Community based learning in ENGR 101 term project: Toy design for school children in disadvantaged Old Cairo community

Introduction to Engineering (ENGR 101) is the first engineering course students take upon admission to the engineering program. It is required of students in all disciplines of engineering. It is a one credit hour course that meets once a week and covers topics including History of Engineering, Engineering fields of specializations, the engineering profession, engineering communications, engineering ethics and societal obligations. It also focuses on teaching students the engineering approach to problem solving and includes a course project. Community Based Learning was introduced into the ENGR 101 course via the term project which is a required component of the course. The project was to design toys for children ages 7 to 14 years at a school in a disadvantaged squatter community in Old Cairo, Egypt, where infrastructure is poor and education and social mobility can be very limited. The project was carried out in partnership with a non-government organization (NGO) named "Sohbit Khayr" based in the Stable Antar neighborhood in Old Cairo. This paper shows how the introductory engineering course was redesigned to integrate community based learning while meeting the stated ABET course outcomes. Included are detailed step-by-step instructions on the tools and structure of the project so that it may serve as an example for others wishing to adapt some of these tools to other courses. The paper will present the outcome assessments and survey results to evaluate the project's success in meeting the stated outcomes and includes a discussion on the benefits to the students and the community partner.