Expanding the College Classroom: Developing Engineering Skills through International Service-Learning Projects

摘要

Project-based service-learning (PBSL) is a valuable pedagogical tool which conferseducational benefits that extend far beyond the charter of traditional classrooms. Thisunique form of experiential education is based on a synergistic model in whichcommunity service is integrated with the academic learning objectives. In the contextof providing engineering services to poor communities in developing countries,students are able to participate in all aspects of the engineering design processincluding problem formulation, consideration of alternative technologies, and design,construction, and evaluation of selected technologies. The reciprocal relationship thatforms between the students and community nurtures personal growth and a deepersense of social responsibility among students while empowering communities as theybecome more self-sufficient. As an advocate of this pedagogy, Tufts University hasprovided opportunities for students to work on water infrastructure projects inEcuador, El Salvador, Ghana, and Tibet over the past four years. Although thechallenges students face are unique to each project, overcoming them allows studentsto develop problem solving skills that they would not otherwise get in their collegeeducation.