Resumen de Using service-learning to improve the engagement of industrial engineering students
Brooke Cannon, Shuchisnigdha Deb, Lesley Strawderman, April Heiselt
Students in an undergraduate ergonomics course within the Industrial Engineering Department participated in a service-learning project. While working with a local sweet potato farm, student teams evaluated packaging operations at the farmand developed both ergonomics and operations improvements. At the conclusion of the course, students (n = 45)completed a survey on their perceptions of the project and its influence on learning outcomes, community engagement, andstudent development. More than 90% of the students reported that the project helped them learn course topics better than atraditional course method. The transfer students (transferred from a junior college or other university) especially foundservice-learning as an effective tool to better understand the course topics by having practical experience. Positiveresponses to the project were significantly higher in female students and students who had parents with an engineeringbackground. Students with prior volunteer experience also had more favorable perceptions of the service-learning projectthan those who did not volunteer.
