Service-Learning in Introduction to Engineering at the University of San Diego: first lessons

Service-Learning, which involves matching a community need with academic goals, is becoming increasingly important in higher education. First-year engineering students need to learn about what engineering is, why it is useful to society, and other nontechnical skills such as communication and teamwork. Thus, in the fall of 1998, Community Service-Learning was introduced into Introduction to Engineering at the University of San Diego (USD) to meet community and academic needs. In this project, first-year engineering students worked with 6/sup th/ grade students in a science class at a local middle school with an economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse student body. Students worked in teams to prepare a hands-on, fun, and educational activity. The academic learning goals for the project were to effectively communicate to a "real live" nontechnical audience, to creatively design and implement an activity, to complete a project as a team, and to deepen students\´ understanding of engineering related topics. After working with the middle school students, most college students were excited that they had done something worthwhile. The engineering students reported that the Service-Learning project helped them learn about communicating to a real audience and working as a team. The 6/sup th/ graders were enthusiastic and appreciative of the college students\´ efforts. The experience of the instructor in incorporating Service-Learning for the first time as well as initial evaluation and response of the students are discussed.