Work in progress: Understanding professional competency formation in a service-learning context from an alumni perspective

Engineering educators daily negotiate the formidable task of developing the twenty-first century engineer's competence to enter and thrive in the workplace. With this focus, many have conducted investigations into both what defines such professional competence and how such competence forms within students. In this investigation, we study how professional competence has developed among alumni of Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), as understood through their retrospective perceptions. We are conducting a mixed methods study in order to understand competence development, and this paper presents the design and administration of a survey questionnaire that is informing the qualitative portion of the study. Findings from both aspects of the study will be presented at the conference.