th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
NEW PARTNERSHIPS LINKING UNIVERSITIES AND NGO’S ON
EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING - CASE STUDY
FROM ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS AUSTRALIA
Jeremy Smith1, Lizzie Brown2, Lachlan Blackhall3,Dan Loden4 and Julian O’Shea5
1
Engineers Without Borders Australia, Canberra, Australia
ji.smith@ewb.org.au ,
2
Engineers Without Borders Australia, Brisbane, Australia
l.brown@ewb.org.au ,
3
Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering, The Australian
National University and National ICT Australia (NICTA), Canberra, Australia
lachlan.blackhall@anu.edu.au ,
4
Engineers Without Borders Australia, Perth, Australia
d.loden@ewb.org.au ,
5
University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia,
julianoshea@worldspeed.org
Abstract: The role of engineers in overcoming the significant challenges of local,
national and international sustainable community development is now well
established. Designing and implementing curricula for engineering students that
emphasises this role, encourages deep technical understanding and develops
appropriate graduate attributes is a complex task faced by curriculum designers and
academics.
Supporting this curriculum development is an emerging body of knowledge around
beneficial teaching and learning strategies, as well as an increasing understanding of
the importance of engaging students with real world problems in order to encourage
strong educational outcomes. Through an active partnership between a number of
Australian universities and the non-government organisation (NGO) Engineers
Without Borders Australia (EWBA) these strategies have been used to create
innovative curricula content and delivery methodologies for development engineering
learning.
Engineers Without Borders Australia is a not-for-profit member-based NGO founded
in 2003. EWBA works in partnership with developing communities in Australia and
South- and South-East Asia to gain access to the self-identified knowledge,
resources and appropriate technologies needed to improve their livelihoods. EWBA
focuses on developing the capacity of the local technical sector through small scale,
grassroots engineering program. These programs aim to ensure that innovative,
appropriate and sustainable solutions to issues that impede development are locally
generated and driven. To achieve these objectives EWBA works across five areas;
Member Engagement, Curriculum and Research (C&R), Leadership and Training,
Knowledge Centre and Community Development.
This paper provides an overview of EWBA‟s university-based Curriculum and
Research initiatives, the objectives and structure of the new university partnerships
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
and how they are being implemented by a number of Australian universities to
support their curricula and diverse student learning. Case studies from specific
engagements at six university partners are provided, outlining the benefits for faculty
staff and students, EWBA and community partners and organisations.
Keywords: Engineering Education, Partnerships for Education, Development
Engineering.
1. Introduction
The importance of universities in educating engineers with global awareness and
diverse professional skills that can engage in sustainable engineering community
development has been emphasised by [1]-[3]. Active learning opportunities and
approaches such as problem-based, project-based and service learning which result
in enhanced educational outcomes for students of all capabilities are a key
component of this education, detailed in [4]-[6]. From [7] it is also known that active
learning encourages a deep understanding of material being taught.
There are an increasing number of collaborations, particularly in the US and Europe,
providing opportunities for students to engage in service learning, active research,
exchange and study abroad programs such as [8] and [9]. These can be to similarly
developed countries or to disadvantaged communities. Typically university driven,
there is often a focus on the student learning outcomes achieved. However, there is
a recognition that universities must engage more closely with communities through
these activities (see [10] for example).
There is also a growing understanding of the importance of utilising academic
research to support undergraduate teaching and learning. In [11] and [12] the
methodologies for applying research in the undergraduate curricula are discussed
and the enhanced educational outcomes detailed. Furthermore, in the seminal work
of [13] there is strong evidence for activities within universities that encourage new
ways of using and applying knowledge, respectively the scholarships of integration
and application, in order to promote a students‟ deep understanding of the curricula.
In this paper we present an innovative partnership linking universities and the
engineering NGO Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWBA) to offer enhanced
educational opportunities for undergraduate engineers within their formal- and extracurricula activities. These partnerships support the development of engineers with
global skills and awareness and link universities directly to ongoing community
development work. The partnerships encourage academics to participate in the
scholarship of teaching and learning that [13] emphasised as a vital role of
academics in the university environment.
