Developing a Measurement Instrument to Assess Student Learning Outcomes after Service-Learning Experience

The current paper reports the interim progress of a research study (collaboratively conducted by Lingnan University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Baptist University, and The Education University of Hong Kong) aiming to develop a well-validated measurement instrument to assess student learning outcomes after service-learning experience in higher education settings. This is part of the endeavor of further developing service-learning in Hong Kong, after its adoption by many higher education institutions as a relatively new form of pedagogy during the last decade. The scale development and validation work, with exploratory factor analysis and reliability test, thus far demonstrated that the student learning outcomes after service-learning could be measured and assessed through 56 items, covering 11 domains under four major categories, namely: a) knowledge application; b) personal and professional skills (including relationship and team skills, creative problem solving skills, self-reflection skills, and critical thinking skills), c) civic orientation and engagement (including sense of social responsibility, community commitment and understanding, and caring and respect), and d) self-awareness (including self-efficacy, self-understanding, and commitment to self-improvement).