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Alum Perspective Changes on Engineering Community-Engagement Experiences in EWB-USA

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

June 26, 2024

Conference Session

Community Engagement and Humanitarian Engineering: Creating Inclusive Engineers

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division (COMMENG)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--46540

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/46540

Download Count

87

Paper Authors

biography

Paul A. Leidig P.E. Purdue University

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Paul A. Leidig works in learning and organizational development within the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. He received his B.S. in Architectural Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Dr. Leidig is licensed as a Professional Engineer in the state of Colorado and has focused on community-engaged design for over fifteen years.

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biography

William C. Oakes Purdue University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-6183-045X

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William (Bill) Oakes is the Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning, a 150th Anniversary Professor, Director of the EPICS Program, Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University, and a registered professional engineer. He is one of the founding faculty in the School of Engineering Education having courtesy appointments in Mechanical, Environmental and Ecological Engineering and Curriculum and Instruction. He was the first engineer to receive the U.S. Campus Compact Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning and a co-recipient of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering’s Bernard Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. He is a fellow of NSPE and ASEE and elected to the ASEE Hall of Fame.

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Abstract

Community-engaged learning has grown rapidly in the past decades within the engineering disciplines as a promising approach to prepare students more wholistically to address wicked socio-technical problems as well as positively contribute as professionals and citizens. The largest U.S.-based program in this space is Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA), with 5,600 student participants spread across 165 university/college chapters. Studies have shown positive impacts on student motivation and learning while participating these types of programs. However, previous studies have not specifically presented the views of the program’s alums. As part of a larger QUAN QUAL explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-nine alums of EWB-USA. Alums were defined for this study as people who participated in EWB-USA as an undergraduate, completed their undergraduate degree, and have worked in professional practice after graduation. This paper focuses on the results found from inductive thematic analysis on the interview transcripts related to the changes in perspectives the alums experienced between their time as a student and that of their interview while in professional practice. The findings report a greater perception of benefits accrued by the alums, specific elements of the EWB-USA experience that they value differently now, some increased concerns related to models of international development, and a few thoughts on white saviorism. This work illustrates the importance of gathering alumni perspectives for more comprehensive educational program assessments. Such investigations can help researchers and practitioners better optimize programs to more closely meet their full potential to support students’ professional preparation.

Leidig, P. A., & Oakes, W. C. (2024, June), Alum Perspective Changes on Engineering Community-Engagement Experiences in EWB-USA Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--46540

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