2. EWBA Curriculum and Research Initiatives
EWBA‟s C&R initiatives facilitate student involvement in meaningful engineering
development and volunteer work at all university year levels. This seeks to improve
the standard of students knowledge of development engineering by working in
partnership with universities to design programs that enhance graduate attributes,
engage students with real world problems and connect them with the challenges
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
faced in developing communities. Four initiatives currently supported to achieve
these aims are outlined below.
2.1 EWB Challenge
The EWB Challenge is a design competition for first-year university students in
Australia and New Zealand. Each year the design brief provides a new range of
contemporary projects identified by EWBA and its community development partners.
Students work in teams of four to six during their university studies to develop
conceptual designs for projects that contribute towards real, sustainable international
development, including water quality, energy supply and sanitation (see [14] for more
details). Launched in 2007, the program had over 7000 students at 26 universities
participating in 2009.
2.2 School Outreach
EWBA supports a school outreach program in which university students volunteer to
present development engineering workshops to primary and secondary schools.
These workshops promote awareness and education of global issues including
climate change and energy, water and sanitation, and appropriate construction.
2.3 EWB Undergraduate Research Program
The EWB Undergraduate Research Program links later year Australian-based
university students and their academic supervisors with EWBA, field volunteers and
community partners. Students work on projects of one or two semesters duration as
part of their academic program and generate research outcomes for the community
partner. In 2009 twelve projects at six universities were supported (see also [15]).
2.4 EWB Innovators Program
EWBA supports project teams of four to sixteen students who work in collaboration
with in-country volunteers to address relevant challenges faced by the community.
Students gain course credit for their participation and are assisted by current and
previous field volunteers, and EWBA staff to achieve an outcome for the partner.
These initiatives have been driven through active engagement with universities and
academics as outlined in the next section.
3. University Engagement
During the early growth of EWBA a number of student chapter groups were
established. These organised local projects and events, such as workshops and
speakers, and often received support from faculty in terms of space and advice. Two
universities became gold partners through EWBA‟s corporate partnerships ([16]).
These were not specifically focused on C&R initiatives but provided office space and
in-kind support for EWBA staff to assist EWBA‟s growth.
Other universities engaged with multiple initiatives across year levels, such as the
EWB Challenge and Undergraduate Research Program, in addition to supporting a
local chapter. However, each initiative typically required separate approval and
management from the host institution. With multiple engagements and a strong
desire from universities and EWBA to work more closely on longer term aims,
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
particularly around curricula, research and student experiences, the dedicated
university partnership model outlined below was developed by EWBA.
3.1 University Partnership Objectives
EWBA university partnerships are a structured framework for universities to engage
in C&R initiatives and provide opportunities for staff and student participation in
development. Both partners recognise community programs take time to develop,
and the partnerships are a commitment to a long term relationship. A Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) is developed for each partnership to articulate short term
deliverables and long term strategic goals.
3.2 Partnership Deliverables
Partnerships consist of a fixed amount of financial support from the university partner
for twelve months. Half of this funding is untied to assist strategic development and
support. The reminder is for identified deliverables for each partnership, specifically:
 participation in the EWB Challenge
 scholarships to support undergraduate research through the EWB
Undergraduate Research and Innovators programs
 registration for three members of staff to attend the annual EWB Conference
 chapter seed funding available for the local university or state chapter to
support new initiatives, which must be matched by chapter fundraising
 students, staff and volunteers available to support outreach activities such as
school workshops and visits
4. Partnerships Case Studies
The framework outlined above is tailored through negotiation with individual partners.
Six Australian universities have participated in partnerships with EWBA since the
model was initiated in September 2008.
4.1. University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia (UWA)
UWA‟s Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics participate in the EWB
Challenge, winning the national competition in 2008 and 2009. Teams have further
developed their designs with the community as part of their course work, supported
by volunteers from the local professional chapter. Final year students have been
engaged in similar research on the design of a pipe network for a water supply
project in eastern Bali ([17]). Students, and in one case their academic supervisor,
are actively engaged with the EWBA in-country and local volunteer team. As a
corporate partner, UWA have also provided space for EWBA staff and volunteers.
