The service-learning rotation at the MIHC in the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong represented a commitment to enhance an elective course by employing an alternative learning strategy. Such a step requires a great deal of preparation and commitment by the faculty, university administration and community partners. Assessment plays a key role in determining the extent to which such a change is successful in meeting program goals and objectives.
Utilization of a service-learning rotation, with its required reflective component, yields a wealth of data from which to assess the value of the experience from the students’ point of view. The outcomes of this study are consistent with the emerging literature on service-learning. Responses to Likert-type
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To avoid the students pleasing their instructors and influence their course grades by skewing their writing, three strategies are suggested to use in the future. First, students should be informed that the journal reflec¬tions would be coded and word-processed by a staff person unfamiliar with the students to ensure anonymity. This allows students to freely reflect about important elements of their experience and relate their thoughts in an anonymous format. Second, reflective journals should not be assigned a letter grade, other than pass/fail to evaluate on responding to the stimulus questions. This helps to ensure that students felt free to accurately depict their thoughts and feelings through their writing. Third, an organized group debriefing of the students should be conducted upon completion of all community activities as a means of member checking. This allows faculty members to hear from the students, first-hand, about their experiences in the community setting and compare it to the thematic analysis report gener¬ated by the primary investigator. This comparison will help to verify that what the students report about their experiences in the debriefing session is captured in the