Transformation and Development of University Students through Service-Learning: a Corporate-Community-University Partner
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Transformation and Development of University Students through Service-Learning: a Corporate-Community-University Partnership Initiative in Hong Kong (Project WeCan) D. T. L. Shek 1 & C. M. S. Ma 1 & Z. Yang 1 Received: 6 May 2019 / Accepted: 21 May 2019/ # The Author(s) 2019
Abstract As service-learning is still at its infancy in Hong Kong, there is a need to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of service-learning projects and bring important implications to the curriculum. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a service-learning initiative that involved a corporate-community-university partnership (Project WeCan). In total, 138 university students (service providers) were included. We evaluated the project through three mechanisms. First, pretest and posttest data showed that students changed in the positive direction in terms of the intended learning outcomes in the civic engagement, cognitive and academic domains. Second, students showed positive changes in terms of psychosocial competencies and self-leadership. Finally, qualitative analyses of the reflective journals showed that students demonstrated positive changes in the areas of social responsibility, interpersonal competence, and intrapersonal skills. The findings underscore the utility of service-learning as an effective pedagogy to promote holistic development of university students. Keywords Service-learning . Positive youth development . Corporate-community-
university collaboration . Multiple evaluative strategies
Introduction Although service-learning (SL) has been defined in various ways, researchers working in the field have consistently recognized it as a type of experiential education that incorporates two fundamental constructs: service and learning (Bringle and Hatcher
* D. T. L. Shek [email protected]
1
Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China
D. T. L. Shek et al.
1996; Deeley 2010; Jacoby 1996). It integrates community service with clear educational goals through structured and tailored learning experiences, and hence different from voluntary service or internships (Jacoby 1996; Ma et al. 2019; Seifer 1998). SL has been shown to bring beneficial effects to students. Research findings have revealed that SL projects facilitated students’ intellectual and academic development and cultivated their sense of civic responsibility through applying knowledge gained in classroom to real-world practice and critical self-reflection (e.g. Astin et al. 2000; Eyler and Giles 1999; Ocal and Altınok 2015; Welch and Billig 2004). While service-learning projects and research studies have been conducted in the West, SL remains a comparatively new concept in the Asian context (Xing and Ma 2010). With specific reference to Hong Kong, SL has gained a footing in the Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) curriculum over the past decade and witnessed a steady increase in research. From 2012 to 2013 academic year, XXX University has initi
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