Insights Gained from the First Teaching of a Multidisciplinary Appropriate Technology Course

Our students are becoming more interested in developing skills that allow them to be global engineers. In addition, some faculty have personal desires to make a difference in developing countries and see such opportunities as beneficial to the growth of their students. Presently, organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB) provide opportunities to students. However, many students are unaware of these or are busy with classwork or are building their resumes in other ways. The addition of an elective course focused on such work can open these opportunities to all students. To address this need, an Appropriate Technology course was designed to explore both the technical and humanitarian prowess necessary to positively increase quality of life and promote innovation in the developing world. Our goal was to prepare students to effectively participate in humanitarian work in developing countries. The course was designed to encompass the topics of most urgency in developing countries including water treatment and infrastructure, sanitation and energy. The course was taught by three faculty members and a consulting engineer. The expertise of the faculty spanned civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. In addition, each faculty member had some limited amount of experience overseas. The consulting engineer had extensive experience with EWB teams and in developing engineering solutions worldwide. The concept of “Do No Harm” was woven throughout the course by exposing students to international case studies. One class per week was dedicated to considering success of humanitarian engineering projects and the unfortunate frequency of failed – though wellintended – projects. Assignments forced the students to reflect upon positives and negatives and incorporate the best in their plans. Additionally, the students were challenged to develop a design and prototype to transport water from a creek on campus considering appropriateness and sustainability in their designs. We measured our effectiveness in teaching the “Do No Harm” concept and engineering in the context of the developing world. We evaluated our success using evaluations and course surveys. We were particularly interested in gauging changes in students’ perceptions about the impact engineers can have in working with developing communities. The outcomes from our experience and assessment can serve as a reference to other instructors considering incorporating appropriate technology into new or existing courses to suit student, instructor and institute interests. Introduction Many students are motivated to learn when faced with real and difficult problems such as those rooted in the developing world. Some faculty have personal desires to make a difference in developing countries and see such opportunities as beneficial to the growth of their students. While there are some occasions for students to work with developing communities through organizations such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB), for various reasons many students are unable to participate. To capture the motivations and learning opportunities that engineering design in the context of developing communities presents, an “Appropriate Technology for Developing Communities” course at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) was developed in the summer of 2015 and implemented in the fall of 2015. Appropriate technology is defined as a “technology that is suitable to the social and economic conditions of the geographic area in which it is to be applied, is environmentally sound, and promotes self-sufficiency on the part of those using it.”1 The creation and execution of a course focused on sustainable (or appropriate) technology for the developing world with a multidisciplinary scope provided a unique opportunity for students to consider the practice of successful engineering in the developing world from an engineers’ perspective. Other courses exist at RHIT that consider sustainability, but there are not many that are designated as engineering technical electives, and none that focus on application for developing communities. Background While this course might be the first of its kind at RHIT, courses with a bent towards or an outright focus on humanitarian development, service learning, or appropriate technology have been developed and implemented in a multitude of ways at many institutions. The University of Colorado-Boulder has been a model for integrating humanitarian engineering into engineering education by notably founding EWB and creating courses and research programs around the technical service organization7. Several institutions including Rice University, University of Colorado-Boulder, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created courses and programs to address the topic of sustainability due to EWB undertakings at their universities. EWB projects have also inspired and lead to senior design projects at many universities including the University of Colorado-Boulder, the University of Arizona, and Lafayette College2-4. Additionally there are many certificates and programs that integrate appropriate technology for developing communities into entire programs. Michigan Technological University is a prime example with their Master’s Degree in Engineering for Developing Communities and Peace Corps program.5 The Ohio State University has not only developed specific certificate programs, but has also been a leader in integrating humanitarian engineering throughout curricula in courses, labs, capstone experiences, a minor and an M.S. program.6 Most of these programs describe the lessons learned as mostly positive for both students and instructors. Some of the benefits described in the references include helping to improve diversity, retention and critical thinking2-6, as well as helping to develop an ethical obligation to equip current student-engineers with the necessary tools for addressing engineering challenges at the global level7. Codes of Ethics for major engineering organizations point towards such obligations. Specifically, the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) states as one of the Fundamental Canons that “Engineers...shall: Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession”.8 In an ever-global world, engineers must be – and our students are interested in being – prepared to practice engineering in a variety of contexts. Finally, in terms of teaching humanitarian engineering by teaching both technological approaches and social considerations, the “precautionary principle”, a guideline for environmental policy making, can lend credence to the attitude required for successful projects. Similar to the physician’s commitment to “Do No Harm”9, the precautionary principle should protect human and environmental health even if uncertainty exists.10 Encouraged by the benefits of the integration of humanitarian engineering in other programs, the ability and success of such undertakings, and the obligation we have as engineers to be responsible, ethical and “Do No Harm”, we developed and implemented a course designed to allow students to participate effectively as engineers in solving problems in developing communities. Course goals The course was designed to explore both the technical and humanitarian problem solving skills necessary to positively increase quality of life and promote innovation in developing countries. As a result of this course, we wanted students to be able to consider the appropriateness of technologies for the developing world, as well as be able to reason out solutions for a variety of different types of engineering problems. Our overall goal was to prepare students to effectively participate in humanitarian work in developing countries. Course demographics and specifics Eighteen students in their sophomore (4/18), junior (3/18), senior (11/18) years majoring in electrical (7/18), computer (4/18) mechanical (3/18), biomedical (3/18) and civil (1/18) engineering were enrolled in the course. The course was housed within the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department (course number: ECE398). Thirty-three percent of the students were female, which is 11% greater than the 22% at the institute level; and three percent were international, which is 9% less than the 12% at the institute level. There were no major restrictions, though at RHIT there are only engineering majors. With calculus III and physics II as prerequisites, the course was developed for sophomores from any major. These prerequisites for a fall term offering excluded freshmen unless they were very advanced. However, the majority of the students enrolled in the course were upperclassmen (61% seniors, 78% juniors and seniors). Students could take the course as a technical elective which would fulfill the two to three technical electives required within the various engineering curricula. Course structure and approach The course was designed to encompass the topics of most urgency in developing countries including water treatment, sanitation, agriculture, energy, communication and transportation. Table 1 specifies the general and weekly topics covered in the 10 week term. The course was taught by three faculty members and a consulting engineer. The topics were divided among the faculty although the course was very much team taught: all instructors attended all classes and added to class discussions as appropriate. The expertise of the faculty spanned civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. In addition, each faculty member had some limited amount of experience overseas in developing communities. The consulting engineer presented material and added to course discussion mostly for the water, sanitation and agriculture topics. However, with his extensive experience with EWB and international consulting, he adde