This service-learning impact analysis project had students look in detail at the current employment and purchasing practices and policies of the University of Vermont. Unlike traditional impact analyses that attempt to calculate the total impact of an institution on the local economy, this project attempted to identify where the University could change policies and practices to increase positive local impacts both from an efficiency and equity perspective. Students worked with a 14-person advisory committee from the University, local and state government and local non-profits.

To prepare for this reflection, students are assigned to do background reading on the organization they will/wish to work with for the Service Learning component of the course. Students then are guided into a reflection with the following questions:

Why should you know about the people or organization with whom you'll be working?
Why do you think this partner was chosen?
After reading about the partner organization, how would you like to contribute to their work, (what kind of support would you give and/or project would you do?) How does it your idea/project relate to the content of the course and the organization mission and goals?
What are you hoping to learn from the collaboration/ project?
What do you hope to have gained from this project and
What do you think your service-learning partner hopes to have gained after completion of this project?

The assignment also gives students practice in eliciting their own thoughts and reflections when approaching a new experience

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In this service-learning engineering project, students follow the steps of the engineering design process to design a hearing testing device. More specifically, they design a prototype machine that can be used to test the peripheral vision of partially-blind, pre-verbal children. Students learn about the basics of vision and vision loss. They also learn how a peripheral vision tester for adults works (by testing the static peripheral vision in the four quadrants of the visual field with four controllable lights in specific locations). Then they modify the idea of the adult peripheral vision tester to make it usable for testing young children. The class designs and builds one complete prototype, working in sub-groups of four or five students each to build sub-components of the project design.

According to the United States Agency for International Development, 20 million people in developing countries require wheelchairs, and the United Nations Development Programme estimates below 1% of their need is being met in Africa by local production. Wheelchair Design in Developing Countries (WDDC) gives students the chance to better the lives of others by improving wheelchairs and tricycles made in the developing world. Lectures will focus on understanding local factors, such as operating environments, social stigmas against the disabled, and manufacturing constraints, and then applying sound scientific/engineering knowledge to develop appropriate technical solutions. Multidisciplinary student teams will conduct term-long projects on topics such as hardware design, manufacturing optimization, biomechanics modeling, and business plan development. Theory will further be connected to real-world implementation during guest lectures by MIT faculty, Third-World community partners, and U.S. wheelchair organizations.
This class is made possible by an MIT Alumni Sponsored Funding Opportunities grant with additional support from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, the MIT Public Service Center, and the MIT Edgerton Center; special thanks to CustomInk.com.