2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In recent years, the adoption of service learning in higher educational institutions has emerged as a modern teaching and learning strategy. Service learning connects theories and concepts in the classroom with community service experiences and provides students with motivation and informative feedback.

However, it is challenging for first-year computing students to take advantage of it. Service-learning, traditionally part of a curriculum, is usually not offered at the first-year level. First-year students, as newcomers to computing communities, have fewer connections than established community members and thus have limited access to extracurricular service opportunities in computing. First-year commuter students, who live off campus, face additional challenges. They are more likely to be non-traditional-aged students or part-time students, with longer work hours, additional family obligations, and longer travel time to campus. To motivate and engage first-year commuter students through service learning, it is crucial to create service opportunities and roles that are flexible and appropriate to their technical knowledge and public speaking skills.

We propose an extracurricular service-learning approach built on the possible-self theory, levity, and psychological safety. Our approach provides easy entry and a minimum, flexible time commitment to motivate and engage first-year computing students on our urban commuter campus. We trained students in image classification using machine learning on an easy-to-learn online platform. and provided networking to meet upper-class students at various stages of their careers and learn about how their service-learning experiences helped them. We then enlisted the first-year students to host a group of high school students on campus, where they assisted in introducing the “Teachable Machine” to these high schoolers.

We examined the students’ experience through a survey . Our preliminary data show that the program increased the students’ engagement and motivation to pursue their majors. Students reported that the activities were “engaging,” “fun,” “eye-opening,” “helpful,” and motivating. They appreciated the lectures and the opportunities to network and serve high school students.