River Engineering and Restoration (BEE 446/546) is a design-based course in which students conduct field work, hydraulic modeling, and design calculations for a river restoration problem out in the community. Example projects include a small dam removal, replacing culverts that were a fish passage barrier, streambank stabilization and habitat restoration, and side channel habitat restoration. Because it is a slash course and because it attracts ~50-60 students from a wide range of disciplines (engineering to ecology), students arrive with very different levels and types of relevant knowledge and experiences. In addition, because the work load of redesigning the class each year for a new design project is so high, I would like to re-imagine the course to move the content that is repeated each year outside of the classroom so that students can work through that material at their own pace. By moving this lecture material online, I will plan to use our class time for working through lecture materials specific to the design project, example calculations for all lecture material, guest lectures, field work, etc.
The class will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 80 minutes each. To identify the split of content between online and in class, I tried to identify online material as that which students would review at their own pace, emphasizing the more theoretical and conceptual lectures that some will have already seen in other classes. The goal is for the online content is that students arrive in class on Tuesday with a similar level of knowledge after reviewing and being quizzed on background materials (e.g., recorded lectures, readings, quizzes). In-class content will then emphasize materials that are likely be new to all students, emphasizing engineering design, example calculations, and content that cannot be delivered online (e.g. field data collection, guest lectures, case studies). In this model, the online content will provide the theoretical foundation for diving deeper with in-class content on design. I have organized the schedule into weekly modules, where each week represents a central theme in understanding river processes and design.
I like your article. River Engineering is getting most important rule as contstruction of bridges etc. This should be extended.