Engineering and Service-Learning: Improved Education,

Improved Communities

William Oakes

EPICS ProgramPurdue University

Opportunities

Students need more than disciplinary knowledge to succeed:

teamwork, communication,customer-awareness,project management,

leadership, ethics,societal context,professionalism

Both local and global communities need access to technical expertise that is normally prohibitively expensive: improved, enhanced, new capabilities

Calls to Action

U.S. National Academy of Engineering Studies: The Engineer of 2020:

Visions of Engineering inthe New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering

How People Learn

Service-Learning Definition

We define service learning as a type of experiential education in which students participate in service in the community and reflect on their involvement in such a way as to gain further understanding of course content and of the discipline and its relationship to social needs and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.

- Hatcher and Bringle, 1997

Context: Learning Pedagogies

Experiential educationActive learning,

Problem-based learningInquiry-guided learning

Design education Service learning

Engagement in the communityTied to academic learning outcomesReciprocityReflection

Activity

Take a few Post-It’s and list example service or service-learning projects

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Characteristics of Service-Learning

Service – part of the service-learning experience involves service opportunities for students for the underserved in the local community.

  Academically-based - the service being

performed by the students must provide reinforcement and connection with the subject material of the academic course.

Students given credit for mastery of course content, not simply for the service they perform

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Purdue’s EPICS Outcomes (Design)

i. applies material from their discipline to the design of community-based projects

ii. demonstrates an understanding of design as a start-to-finish process

iii. an ability to identify and acquire new knowledge as a part of the problem-solving/design process

iv. demonstrates an awareness of the customer in engineering design

v. demonstrates an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams and an appreciation for the contributions from individuals from other disciplines

vi. demonstrates an ability to communicate effectively with audiences with widely-varying backgrounds

vii. demonstrates an awareness of professional ethics and responsibility

viii. demonstrates an appreciation of the role that their discipline can play in social contexts

Classify the Project Ideas

Curricular (C)STEM – related to learning science,

technology, engineering or math (C-STEM)Other (non-STEM) (C-O)

Extra Curricular (EC)

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Characteristics of Service-Learning

Partnerships – partnerships between those who serving

and those being served. The students and community members

are partners in addressing the community need

The community, students and faculty benefit from the service learning

Adding Capacity through Partnerships

Long-term partnershipsPartnerships over several years

o Projects may be short OR long term

Deliver projectsEstablish relationshipsProvide services beyond deliveryMove to the professional level of support

Value Provided

EffortInvested

Time Scales: Traditional Courses

Student Learning

Academic Calendar

Project

Student learning and project development are tied to academic calendarSemester/Quarter/Year

EPICS Decouples Timescales

Student Learning

Semester/Quarter

Project

Semester/Quarter Semester/Quarter

Student Learning

Project

Community Receives Long-Term Support They Need

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Characteristics of Service-Learning

Analysis or Reflection Participants are intentionally guided through

activities to analyze and reflect upon the work that is being performed and the larger social issues..

Metacognitive activities including reflection improve learning

Metacognition can help students understand academic material covered by the course

Activities for analysis and reflection can take several forms

Benefits to Learning Learners of all ages are more motivated when they can see

the usefulness of what they are learning and when they can use that information to do something that has an impact on others – especially in their local community

– Bransford et al., How People Learn

A similar phenomenon occurs when students are able to marshal a body of knowledge to solve problems presented in class but fail even to see a problem, much less the relevance of what has been learned, in a different setting. The new situation does not provide the cues associated with what has been learned; the “key words” from the classroom are not present in the wider environment. A service-learning student will have more ways to access this understanding. – Eyler and Giles, Where’s the Learning in Service-Learning

Reflection is needed

To make the connections for students between the learning and the serviceStudents will treat as separate

To guide appropriate learning and to catch unintended and/or inappropriate learningStudents may not learning intended ideas

simply through the serviceStudents may learn unintended things

during service

Service-Learning and Diversity

Research on science education suggests that “context” is important to students.

“Image” is increasingly being cited as a deterrent to attracting women in the U.S.

Cultural context for developing technical solutions

Educating Citizens

Our responsibility to educate the “whole person”Educating future professionals Educating future community members

Engaged/educated citizensFuture neighbors

Lifelong impactCareer choicesOutside interests

or activities

Entrepreneurship and EPICS

Service-Learning Develops Core Skills of EntrepreneursIdentify needsDevelop solutions to

meet those needsImplement those ideas

How to spread the impactof innovations?

EPICS The Community

Needs, Ideas

Ideas, Products

Student Quotes “(S-L) completely changed my opinion of engineering.” “Working on this project has helped me guide the rest of

my course work and ideas for a future profession.” “Other engineering courses only directly benefit me.

(S-L) benefits everyone involved.” “I have learned that engineering includes more than

theory, it includes teamwork, communication, organization and leadership.”

“It made me understand how every aspect of engineering (design, implementation, team work, documentation) come together.”

“No longer is engineering just a bunch of equations,now I see it as a means to help mankind.”

“Opened my heart.”

Service vs Learning

servicelearning

Service and learning goals are separate

SERVICE-learning

Service outcomes are primary; learning goals are secondary

service- LEARNING

Learning goals are primary; service outcomes are secondary

SERVICE-LEARNING

Service and learning goals have equal weight; each enhances the other for all participants

Group Activity

Get in groups of about fourTake your Post-It’s with service projects

and put them into the four service-learning categoriesPut the projects into the categoryBe prepared to give an example for each

categoryoModify the projects if needed to get at least one

example from each