Law Abidance Leadership for University Students—What Do the Evaluation Findings Tell Us?

The Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) is new to the Special Administrative Region of China. Thus, to help young people understand the importance of national security and enhance their law abidance awareness, it is explicitly stated in the HKNSL that education institutions, including universities, have the responsibility to implement HKNSL-related education programs. At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), we have developed three national education programs on the HKNSL. First, we have developed a face-to-face program on law-abiding leadership for 4-year undergraduate students. Second, we have designed an online program on the same content for senior-year and advanced-standing students. Third, an e-learning course on “Understanding China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, P.R.C” is delivered for both taught and research postgraduate students. During the two years of project implementation, we continued to understand the impact of the project on different student groups through objective outcome evaluations, subjective outcome evaluations, and qualitative evaluations. Research confirms that both undergraduate and postgraduate students generally have positive views of the course and affirm its effectiveness. They believe that the program benefits their personal development in critical thinking, problem-solving ability, moral competence, interpersonal communication skills, law-abiding leadership, and understanding of the significance of national security. Most importantly, the majority of them expressed the desire to become law-abiding citizens and take on social responsibility. The series of studies enriches the scientific database of teaching politically sensitive topics in the higher education context.