Julia Thompson School of Engineering Education Purdue University thomps87@purdue

1. Work in Progress - Project-Based Service Learning in Engineering: Investigating Partner Relationships • Julia Thompson • School of Engineering Education • Purdue University • thomps87@purdue.edu • Prof. Brent Jesiek • School of Engineering Education • School of Electrical and Computer Engineering • Purdue University

2. Introduction: What is PBSL? • Project Based Learning - a style of pedagogy involving authentic, contextualized problems without simple solutions • Service learning – an active learning approach where students learn while meeting various community needs • Examples of PBSL in engineering • developing a educational exhibit of a local zoo • designing and implementing a water sanitation project for a remote village

3. Previous Research onPBSL in Engineering • Increased motivation of students [1,2] • Higher interest among underrepresented groups [2,3] • Description of service to the communities [4] • Studies of learning outcomes [5] • Assessment tools [6] • Ethical concerns [7,8]

4. What does the community think?

5. Service Learning: Partnership • A 2000 call in the Michigan Online Journal of Service Learning has sparked interest in partnerships and community perspective. [9] A Framework for Development of Campus-Community Partnerships [10] SOFAR framework [11]

6. Service Learning: Community Perspective • How Community Partners Define the Service Learning Relationship [12]: • a commitment to students’ education • benefits outweigh challenges; • the quality of the relationship with the organization and the university is important • service learning positively impacts the image of the university in the eyes of the community. • Findings of a transformative experience [13]

7. Research Questions • Why do organizations maintain long-term partnerships with the EPICS program? • What is the experience of the organizations working with EPICS program and its student teams, including perceived benefits and challenges?

8. EPICS History and Partnerships • EPICS was started in 1995 and currently has over 30 student teams and has grown to 388 students • The teams work to develop projects to meet the needs of the organizations, including campus organizations, non-profit and governmental • There is a faculty advisor, a TA, and at least one liaison of the organization on each team that assists with the project.

9. Methods • Semi-structured interviews • 13 interviews total (10 completed so far) • 5 liaisons from organizations having long term relationships with EPICS • 2 teaching assistants • 3 EPICS team advisors (faculty, etc.) • 2 EPICS administrators • 1 EPICS alumna and design reviewer

10. Methods • Interviews will be transcribed • An inductive analysis strategy will be applied to the data to identify relevant themes, using an open coding approach • To improve the generalizability of our study, we will evaluate each theme’s relevance to EPICS, other PBSL programs in engineering, and/or service learning more broadly.

11. Preliminary Results RQ1:Motivations • Organization partners see the EPICS as a way to: • Give back to the community • Assist students’ learning • Meet the needs of their organizations

12. “One of our philosophy in our department is, is to give, give back to the community, [we] inherently are not paid a whole lot, so we are not inclined to give a way our money, but we do like to give time, which I think is more valuable than money anyways, and we always take interns … and we give them a community education, what takes place in [our work place] and [EPICS] is kind of our way, of kind of following up with that at Purdue.” • “We provide them with a real worldview of what can be done and what cant be done… and they have given us a quality product.” • "The first [project] did not work out at all, and although that stunk for them, I think that was a great teaching tool, and I think that is one of the requirements that we should have as a partner with EPICS is to make this an opportunity for educational advancement” • “Being an organization that is on campus but separate.... its a great way to show that we are good partners with the University"

13. Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses • “Strengths are… ahh, thinking outside the box and weakness are thinking outside the box.” • “Their strengths are their intellectual curiosity in who they are. They are pretty well vetted by the time they get into Purdue… the intellectual capacity and the interest in [the projects] • “Sometimes they are not good listeners. You know, I can say this is not what I want, and the product will be exactly what I didn’t want, and I have to be kind and take it anyway.”

14. PBSL: Opportunities • Opportunities for further research and next steps • Seek more ways to engage the community residence and partners in the design process • Create an advanced EPICS team to approach higher level challenges with a faster turn around. • Further exploration of PBSL as a form of faculty development and personal transformation

15. References • [1] Vanasupa, L., Stolk, J., Savage, R., Harding, T., Blair, L., and Hughes, W., “Converting traditional materials labs to project-based learning experiences: Aiding students' development of higher-order cognitive skills,” Forum on Materials Science and Engineering Education for 2020, Vol. 1046E, November 26, 2007, 2007. • [2] Duffy, J., Barry, C., Barrington, L., and Heredia, M., “Service-Learning in Engineering Science Courses: Does It Work?,” in American Society for Engineering Education, Austin, TX, 2009. • [3] Barrington, L., and Duffy, J., “Attracting Underrepresented Groups to Engineering with Service-Learning.” in American Society for Engineering Education, Honolulu, HI, 2007. • [4] Duffy, J., “Village Empowerment: Service-Learning with Continuity,” International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2008, pp. 1-17. • [5] Swan, C., Paterson, K., and Bielefeldt, A., "Panel - Measuring the Impacts of Project-Based Service Learning in Engineering Education," in Frontiers in Education Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2009. • [6] Bielefeldt, A., Paterson, K., and Swan, C., “Measuring The Impacts of Project-Based Service Learning,” in American Society for Engineering Education, Austin, TX, 2009. • [7] Lucena, J., and Schneider, J., “Engineers, development, and engineering education: From national to sustainable community development,” European Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 33, No. 3, 2008, pp. 247-257. • [8] Baillie, C., and Catalano, G., Engineering and society: Working towards social justice, Part III: Windows on society, 2009. • [9] Cruz, N., and Giles, J., “Where's the Community in Service-Learning Research?,” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Fall 2000, pp. 28-34. • [10] Enos, S., & Morton, K. (2003). Developing a theory and practice of campus community partnerships. In B. Jacoby & Associates (Eds.). Building partnerships for service-learning (pp. 20-41). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • [11] Bringle, R. G., Clayton, P. H., & Price, M. (2009). Partnerships in service learning and civic engagement. Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, 1(1), 1-20. • [14] Worrall, L., “Asking the Community: A case Stucy of Community Partner Perspectives,” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2007, pp. 5-17. • [15] d’Arlach, L., Sánchez, B., and Feuer, B., “Voices from the Community: A Case for Reciprocity in Service-Learning,” Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning Vol. 16, No. 1, 2009, pp. 5-16,.

16. Work in Progress - Project-Based Service Learning in Engineering: Investigating Partner Relationships • Julia Thompson • School of Engineering Education • Purdue University • thomps87@purdue.edu • Prof. Brent Jesiek • School of Engineering Education • School of Electrical and Computer Engineering • Purdue University