scholarly journals Engagement in Practice: Some Do’s and Don’ts in Partnership Development for a Successful Humanitarian Engineering Project.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiyin Lim ◽  
Sydney Thompson ◽  
Tonya Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Project ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering

scholarly journals Using pictorial action instructions to build a basic humanitarian engineering project

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70
Author(s):  
Kathleen Paco Cadman ◽  
Du Feng
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering ◽  
Engineering Projects ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Humanitarian engineering projects mitigate environmental hazards disproportionately affecting health in low- and middle-income countries. However, widespread literacy deficits can create barriers in training low-literacy adults to construct these projects, indicating a need for literacy-adapted training materials. A randomized control trial in rural Guatemala tested the usability of pictorial action instructions, compared to demonstration-only methods, in training low-literacy adults (N = 60; n = 30 per group) to construct a solar bottle bulb. Fourteen days after the training, participants individually constructed the solar bottle bulb. The intervention group received pictorial action instructions to guide them, and the control group completed construction based on memory. Usability was evaluated by measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of construction, as well as user satisfaction and self-efficacy levels. Effectiveness and self-efficacy were significantly better among those in the intervention group compared to the control group. Considering this, the findings support the use of pictorial action instructions in training low-literacy adults to construct humanitarian engineering projects. This method may allow more individuals in rural regions of low- and middle-income countries to successfully construct their own humanitarian engineering projects in a way that is sustainable and scalable. Further research is needed to test these instructions in different settings, on a larger scale, as well as to test the long-term effects of using pictorial action instructions. 

scholarly journals Pico-Hydropower Franchising in Rural Honduras

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Hydropower ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Village Level ◽  
Baylor University ◽  
Fatal Flaw ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering

This paper describes a four-year effort to alleviate poverty in rural villages of Honduras by creating financially self-sustaining electricity businesses at the village level. What began as a humanitarian engineering project undertaken by students and faculty at Baylor University, subsequently evolved into a larger effort of social entrepreneurship that included the incorporation of companies in the United States and Honduras. A novel micro-franchise business model was created that used small hydropower systems to generate electricity in local villages, and local villagers having vested financial interests to maintain, distribute, and protect these systems. Two of the authors relocated to Honduras to install village-level franchises, but numerous problems plagued the project. A few months after we launched the businesses, however, a fatal flaw was identified in the business model regarding the pace at which new systems could be deployed. Disclosure of this flaw resulted in the loss of funding. This paper will attempt to share the successes and failures of this project. Focus will be given to the most innovative aspects of our project which were largely entrepreneurial in nature. Technical details, when they are novel, will be shared, but hydro electric basics will be omitted where there is existing literature.

scholarly journals Development and Testing of Pictorial Action Instructions for a Basic Humanitarian Engineering Project: A Feasibility Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Kathleen Paco Cadman ◽  
Du Feng
Keyword(s):  
Feasibility Study ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Engineering Project ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Best Practice Guidelines ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Humanitarian Engineering

The aim of this study was to develop, refine, and assess the usability of pictorial action instructions (PAI) in training low-literacy individuals to build a basic humanitarian engineering project. Health in low- and middle-income countries is disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, often mitigated by such projects, but widespread literacy deficits often necessitate literacy-adapted materials for training. Project-specific PAI were developed, refined, and tested, with the intent of later testing them abroad. Development was based on best practice guidelines for illustrations and easy-to-understand text. The PAI were then reviewed by literacy specialists for content and formatting. Next, a feasibility study was conducted in Utah with low-literacy immigrants who were trained to use the PAI and provided with tools and materials to individually construct the project. Usability metrics gathered included construction efficiency and effectiveness, user satisfaction, and self-efficacy. Effectiveness was 100% and user satisfaction and self-efficacy were both high. Participants provided feedback to improve the PAI’s clarity by changing item proximity and combining or separating steps, and revisions were made. In future PAI development, it would be beneficial to include low-literacy individuals when making the initial sketches to enhance sequence clarity before finalizing the illustrations.

Theorizing a Sustainable-Holistic-Interconnected-Partnership Development Model with Feminist, Activist Lenses: Best Practices from a Community-University Service-Learning Partnership in Asian American Studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 64-84
Author(s):  
Jennifer Yee ◽  
Ashley Cheri
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Asian American ◽  
American Studies ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Development Model ◽  
Asian American Studies ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Partnership Development ◽  
Asian And Pacific Islander ◽  
Trust And Reciprocity

Mindfully engaging with one another on collaborative projects and relationship building is critical for sustaining partnerships of trust and reciprocity between community-based organizations (CBOs) and institutions of higher education. This resource paper presents the Sustainable-Holistic-Interconnected-Partnership (SHIP) Development Model based on a study theorizing the organizational evolution of the ten- year community-university service-learning partnership between the Youth Education Program of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance and the Asian American Studies Program at California State University, Fullerton. The authors conducted a self- study intersecting their lenses as feminist activists of color and their use of qualitative methods. They found that they sustained their partnership by intentionally grounding their norms and practice in the values of democracy, equity, social justice, and liberation. The SHIP model has diverse implications for community-university partnerships and the fields of Asian American studies (AAS) and service learning.

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