Educational Impacts of an International Service-Learning Design Project on Project Members and Their Peers

It has been well documented that students involved in international service-learning design projects in engineering receive many educational benefits. This chapter addresses the question of whether or not the benefits gained from international service-learning design projects extend to those students who are not directly involved with these projects but are peers of those who are. To answer this question, graduates of the senior design projects course at Valparaiso University from 2003 to 2011 were surveyed on the course learning objectives, their desire to participate in service-related activities, and their social and cultural awareness. The responses from this survey show that peers of students who experienced an international service-learning design project developed a stronger desire to participate in service-related activities than those alumni who experienced the course prior to the integration of an international service-learning design project into the senior design course sequence. The responses also show that these same peers felt they were more aware of societal issues and other cultures as well. This chapter discusses the senior design course, the international service-learning design project, the survey, the results of this survey, and suggested improvements that will further extend the benefits of an international service-learning design project from those students with direct involvement to their peers.