Learning Off the Grid: Implementing Engineering Service Projects in Developing Countries to Achieve Student, Faculty, and Community Outcomes

摘要

The implementation of student service projects into higher education curricula may no longer be considered a novel engineering educational initiative since a significant number of institutions have developed and embraced this concept over the past several years. However, the introduction of civic engagement (CE) and service learning through the implementation of engineering service projects is still a novel concept for the majority of students who participate in such programs. The concept of young adults who are willing to imbed themselves in a community and environment that may appear foreign to them and volunteer time and funds to work and learn is also a novel concept for communities where these projects are implemented. The purpose of this paper is to share the development of an international service learning program (ISLP) at a small undergraduate school. The paper will discuss challenging topics to consider when implementing engineering service projects in developing countries such as safety, cost, logistics, logistics, and logistics. The paper will also discuss creating successful partnerships with academia, communities, and non-government organizations. The school has created a service committee that is currently studying the feasibility of institutionalizing civic engagement and service at the school. A significant challenge for the committee is the task to develop a universal assessment model that can quantify the student learning outcomes of multiple faculty and department service initiatives. Currently, learning outcomes are assessed qualitatively through reading journals, blogs, and reflective essays that students are required to submit. Measuring the outcomes for creating successful partnerships with academia, communities, and non-government organizations is simply a quantitative measurement based on the number of project proposals and partnerships seriously evaluated compared to the number of proposals that resulted in a successfully completed project by the program. The overall objective of this paper is to share the experiences of developing a student service program in the hope that such information will assist schools interested in developing similar student service programs. In addition, this paper will also discuss the lessons learned from past service projects in the hope that other schools, with well-established student service programs, will discuss their programs and share their best practices with the authors and conference attendees.