SLS-8d1a - Technology-Driven Service-Learning - as General Education

Many serious social needs cannot be tackled effectively only with good intentions and effort.  For example, to deal with the lack of electricity, one requires professional engineering expertise and serious investments.  The lack of clean water likewise require professional expertise in the management of water resources.  Even the construction of efficient cooking stoves require relevant engineering skills on combustion. Integrating engineering into service-learning can certainly make particularly impactful community service, especially in developing countries where engineering expertise is not always available.  But it also provides an effective way for students to apply their academic knowledge to solve real-world problems. Service-learning in engineering has been well-documented in the last 20 years.  

However, these programs are only offered to engineering students.  From our own experience, we have been convinced that non-engineering students can be equipped with the basic engineering skills to participate effectively in technology-driven service-learning projects.  Taking this approach involves certain risks.  If successful, however, it opens up the opportunity to participate in many impactful service-learning projects to a much wider range of students who have been excluded previously.  These projects can also benefit from the input of fresh input from students who approach the project from very different perspectives.  

We have experimented with this approach through a number of service-learning courses, one of which is a 2-semester service-learning subject offered by the Department of Computing - “Technology Beyond Borders: Service Learning across Cultural, Ethnic and Community Lines" which is open to all undergraduate students.    The course carried out a wide range of projects over many years.  A case study focused on 85 students involved in infrastructure improvement projects in rural villages in Cambodia and Rwanda in 2015 and 2016.  Out of the 85 students, 51 (60%) of them were from year 1, 30 (35%) of them were from year 2, and the remaining 4 (5%) students were in year 3. Among all the students, only 32 (38%) were from engineering while the rest were from a variety of disciplines including health sciences, pure sciences, and the humanities. This diversity poses extra challenges to the teaching of this course resulting in gratifying   learning gains for the students.  

There were two major projects.  One is a Solar Energy System for villagers: The solar power solutions took the form of a public charging station shared between a group of nearby households. Families could recharge their battery from the station, with each station charging up to 6 batteries at the same time. Our students assembled the solar panels and wired up homes with basic electrical appliances. Also, using local sustainable materials, such as coconuts or palm branches, we assembled LED lights for the villagers.  

Two is a Community Learning Centre: To provide an informal learning space for village children and youths, both to supplement their regular school education, as well as to serve as a resource for continued education and self-guided study. Two 20-foot-long empty recycled shipping containers were transformed into a computer learning center and library respectively. A rooftop photovoltaic generator, a rainwater collection system, and ten low-cost computers were installed. In conjunction with the learning center, students deployed a customized computer library with electronic learning resources to teach the local children about science and engineering.

Some key challenges for teachers throughout the project include:

1. Equipping students with the necessary knowledge, technical skills, and hands-on experience. Since many of the students were not from engineering disciplines, only practical, critical skills are taught.  Core skills include: usage of power and mechanical tools; basic electronic circuitry; laser cutting skill, soldering skill and assembly of LEDs; safety precautions on conducting engineering project in rural area, for example, risk assessment; installation of solar system; and the introduction of Raspberry PI, a single-boar computer was used as a server hosting e-Learning resources such as electronic books.
   
2. Empowering the non-engineering students to work on the different aspects of the projects, such as product design and system testing, that are more human-oriented and multidisciplinary.
3. Strengthening the teamwork between students from different disciplines and cultural background.  Developing team spirit and common goal posed challenges for the teaching team.

Once the team got onto the field, the second phase training was put into motion with the local students. In 2015 and 2016, 11 and 33 Cambodian students joined the team respectively. Their major was either in English or development studies. Even though they did not previously have contact with the team from Hong Kong, working in the same group for 7 hours a day and participating in various orientation and site visit activities strengthened the team spirit and helped them to understand the situation in the target community. The team spent four days testing and training in a local university to finalize the design, assemble the solar systems, LEDs and test all the deliverables. This on-site training allowed the Hong Kong students to transfer the knowledge and skills to the Cambodian students.

The projects were implemented successfully. All the targets were met, and the community was very happy with the results.  It is a gratifying validation - that the non-engineering can be counted on to implement engineering project if the project is well-planned, and the students well-trained.