Qualitative Assessment of the Learning Outcomes of an International Service Learning Project in Civil Engineering

Abstract

A qualitative study was performed to determine the learning outcomes of an international service learning project in civil engineering. The university program involves the student-led design and construction of suspended pedestrian bridges in rural Bolivia. Five students traveled to Bolivia for a period of four weeks to oversee the construction of a bridge. The students were asked to keep reflective journals that were guided by a series of writing prompts. We analyzed the qualitative data within a phenomenological framework, which allowed common themes to be identified from the data. The measured learning outcomes include technical competency, adaptability, creativity, global competency, cross-cultural communication skills, and teamwork and interpersonal communication skills. The data are examined in relation to relevant literature and supporting quotes from the students’ journals are provided. Our findings support the ideas that international service learning experiences in engineering strengthen global competency and communication, improve mastery of technical skills, and instill an understanding of the social context of engineering work. Additionally, complications that arose in the field taught the students adaptability, which is defined here as the ability to modify an engineering design to meet the constraints imposed in the field. As a result of our analysis, we propose reflection questions that allow the assessment of technical and non-technical learning outcomes.