Engineering Students Empathy Development through Service Learning: Examining Individual Student Experiences in a Technical Communication Course

Abstract

This paper is the third in a series reporting on a mixed-methods study of a service learning project run in a technical communication course within an engineering program. This study responds to a reported trend of disengagement in public welfare among engineering students as they progressed through their academic studies and professional careers. Given the trust imbued upon engineers to situate their designs within real-life constraints, engagement with the public is necessary to serve all stakeholders who may be affected. The first step towards an engagement with another audience is empathizing with them to understand their needs. The overall study included a pre- and post-survey of students’ engagement in public welfare and empathy before and after the service learning project, as well as a qualitative analysis of students’ written reflections after the project was complete. This paper examines qualitative and quantitative data from individual student participants, who were tracked from pre- to post-survey and with their corresponding individual written reflection, to identify specific instances where disengagement or empathy is and is not observed and allows for a wholistic examination of these individual student’s empathy and engagement in public welfare in a service learning project within a technical communication course.