| Author: | Li, Pui Ki |
| Title: | The impact of service-learning on students’ civic engagement, social responsibility and service leadership in the Chinese context |
| Advisors: | Shek, Daniel (APSS) Yu, Lu (APSS) |
| Degree: | DSW |
| Year: | 2025 |
| Department: | Department of Applied Social Sciences |
| Pages: | 291 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | This study investigated the impact of service-learning on the development of university students in the areas of civic engagement, social responsibility, and service leadership within a Chinese society. Factors that are associated with students' learning gains from service-learning programs were further investigated. Specifically, this study addressed four major research questions: (A) Does participation in service-learning programs enhance university students' civic engagement (including civic attitude and civic behaviours), social responsibility, and service leadership in a Chinese context? (B) What individual and program-level factors are associated with the development of university students' civic engagement, social responsibility and service leadership after completing their service-learning programs? (C) What are students' learning experiences and the perceived learning gains from participating in service-learning programs? A mixed-methods research approach utilizing a two-phase sequential design was employed. The study began with a quantitative phase to answer the research question A and B, and then followed by a qualitative phase to answer the research question C. For the quantitative component, a pre- and post-test design was adopted, with online questionnaires administered to students recruited from 13 service-learning subjects offered at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, both before (pre-test) and after (post-test) their participation in service-learning projects during the 2020/21 academic year. There were 447 participants and 228 participants completed the pre-test and the post-test respectively. A total of 145 matched cases were paired. The qualitative component involved 11 focus group interviews with a total of 33 students, which provided an in-depth understanding of their experiences in these service-learning projects and identified the factors influencing their learning gains. To address research question A, repeated measures MANOVA are used as the primary statistical method. This analysis aims to determine whether participation in the service-learning program significantly improves students' civic attitudes, civic behaviours, social responsibility, and service leadership qualities. These four dependent variables were measured at two time points, before and after the intervention. The repeated measures MANOVA tested for overall differences across these variables. To examine research question B, multiple linear regression analysis was employed. The goal is to identify which factors at the individual and program levels are associated with development in the four domains. Separate regression models are built for each dependent variable, civic attitude, civic behaviour, social responsibility, and service leadership. To examine research question C, eleven focus group interviews were conducted following a structured protocol. All sessions were audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed into text documents. Thematic analysis was employed as the primary analytical method to summarize students' perceived impacts and to identify facilitators and barriers to effective learning in the program. The quantitative results showed that students' scores in civic attitude, civic behaviour, social responsibility, and service leadership significantly increased from pre-test to post-test. Group cohesion and reflection opportunities emerged as the most significant factors associated with students' improvements in civic attitude, civic behaviour, social responsibility and service leadership after completing their service-learning. The quantitative results further support that service-learning had positive impacts on the development of university students' civic engagement, social responsibility and service leadership. The qualitative results also showed the positive impacts of service-learning on the development of civic engagement, social responsibility, and service leadership from students' sharing in the focus group interviews. Facilitators of, and barriers to the development of students' civic engagement, social responsibility, and service leadership at the individual-level and at the program-level including peer-level, staff-level, and program design-level were identified. This study highlights the theoretical contribution by integrating the Western model of civic engagement with the indigenous service leadership model to understand the impact of service-learning on university students' development in the context of Hong Kong. Additionally, identifying the factors associated with the impact of service-learning contributes to the existing service-learning theory. Moreover, the findings of this study have important implications for the design and implementation of service-learning programs in higher education, particularly within the Chinese context. The significant improvements observed in students' civic engagement, social responsibility and service leadership, and their positive perceptions of the service-learning experiences suggest that these programs are effective in fostering essential personal and social skills. The identification of group cohesion and reflection opportunities as key factors in driving these gains highlights the importance of strengthening group cohesion and incorporating structured reflection activities into service-learning curricula. Understanding these factors that influence learning outcomes can guide social workers, service-learning practitioners and educators in optimizing program content and delivery, which can ultimately enhance the impact of service-learning on student development. These insights will inform policy and practice in universities and promote the integration of service-learning as a critical component of higher education for holistic student development. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8668.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 1.65 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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