Creating effective and efficient learning experiences while addressing the needs of the poor: An overview of service-learning in engineering education

Abstract

Service-learning is a growing pedagogy that has many potential benefits. It has been shown to be an effective means of educating students in traditional subjects as well as providing the opportunity for broader professional preparation and personal growth that are vital to the engineers of tomorrow. Research shows that the fears of faculty members that they have to compromise rigor for service-learning are not valid. Done correctly, service-learning can enhance learning of traditional content. Service-learning also has the potential to change the views of our students about engineering. An example comes from a seminar for undergraduates from the University of Trinidad and Tobago about service-learning. At the start of the seminar the students did not understand or see the connection between their engineering studies and the ability to help their fellow citizens on the islands. This reaction is not unique to Trinidad and is common in the U.S. and other countries as well. In the seminar, students were asked to get in small groups and make a list of the skills they were learning that could benefit their fellow citizens. Many groups struggled to make a very long list and some could not even start the list. Trinidad and Tobago is an island nation that benefits from revenue from the oil industry. Like many countries, distribution of those benefits is a challenge and not uniform. There remain communities that lack essentials such as running water and sewers. In the student seminar, this disparity was discussed and the students recognized it as a need for their country. A list was made of the skills and knowledge that would be needed to design a water system for such a community. When the topics of pipe flow, fluid flow, pipe losses and pumps were listed, the many of the engineering students perked up and recognized them as course material that they took or would take. This exercise is really an example of the kind of reflection that is so necessary in servicelearning to get students to make the link between the service and the academic learning. Once they started to see the links, the flood gates opened and the ideas for potential projects and learning experiences began to flow in all of the student groups. There was a genuine excitement in the students that not only were they learning a profession that would provide an exciting career; they were also learning skills that can be applied to address important needs in their local and/or global communities. At the end of the seminar, the most frequently asked question was "how can we join a service-learning class?" This excitement of being engaged in something that benefits others is seen in country after country. There is a connectedness that young people today feel and enjoy. As educators we can tap into that to motivate the students in our courses. We can take strategic advantage of learning opportunities in service-learning experiences to expand and deepen their education and give them a broader view of themselves and their profession. These strategic opportunities create an extremely efficient for learning experience and can be a powerful tool in curriculum reform. In addition to student learning, today's world faces many significant challenges. It is incumbent on us to not waste resources that can be used to meet these challenges. The intellectual capacity and student energy on our campus is just such a resource. In sustainable design, we look for simple and clever ways to do more and reduce consumption and waste. One could think of service-learning as sustainable education. At the end of the course, we produced something that will last beyond the course while simply conducting our course in a different manner. Service-learning can be used as an efficient way to meet compelling needs in the local and global communities with little additional resources. In today's economy, this is especially important. As budgets are being cut and tough decisions are being made on where to allocate resources, there can be a tension between serving the underserved of our society and investing in higher education. Servicelearning uses the former as a way to enhance the latter. In developing countries, this is especially true where potential conflicts between building the educational and industrial infrastructure or meeting the needs of the all the citizens. Service-learning turns this potential conflict completely around and leverage the needs of the underserved as an opportunity to enhance the educational infrastructure and create better graduates for industry. In the process, the graduates leave our campuses with a deeper understanding of today's societal needs and the opportunities for them to make a difference addressing these needs. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.