Service leadership education and research at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU) : an overview

Several credit-bearing subjects have been developed at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), including a 2-credit “service leadership” subject, a 3-credit “service leadership” subject in the Cluster Area Requirement, a free elective 3-credit “service leadership” subject, and a 3-credit “service leadership through serving children and families with special needs” subject. Noncredit-bearing service leadership programs including the Global Youth Leadership Program and Wofoo Leaders’ Network have also been designed. Different evaluation mechanisms including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation, process evaluation, and qualitative evaluation were carried out to evaluate the credit-bearing subjects. Results generally revealed that students showed positive change in service leadership qualities and well-being after they took the subjects and they gave very positive feedback about the subjects. Research and publication programs have also been carried out at PolyU.