4.2. University of Adelaide, South Australia (UoA)
In addition to the standard deliverables, the Faculty of Engineering, Computer and
Mathematical Sciences at the UoA provide office space. This is available for EWBA
staff and volunteers to support C&R initiatives and local community projects, such as
a current PC‟s for Refugees computer refurbishment program.
4.3. RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria (RMIT)
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
The RMIT partnership supports three, three-month undergraduate intern placements
at EWBA‟s partner Habitat for Humanity Viet Nam. One intern has further developed
their placement to encompass a research thesis. This project includes an additional
field component funded by one of EWBA‟s corporate partners who also provide
mentoring.
4.4. Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ANU)
The ANU College of Engineering and Computers Science (CECS) delivers a single
four-year engineering program. Projects and case studies from EWBA are included
at each level year in core systems and management courses. The current EWB
Challenge is utilised in both first and second year, in different forms, while the
previous year‟s Challenge is used in as a fourth year engineering design project,
enabling outcomes from the previous year to be expanded and further developed. In
a third year course, an overseas EWBA project is used as a project management
case study, with additional material developed by the course academic.
4.5. University of Sydney, New South Wales (USyd)
The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies at USyd consists of four
schools covering a range of disciplines. The partnership was driven by a leader
within the staff of one school, and is supported by an advisory group that includes
one staff member from each of the four schools, a representative of the Dean‟s
office, the president of the local EWBA chapter and an EWBA staff member. This has
enabled opportunities for incorporating EWBA C&R initiatives into different schools to
be identified and incorporated across the faculty and ensure a wider engagement.
4.6. University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland (UQ)
The School of Engineering at UQ was an early supporter of EWBA as a gold
corporate partner, EWBA‟s first Education office was established through this
relationship with space and in-kind costs provided on the UQ campus. This has
continued within the university partnership and assisted local chapter activities and
volunteer internship‟s with EWBA for students from engineering and other disciplines.
5. Partnership Benefits and Challenges
At the time of writing EWBA had six university partnerships, of which two had
completed the first partnership year and commenced a second. This allows initial
benefits and lessons learnt to be drawn.
5.1 Challenges
With significant support from university staff, challenges have been minimised. One
challenge, especially with large faculties, is establishing ongoing communication with
separate schools and academic groups. However, establishing a single advisory
group with representatives and leaders from each school and stakeholder groups, as
done at USyd, UoA and the ANU, encourages communication. Up-scaling individual
initiatives can also be time-consuming as each university, and even schools within
universities, can have different requirements and procedures. Again, the partnerships
are a mechanism for overcoming this, along with the recognition by both parties of
the long-term commitment required to facilitate development and change.
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
5.2 Benefits
From the preceding case studies, it is possible to identify a number of key enablers
for a successful partnership:
 support and leadership from within university staff
 an active engagement with EWBA staff and chapter volunteers
 a commitment to teaching innovation
 defined communication channels, in particular advisory groups
 co-location and office support for EWBA staff and local volunteers
Specific benefits which have been achieved through these partnerships include:
 enhanced student learning outcomes
 student mentoring from professional engineers
 EWBA organisational support and development
 innovative curricula development and implementation
 the development of a community of practice around sustainable engineering
community development and its teaching
The partnerships enable students to be involved in EWBA across their entire degree
program, providing the opportunity to engage in a broad set of activities requiring and
utilising different skills. Through this combination of „formal‟ curriculum initiatives and
„informal‟ activites, a deep set of learning is achieved by the student. Communication
skills, social responsibility, teamwork, relationship building and strategic planning,
which are elements of the skill set of effective engineers (as highlighted by [5]), are
all developed. Student outcomes supported through the partnerships also align with
the recent emphasis on sustainable development, community engagement, and
global engineering and practice as highlighted in research including [1], [3], [5], [6],
[8] and [9], and professional societies such as Engineers Australia ([18]).
