environmental systems (Capability 1.1, 3.1, 3.2 and 4.1)
- Demonstrate an understanding of drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater treatment, air quality, noise pollution, and their effects on health (Capability 1.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 6.1)
- Demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts of sustainability in engineering and the major principles of environmental impact assessment in New Zealand (Capability 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 6.1)
Assessments
| Assessment Type | Percentage | Classification |
|---|---|---|
| Laboratory Reports | 26.67% | Group & Individual Coursework |
| Tests | 60% | Individual Test |
| Assignments | 13.33% | Group & Individual Coursework |
| 3 types | 100% |
| Assessment Type | Learning Outcome Addressed | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||||
| Laboratory Reports | ||||||||||
| Tests | ||||||||||
| Assignments | ||||||||||
Workload Expectations
This course is a standard 15 point course and students are expected to spend 10 hours per week involved in each 15 point course that they are enrolled in.
For this course, you can expect 36 hours of lectures, 12 hours of tutorial, 6 hours of laboratory, 26 hours of reading and thinking about the content and 70 hours of work on assignments and/or test preparation.
Delivery Mode
Campus Experience
Attendance is expected at scheduled activities including tutorials and laboratories to receive credit for components of the course.
Lectures will be available as recordings. Other learning activities including tutorials and labs will not be available as recordings.
The course will not include live online events including group discussions and tutorials.
The tests will be in-person and invigilated.
The activities for the course are scheduled as a standard weekly timetable.
Learning Resources
Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).
Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.
Health & Safety
Student Feedback
At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.
Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.
Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.
Feedback received in 2023 included the following:
1. Assessments
• Happy with tests instead of a big final exam.
• Students liked having a test for each module.
• Suggested larger time duration for tests.
• Students wanted more guidance on lab report writing.
• Timing of tests - too close to other tests.
• Perception of the last topic having excessive reading.
2. Course Structure and Resources:
• Happy with structure and sections with corresponding tests
• Helpful resources
• Well-organized slides, modules, tutorials, and labs
• Challenges in finding assignments and tests on Canvas, occasional difficulty finding relevant content, and unclear lab report deadlines.
• Desire for clearer communication and organization regarding deadlines and resources.
• Limited study resources.
• Absence of a coursebook.
3. Learning:
• Students enjoyed the interactive labs, practice questions, real-world examples.
• Enjoyed the topics taught and found them though provoking.
• Students found some topics challenging due to a lack of context, making it hard to gauge the depth of required learning.
• Concerns about topics being heavily theoretical.
• Desire for more practice problems and answers, particularly for non-calculation questions.
• Requests for more clarity in explaining calculations and content that was perceived as challenging.
• Desire for a more engaging lecture style, variety in questions, and a balance between theory and practice problems.
The teaching team took all the suggestions on board carefully and are updating the course for 2024. Discussed changes include: spacing out the tests, increasing test duration, increasing content on practical implications and reducing theoretical content, improving canvas organisation and clarity in deadlines, providing clearer guidance for lab report writing.
Academic Integrity
The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed for potential plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, using computerised detection mechanisms.
Class Representatives
Class representatives are students tasked with representing student issues to departments, faculties, and the wider university. If you have a complaint about this course, please contact your class rep who will know how to raise it in the right channels. See your departmental noticeboard for contact details for your class reps.
Inclusive Learning
All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.
Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website http://disability.auckland.ac.nz
Special Circumstances
If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.
If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.
This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.
Learning Continuity
In the event of an unexpected disruption, we undertake to maintain the continuity and standard of teaching and learning in all your courses throughout the year. If there are unexpected disruptions the University has contingency plans to ensure that access to your course continues and course assessment continues to meet the principles of the University’s assessment policy. Some adjustments may need to be made in emergencies. You will be kept fully informed by your course co-ordinator/director, and if disruption occurs you should refer to the university website for information about how to proceed.
Student Charter and Responsibilities
The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html.
Disclaimer
Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.
In this course students may be asked to submit coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. In exceptional circumstances changes to elements of this course may be necessary at short notice. Students enrolled in this course will be informed of any such changes and the reasons for them, as soon as possible, through Canvas.