Assessment Methods for Service-Learning Projects in Engineering in Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Engineering Education
• Experiential Learning
• Community Engagement

Background:

• Service-learning (SL) integrates community service with academic study, enhancing student motivation and involvement.
• Despite its benefits, SL is not yet widely adopted in university-level science and engineering programs.
• Existing research highlights the need to understand SL implementation and assessment in these fields.

Approach:

• Systematic literature review across Scopus, Science Direct, and ERIC databases.
• Analysis of 120 selected documents from over 14,000 publications on SL.
• Focus on identifying community service projects and assessment procedures for SL courses.

Key Points:

• SL is recognized as a valuable form of experiential education in universities.
• Common assessment methods include surveys for student engagement and attitudes.
• Teamwork presentations are also used, though less frequently.
• Assessment covers module evaluation, program effectiveness, student participation, and skill acquisition.

Conclusions:

• Service-learning is an established pedagogical approach in higher education, particularly within engineering.
• Current assessment practices predominantly focus on student perceptions and engagement rather than comprehensive competency evaluation.
• Further research is needed to develop and implement robust assessment strategies for engineering SL programs to encourage wider adoption.