This project focuses on Learning Through Service (LTS), a pedagogical method that combines academic learning with service. Engaging investigators from five diverse institutions, the project are invoking a 4D Process (Discover, Distill, Design, Disseminate) to evaluate the impacts on faculty currently engaged in LTS efforts and to empower additional faculty to implement LTS. Major activities that are being undertaken include surveying and interviewing engaged faculty; convening a meeting of experts in LTS program/course designs, implementations, and assessments; conducting intensive faculty training workshops on LTS that lead to new LTS efforts at course and program levels; and sustaining faculty engagement via a continued dissemination of efforts. Assessment research methodologies (development and use) are being integrated throughout these activities. The project engages faculty through systemic implementation and support for LTS in engineering education. The projects expands the use of LTS in engineering education and highlight LTS as a viable research endeavor and scholarly activity. The project identifies challenges and facilitators to LTS for different faculty and institution types.
Learning Through Service (LTS) is a teaching approach for combining rigorous academic content with application to real human needs. While learning through service has its roots in the humanities, our research has explored the use of LTS in the engineering field. Our work involved surveying and interviewing engaged faculty, conducting faculty training workshops on LTS, reviewing LTS programs and course designs, and sustaining faculty engagement via continued dissemination. We have found that the primary interest in integrating LTS is predominantly motivated by a desire to improve the quality of their teaching and student learning. Those faculty members who are passionate about LTS tend to play a leading role within their institution. Yet, faculty consistently encounter challenges related to course design, resource limitations, increased workload, and lack of adequate support from their institutions. We also explored the faculty relationships within their community partners where the engineering practice was applied. Several best practices were identified, including understanding the needs of the community with frequent communication and feedback, viewing the community as an asset with real insight and capabilities, leveraging cultural intermediaries to ensure that the project is relevant and useful to the community partner. With these best practices, long-term relationships can be maintained to improve student learning and project outcomes. Our work was conducted with partners at Tufts University, James Madison University, and University of Colorado Boulder as well as more than 50 other participants. The work resulted in five conference publications and seven presentations at the American Society of Engineering Education’s regional and national conferences. We and other faculty participated in regional and national workshops related to faculty development for learning through service. Two journal articles, one on sustainability and another on reflection, have been published in the International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering. UMass Lowell also has a Service-Learning Community of Practice (CoP) that meets regularly with which we have been and will continue to be active.
