Service Experiences of Undergraduate Engineers

The study discussed in this article examined the impacts of service experiences on engineering students. The study sought to identify themes in the service experiences of engineering students through a qualitative research process involving interviews, open coding, and thematic analysis. The participants included six students studying civil engineering or related disciplines who took part in a service experience within the previous year. Participants responded to open-ended interview questions designed to collect detailed descriptions of their service experiences. Employing integrated open-coding techniques and thematic analysis of patterns that emerged from the interviews, the researchers identified three themes from the student responses: motivation, learning, and perspective. These themes, especially when examined through the lens of Mezirow’s transformation theory, suggest that service experiences can motivate engineering students to participate in further service opportunities, seek jobs that involve actively serving others, and incorporate their attitude toward service into the engineering profession.