Effectiveness of Electronic Service-Learning (e-SL) in Primary School Children in China during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In recent years, Service-Learning (SL) has become a popular pedagogy in higher education, especially in Asian societies such as Hong Kong. However, although prior studies have generally showed positive effects of SL for service providers (university students in particular), there is limited evidence of the benefits of SL for the service recipients. Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some SL programs have shifted from a traditional in-person mode to an online mode, thereby creating the need to evaluate e-Service Learning (e-SL) projects. In this study, we evaluated changes among 422 primary school students as service recipients (50.6% male; 49.4% female; Mage = 11.53) joining an e-SL program conducted in mainland China by 85 undergraduate students from a public university in Hong Kong. Using a single-group pretest and posttest design with data collected before and after the e-SL program, which focused on leadership and personal development outcomes, we found that the service recipients showed significant improvements in positive youth development (PYD) attributes, leadership qualities, psychological well-being, and academic performance. We also found gender differences in most of the developmental outcomes, with male participants showing more positive improvements than female participants. These pioneering findings underscore the effectiveness of e-SL program in terms of promoting the holistic development of service recipients. This study also reveals gender differences in the benefits derived from e-SL programs.