A case study of enhancing learning outcomes for undergraduate electronic\computer engineering students through a service learning based project module

This paper provides a case study of a service learning based project module which has been integrated into the undergraduate degree programmes delivered by the Electrical & Electronic Engineering discipline within the College of Engineering and Informatics at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Community based service learning has long been promoted as a viable and effective means of improving student engagement by the use of both practical experiences and periods of reflection. In 2008, a pilot project was initiated to examine opportunities to embed service learning into the degree programmes offered by the discipline of Electrical & Electronic Engineering. This has now evolved into a programme which all undergraduate students of the discipline (i.e. completing bachelor programmes in Electronic Engineering and Electronic & Computer Engineering) must complete during the third year of their four year under-graduate degree programme. This module has replaced a traditional group project based module which typically involved project topics related to either course work or the research interests of academic staff. The new service learning based module requires the students to complete a 6 month group project involving community partner organisations who work with clients who have various forms of physical disabilities. A focus group based evaluation of the module involving the various stakeholders in the initiative is presented in the paper. This review highlights the degree to which the module achieves its aim of enhancing the learning outcomes across the complete technical and non-technical skills spectrum.