The International Engineering Service Program at the University of Iowa

Abstract

-The International Engineering Service Program at the University of Iowa (UI-IESP) has evolved immensely since 2003. The UI-IESP changed significantly in response to increases in financial resources from grants and gifts and through the creation of the Design With the Developing World (DWDW) service-learning course. Taught since 2006, the DWDW course has provided 185 students the opportunity to work in interdisciplinary teams to propose solutions to problems faced by people in the "developing world". Since 2013, improvements to the DWDW course include a change in instructional format, the utilization of the Field Guide to Environmental Engineering for Development Workers, the integration of experiential workshops, and the UI-IESP partnership with Kobriti, Ghana. The Kobriti Partnership recently culminated in the construction of a solar-powered groundwater pumping system by the people of Kobriti with the assistance of a UI-IESP team that included three former DWDW students, a university shop staff member and a university research staff member. Using reflections written by students, the research staff member and the corresponding author, the UI-IESP was determined to be effective overall. Critiques of the UI-IESP highlighted the lack of a national affiliation, the use of a single advisor, the small international scope, the perception that the DWDW course was unable to fully prepare students, and the need for redundancy in communication planning. Lessons learned include "knowing by going", being resilient, embracing unknowns, respecting indigenous knowledge, and always seeking partners. Best practices include diverse training for students, partnering for the long-term, identifying responsible parties, partnership reciprocity, and utilizing resources from the university, EWB-USA and/or ESW.

Community engagement in engineering education: A systematic literature review

“…Scholars assert that to achieve true learning outcomes and fully understand a specific experience, researchers must understand students' motivation to participate in community engagement and must gather in-depth reflections and feedback for analysis (Bringle & Hatcher, 1999;Eyler & Giles, 1999). It appears researchers are more and more aware of the advantage of qualitative methods to incorporate data derived from participants' reflections and responses to open-ended questions (Duff et al, 2014;Machimana et al, 2018). In our sample, the qualitative studies captured the rich experiences of students and community partners involved in community engagement projects through participants' in-depth reflections.…”

The Peugeot Center Model and Mentoring Explored through a Case Study of the Design and Installation of a Potable Water System in Guatemala with ADICAY

“…Though originating at Purdue, the model has been expanded to more than 30 universities and multiple studies have shown a clear impact of the EPICS program on student development and learning (Oakes et al 2019, Pierce, Oakes, and Abu-Mulaweh 2019, Zoltowski and Oakes 2014, Huff, Zoltowski, and Oakes 2016. Other commendable programs have benefited from service learning or humanitarian engineering projects with the support of faculty advisors or organizations like Engineers Without Borders (EWB), Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW), or Engineering World Health (EWH) (Sacco and Knight 2015, Malkin and Calman 2015, Dale et al 2015, Pinnell et al 2015, Dean and Bossuyt 2015, Colledge 2015, Bixler et al 2015, Sandekian, Chinowsky, and Amadei 2015, Ermilio, Clayton, and Kabalan 2015, Bratton 2015, Duff et al 2015. As with any complex problem, these programs have encountered obstacles along the way including failed partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), frequent chapter turnover, institutional hurdles that create unnecessary bureaucracy, and a lack of commitment from professionals (Lewis 2015, Suhr et al 2015, 2013.…”

Educating Engineers to Work Ethically with Global Marginalized Communities

“…There are a number of programs and courses that work to educate environmental engineers to work effectively in global development settings (Wright et al , 2008 ; Trotz et al , 2009 ; Duff et al , 2014 ; Sandekian et al , 2014 ). However, the specific ethical issues and teaching modalities for ethics in these courses are not clearly described.…”