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Factors Affecting Students’ Evaluation in a Community Service-Learning Program

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Abstract

A community service-learning curriculum was established to give students opportunities to understand the interrelationship between family and community health, the differences between community and hospital medicine, and to be able to identify and solve community health problems. Students were divided into small groups to participate in community health works such as home visits etc. under supervision. This study was designed to evaluate the community service-learning program and to understand how students’ attitude and learning activities affected students’ satisfaction. The results revealed that most medical students had a positive attitude towards social service and citizenship but were conservative towards taking the role to serve people in the community. Students had achieved what they were required to learn especially the training in communication skills and ability to identify social issues. Students’ attitude towards social service did not affect their opinions on the quality of the program and subjective rating on their achievement. The quality of the program was related to the quality of learning rated by the students.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC (NSC91-2516-S-002-001). The authors wish to thank Yin-Li Tsao for her assistance in this study. We also thank all community tutors and staff members who participated in the community service-learning program.

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Correspondence to Kai-Kuen Leung.

Appendix

Appendix

Social Attitude Scale (SAS)

Citizenship

Sense of personal efficacy in affecting community issues

 Most people can have an impact on community problems

 I can solve the problems of my community

 I play an important part in improving my community

 I do not have time to help others (R)

Belief that the community itself can be effective in solving its problems

 I think social problems should be solved by efforts from the community

 Community is capable of solving its own problems

 Community should provide social services to its people

Feeling connected to the community

 We should do good things for our community

 Social problems are not my concern (R)

 I should reach out to serve people

Locus of community problems

People who need social services have needs based on personal factors

Generally speaking, one’s fortune is determined by one’s self

Social justice and political structure

Striving for greater social justice is something I can do to improve society

Solving social problems is not government’s responsibility (R)

The most important part of community service is providing service on an individual basis

The most important part of community service is in correcting public policy

Tolerance

I feel uncomfortable working with different people

Personal gain

I obtain valuable skills and experiences from community service

I develop leadership skills through community service

Personal value

I can influence public policy

I often volunteer to help people

I can present community leadership

I am building a career to help people

  1. (R): reverse coding

Program Characteristic Scale (PCS)

Ability Scale (AS)

Reflection/discussion

Discussion about the service provided

Discussion of learning experiences with faculty

Sharing feelings with others

Analyzing community problems

Relating classroom knowledge to community service

Reporting service activities

Reflection/writing

Daily journal writing

Faculty response to journal entries

Writing about projects assigned

Placement quality

Imposing important responsibility

Participating in challenging tasks

Requiring important decision making

Having interesting assignments

Personal participation

Opportunities to talk with people receiving services

Being in accordance with professional interests

Performing a variety of tasks

Gaining appreciation for the service performed

Making actual contributions

Implementation of ideas without restriction

Obtaining challenging experiences

Community voice

Recipient involved in service activities planning

Projects consider needs of the community

Application

Applying classroom knowledge to service projects

Applying service achievements to classroom knowledge

Diversity

Working with different people

Leadership skills

Feeling responsible for others

Knowing where to find information

Knowing whom to contact to get things done

Ability to lead a group

Communication skills

Active participation in community affairs

Good communication with others

Often discussion on various issues with others

Good listening skills

Able to speak in public

Team work

Respecting different opinions from others

Able to compromise

Capable of making moral or ethical judgments

Being tolerant of different people

Being empathetic to all points of view

Able to work with others

Thinking about others

Ability to see consequences

Able to foresee consequences of actions

Able to think about future

Critical thinking skills

Thinking critically

Ability to identify social issues

Able to identify social issues and concerns

Action skills

Able to take action

Effective in accomplishing goals

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Leung, KK., Liu, WJ., Wang, WD. et al. Factors Affecting Students’ Evaluation in a Community Service-Learning Program. Adv in Health Sci Educ 12, 475–490 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-006-9019-1

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