Educating engineers: a Colombian case of an interdisciplinary experience in service-learning

In the 21st century, technological solutions aligned to social needs are mainly expected from Engineering; thus, in educating engineers, deciding what problems must be used as part of learning experiences is a curriculum challenge. This oral communication will present an interdisciplinary effort carried out by four faculties of Engineering (2), Design (1), and Education (1) affiliated to a Southwest Colombian university. The interdisciplinary team has applied principles of service-learning as a pedagogical opportunity within curriculum experiences for different engineering majors. We will describe a methodology to a) identify the needs of a non-profit school for children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and/or cognitive disabilities; and, b) guide engineering students in designing and developing educational materials through interdisciplinary support from the leading faculty team. According to the needs identified, the students were able to create primarily analog solutions rather than digital ones.