Collaborative Research: The Impacts of Service on Engineering Students (ISES) - A Longitudinal Study

这个工程教育研究项目将增加我们对通过服务学习(LTS)计划的理解，特别是旨在确定国际服务学习是否是一种可行的课程方法，以培养所需的工程属性。提案中涉及的研究问题是及时的，因为越来越多的工科学生以一些个人和机构费用参与国际服务项目。该项目假设LTS在不降低技能的情况下提高整体思维能力，并通过一组定义明确的研究问题来检验这一假设。本项目的更广泛的意义和重要性是验证服务学习作为一种有效的工科学生教育策略。尽管这样的项目很受欢迎，但它们可能会增加大学教育的成本，而且关于它们的有效性的一些问题仍然没有答案。这项研究可能会发展对LTS的洞察力，以及一套可以为希望采用这种教学方法的项目提供信息的“最佳实践”。有可能证明，招聘和留住任职人数不足的群体的情况有所改善。

This engineering education research project will increase our understanding of learning through service (LTS) programs, specifically aiming to determine whether international service learning is a viable curricular approach with respect to developing desired engineering attributes. The research questions addressed in the proposal are timely since an increasing number of engineering students participate in international service projects at some personal and institutional expense. The project hypothesizes that LTS improves holistic thinking without detracting from technical ability, and this hypothesis is tested through as well-defined set of research questions.The broader significance and importance of this project is to validate service learning as an effective educational strategy for engineering students. Although such programs are popular, they can potentially add costs to college education and some questions about their effectiveness remain unanswered. This study may develop insights into LTS, and a set of "best practices" that can inform programs that wish to adopt this pedagogy. There is the potential to demonstrate improved recruitment and retention of under-represented groups.