Critically, an interdisciplinary team experience, as seen in the UWA, UQ and RMIT
partnerships, is provided in the educational process. This exposure provides students
with a greater awareness of the varied roles that professional engineers undertake
and their role within the development sector. This allows students to make more
informed decisions about their role as an engineering professional within society.
The distribution of EWBA staff around Australia has enabled staff and volunteers to
regularly attend meetings and events and engage with universities. The in-kind office
support provided by universities to co-locate EWBA staff and volunteers, particularly
at UWA and UQ, is also a significant contribution to the success of partnerships and
EWBA more broadly. This also allows EWBA to effectively engage with staff and
students, as has been seen in all the university partners which have provided this
form of support.
As expected, a key requirement for all partnerships is support from university staff at
all levels, from senior management roles through to both academic and support staff.
Numerous leaders amongst university staff have driven the establishment of the
partnerships from within universities. The partnership model enables EWBA and its
university partners to trial new and innovative programs which are initiated by
universities EWBA staff or volunteers, as seen with UWA, RMIT, ANU and UQ all
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
trailing new initiatives in 2009 and 2010. If successful these initiatives can be
replicated in other universities, first with partners then more broadly.
In this way, partnerships are providing the academic community the opportunity to
develop Communities of Practice (CoP) to support the enhanced educational offering
of external organisations such as EWBA. This assists the delivery of more pertinent
educational content for students whilst simultaneously engaging staff with active
research problems and contributing to professional and academic development.
6. Discussion and Future Directions
EWBA‟s university partnerships serve as a model to expand the current engagement,
deliver more educational content and resources, and offer additional opportunities for
staff and students to engage with organisations outside of the normal academic year.
As highlighted, students are involved in both formal curricula learning and extracurricula activities, a combination providing much deeper learning outcomes for the
students. This is supported by evidence from [19] and [20] that it is possible to greatly
increase the educational outcomes of students, particularly in the professional skills,
by offering ongoing learning opportunities beyond the usual academic program.
To recognise and build upon this, EWBA is designing an integrated framework to
support individual students‟ development as they progress through their studies. This
framework will provide specific opportunities to participate in each year of their
degree, providing a potential pathway for students to gain recognition for their efforts
and learning and progress into the field of development engineering. This framework
is underpinned by the existing university and corporate partnerships which enable
EWBA to complete its work. This framework could cover a number of
recommendations highlighted by [2] to incorporate community into engineering
sustainable community development (ESCD) including moments of freedom for
students, a commitment to meaningfully incorporate community, and criterion for
competence in ESCD.
When engineering students participate in projects and challenges drawn from the
local or global community there is an additional benefit of increasing the public
perception of engineering as a creative discipline that beneficially impacts the wider
community. This beneficial perception typically encourages non-traditional groups to
become involved in the engineering discipline and ensures that key educational
outcomes are more aligned with the requirements of the community. The importance
of achieving both outcomes is a key recommendation from a recent report on the
future of engineering education in Australia by [21].
The authors believe that universities have a social responsibility to engage broadly
with industry, government and external organisations and the partnerships detailed
here are an example of such engagement. By enhancing the engagement of
universities with the broader community there is increased opportunity to incubate
and disseminate ideas and knowledge for the betterment of those communities.
Relationships with all university partners provide a foundation for dedicated research
and teaching grants based on partners strengths and expertise. Such projects also
th
nd
Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 - 22 September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia
provide the opportunity for a more detailed evaluation of EWBA‟s existing C&R
initiatives, particularly around evaluating student learning outcomes.
7. Conclusion
EWBA have developed a framework with which to engage university staff and
students directly with ongoing sustainable engineering community development.
Students work on real development projects, contributing outcomes to EWBA‟s work
while gaining course credit, significant experience and deep learning outcomes.
Through ongoing engagements, universities and EWBA are actively working to
develop a community of practice to contribute to further, innovative teaching and
learning opportunities for tomorrow‟s engineering leaders and to overcome
challenges within communities around the world.
