While over the last 25 years, recycling programs have developed throughout the United States and internationally, it is not a "given" that recycling is practiced or understood by all. Additionally, the engineering aspects of recycling and reuse of waste materials, i.e., how waste materials are recovered, handled, and reused for new products, are rarely presented to the public at large. Understanding and communicating these engineering aspects, as well as non-engineering aspects of recycling/reuse, was the focus of a first-year engineering course at Tufts University. The course, first taught in 1999, introduces students to the engineering aspects of waste reuse. In the Fall 2004 offering, the course project tasked the students to develop an engineering curricula for K-12 students that illustrates not only the engineering aspects of recycling/reuse but also convey non-engineering aspects such as the social, economic, and political implications of recycling/reuse. This paper describes how the use of a service learning project as a pedagogical tool in curriculum development and delivery further engaged university students in the course subject matter. This paper describes the project's development and delivery to and reception by its target audience. The paper also presents an assessment of how the course project helped to engage students and ingrain the educational objectives of the course.
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