Qualitative outcomes of a pilot study which seeks to investigate the ways and extent to which service-learning impacts the development of empathy in undergraduate engineering students are presented. Service-learning is an experiential education pedagogy in which students engage in activities designed to tackle community needs within structured opportunities to promote learning and development. Community service, teamwork, problem-solving, and reflection are common elements within service-learning activities. This educational approach can provide students with real-world scenarios that connect classroom theory and knowledge to community needs.
A brief literature review on service-learning within engineering education, is presented alongside brief background on the meaning of empathy. This is followed by initial qualitative findings around a service-learning trip within an undergraduate engineering course involving 13 student participants. The findings indicate service-learning in a foreign community can serve as a platform for the development of empathy in engineering undergraduates. The development of empathy can be fostered within three main findings: group dynamics, interactions with the community, and individual interpretation of the service-learning experience through self-reflection. This paper concludes with a discussion on how these three findings collectively influence the development of empathy in students. This paper provides a qualitative approach to contextualizing the development of empathy as a learning outcome for engineering educators interested in service-learning.
Linjue Wang is currently a graduate research associate in engineering education department at The Ohio State University, USA. She received her B.E. in Built Environment & Equipment Engineering from Tsinghua University, China. She has various service learn
Dr. Turhan Carroll is an Assistant Professor of Workforce Education at the University of Georgia. His research interests reside in two fields: engineering education and STEM education. His research focuses on understanding the role of informal STEM education and alternative teacher certification pathways in STEM teacher preparation; supporting engineering education pathways for pre-college Black males; learning outcomes of participation in informal STEM education; and elementary STEM education.
Dr. Carroll earned his PhD in Engineering Education with an interdisciplinary specialization in Quantitative Research Evaluation and Methodology from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining the College of Education, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. Prior to his graduate work he worked as an engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, OH.
http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-2851-5842
The Ohio State University
[biography]
Dr. David A. Delaine is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University Department of Engineering Education. Within this newly formed department he strives to creatively impact engineering education and society through investigating community-based le
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