8 Acknowledgements
EWBA would like to acknowledge and thank all those involved with the establishment
and support of our university partnerships. Without the academic and support staff at
universities and local volunteers around Australia, these partnerships, and the
benefits flowing from them, would simply not be possible.
References
Bourn, D., Neal, I., “The Global Engineer: Incorporating global skills within UK higher education of engineers”. Engineers
Against Poverty, 2008, March.
[2]
Schneider, J., Leydens, J. A., Lucena, J., “Where is „Community‟?: Engineering education and sustainable community
development”, European Journal of Engineering Education, 2008, Vol 33, No. 3, June, pp 307-319.
[3]
VanderSteen, J. D. J., Hall, K. R., Baillie, C. A., “Humanitarian engineering placements in our own communities”,
European Journal of Engineering Education, 2010, Vol 00, No. 0, 1-9.
[4]
Biggs, J., “What the Student Does: teaching for enhanced learning”, Higher Education Research & Development, 1999,
Vol 18, No.1, 57-75.
[5]
Shuman, L. J., Besterfield-Sacre, M., McGourty, J., “The ABET „Professional Skills‟ - Can They be Taught? Can They be
Assessed?”, Journal of Engineering Education, 2005, January, pp 41-55.
[6]
Coyle, E. J., Jamieson, L. H., Oakes, W. C., “EPICS: Engineering Projects in Community Service”, International Journal of
Engineering Education, 2005, Vol 25, No. 1, pp 1-12.
[7]
Ramsden, P., “Learning to Teach in Higher Education”, RoutledgeFalmer, 2003.
[8]
Groll, E. A., Hirleman, E. D., “Undergraduate GEARE Program: Purdue University‟s School of ME Contribution to
Educating Globally Sensitive and Competent Engineers”, American Society of Engineering Educators, 2007.
[9]
Blumenthal, P., Grothus, U., “Developing Global Competence in Engineering Students: U.S. and German Approaches”,
The Online Journal of Global Engineering Education, 2008, Vol 3, Iss. 2, Art. 1.
[10] Ferrer-Balas, D., Lozano, R., Huisingh, D., Buckland, H., Ysern, P., et al, “Going beyond the rhetoric: system-wide
changes in universities for sustainable societies”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2010, Vol 10, pp 607-610.
[11] Healey, M. “Linking research and teaching: disciplinary spaces”, in Barnett (Ed.) Reshaping the university: new
relationships between research, scholarship and teaching, 2005.
[12] Prince, M. J., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., “Does Faculty Research Improve Undergraduate Teaching? An Analysis of Existing
and Potential Synergies”, Journal of Engineering Education, 2007, Vol 96, No. 4, pp 283-294.
[13] Boyer, E.L., “Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate”, Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, 1990.
[14] Bullen, F., Webb, E,. Brodie, L,. “Developing a National Design Competition Through Collaborative Partnerships” In:
ConnectED 2007: International Conference on Design Education, 9-12 July 2007, Sydney, Australia, 2009.
[15] Smith, J., Brown, L. and Cahill, A., “Engineering social change: Engaging undergraduate engineers in community
th
development research”, 20 Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference, 6-9 December, 2009, pp 650-655
th
[16] Engineers Without Borders Australia, “Our Supporters” EWBA Website www.ewb.org.au/partners, last accessed 30 May,
2010.
[17] Third, K., Fun, O. M., Bowen, J., Micenko, A., Grey, V., et al, “Engineers Without Borders Australia - Lessons learned from
an innovative approach to the upgrade of water supply infrastructure in Tenganan, Indonesia”, ASPIRE, 2007.
[18] Engineers Australia, Strategic Plan, 2010
[19] Harding, T. S., Sutkus, J. A., Finelli, C. J., Carpenter, D. D., “Engineering culture and the ethical development of
undergraduate students”, Proceedings of the Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2009, Palm Cover, Qld, 2009.
[20] Sotomayor, M. L., Benavente, R. C., “Towards an integration of formal and informal curricula in engineering schools”,
Proceedings of the Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2009, Palm Cover, Qld, 2009.
[21] King, R., “Addressing the supply and quality of engineers for the new Century”, 2008
[1]