The Key to Improving Engineering Education May Be In Our Communities. As we work to prepare students to be engineering leaders in today’s global economy, we seek new pedagogies and approaches that can provide transformational experiences. The search may end very close to our institutions within our local communities. An underutilized high impact pedagogy is community-engaged learning, also called service-learning. This approach engages students and faculty in partnerships with local or global communities to address compelling needs within those communities. Evidence shows that these experiences can prepare graduates with the broad set of technical and professional skills needed in the modern economy. Such experiences can also transform students views of their profession and themselves. The 2023 UN report on the Sustainable Development Goals called for new approaches to address global challenges that impact the poorest and most vulnerable most heavily. Our engineering colleges, institutes and universities have tremendous resources that can be leveraged to address these challenges and enhance the quality of life of fellow citizens. This can be done while students are being prepared to succeed personally and professionally. This interactive session will provide an overview of the of community-engaged learning, how it applies to engineering, highlight research on the impact of the approach and provide opportunities for reflection on how to integrate such approaches into our engineering curricula.

Prof. William Oakes, P.E Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning 150th Anniversary Professor Director, EPICS Program Professor of Engineering Education William (Bill) Oakes is the Assistant Dean for Experiential Learning, a 150th Anniversary Professor, Director of the EPICS Program, Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University, and a registered professional engineer.