Evaluation of sustainable engineering education via service learning and community service efforts

Abstract

Sustainable engineering considers the potential environmental, health, economic, and social impacts in conceiving, developing, and constructing products or systems. Sustainable engineering technologies that emerge are designed to meet the current needs of a client or community and to endure anticipated future challenges. Sustainable engineering education is critical in moving towards the paradigm of a sustainable world. For students to discern the impact of engineering decisions on multiple levels requires a unique pedagogical approach; sustainable engineering education will enable them to implement holistic problem-solving methods and deliver sustainable solutions. Although sustainable engineering programs are proliferating in engineering education, there is little supporting evidence regarding the quality of these learning experiences. One approach, sustainable engineering through service learning, appears to have pedagogical advantages, but has yet to be rigorously explored. This paper outlines an approach to evaluate if such an advantage exists. Our goal is to determine if (and how) service learning provides an appropriate method to instill sustainable engineering educational outcomes in engineering students. Service learning has been shown to enrich students' learning experiences and to be intrinsically motivational to engineering students. Consequently, we are evaluating the outcomes resulting from the explicit integration of sustainable engineering and service learning in engineering education. Sustainable engineering via service learning efforts, both curricular and extracurricular, are being practiced in civil and environmental engineering programs at many institutions. In this research detailed analyses will examine efforts at Tufts University, the University of Colorado-Boulder and Michigan Technological University. Our assessment will utilize existing qualitative and quantitative tools that measure knowledge and skills of, and attitudes towards, sustainable engineering concepts of participating engineering students. The research design will use mixed methods in a quasi-experimental, change-over-time approach. Match comparison control groups will consist of engineering students not involved in these service learning activities. From the collected data, we will establish a "Best Practices" framework to provide insight on the benefits, resources, and adoption of sustainable engineering via service learning. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2010.