The previous posts have elaborated on some of the basic tasks, critical to the implementation of the SL program, without which the program probably could not be launched successfully. Our objective, however, was not merely to have the students fulfil the Service-Learning Requirement. There are also a wide range of tasks, some of which may not be too obvious at the beginning, but nevertheless natural and critical to the healthy development of service-learning at a university.
One of the most important questions that we have to answer is this: having invested so much energy, resources, time and money into creating the SL program, does it actually achieve the intended objectives for the university? To answer that question, much evaluation and research has been done, and more are coming. We are also interested in questions such as the critical success factors for SL, impact on the community, impact on the teachers, what motivates the teachers, how does service-learning relate to academic studies in general, and specific disciplines in particular, etc.
Since we started with little experience and expertise, our first efforts were naturally modest in rigour, scope, and impact. In time, we aim to improve in all aspects. The OSL has been in the centre of the push to develop new subjects, improve existing subjects, train teachers, create new and more effective pedagogies, deepen the impact on all stake holders, create collaboration with foreign universities, create world-wide alliances, conduct innovative research to inform our own practice and to contribute to the world-wide community, leverage SL to achieve other institutional objectives such as leadership education and global engagement. In short, we aim at nothing less than becoming a world-wide centre of excellence on service-learning.
In many ways, the rest of this book is a telling of our efforts and experiences in this quest.
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