Cross-institution collaborative learning (CICL) to connect water resources design with sustainability analysis

Abstract

A common challenge in teaching sustainable design is the need to incorporate knowledge and skills from multiple areas of expertise. This paper describes an approach taken to meet this challenge with a collaborative learning experience that combines students from two institutions. Students from CVEEN 6460 Sustainable Urban Water Engineering at the University of Utah were teamed with students from CIVE 6670/8670 Life Cycle Engineering at the University of Toledo in a semester project experience. The design project required the students to complete the design of a rainwater harvesting project, servicing an institutional building, based on technical, economic, environmental, and social performance criteria. The project was setup to include seven deliverables, each of which included a report submission and a team presentation update at both institutions. Each deliverable encouraged collaborative learning since student teams were required to make a presentation at each institution; therefore, teammates had to help teach across institutions to cover the content of the projects not taught in their respective courses. Student performance was assessed based on the quality of each deliverable, instructor reflection, an opinion survey, and a post-course assessment of student learning. The authors conclude the paper with a discussion of the perceived benefits of the CICL approach and provide suggestions for future implementation.