Toys Redesigned: The Intersection of Industrial Technology and Service-Learning Principles

To provide students with a situated learning experience that encouraged them to develop creative design solutions, the authors created a service-learning activity that required industrial technology students to apply design principles and procedures to design and develop toys to be given to pediatric patients at a local children\u27s hospital. The following are excerpts from student reflections addressing the technological skills used and key takeaways from the project: * I was able to use my mechanical skills in this project by knowing how to operate the drill press and by cutting all the pieces that were needed and assembling them. * We were supposed to use most of the tools that we have been practicing using, such as a saw to cut the board, the pegs, the edges, and making holes after measuring the distance between them (math skills), not just the math skills, it also applied to designing (design skills). Students shared: * This project gave me experience with team building as well as using machinery that I hadn\u27t had much experience with that I will most likely need in the future. * The skills learned while using all of the tools in the lab as well as the teamwork involved in all of the team labs will be lifelong lessons held dearly because once you learn those skills they do not go away. The incorporation of the guided reflective exercise helped students take a moment to reflect on how they had applied course competencies to an authentic project context