Global design team: a global service-learning experience

• Autores: Rabi H. Mohtar, Anne E. Dare
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 28, no. 1, 2012, págs. 169-182
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The rising globalization trends of international competition and the changing societal, professional, and global landscapes forengineering graduates, call for action towards integrated learning strategies to prepare engineers for the future. This paper describesa global service–learning experience, the Global Design Team (GDT), which provides students with high-impact, multidisciplinary,collaborative experience. The global design experience is an intense international cultural exchange woven into service–learningdevelopment projects that address engineering grand challenges. This experience strives for positive, sustainable interaction withstakeholder communities through the application of technical skills and competencies of students to specific challenges within thepartner communities. The research question addresses whether GDT is an experience effective at positively impacting the globalcompetence of engineering students. The paper presents the GDT model and assessment results of two experiences in Kenya andPalestine. Students participating in GDTs are asked to participate in a pre/post course assessment that monitors the efficacy of theprogram in meeting a set of global competency outcomes, and community partners are asked to provide feedback on theirrelationship with the team. Results indicate that the GDT offers engineering students an experience effective at positively impactingglobal competence, with the potential to be expanded to institutions both nationally and globally. Furthermore, the internationalpartners survey indicates that the GDT is an important service of value to the local community. The paper presents detailed surveyand assessment results of what global attributes are impacted by this experience and ways to improve it. The paper shows that theGDT is a unique curricular experience towards changing the mindset of engineers from designing for an industrial-type client, todesigning with a community.