Service Learning

Service Learning approach concept is not new to the BSocSc Programme. The course instructors (Social Welfare and Social Problems in Hong Kong, Social Gerontology, Society and Social Change, Crime and Delinquency, Work and Occupation and Health, Illness and Behaviour) have already been using Service-Learning approach.

The Service-Learning approach allows students to work a minimum of 30 hours voluntary service as an alternative to attending tutorials.  The purpose is to offer an initial exposure for students to have first hand experiences in one or more types of social welfare/social problems in Hong Kong. Crucially, what the students observe and participate in during their SL placements relates to what they learn in lectures.  As part of the SL course assessment, students write an essay and make a presentation, providing a perspective on a social welfare/social problem in their analyses.

The Service-Learning approach is gaining great currency internationally and has so far demonstrated that students have learned well in both life skills and subjects matters through services and production of a subject-related project. The positive impact they have created, such as university image and community solidarity, is also beneficial. The SL Programmes were run with great success and have served over 2000 people so far.

The Office of Service-Learning (OSL) in Lingnan University offers learning opportunities for students through service provision, whereby students, under the guidance of course instructors and service agencies, can develop positive attitudes and concrete skills, and integrate their knowledge through participation in service-learning programs. In Lingnan, they have begun implanting the service-learning components across the curriculum since 2004-05. Set up in May 2006, OSL seeks to provide a vital University-community link so that students can find fulfillment in academic pursuit and serving those in need.

Chong Ka Ka

“Joining the Service-Learning Program is one of the remarkable time in my university life. In the whole process, through playing Tai-chi regularly in the campus and doing volunteering work in Tuen Mun Hosiptal with twenty elderly, I get closer with them. It is really glad to chat with them as they are the most experienced individuals in the society. Not only can I know more about the elderly, but I can also apply what I learnt from the lectures.”

Ho Tai-wai, David

“This is really a brand-new concept comes up to my mind as saying: I can LEARN through doing SERVICE.  The practice is a good chance for me to put those learning theory in the real case, which cannot achieve from sitting in the tutorial. I also visited the villages in the rural-area and did activities to the village’s children.  I learned a lot from this as the experience couldn’t gain from doing internship in Hong Kong.”

Siu Pui Yee, Chole

"I have joined two service-learning programmes in SOC330 and SOC327. The target groups of these two programmes were teenagers in the Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme and new migrants respectively. Both programmes helped me to get familiar with service-learning; I could apply the knowledge and theories I learned from textbooks to real-world situations.