School health partnership in service learning : a Hong Kong experience

Abstract

Background: Unlike traditional classroom teaching, service learning programs provide new platforms for students to learn and apply knowledge while serving people. Because students are required to link the knowledge acquired from a service learning course with the process of service through writing reflective journals, service learning actually acts as a bridge between the classroom environment and society. Methods: In order to examine the effectiveness of service learning teaching approach, this study aims at assessing students’ improvement on four selected domains (interpersonal effectiveness, teamwork, problem solving, and social responsibility) before and after taking a service learning course. Results: The students showed significant improvement (p<0.01) on all the four domains after completing the course. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the service learning model in higher education. In contrast to a traditional lecture setting, service learning can also improve students’ abilities in different dimensions. Service learning, which is an innovative and low-cost teaching method, is not only suitable for Western countries, but also for Chinese society.