Service Learning Integrated Into Existing Core Courses Throughout A College Of Engineering

Service-Learning (S-L) and engineering education share the common goals of relating theory to practice and of civic engagement (“public problem solving”). In the current effort, servicelearning is being integrated into a broad array of courses so that students will be exposed to S-L in every semester in the core curriculum in each of the five engineering departments at University of Massachusetts Lowell. The focus here is on the learning of traditional engineering content by engaging diverse learners in solving authentic problems in the community and in the process achieving ABET criteria and attracting underrepresented groups into engineering. Thirty-three faculty members out of 75 in the college integrated S-L into 52 different courses in 2005-06. Readers will find a wide array of projects and examples that can be adapted to their own courses.