Work in progress - starting a service learning project for freshman engineers

Within the Department of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, a pilot program was conducted during the spring semester of 2006 and 2007 to assess the value of a research service learning course for freshman engineering students. This venture was based on the success of using service learning as an educational tool for undergraduate engineering students at many universities world wide. At the University of Pittsburgh, all students entering the school of engineering are required to enroll in a two-semester course in introductory engineering analysis and programming. The student population chosen for the pilot course included the honors' students who had completed a fall course which covered the material contained in the traditional two-semester introductory course at an accelerated rate. This paper will focus on the challenges in developing a pilot course in service learning specifically for freshman engineering students.