University Social Responsibility towards Engineering Undergraduates: The Effect of Methodology on a Service-Learning Experience

Luis Cabedo, Marta Royo, Lidón Moliner and Teresa Guraya
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Luis Cabedo: Department of Industrial Systems Engineering and Design, Universitat Jaume I, Av. Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n, 12071 Castellón, Spain
Marta Royo: Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, Universitat Jaume I, Av. Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n, 12071 Castellón, Spain
Lidón Moliner: Department of Education, Universitat Jaume I, Av. Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n, 12071 Castellón, Spain
Teresa Guraya: Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, School of Engineering of Bilbao, University of the Basque Country, Rafael Moreno Pitxitxi 3, 48013 Bilbao, Spain

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Service-Learning (SL) experiences enable University Social Responsibility (USR) to be worked on in engineering studies as a core of education for Sustainability. The combined use of such experiences with active student-centered teaching methodologies fosters the acquisition of general and specific competences. On the basis of students’ perception, this study investigated and sought evidence of empirical foundations to understand whether and how Project Based Learning (PBL) affects the acquisition of USR-related competences when SL experience was implemented as the regular exercise in core courses in engineering studies. This research studied 100 second year undergraduate students in Industrial Design Engineering and Product Development. The students were divided into two groups, one of which experienced Service-Learning only in one class activity while the other group carried out a PBL activity. A survey consisting of 28 items was delivered to all these students and their answers were analyzed from a descriptive statistics viewpoint to understand how the students perceived their degree of attainment of USR competences. The findings suggest a clear difference between the methodologies used, which shows that PBL methodology may lead to a greater acquisition of USR competences than SL activity.

Keywords: Service-Learning; Project Based Learning; University Social Responsibility; materials science and engineering; higher education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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