SLS-6a3 The First Batch of Graduates - The Wide Range of SL subjects

Other than the total number of students and places, we also have to ensure that the range of subjects match the range of student interests to a reasonable extent.  Student preferences may be linked to the academic discipline (language, engineering, health science, business, …), target community (children, elderly, …), site of service (Hong Kong, Mainland China, some generic or specific foreign country, …), type of service (direct, indirect, …), …   The match will never be 100% and student interests are usually and hopefully not very narrow.  But in general if students can enrol in a subject broadly in their interest, the learning experiences and outcomes are generally better.  More on that in the following chapter. 

Each year, over the fall, spring, and the summer sessions, we offer 60+ SL subjects covering almost all the academic disciplines.  We know, from research on service-learning, theory on education in general, and our own experience in teaching, that it is important to give students some degree of autonomy in learning.  One size does not fit all.  Since we have made service-learning compulsory, we need to give them sufficient choices in selecting a service-learning subject. 

 

On the other hand, we truly believe that all academic disciplines have something to offer to tackle the needs of underprivileged people.  It is only our imagination, actually the lack of it, that limits what service-learning subjects can be created out of engineering, science, social science, health science, humanities, business, design, textiles, hotel and tourism, etc.  On this front PolyU has been quite successful in offering service-learning subjects out of almost all of the academic departments.  However, we are far from exhausting all possibilities.  We have continued to look for new opportunities to create innovative subjects and projects. 

Following is a very brief sample of SL subjects and associated projects on offer.  Subjects are selected to demonstrate the range of academic disciplines, project types, locations involved. It represents roughly one-third of all the SL subjects on offer. 

1. Community Psychology - Students plan and deliver a health promotion project for the elderly residents of Kwai Tsing district in Hong Kong, and conduct a community needs assessment to help develop a better living environment for them. 
2. Enhancing Bi-literacy & Tri-lingualism through Language Service - Students render different kinds of language service to underprivileged communities including: composing of life stories for the elderly and drafting tourism materials with a group of under-privileged secondary school students in HK.
3. Community Engagement through Expressive Textile Arts and Fashion - Students adopt expressive textile arts, fashion creativity and garment prototyping as a caring medium, helping the recipients to enhance their self-image and re-construct a healthy self-image.  The final prototypes showcased in a styling presentation with photo-shooting sessions and exhibition.  
4. Engineering Design for the Community - Students work together with the elderly to design assistive tools to help facilitate and ease their lives so as to rebuild their self-confidence and ability for daily life. 
5. Social Justice in Private Housing Redevelopment - PolyU students provide services for the elderly and homeowners with low education and affected by urban renewal. In collaboration with social workers, students explain to and advised clients of their rights under the relevant ordinances, and give recommendations on the estimated value of their properties. 
6. You can make a difference to our planet - Students participate in innovative projects to tackle the food waste problems in Hong Kong.  They try to educate the public the importance of recycling and to motivate them to do it at the same time, they advocate the benefits of reducing and recycling food wastes through working with the community partner. 
7. Serving the Community through Teaching English - Implemented in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Cambodia, PolyU students design and tailor the unique story based teaching kits on the basis of cultural conditions and the ability and learning needs of the students in different places.  
8. Promotion of Children and Adolescent Development - Students develop and deliver educational and supportive services, such as organising day camps for underprivileged children and adolescents to help unleash their potential.  Subsequently expanded into Mainland China to serve the children of migrant workers in cities. 
9. Inter-professional Health Promotion & Rehabilitation Services - Students work in teams to plan and implement health care projects for the elderly and people with disabilities, for example, conducting health education talks, providing assessments of balance and mobility, designing workout programmes and organising recreational activities. 
10. Eye Care and Vision Health for the Community - Student work in groups to provide vision screening services to underprivileged communities.  They also visit the community prior to the vision screening in order to better understand the needs of the service recipients.  The vision screening service subsequently extend to many sites in Mainland China as well as foreign countries such as Cambodia. 
11. Engaged with Diversity - Students engage in a variety of activities, including Chinese language teaching, personal tutoring, improving community communication and providing social services for school children from ethnic minority backgrounds in order to reduce discrimination and structured inequalities faced by people from diverse backgrounds. 
12. Land and Resource Management for Sustainable Development in Rural Area - Student help villagers conduct simple building inspection, and simple building maintenance, in Hong Kong.  For offshore projects in Mainland China and Taiwan, students collect geographic data and produce maps, teaching map reading to villagers,.
13. Educating Rural Farmers on Healthier Food Production - Students engage in s service project to help farmers to improve ether crop-growing standards as well as to avoid crop yield reduction, by introducing new concepts of agricultural practices as well as safe and healthier food production. 
14. Building Green Communities with Environmental NGOs - Students cooperate with communities and environmental NGOs to organise a series of activities, such as conducting voluntary environmental education in the community and providing solutions to environmental problems, ignorer to help develop a green community. 
15. Quantitative Methods for Community Service - Students help to quantify the needs and preferences of the people they serve through interviews and data analysis, to support the partner NGOs in follow-up service. 
16. Financial Literacy for Low-Income Youths - PolyU students design a unique financial literacy package, organise activities, for youths from low income families, in a mentoring programme, to foster appropriate values in personal financial management. 
17. Science for Healthy and Sustainable Living Environments - Students develop projects to measure environmental quality (air quality, volume, light pollution, etc.) to help secondary school students to learn about energy saving and sustainable development.   In a related subject, PolyU students carry out projects in developing countries such as installation of water filtration systems for villagers in Cambodia, or designing more efficient and cleaner-burning stoves in Rwanda.  
18. Reducing the Scientific Divide in Secondary Students through STEM - PolyU students tutor secondary schools students to develop projects such as muscle-signal controlled vehicle using sensors to detect electrical signals produced by skeletal muscles in different states to control the motor of the vehicle, with simple graphical programming language. Vehicles compete in a final competition.  Cultivate spirit of scientific literacy and understanding of human body.  
19. Technology Beyond Borders: Service_learning across Cultural, Ethnic and Community Lines - Students serve in Hong Kong, Mainland China as well as foreign countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Rwanda.  Projects include computer systems and network installation, workshops on programming, robotics, multimedia, social network, etc., solar-electric power generation, community learning centre installation, games and devices for cognitive/mobility training for the elderly and handicapped children, etc.  
20. Understanding Learning Difficulties - Students observe and interact with children of young people with learning difficulties to improve learning.  
21. Growing Resilience of Children in Post-disaster Contexts - PolyU students serve in post-earthquake Sichuan in Mainland China to address the impacts of recurring natural hazards on bio-psycho-social well-being of the children and their communities. 
22. Healthy Lifestyle Challenges for Developing Communities - PolyU students team up with local students to access the health status, examine the lifestyle pattern and living environment of families in slums or rural areas, provide suggestions for the families on habits and behaviours that can be changed to achieve a healthier lifestyle, in Cambodia, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Rwanda and Indonesia. 
23. Preserving Cultural Heritage for Ethnic Minorities in Contemporary China - Student help record the oral testimonies, ceremonies, songs, dance and skills of ethnic minorities to preserve ethnic culture and minimise cultural lost.   
24. Ecotourism in Rural and Developing Regions - Polyu students assess and review the potential resources for ecotourism development through site visits, interviews, and interactions with local people, and observations to understand their culture and customs.  They plan ecotourism activities, provide trainings to the local community and design a website to promote the project site.