Service-learning as a vehicle to promote student social responsibility a qualitative study

Abstract

“Promotion of Children and Adolescent development” is a 3-credit service-learning subject offered to undergraduates in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The subject attempts to promote students’ understanding about the needs and challenges of children and adolescents living in disadvantaged environments, cultivate students’ positive values, care and compassion, and psychosocial competence, and promote students’ social responsibility through service learning and reflective learning. Based on qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with eight student participants in 2016/17 academic year, the present study investigated students’ learning gains from this program, with a focus on their development of social responsibility. The findings showed that students experienced cognitive, affective and behavioral transformation in social responsibility and provided evidence for the impact of this service-learning subject on students’ social responsibility development.