The gains of service providers and recipients: An evaluation of an online service-learning program in China

Higher education not only develops university students with solid professional knowledge, but also should equip graduates with civic responsibility. In recent years, Service-Learning (SL) has been a new learning pedagogy and practicing strategy in global higher education institutions. SL refers to a type of experiential learning that provides learners with the opportunity to enhance their academic and hands-on skills and contribute to the community in practice. SL emphasizes the equal importance of learning and service, with both the service providers and recipients gaining benefits from SL programs. Yet, the empirical studies on the effectiveness of SL programs are quite limited in the Asian context and very few studies have investigated and compared the benefits and gains of service providers and recipients in the same SL program. Moreover, studies on the effectiveness of online SL programs during the pandemic is lacking.

To address these research gaps, we evaluated the effectiveness of an online SL program conducted by 83 university students from a public university in Hong Kong in July 2022. This online SL program served 340 Grade 2 to 5 children in a primary school from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Using a single-group pre- and post-test design, we compared the changes of the service providers and recipients before and after they attended a five-day online SL program that focused on personal development and psychological well-being. We found that both service providers and recipients showed significant improvement in many aspects. Specifically, service recipients reported significant improvement in life satisfaction and most of the positive youth development (PYD) attributes (e.g., cognitive competence, behavioral competence, and resilience) except in self-determination, social competence, and belief in future after receiving the service. Meanwhile, service providers reported positive and significant changes in all PYD attributes and life satisfaction. We further found that service providers showed more significant improvement in self-determination, social competence, clear and positive identity, belief in the future, and life satisfaction than service recipients. The findings of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of the online SL program –– both service providers and recipients can benefit from this program. It also suggests that SL programs should be promoted in the Asian contexts.