Students' Understanding of Human-Centered Design and the Impact of Service Learning

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This engineering education research award to Purdue University will employ researchers to develop a deeper understanding of key skills required by future engineers as well as assessment tools to measure these skills. Service-learning, which presents enormous pedagogical potential in engineering education, is used as the context of this study. The major outcome of this project will be a theoretically grounded understanding of the development of human-centered approaches in design. The comparison of service-learning experience and other design courses will inform universities decisions about including service learning opportunities as curricular or extra-curricular experiences. The results of the project will also inform design curricula to potentially capitalize on the benefits of the service learning experience. The findings of this research will have impact across design education and enhance the ability of faculty to create experiences that meet the attributes being called for by engineering accreditation boards, the National Academy of Engineering, and industry leaders in today's global economy.