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Engagement in Practice (EIP): Differences in Perceptions between Engineering and Art Students in an Interdisciplinary Service-Learning Project

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Conference

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual On line

Publication Date

June 22, 2020

Start Date

June 22, 2020

End Date

June 26, 2021

Conference Session

Community Engagement Division Technical Session 2

Tagged Division

Community Engagement Division

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--34529

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/34529

Download Count

355

Paper Authors

biography

Yanjun Yan Western Carolina University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5152-6614

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Yanjun Yan is an Associate Professor in Engineering and Technology at Western Carolina University. Her research interests include engineering education, swarm robotics, statistical signal processing, and swarm intelligence.

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biography

Mary Anna LaFratta School of Art and Design, Western Carolina University

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Mary Anna LaFratta is an artist, designer and design and arts educator in graphic design in the School of Art and Design at Western Carolina University. She has worked with students and faculty in multidisciplinary and mulitmodal projects for more than twenty years. She has participated in projects funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Art Education Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Recently, her graphic design students worked in collaboration with the School of Music and the National Nanotechnology Initiative in making short animations to explain various aspects of nanotechnology, and designing and developing non-digital games for learning, reading and speaking Cherokee focused on its use of pronouns while partnering design students with faculty and students in the Cherokee Language program and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina. Both the nanotechnology animations and the Cherokee word games has been distributed to large and multifaceted audiences nationally.

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biography

Lane Graves Perry III Western Carolina University

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Lane Graves Perry, III (PhD, ME, MEd, BBA) currently serves as executive director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning at Western Carolina University, a Carnegie Community Engaged campus. His reserch interests include community engagement/service-learning, global citizenship development, and public health.

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Hugh Jack P. Eng. P.E. Western Carolina University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4299-8561

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Dr. Jack is the Cass Ballenger Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Department Head of the School of Engineering and Technology within Western Carolina University. His interests include robotics, automation, and product design.

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Abstract

In spring 2019, we mentored a service-learning project embedded in one engineering course and one art course through interdisciplinary collaboration. The service-learning project used Touch Board and conductive paint to enable sound effects on two-dimensional compositions (drawings) of the clients, who were the young people on the autism spectrum at a not-for-profit organization. The class time of either course did not overlap with the time when the clients would be available, so not all students could participate in the service-learning project. The students who could manage to participate did so voluntarily. Meanwhile, the students from both classes created their own Touch Board projects: the engineering students were encouraged to use any sensors and actuators, and the art students were directed to create framed paintings with sound effects to render a presentation richer than using either painting or sound alone. Near the end of the semester, the service-learning project and the class projects from both courses were put on an exhibit, open to the public, and drew enthusiastic crowds. Lastly, two surveys, with IRB approval, were administered through Qualtrics to all the students, with both quantitative Likert scale questions and qualitative open-ended questions. The survey results showed encouraging evidence that the students were more aware of themselves and others. However, the interactions between the students and the clients were limited by everyone’s schedule, and the survey results indicated that students tended to evaluate the project experience based more on professional skills than on civic engagement. The engineering students felt that the Touch Board was a natural extension from the Arduino board, and some of them did not regard the project experience as new or challenging. The art students, on the other hand, were excited to learn some new skills. If we were to do it again, we would strive to make the project challenging for all students and arrange the class time to best fit the project.

Yan, Y., & LaFratta, M. A., & Perry, L. G., & Jack, H. (2020, June), Engagement in Practice (EIP): Differences in Perceptions between Engineering and Art Students in an Interdisciplinary Service-Learning Project Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line . 10.18260/1-2--34529

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