The Technology Ambassador’s Program (TAP) was established in 2012 as an extra-curricular program and has been offered as a service learning course since spring 2016. To investigate the impact on program participants, we launched a longitudinal study in fall 2022 and surveyed the students who completed the course from spring 2016 to spring 2021. Analysis of the survey results discovered that students strongly agree that this program has provided them opportunities to conduct research, to network with other professionals in the field, and apply technical skills. Further analysis also revealed a strong correlation of these opportunities with improving soft skills and career readiness among participants. Overall, this program increased the confidence of the students and prepared them to learn new skills on their own. This paper describes the overall structure of the service learning program and presents the details of this study including the process and survey results.

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A Longitudinal Study to Investigate the Impact of a Service-Learning Course on Its Participants

  • Xin Xu,
  • Wei Jin,
  • Rahaf Barakat,
  • Sonal Dekhane,
  • Cengiz Gunay,
  • Anca Doloc-Mihu,
  • Cindy Robertson

摘要

The Technology Ambassador’s Program (TAP) was established in 2012 as an extra-curricular program and has been offered as a service learning course since spring 2016. To investigate the impact on program participants, we launched a longitudinal study in fall 2022 and surveyed the students who completed the course from spring 2016 to spring 2021. Analysis of the survey results discovered that students strongly agree that this program has provided them opportunities to conduct research, to network with other professionals in the field, and apply technical skills. Further analysis also revealed a strong correlation of these opportunities with improving soft skills and career readiness among participants. Overall, this program increased the confidence of the students and prepared them to learn new skills on their own. This paper describes the overall structure of the service learning program and presents the details of this study including the process and survey results.