scholarly journals International Service Learning Design Projects: Educating Tomorrow's Engineers, Serving the Global Community, and Helping to Meet ABET Criterion

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Budny ◽  
Robert Thomas Gradoville
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
International Service Learning ◽  
International Service ◽  
Local Chapter ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering ◽  
Transformational Experiences ◽  
The University ◽  
Learning Projects

International service-learning projects are an effective educational tool for universities striving to meet the ABET engineering criterion, while also providing transformational experiences to their students and a service to needy populations in the world.  This paper discusses the benefits of international service-learning projects for students, the international community, and the university.  The year-long process of development and piloting of the first international humanitarian engineering service-learning project within the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh is presented.  Also, the ABET engineering criterion are then discussed, with specific attention to the criterion that are harder to address with traditional engineering education.  This pilot project was a collaboration between the senior design course, a local chapter of Engineers Without Borders, and various domestic and international entities.  The benefits of international service learning projects are discussed, in the hopes of catalyzing development of similar projects in the future.

scholarly journals The Challenge of Including Customer Satisfaction into the Assessment Criteria of Overseas Service-Learning Projects

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille George ◽  
Ashley Shams
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Assessment Criteria ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
International Service Learning ◽  
International Service ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects

There has been a dramatic increase of student groups participating in international service learning projects. For engineering students it is not difficult to identify meaningful educational objectives. The students improve their analytical and problem solving skills. They design and build something that fulfils a list of engineering specifications; they execute a solution to some problem. However, these projects have a human dimension. Service-learning involves changes in peoples’ beliefs, attitudes and values; impacting both the students and the recipient community. It is important for the academic community to develop assessment criteria that includes perspectives from all stakeholders engaged in the experience. It is imperative to assess not only the technical success but also the sustainability of the project and its larger effect. In courses involving service-learning, assessment needs to occur on three levels: the traditional evaluation of the student’s knowledge of the technical content, the assessment of the experiences impact on the students’ broader more humanistic “soft skills”, and the customer’s satisfaction. The paper examines the obstacles and opportunities in assessing project success from multiple international service-learning programs, and compiles insights and reflections that could serve to inform future projects.

Service-Learning and Social Justice for College and University Students

2021 ◽  
pp. 807-833
Author(s):  
Susan Trostle Brand
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
International Service Learning ◽  
International Service ◽  
College And University ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Diversity Of Life ◽  
Learning Projects

All students deserve access to the types of learning that enable them to experience firsthand the rich diversity of life to understand the challenges that others face in their everyday living and to learn collaborative and impactful problem-solving skills to help combat inequality at the local, national, and international levels. A perusal of service-learning addressed in this chapter includes an examination of the benefits for both the participant and the recipient. The chapter addresses the need for service-learning for people who are marginalized because of their gender identity or sexual preferences, disabilities, class, race, gender, age, or a combination of factors associated with marginalization. Recommended practices for ensuring successful service-learning projects and various types of service-learning are discussed. Six sequential steps in implementing a service-learning project are delineated. The chapter concludes with examples of local, regional, national, and international service-learning projects and testimonials from recent local and international service-learning providers.

Service-Learning and Social Justice for College and University Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 78-104
Author(s):  
Susan Trostle Brand
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
International Service Learning ◽  
International Service ◽  
College And University ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Diversity Of Life ◽  
Learning Projects

All students deserve access to the types of learning that enable them to experience firsthand the rich diversity of life to understand the challenges that others face in their everyday living and to learn collaborative and impactful problem-solving skills to help combat inequality at the local, national, and international levels. A perusal of service-learning addressed in this chapter includes an examination of the benefits for both the participant and the recipient. The chapter addresses the need for service-learning for people who are marginalized because of their gender identity or sexual preferences, disabilities, class, race, gender, age, or a combination of factors associated with marginalization. Recommended practices for ensuring successful service-learning projects and various types of service-learning are discussed. Six sequential steps in implementing a service-learning project are delineated. The chapter concludes with examples of local, regional, national, and international service-learning projects and testimonials from recent local and international service-learning providers.

scholarly journals Stuck in Cement: Breaking from Conventional Mindsets in Student-Led Service Learning Partnerships

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Ali Aslam ◽  
Ivonne Navarro ◽  
Andrea Wen ◽  
Meredith Hassett ◽  
Robert J. Swap
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
International Service Learning ◽  
International Service ◽  
Learning Partnerships ◽  
Student Community ◽  
Single Frame ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Learning Projects ◽  
Student Team

This article illustrates our understanding, as a student team, of the challenges that conventional approaches can have when structuring joint student-community partnerships. Through the use of the metaphor “stuck in cement”, we wish to draw a distinction between viewing service learning through a results-focused lens with a sense of a clearly defined path rather than construction of partnerships. This paper will explore two main questions: Are we, as students who conduct service learning projects, stuck in a single-frame mindset? If so, how do we break free? These questions are explored through the combination of lived experience and post-field reflection. We have developed our thoughts within the context of previous work regarding approaches to international service learning projects, the challenges that are often faced, and the mindsets of those involved. This reflection, presented primarily from the perspective of student participants, is offered as an example of how our group challenged the notions of success and externally designed and implemented systems, with the hope that the example may inform future efforts of this type.

Ethnographic Service Learning: An Approach for Transformational Learning

Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie A. Medeiros ◽  
Jennifer Guzmán
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
The United States ◽  
Field Methods ◽  
The Social ◽  
Service Learning Projects ◽  
Transformational Experiences ◽  
Learning Projects

Trends in higher education pedagogy increasingly point to the importance of transformational experiences as the capstone of liberal arts education. Practitioners of ethnography, the quintessential transformational experience of the social sciences, are well-positioned to take the lead in designing courses and term projects that afford undergraduate students opportunities to fundamentally reshape their understanding of the social world and their own involvement within it. Furthermore, in the United States, colleges and universities have become proponents of service learning as a critical component of a holistic educational experience. In this article, we describe how service learning can be incorporated into training students in ethnographic field methods as a means to transformational learning and to give them skills they can use beyond the classroom in a longer trajectory of civic participation. We discuss strategies, opportunities, and challenges associated with incorporating service learning into courses and programs training students in ethnographic field methods and propose five key components for successful ethnographic service learning projects. We share student insights about the transformational value of their experiences as well as introduce some ethical concerns that arise in ethnographic service-learning projects.

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