The students were happy, but did they change positively?

Daniel T.L. Shek; Lu Yu; Cecilia M.S. Ma

doi:10.1515/ijdhd-2014-0348

Article

The students were happy, but did they change positively?

Daniel T.L. Shek , Lu Yu and Cecilia M.S. Ma

Published/Copyright: July 19, 2014

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From the journal International Journal on Disability and Human Development Volume 13 Issue 4

Abstract

At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a 2-credit General Education subject entitled “Service Leadership” was developed to promote service leadership qualities (including leadership competencies, moral character, and caring disposition) in university students. The subject was piloted in one class with 60 students in the 2012/2013 academic year. Pretest and posttest data utilizing measures of positive youth development, life satisfaction, and service leadership qualities were collected. Positive changes in the program participants were found, particularly for measures in behavioral competence, moral competence, character strengths, general positive youth development qualities, and overall service leadership qualities. The present study provided preliminary support for the effectiveness of the subject in nurturing service leadership qualities of Chinese university students in Hong Kong.

Keywords: leadership qualities; objective outcome evaluation; pre-experimental design; service leadership; university students

Corresponding author: Daniel T.L. Shek, PhD, FHKPS, BBS, SBS, JP, Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Room HJ407, Core H, Hunghom, Hong Kong, P.R. China, E-mail: daniel.shek@polyu.edu.hk; Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P.R. China; Centre for Innovative Programmes for Adolescents and Families, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P.R. China; Department of Social Work, East China Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China; and Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau, P.R. China

Acknowledgments

The development of the course titled “Service Leadership” and the evaluation study were financially supported by the Victor and William Fung Foundation. We also to thank the Wofoo Foundation for providing a scholarship for the most outstanding student taking this subject.

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Received: 2013-8-16

Accepted: 2013-9-14

Published Online: 2014-7-19

Published in Print: 2014-11-1

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/ijdhd-2014-0348

Keywords for this article

leadership qualities; objective outcome evaluation; pre-experimental design; service leadership; university students