Bringing students to real-world training environment through service-learning senior capstone projects with K-12 outreach activities

Service learning is an innovative training technique where a service project or service experience is incorporated in an academic course and is evaluated as part of the course overall grade. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and outcomes of a senior project capstone course where service learning content and K-12 outreach activities are incorporated. We collaborated with a community partner, Ganesha High School in Pomona city, to provide students with service learning experiences. The first course project includes an outreach seminar to introduce solar energy to the high school students and an A-to-Z project to build a solar charging station. The second course project includes developing computer programs and teaching the high school students 3-D printing techniques. Both projects aim to motivate participated students to apply engineering knowledge to serve people. The two projects proved to be exciting experiences for the college students. They are highly engaged and motivated to work on the projects. We observed that the senior project teams become more responsible and proactive regarding their work. They applied critical thinking skills and creativeness in developing 3-D printing programs, building the solar charging station, making presentations, and implementation of the entire projects. At the conclusion of the projects, we have donated the solar charging station of $1700 value to the community partner. Overall, the experiences have opened the student eyes and minds to the real-world situations where they interact with people who have specific needs and constraints. These factors motivate them to learn and work responsibly.