Enablers and Barriers to Implementing Service-Learning in India – A Case-Study of Two Service-learning Models Integrated into Undergraduate Engineering Curriculum

Abstract

Community engagement was part of the higher education curriculum in community colleges in United States half a century ago and is evolving as an area of research in the name of service-learning (SL) globally. SL in recent years has begun to be accepted as a relevant pedagogy for undergraduate engineering education. There are different models currently in practice to integrate SL into the curriculum. This study compares two models of SL that were implemented in India. The parameters identified for comparing the two models described in the article include the positioning of the course in the curriculum, the number of course credits, the type of project partners involved, the level of community engagement, the student retention percentage, the level of student engagement, and the role of faculty in design, delivery, and evaluation of the programs. The two models are based on active engagement of students and faculty. A qualitative case-study based approach was used and focus group discussions were conducted with faculty and students from both the institutions to understand their experience with the SL programs. The results highlight the experiences of the participants of the two SL models. The results from the study also provide insights to engineering educators on how to go about integrating SL programs into their undergraduate engineering curriculum.