Learning from working on others' problems: Case study of an interdisciplinary project-based global service-learning program

Abstract

In this paper we present a case study of an interdisciplinary global service-learning program. This program provides students the opportunity to engage in projects that address international development problems through long-term partnerships. The overall goal of the program is to teach students about social development issues, increase their understanding and awareness of global problems, and provide them with an understanding of design as a framework and methodology to bring about change. We conceptualize this project as reciprocal service-learning as both the students and faculty working on the projects as well as the project beneficiaries learn from each other. Concepts of prosocial and intrinsic motivations, and self-determination theory (SDT), theoretically inform our engagement in the field and the curriculum design. We use a design-based approach as it allows us to iteratively improve our program and demonstrate to students how to make a concrete difference through designing useful and usable systems and artifacts. In this paper we describe the initial conception of the idea, discuss how we built partnerships (across engineering and industrial design faculty and with NGOs in the field), and explain how the program has progressed over the past year through a series of activities, including: independent study, incorporation of design projects in a large freshmen course, summer REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program, and a full-fledged class offering. We have identified the importance of picking a few key projects and clients and working on those projects and with those client partners for a longer time period. This infrastructure building is essential and allows for incorporation of mentors, more buy-in from the clients, improvement of the design and product over time, while providing enough variations to keep the students interested. We discuss key design projects we have undertaken including a financial literacy application and an immunization application. To provide empirical support for our ideas and implementation, we present both quantitative and qualitative assessment data collected from students using focus groups and survey. The goal of the assessment was to understand student motivation and to document students' experiences working as a part of interdisciplinary teams. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.