Start Date
5-6-2013 5:00 PM
End Date
5-6-2013 6:10 PM
Description
All students admitted to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) under the new 4-year undergraduate degree structure starting in the 2012-13 school year are required to take at least one subject in “Service Learning”. Preparations started in 2010. Since then 24 subjects have been developed and approved, about half of them have been piloted – offered to the current students as elective subjects. These subjects have been taken by ~300 students, who have served in Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas. At full scale, it is estimated that we have to offer 60 subjects to more than two thousand students each year. This paper discusses the challenges faced and the lessons learned from the preparation and piloting. The biggest and most fundamental challenge is perhaps the changing of the mindset: convincing the university community of the benefits and practicality of service learning as a core component of holistic education. This was overcome by open consultation, presentation of relevant research, reference to best practices both internal and external to the university, and the successful piloting. The second challenge that follows is the training of and provision of support for teachers, through seminars, workshops, discussions and e-Learning. The third and most demanding of creativity is the exploration and development of service learning projects with long-term sustainability, for the wide range of disciplines encompassed by a comprehensive university such as the Polytechnic University – ranging from information technology, to English, to Hotel and Tourism, to Building and Real Estate, to Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, to Design, to Textile and Fashion, to Finance and Accounting, … Finally, we have to evaluate the impact of service learning on the holistic development of students over time. Preliminary evaluation of the piloting subjects have been very encouraging. Fuller validation, however, must await full implementation and longer term studies.
Recommended Citation
Chan, S. (2013, June). Compulsory credit-bearing courses on service learning for The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Paper presented at the 4th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Service-Learning: Service-Learning as a Bridge from Local to Global: Connected world, Connected future, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China.
Included in
Compulsory credit-bearing courses on service learning for The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
All students admitted to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) under the new 4-year undergraduate degree structure starting in the 2012-13 school year are required to take at least one subject in “Service Learning”. Preparations started in 2010. Since then 24 subjects have been developed and approved, about half of them have been piloted – offered to the current students as elective subjects. These subjects have been taken by ~300 students, who have served in Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas. At full scale, it is estimated that we have to offer 60 subjects to more than two thousand students each year. This paper discusses the challenges faced and the lessons learned from the preparation and piloting. The biggest and most fundamental challenge is perhaps the changing of the mindset: convincing the university community of the benefits and practicality of service learning as a core component of holistic education. This was overcome by open consultation, presentation of relevant research, reference to best practices both internal and external to the university, and the successful piloting. The second challenge that follows is the training of and provision of support for teachers, through seminars, workshops, discussions and e-Learning. The third and most demanding of creativity is the exploration and development of service learning projects with long-term sustainability, for the wide range of disciplines encompassed by a comprehensive university such as the Polytechnic University – ranging from information technology, to English, to Hotel and Tourism, to Building and Real Estate, to Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, to Design, to Textile and Fashion, to Finance and Accounting, … Finally, we have to evaluate the impact of service learning on the holistic development of students over time. Preliminary evaluation of the piloting subjects have been very encouraging. Fuller validation, however, must await full implementation and longer term studies.