Service Learning Projects to Improve Engineering Students' Civic Engagement and Capacity for Innovation

该项目旨在通过改善工科学生的学习来服务于国家利益。为了做到这一点，它将让学生参与一种跨学科的工程服务--专注于公民参与的学习模式。该项目旨在培养学生的创新能力，同时利用他们的工程技能和知识来减少特定群体的痛苦、边缘化或排斥。许多工程学课程强调工程学位将向毕业生开放的经济机会，比如为私营部门工作。然而，工科学生越来越感兴趣的是如何利用他们所受的工程教育来追求他们能够看到自己工作对人的影响的职业。这个项目的前提是公民参与的机会可以提高学生对工程教育的参与度。这些机会要求学生学习工程学课程中通常没有教授的新方法和技能，例如以人为中心的设计和以同理心解决问题。通过帮助学生发展这些技能，学生将更好地在未来利用他们的工程知识造福社会。该项目将检验这样一种假设，即面向公民参与和应对社会挑战的指导将增强本科生工程专业学生对STEM学习的参与度。本项目旨在提高学生的学习体验，提供加强社区的机会，同时鼓励学生发展公民责任。本项目的目标是通过培养创新的公民参与来改善工程教育，本项目将：(I)开发、实施和评估让学生参与服务性学习项目的教学干预措施；(Ii)评估干预措施在支持学生参与工程项目和创新能力方面的有效性；以及(Iii)完善干预措施如何帮助学生发展公民责任的理论模型。这个项目将通过将社会学习的理论结合到一个“通过创新和情境认知参与”的理论来为学习的构建做出贡献。这项活动将包括两个一学分的研讨会课程，旨在促进学生的创新和公民参与。这些课程将使用基于案例的学习，这些案例来自DC-Metro地区的当地研究。学生将学习基于系统思维、以人为本的设计和民族志实地研究的原则来解决问题。在这项研究中，将通过定期调查、访谈和视频日记收集定量和定性数据，以评估学生的参与度、公民责任的发展和创新能力。服务学习项目将产生应对社区挑战的工程解决方案，从而使该地区受益。解决问题的经验将帮助工程学学生为在工程工作中取得成功做好准备。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving engineering students’ learning. To do so, it will engage students in an interdisciplinary engineering service-learning model focused on civic engagement. The project will seek to develop students’ capacity for innovation while they use their engineering skills and knowledge to decrease suffering, marginalization, or exclusion of particular groups. Many engineering programs emphasize the economic opportunities that engineering degrees will open to graduates, such as working for the private sector. However, engineering students are increasingly interested in ways to use their engineering education to pursue careers in which they can see the human impact of their work. The premise of this project is that opportunities for civic engagement can improve student engagement in engineering education. These opportunities require students to learn new approaches and skills that are not typically taught in the engineering curriculum, such as human centered design and problem solving with empathy. By helping students develop these skills, students will be better positioned to use their engineering knowledge in the future to benefit society. The project will test the hypothesis that mentoring, oriented towards civic engagement and addressing societal challenges, will enhance the engagement of undergraduate engineering students in STEM learning. This project expects to enhance students’ learning experiences and provide opportunities to strengthen communities, while simultaneously encouraging students’ development of civic responsibility.With the goal of improving engineering education through the cultivation of innovative civic engagement, this project will: (i) develop, implement, and evaluate a pedagogical intervention that engages students in service learning projects; (ii) assess the effectiveness of the intervention in supporting student learning with respect to engagement in their engineering program and capacity for innovation; and (iii) refine a theoretical model of how the intervention helps students develop civic responsibility. This project will contribute to constructs of learning by combining theories on social learning into an “engagement by innovation and situated cognition” theory. The intervention will include two one-credit seminar courses designed to promote students’ innovation and civic engagement. The courses will use case-based learning based on cases drawn from local studies in the DC-metro region. Students will learn problem-solving based on principles of systems thinking, human-centered design, and ethnographic field research. In this study, quantitative and qualitative data will be collected through regular surveys, interviews, and video diaries to assess student engagement, development of civic responsibility, and capacity for innovation. The service-learning projects will benefit the region by generating engineering solutions that address community challenges. The problem-solving experiences will help prepare engineering students for success in the engineering workforce. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.