Role of Reflection in Service Learning-based Engineering Programs: A Cross-cultural Exploratory and Comparative Case Study in India and the USA

Reflection is one of the pedagogical components which differentiates service-learning from community service and makes student learning authentic. Reflections have been studied widely within the U.S.; however, it is relatively new in India and less investigated. This paper is an exploratory case study between three institutions from two countries. The first program is a design-based engineering program that uses the service-learning pedagogy at a large midwestern university in the U.S.. Students reflect individually on a weekly basis and submit a final reflection at the end of the semester. The second program is part of a technology focused institution in southern India and employs reflection in a similar manner to the first. The third program, also a technology focused institution in southern India, adopted the framework of the first program but as a co-curricular activity. This study was divided in two phases. In the first phase, reflections were coded from each institution applying Jacoby's framework of General Criteria for Assessing Service-Learning Reflection. The second phase of the study investigated the cross-cultural comparisons and contrasts between the US and India. The preliminary results showed that students generally reflected at the Surface or Emerging level in their weekly reflections and in Depth in their final reflection. Students occasionally reflected in Depth during the week if they experienced authentic learning and were able to relate with their personal experience. With the increase in international service-learning programs in undergraduate engineering curriculum, the results from this study would help us understand how reflections were perceived, utilized, and assessed across two distinct cultures. The findings presented would help engineering educators understand how to better facilitate service-learning projects that are international and require cross-cultural collaborations.