Ac 2011-795: Project-based Service Learning and Student Motivation

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Rockenbaugh, Lauren A.
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	We know from motivation theory that enhanced motivation in students is positively correlated with engagement and active learning, interest, and value. We know less about the types of instructional strategies and curricular interventions that work to enhance student motivation in a typical engineering course. Grounded in motivation theory, the purpose of this research is to evaluate how the context of project-based service-learning affects aspects of student motivation (particularly interest and engagement) in a required undergraduate Mechanical Engineering course. Our research aims to answer: 1) How does project-based service learning affect students' motivation as compared to conventional (non-service) project-based learning? 2) Do students find the context of project-based service-learning more interesting and/or valuable than conventional project-based learning? 3) How does project-based service-learning affect student engagement in the course as compared to conventional project-based learning? The research, which began in 2009, is being completed over a three-year period. The students and activities in Component Design, an existing junior-level course, will serve as the research focus. Specifically, project-based service-learning curriculum will be implemented into a required design and build activity for Component Design students. Using a conventional design project as the control, how the context of project-based service learning affects aspects of student motivation will be studied. A mixed-methods assessment strategy will be employed: quantitative data from preand postproject surveys and shorter surveys administered during the semester will be combined with qualitative data from student interviews and focus groups. This paper will discuss the research design, theoretical framework, and the results of a pilot survey administered in February 2010. Introduction Part of the theoretical framework for this research includes project-based service-learning (PBSL). PBSL is a form of active learning where students work on projects that benefit a real community or client while obtaining a rich learning experience (Duffy, et al., 2009). Many engineering educators are embracing alternative instructional strategies like PBSL in an attempt to respond to major shifts in the engineering profession and practice. Today's world is a global market and a place of rapid technological change. Newly graduated engineers often find themselves working in teams with people very different from themselves, where they must engage in more entrepreneurship and integrative thinking. Although PBSL opportunities are expanding at educational institutions nationwide, much of the findings on their impacts are anecdotal and qualitative. Some faculty have begun to assess PBSL programs and have found that PBSL does, in fact, cultivate stronger learning outcomes, entrepreneurship, cultural awareness, and community-mindedness. However, comprehensive and rigorous assessment methods have not yet been implemented (Bielefeldt, et al., 2008). Also, given that the number of students participating in PBSL activities may be small or unrepresentative of the undergraduate engineering student population at large, it is difficult to draw conclusions that can be generalized about this promising instructional strategy. One example of incorporating PBSL into engineering curriculum is the SLICE (Service-Learning Integrated throughout the College of Engineering) program at UMass Lowell, where all engineering students are exposed to service-learning in every semester (Duffy, et al., 2009). Extracurricular programs like Engineers Without Borders, Engineers for a Sustainable World, and Engineering World Health provide other opportunities for engineering students to participate in PBSL while providing a direct benefit to a target community – most often a developing or underdeveloped community outside the U.S. A drawback to these extracurricular programs is that participation is difficult for many engineering students and faculty. Barriers to participation include cost and time of travel, difficulty in operating and maintaining projects, and language and cultural differences that must be understood before any design work can begin. Because it is typically easier for students and faculty to become involved with local communities, implementing PBSL into existing university courses makes the benefits of this instructional strategy immediately accessible to a broader audience. We have our own communities in need within the U.S., so it makes sense to apply our resources to help communities close to home. In either case, the benefits of PBSL should be similar. One of the main differences between project-based service-learning and conventional projectbased learning is the addition of a community as a full partner. This added authenticity adds “real world complexity”, causing the project outcomes to be less defined initially (Bielefeldt, et al., 2008). This challenges students to “use their functional skills related to technology along with their critical thinking and interpersonal skills to gain an understanding of the problems they must solve in their projects” (Brescia, et al., 2009). The integration of technical skills to dynamic environments challenges students to immediately apply and make sense of what they have learned in the classroom. This process has shown to promote four areas of outcome, including personal efficacy, awareness of the surrounding environment, personal value identification, and a greater engagement with the learning content (Astin, et al., 2000). Now let's turn to motivation theory – the second leg of the theoretical framework for this research. Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in a particular behavior (Barkley, 2010). According to Brophy, students enter a “state” of motivation to learn when their engagement in a particular activity is guided by the intention of acquiring the knowledge or mastering the skill that the activity is designed to teach. Motivation, then, is so highly valued because it produces. Hence, it is of paramount concern to educators, who are constantly tasked with inducing students to learn, perform, and persist. Fortunately, educators need not resign themselves to the role of passive observers to students' motivational patterns. In fact, educators can be active socialization agents capable of stimulating the general development of student motivation and its activation in particular situations (Brophy, 1987). What is the connection between PBSL and student motivation? That, in a nutshell, is the driving question behind this study. Assessing the impact of any new instructional strategy on student motivation is a worthwhile endeavor. According to self-determination theory, people at their best have an innate inclination toward mastery, spontaneous interest, exploration, and curiosity. This “intrinsic motivation”, which is a type of motivation characterized by doing an activity for the inherent satisfaction of the activity itself, seems to be part of human nature. However, intrinsic motivation requires supportive conditions to persist (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Other theories emphasize different (although related) conditions that support or thwart motivation. But, in general, supportive conditions can include a person's feelings of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, accompanied by a sense of interest and value. Hence, we see that motivation is not a single construct; rather, it is a synthesis of many constructs. The table below presents several of these constructs and their relationship to the learning context of PBSL, where some of these motivation constructs seem to emerge naturally. Table 1: Connections between motivation and PBSL Constructs of Motivation Characteristics of PBSL Autonomy: characterized by choice, acknowledgement of feelings, and opportunities for self-direction. A sense that one's actions are selfdetermined, or self-authored (Ryan and Deci, 2000). As opposed to more traditional engineering projects that often spell out the design challenge and much of the required solution (i.e. “design a spring-powered machine to launch a tennis ball 50 yards”), PBSL is inherently more open-ended due to the “realworld” context. That there may be a number of feasible solutions to a service-learning project gives students greater freedom to pursue a design solution that resonates with their skills and interests, hence directing their own learning. Relatedness: caring for and being cared for by others, Preliminary research carried out by the authors showed that most students felt somewhat a part of their university community but having a sense of belongingness , both with other individuals, and one's own community (Deci and Ryan, 2002). very little a part of a greater community. PBSL can help students see that their engineering talent is an essential aspect to improving people's quality of life in the greater community, hence enhancing feelings of relatedness. Competence: feeling effective in one's interactions with the social environment and experiencing opportunities to exercise and express one's capacities (Deci and Ryan, 2002). PBSL requires a breadth of skills, including non-technical engineering skills (i.e. the ability to work with a client, the ability to present ideas to a non-technical audience) that may not be emphasized in traditional engineering projects. This gives students with strong non-technical skills (those who may take the back seat in traditional engineering group projects) the opportunity to further develop and demonstrate their competence. At the same time, PBSL can be just as technical as traditional engineering projects to ensure students with stronger technical skills will also feel effective. Value: the belief that the learning task is relevant to satisfying personal goals (Vanasupa, et al., 2009). Engineering students, like any other subset of people, have
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