Yongbo Qian

ENG 315-Learning in Community

 

“LINC is an interdisciplinary, inquiry-guided service-learning course in which students provide meaningful service through the conception, development, and implementation of projects in collaboration with non-profits and community partners.” http://linc.illinois.edu/

In my section (UES), we were assigned to Urbana Environmental Sustainability Division to implement a composting program at middle schools.

 

Through the project-based experiences developed in this course, I enhanced myself not only academically, but also personally and civically. As an Electrical Engineering Student who is not much familiar with environmental terms and concepts, I expanded my academic knowledge by learning from our partner, the project managers, my team members, and my individual research inquiry. The scope of our project enabled me to learn about various issues and opportunities in environmental sustainability including energy inefficiency in residential and commercial buildings, bike related problems, and composting programs. Also, through interaction with Scott, the director of Urbana Environmental Sustainability Division, I specifically learnt about the challenges and limitations which need to be addressed in the project development phase from partner’s perspective. In addition to these, I mastered how to make an initiative appealing (emotional, rational and social aspects) and how to break down the work systematically. Not only was I an active and independent learner, I contributed my numerical analysis skills and logic and problem-solving oriented thinking to the meetings and discussions as well. Personally, in the team-setting environment, I further developed my communication skills and teamwork capabilities through various interactions with different team member through class discussions and group meetings. While valuing the diversity of the group, I maintained my independence in the research and opinions I shared. I also increased my self-awareness through teamwork and writing reflections, knowing clearly what my contribution was and where I needed to improve. Civically, understanding that environmental sustainability is a hot topic, widely discussed online and in the local media, I am now more concerned about the environmental problems. After studying other school composting program cases, I was inspired by the initiative and leadership of people who took the action. This motivated me to undertake the social responsibility to further engage and influence the community positively.

 

Before starting the project, environmental sustainability sounded abstract and unpragmatic to me so I wanted to learn about some real environmental issues and solutions with corresponding feasibilities. And I actually did learn those things in this course! This requires many thanks to Scott, the project managers and all the people in the team. As a result of this experience, I enhanced myself in many ways including critical and logical thinking, problem-solving capability and teamwork skills.