Spectra of Learning Through Service Programs

Engineering students have a growing number of opportunities to engage in service-learning and co-curricular service activities. Because of the range of opportunities that exist for students to engage in community service activities, the umbrella term Learning Through Service (LTS) has been created. As these types of opportunities increase, the range and diversity of these initiatives has not been well documented. While some more established programs have published extensively on their program characteristics and assessment outcomes (i.e. SLICE at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and EPICS at Purdue), many newer and emerging programs have not yet have published any information. In fact, some of these LTS activities are not routinely included in courses but are integrated intermittently by motivated faculty -sometimes without widespread recognition within their own college or university. This paper presents an initial summary of some of the lesser publicized LTS activities based on a literature search and two recent workshops associated with the NSF-grant on Engineering Faculty Engagement in Learning Through Service (EFELTS). Emerging LTS patterns, opportunities, challenges, and resources are summarized to provide an expanded view of the landscape of what is currently happening in engineering. Background Learning Through Service (LTS) is an umbrella term that encompasses service-learning (SL) and extracurricular activities such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) that teach students valuable skills while also benefitting community partners. Although EWB is primarily an extra-curricular activity for students, some projects are designed and structured to teach specific skills and include reflective writing assignments for student participants. Research has shown that LTS activities can successfully meet a variety of learning outcomes for engineering students and provide benefits to community partners. 6,14 This paper will present a summary of LTS activities based on a literature search and recent activities associated with the NSF-grant on Engineering Faculty Engagement in Learning Through Service (EFELTS). The number of service-learning and co-curricular service activities in engineering appear to be growing; see Figure 1. The number of ASEE conference papers that were found using the search terms “service learning” ranged from 1 to 123 in any single year. Papers on Engineers Without Borders (EWB) first appeared in 2003. Using the Web of Science search engine, peer-reviewed journal papers found using the search terms “service learning” AND engineering first appeared in 1999 with a peak in a single year of 6 papers in both 2007 and 2011. The International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering: Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship is an entire journal devoted to these projects, programs, and research. It began in 2006 and typically publishes two issues per year. Figure 1. Number of publications found using searches on engineering, service learning, and/or EWB via the Web of Science citation index or ASEE conference proceedings. Curricular Efforts LTS in engineering has been integrated into a wide range of required and elective courses at various universities. In SLICE at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, SL projects have been integrated into a wide variety of core, required courses across multiple majors, including statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, fluids, heat transfer, and materials in chemical engineering, plastics engineering, mechanical engineering, and/or civil engineering. 13,14 Examples of SL projects in these core courses are provided in Table 1. More commonly, SL projects are integrated into projects-based or design courses at levels ranging from first-year to capstone design to graduate. New elective courses specific to service projects focused around sustainability, global issues, and/or appropriate technology have also been developed. Table 1. Examples of LTS Courses Course SL Component Reference(s) Statics and Dynamics, Lewis-Clark State College Wheelchair ramp design/build 23 Heat Transfer, Mechanical Engineering, University of Detroit Mercy installed heat saving devices at windows and doors in homes; calculated decreases in heat loss due to home modifications 15, 16 First year Engineering Design, Northeastern University Experiential SL projects (and also theoretical SL and non-SL) 18 First Year Engineering Projects, University of Colorado Boulder Projects for local daycares, assistive technology device for a child 34 First-year engineering course, Berkeley 5-week module K-12 SL at local science museum 33 Sophomore Design, James Madison University Mobility projects for local disabled children 27 Course SL Component Reference(s) Capstone Design in Electrical, Computer, and Mechanical Engineering, University of Wyoming Assistive technology devices 3 Design with the Developing World, University of Iowa Habitat for Humanity, elementary schools, emergency shelter projects with local partners 21 Engineering and Global Development, Smith College Local SL program on oven emissions 31 idesign, Michigan Tech Infrastructure projects with communities throughout Latin America 28 Projects in Community Service Engineering, Penn State Projects with State College and Kenya 8 There are also a number of examples of faculty incorporating into coursework what are typically extra-curricular LTS activities, such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) or Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). A few examples are provided in Table 2. This overlap between SL and extracurricular activities is one reason that this paper uses the lens of LTS. Table 2. Examples of Courses that have Integrated Primarily Extra-Curricular Activities Extra-Curricular Activity Course Integration Reference(s) Engineers Without Borders (EWB) project Junior and Senior Engineering Clinics, Rowan University 17; 26 Engineers Without Borders (EWB) project Global Projects in Engineering and Technology, Brigham Young University 22 Engineers Without Borders (EWB) project Civil Engineering Capstone Design, RoseHulman 1 Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) project Design for a Sustainable World, Stanford University 2 Extra-Curricular Finally, there are also a number of extracurricular LTS activities that have been shown to yield positive impacts for both student learning and community partners. Jaeger 20 found that an EWB project experience led to increased cultural awareness, teamwork abilities, networking outside their field, and understanding of ethics and responsibility as an engineer. McCormick et al. 25 reported advancement in leadership, teamwork, communication and problem solving skills by students involved in an EWB project related to green-building in Ecuador. Summary As mentioned previously, a few of the more established initiatives have published extensively on their program characteristics and assessment outcomes, i.e. SLICE at the University of Massachusetts Lowell 13,14 (cited in 24 ASEE conference papers), EPICS at Purdue 9 (cited in 187 ASEE conference papers), the civil engineering program at the University of Vermont 10,11,12,19,32 (cited in 9 ASEE conference papers and peer-reviewed papers). These programs benefit from large dedicated staff and faculty, aiding their administration and dissemination efforts. Many newer and emerging initiatives have not yet published any information. In fact, some of these LTS activities are integrated only intermittently when motivated faculty lead the courses -often without widespread recognition within their own college or university. To address the growing interest in engineering LTS an NSF-sponsored meeting of experienced LTS practitioners was held in September 2011. Participants were invited based on their publications in the areas of service-learning or co-curricular LTS. The group was roughly split between self-identified program designers and education assessment experts. At this meeting, a group of participants developed various characteristics that could be used to define, compare, and contrast different programs. 24 This paper was provided to participants at two 2012 NSFsponsored workshops designed to help further develop LTS faculty capacity for program design, management, and assessment. The participants of these workshops self-rated their own LTS programs on a number of these spectra. The process and results of these LTS program analyses are described in detail in the remainder of this paper.