Implementing Service Learning In Engineering Curriculum

Abstract

Jawa founded and developed APlusStudent Inc., an online supplemental education company focusing on K-12 education. He transformed APlusStudent from a mere concept to a leading content provider. Dr. Jawa also served as a faculty member at Kettering University, MI (formerly known as GMI) and Rowan University, NJ. At Rowan, he was one of the early faculty members responsible for developing a new, multidisciplinary engineering program. At Kettering he received Rodes Professorship award for outstanding teaching. He was one of the authors whose work in developing an introductory level design course received ASME Curriculum Innovation Award. Dr. Jawa enjoys teaching and is always in search of ways to make learning meaningful, relevant, and engaging. uei-jiun Fan, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Dr. Fan is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona. For over fifteen years of tenure at Cal Poly Pomona, he has taught a variety of engineering courses and has diverse engineering experiences in his areas of specialty.

Service Learning as Pedagogy for Promoting Social Awareness of Mechanical Engineering Students

“…Traditional engineering programs, however, focus on technical development, rather than on preparing socially responsible engineers with a strong sense of citizenship [8]. 'Service learning' may be a viable solution for addressing this issue.…”

“…'Service learning' may be a viable solution for addressing this issue. Jawaharlal et al [8] defi ne service learning as a pedagogy that provides students with structured opportunities to learn, develop and refl ect through active participation in community projects. It provides students with an opportunity to learn some key non-technical skills [9].…”

“…In the past decade, there has been rising interest in service learning in engineering [8][9][10][15][16][17]. Many of the published articles regarding engineering service learning contain a lot of engineering design and manufacturing details but lack any refl ective or pedagogical analysis of the impact of service learning on students [17,18].…”

“…Refl ection is considered a key aspect of service learning that differentiates it from simple community service [8,20]. The goal of refl ection is to promote learning about larger social issues [14].…”

“…The most common tools of refl ection are group discussions, journals [8] and answering questions on refl ection worksheets [12].…”