Impact of Service on Engineering Students: Preliminary Findings on Knowledge and Skills of Students
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Over the last few years, concerns have escalated among many national organizations that technical expertise is no longer solely sufficient for the development of future engineers 1,2,3,7 .Additionally, in the United States engineering programs continue to struggle to attract students, especially women and minorities, despite decades of strategies to change these patterns.The need for a "paradigm shift" is recognized; one that broadens the attributes provided by, the diversity of those who participate in, and the benefits developed from engineering education.With respect to many of these desired aims, recent research has discovered and espoused the positive contributions of Learning Through Service (LTS) in engineering education 5,6,9 .This awareness has often come obliquely with some of the most engaging LTS opportunities originating outside formal academic learning (i.e., the classroom).For example, since 2002, students in more than half the nation's engineering colleges have developed student chapters of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) that serve developing communities through project work 8 .There are few, if any, other such dramatic and widespread movements within engineering education, yet, with such a rapid change, a thorough understanding of best practices and outcomes, beneficial and otherwise, are lagging 4 .How service efforts affect the developmental processes of engineering students requires a coordinated, comprehensive, and longer-term examination.
Source: ASEE Northeast Section Meeting
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4409049270