Published on: 19/08/2025 · Last updated on: 28/08/2025
Overview
Jan Hofman, Professor Water Science and Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering
We have developed a Moodle page for the CE40251 unit on Advanced Environmental Engineering. The page offers students easy access to the study materials for the unit, including lecture notes, background materials, and lecture recordings. The unit is taught by three lecturers. An important aspect of the Moodle page is that it is built consistently.
Background
The Moodle page was developed for the unit CE40251 Advanced Environmental Engineering. The unit is part of the MEng programme in Chemical Engineering with Environmental Engineering. It is a final year project for students with a chemical engineering background, who are offered a course with an emphasis on applying their field in relation to environmental engineering. The unit builds heavily on lectures (two 2-hour slots per week), delivered by three lecturers: Jan Hofman (unit convenor), Tom Arnot and Stuart Scott. The unit also includes some special activities such as a site visit to a water treatment works and a climate fresk workshop. Starting in 2025, we will add a serious board game on cross-border river water management. The unit is relatively small in student numbers, approximately 20.
Purpose
The unit is a relatively new one. The MEng CE with EE started only a few years ago, after Curriculum Transformation in Chemical Engineering. Because the course and unit were never taught before, most of the material had to be developed from scratch. Some base material could be reused from the MSc Environmental Engineering.
The unit covers topics that range from an introduction to Environmental Engineering, Sampling and analytical techniques for environmental samples, air pollution and treatment, solid waste handling, water and wastewater treatment, and circular economy principles.
Approach
The Moodle page was set up to provide easy access to the material. The page starts with general sections that introduce the unit. This section also contains the lecture schedule. In this way, we set the scene for the unit. Section two provides information about the assessment (100% Exam).
Then we have three sections that each contain the taught material of the three lecturers. Students will always remember who taught what on the unit, and therefore ordering the material per lecturer provides easy access. The three sections are also setup on a consistent way in terms of what is provided and screen layout. This gives the Moodle page a consistent view.
For each topic in the unit, a concise summary is given of its content. Also in many cases, pointers to additional reading material are given that students can use to deepen their knowledge or develop a better understanding of the material. The additional reading material can also contain exercises or problems to solve and test the students’ knowledge.
Outcomes
In our opinion, the setup of the Moodle page was successful. We have not received feedback from students, which I consider positive. Students will probably only complain if the information they are seeking on a web page cannot be found. Because the unit was offered to a small group of students, there was anyway good interaction with all of them.
Recommendations
The Moodle page will be developed further; for instance, the week-to-week packaging of recordings and presentations will be offered for all the topics. We will also explore the possibilities for adding more interactivity through quizzes.
Further reading
We invite you to have a look at the Moodle page. Contact Jan Hofman to get a temporary enrolment.
Article published: 19th August 2025