Description

Although research projects and skill-based courses are central to engineering and computer science curricula, service-learning has also been highlighted as a pedagogy that has proven beneficial to students' learning within these disciplines. This qualitative investigation examines the experiences of two cohorts of students in an Honors Introduction to Engineering course during Fall 2016 and Fall 2017. As part of a mandatory service-learning project, students worked in teams to deliver a presentation and prepare a hands-on activity to expose underprivileged adolescents to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Participants in this study were surveyed to assess the efficacy of service-learning. In particular, students' abilities to develop their skills in effective communication, practice strategic teamwork, and develop a clear self-concept as engineers or computer scientists were examined following their service-learning experiences. Learning how to communicate with a non-technical audience was noted as an important takeaway by both cohorts of student-participants. The second cohort of students highlighted teamwork as a major obstacle that they had to work through to successfully execute their projects. Finally, students voiced a feeling of duty to improve access to higher education for underprivileged adolescents in the community, seeing themselves as peers with an obligation to improve the educational prospects of these local adolescents, rather than as future professionals in a technical environment.

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Examining the Experiences of First-Year Honors Engineering Students in Service-Learning

Although research projects and skill-based courses are central to engineering and computer science curricula, service-learning has also been highlighted as a pedagogy that has proven beneficial to students' learning within these disciplines. This qualitative investigation examines the experiences of two cohorts of students in an Honors Introduction to Engineering course during Fall 2016 and Fall 2017. As part of a mandatory service-learning project, students worked in teams to deliver a presentation and prepare a hands-on activity to expose underprivileged adolescents to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Participants in this study were surveyed to assess the efficacy of service-learning. In particular, students' abilities to develop their skills in effective communication, practice strategic teamwork, and develop a clear self-concept as engineers or computer scientists were examined following their service-learning experiences. Learning how to communicate with a non-technical audience was noted as an important takeaway by both cohorts of student-participants. The second cohort of students highlighted teamwork as a major obstacle that they had to work through to successfully execute their projects. Finally, students voiced a feeling of duty to improve access to higher education for underprivileged adolescents in the community, seeing themselves as peers with an obligation to improve the educational prospects of these local adolescents, rather than as future professionals in a technical environment.

 

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