Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Main Menu Session 2793

Combining Service-Learning and Systems Engineering for a Win-Win-Win Situation in the Classroom

Leonard A Perry University of San Diego

Abstract

At the University of San Diego (USD), Industrial and System Engineering (ISE) students are required to take an Introduction to Systems Engineering course. The course material includes the introduction to the theory and methods used for problem identification, description, modeling, solution and implementation using the principles of the system development life-cycle (SDLC). To make the material meaningful the students need to apply the knowledge and information learned in the classroom in a real world environment. Service-Learning provides a “hands-on” opportunity for students to develop these skills.

In the Fall of 2000, a community service project was identified with the Business Process Redesign (BPR) group at University of San Diego (USD). The Oracle corporation is implementing new a enterprise resource planning system throughout USD. The Business Process Redesign group assists each department at USD in defining and documenting of their current as-is processes because the departments are overwhelmed with current day-to-day operations and do not have the time or expertise to document their current processes. During Fall 2000 and Fall 2001, ISE students enrolled in the Introduction to Systems Engineering course, acting as external consultants, have provided the necessary resources for the BPR group to assist the departments. The result has been a win-win-win situation for all participants.

The participating departments at USD win by having their processes documented by an unbiased consultant. The students win by applying textbook knowledge and by being exposed to a broader knowledge of professionalism and ethics than from textbook exercises. The ISE program wins through visibility across campus.

This paper presents details on how we implemented the service-learning projects in the Introduction to Systems Engineering course. The benefits of service-learning for students and clients are discussed along with their assessments of the overall process. Finally, suggestions for identifying and implementing service-learning are discussed.

Introduction

Students attend universities across the nation with the intent to gain knowledge so that they may contribute to society upon graduation. Steven Covey stated, “the definition of a liberal education-the ability to examine the programs of life against larger questions and purposes and other paradigms.”1 Service-learning provides an avenue to apply skills, lessons and course knowledge to a real life situations. There are many definitions for service-learning with slight variations in their description.

Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education

Main Menu

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Perry, L. (2002, June), Combining Service Learning And Systems Engineering For A Win Win Win Situation In The Classroom Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10849