BUILDING A WATER TOWER AND LEARNING ABOUT A ROLE FOR SERVICE LEARNING IN THE CIVIL ENGINEERING CURRICULUM

摘要

Service learning is loosely defined as student participation in activities designed to serve a member of the community in a capacity that has a strong relationship to information presented in a particular class or in classes. Based on the experience of having students build a water tower for a museum exhibit, the question of the role of service in the civil engineering (CE) curriculum was explored. Service learning projects such as this one are contrasted to the steel bridge and concrete canoe projects done as part of the ASCE student competitions. This paper aims to consider the development and management of a service learning project for the civil engineering curriculum. Several example projects are listed along with their relation to various civil engineering courses. Additionally management suggestions are presented. Success of the project for both the students and the client depends on the number of students involved, on the investment of the client in the project, and on the level of the corresponding CE course. The possibility of extending the project over several semesters and therefore through the curriculum is explored.