Service Learning as an Educational Proposal of Industrial Design for Social Innovation

Abstract

This paper analyzed the scope of social innovation, developed in the educational practice of the academic program of Industrial Design, as an alternative to establishing a social link between educational institutions and territories, identifying the relationship of Learning Service for the acquisition of the social innovation competence in the academic proposals developed by undergraduate students. The objective was to describe the learning from the eservice and social significance of academic projects, as well as the acquisition of competences, by developing viable and feasible alternatives for local development. Methodologically, it was developed as a case study with an ethnographic-type approach in which qualitative tools such as participant observation, interviews, documentary analysis, and visual records were used. The results demonstrated the development of educational practices, and the role of the actors involved in the learning process and the acquisition of the required competences. The discussion explains the role of each of the components of the educational proposal and academic projects, the learning achieved and the fulfillment of educational objectives through professional competencies, as well as its repercussions on social bonding as part of the purposes of the curricular project and of the interaction with social actors to assist in the development of the territories, which allowed to establish conclusions and some recommendations regarding the acquisition of the proposed competences.