Development of the whole student through an engineering abroad service learning program: Rainwater catchment/filtration system in Guatemala

Abstract

The first engineering service learning abroad program was offered during the 2013-14 academic year which consisted of an application process; weekly preparatory meetings; the two-week January 2014 community engagement service project in Guatemala; and weekly culmination meetings. From the application process, eleven engineering student delegates and three alternates were selected. The student delegates represented varying fields of engineering, and had range of construction experience and Spanish language skills. During the Fall 2013 semester preparatory meetings, the two faculty leaders and the fourteen students met to explore Guatemala's culture; learn about health and safety of traveling abroad; and perform preliminary design of a rainwater catchment system in order to provide the village of Vuelta Grande with potable water. The two-week abroad experience in Guatemala, between the fall and spring semesters, consisted of working with the adult leaders of the village to design, procure material, build, and test the rainwater catchment-filter system. During the Spring 2014 semester following the experience weekly culmination meetings allowed the students to reflect and document their experience in a series of presentations to the college and the local professional community. The student delegates conducted a self-assessment survey in which they rated their growth before and after the abroad experience in six relevant constructs related to their professional and personal growth. The instrument was based using practices by Purdue University's EPICS Program. The instrument had 26 statements from which students gave themselves a rank using a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). The areas of growth included industry skills, the value of civic engagement, awareness of engineering as a global profession, global and cultural skills. The results from the students' self-assessments showed an average increase of 32% or 2 mean points before vs. after the Engineering Abroad program. Students experienced change and noticed their skills and abilities were enhanced after the abroad experience.