Service Learning in Kinesiology & Engineering
For the past ten years Kinesiology Department Chair, Professor Kevin Taylor, has been collaborating with students and faculty in the College of Engineering to design and build equipment for people with disabilities to participate in physical activity. Professor David Hey joined the team to lead a qualitative research project designed to assess the impact of these powerful multidisciplinary student learning experiences. A research paper recently submitted in collaboration with engineering professors Slivovsky, Self, and Widmann, looked at the effects of working on a senior-level capstone engineering design project involving the design of equipment to facilitate physical activity for people with disabilities. The study isolated the effects on: i) learning design, ii) attitude towards people with disabilities, iii) motivation to complete team design projects and iv) interdisciplinary collaboration, through twenty-four one-hour focus groups.
Four major themes (with associated sub-themes) emerged from the data analysis: learning design (project management, iterative design process, and user-centered design), motivation to complete design (engineering, disabilities, user), perceptions of people with disabilities (previous experience, changed attitudes and beliefs), and multidisciplinary collaboration (etiquette presentation, communication between disciplines, defining roles and expectations). Students completing these projects appreciate user-centered design, exhibit greater motivation when able to meet and develop a relationship with their client in person, discuss altruistic factors regarding their capstone experience, and are able to develop strong multidisciplinary skills.
In short these experiences made great projects as they focused engineers on including a broader range of abilities as part of the design process and they reinforced the need for engineers to build strong connections with their clients. Kinesiology students engaged in these projects report their involvement as a highlight of their Cal Poly education because the epitomize the applied learn by doing philosophy.
