“How to connect Students to the Community? ”
At the Service-Learning Sharing Session: Connect Students to the Community, held during the HSUHK Teaching and Learning Forum 2023 (6 June 2023), we are honored to have our President Simon Ho, Dr Thomas MAN (Associate Dean, School of Business) and external guests to grace our event! And we are honord to have invited experienced service-learning teacher Ms Maggie Wong, who has been running Service-Learning modules since 2019 to be our moderator. We also had three successful Service-Learning module instructors as speakers:
- Prof Robin Snell, module instructor of MGT1024 Leadership and Sustainability;
- Ms Rosalie Woo, module instructor of FIN1001 Personal Finance and the Society and
- Mr Sam Lam, module instructor of CMT4002 Web-media Production and CMT3011 Content Management System.
Being passionate about service-learning pedagogy, these three successful model instructors have led students in meaningful Service-Learning projects. “I integrate Service-Learning pedagogy into my FIN1001 classes, engaging students in community service such as financial literacy workshops in elderly centers, while achieving academic goals.” Rosalie shared. Sam echoed “In every student lies the potential for compassion, yet the amount and quality of nurturing it receives remain beyond our control. However, we possess the power to cultivate this potential by incorporating Service-Learning into our classrooms, watering the seeds of compassion.”
Thanks to all Service-Learning teachers, for their the great effort of enhancing the learning experience of nearly 700 students through community engagement in the academic year 2022-23. It is our pride to see students apply cumulative discipline knowledge and soft skills to address real-life community issues through processes of service practicum tasks. Prof. Snell shared feedback from students in his class:
“I think this project is very different from other group projects since this project aims to help the actual business with their current problems. Through this meaningful project, I am able to understand more about the deaf society. I learnt that they are capable to blend in the society, but they have less opportunities than other as they are labeled”.
“I have never had contact with deaf people before. It turned out that deaf people also have job skills, and the society should provide more employment opportunities for this disadvantaged group”.
“We hope that through our efforts, more people will know about NatureBathing, and more teenagers can benefit from it … If NatureBathing can really help teenagers and relieve the social problem of suicide, we can be regarded as making an indirect contribution”.
“Service-learning exposed me to some fascinating and purposeful organizations. Although their activities may seem straightforward, such as hugging trees, their underlying objective is to encourage individuals to embrace nature, thereby alleviating the stress and pressure of work or studies”.
And all speakers also shared with the participants the reasons why they kept running the Service-Learning modules despite hardship –
“Recalling my most recent encounter with integrating Service Learning into my course, I initially questioned whether the students would truly engage in meaningful reflection afterward. However, as they opened and shared their learning experiences with me, I realized that my efforts had indeed set them on the path of growth.”
The discovery of your own Service-Learning adventure to “brings books to life and life to books” can be one of the most rewarding experiences.
