About Us

This center provides one-credit required courses for Service-Learning Education. Our courses particularly feature local, diverse, and experiential learning integrated with such educations as science communication, caring for the underprivileged, civil society, community innovation, international volunteering, and campus service. By doing so, we hope to link students’ service learning in the university to the communities around the world and encourage the students as global citizens to practice voluntary service overseas. This engagement may further broaden their horizons and meantime improve their international competitiveness. We will accordingly continue our job to offer more diverse types of volunteer programs, extending the service to Southeast Asian countries, like Japan, Nepal, and Cambodia.

 

Characteristic of Service-learning Courses

1. Science Communication: By contributing their expertise and professional knowledge to social sciences and education, teachers and students are encouraged to promote education on green energy and environment.

2. Caring for the Underprivileged: We help the children in the remote areas with their schoolwork. For instance, in the course, Service Learning: Volunteer Service, our students are encouraged to offer after-school video lessons for the children living in the remote areas of Taitung, Taoyuan, and Kaohsiung and for the new immigrants’ children; also, to provide long-term care service for the elderly and service targeted at the underprivileged.

3. Civic Society: We educate our students to be responsible for society and acquire collaborative leadership. In this way, when engaged in public affairs, they are able to influentially contribute to this world.

4. Community Innovation: We highly encourage our students to serve society by community innovation and placemaking. Inculcated with “Learning by doing,” they are able to put what they learn in class into practice and apply it to the community service. In so doing, we hope they can not only feel more confident, inspired, and caring, but also truly find the value within life.

5. International Volunteering: Students will present and share their experience in international volunteer work, whereby we anticipate more students to join the voluntary service abroad. With in-class instruction and training, students can be well-prepared beforehand, and we particularly expect them to widen the horizons, cultivate self-awareness, and reflect upon how to be influential in such current society.

6. Campus Service: We provide service for the NSYSU campus. For example, in the course－The Arts Performances Volunteer Services－students are required to assist our Art Center. For another, Volunteer Services, students teach the kids in the NSYSU nursery school different languages and cultures or even literacy skills. What’s more, the course, Urban Agriculture, provides students with the opportunities to know more about various sorts of green buildings. Specifically introduced to the technical maintenance of such architecture, they may chance to experience the life as urban farmers, and their engagement at the same time may attain the effect of greening the campus.

 

Service Learning Handbook

Teacher’s Handbook

Student's Handbook

 

Service Learning Teacher Training

Watch Unit 1: Definition of service leaning

Watch Unit 2: Feature of service leaning

Watch Unit 3: The Difference between service Learning and volunteering

Watch Unit 4: The impact of service learning

Watch Unit 5: Service Learning and Reflection

Watch Unit 6: Design of the syllabus

Watch Unit 7: Service Learning Outcomes and Celebrations

Watch Unit 8: Service learning and high-achieving students

Watch Message to teachers

 

Online basic courses of service-learning seeded teacher

Go to the website of Youth Development Administration, after registering and logging in, select "Youth Service Learning (College)".

Youth Development Administration WEB

 

Service Learning Teaching Assistant Training and Student Related

Watch All-round Leadership Principles of Teaching Assistant Development Program

Watch Benefits of Service Learning

Watch Challenges of Service Learning Development

Watch Mutual growth of the service learning community and campus

Watch NSYSU Service Learning Leadership

Watch DISC basic introduction and communication

Watch DISC Interaction and Growth Strategy

Watch Multiple Intelligences and Career Planning

 

A. Investigation

Definition

Obtain information through a systematic process, analyze requirements, set priorities, and then decide on the next step.

Importance

1. Usually community surveys are limited to the satisfaction of needs. Understanding the community’s strengths, resources, expectations, and opportunities can make investigations more effective.
2. Investigate the needs of the community by methods such as checking the library, searching the Internet, interviewing key figures or visiting the community on the spot. More sophisticated methods include opinion polls and interviews.

Learning Points

1. Confirm your professional passion.
2. Choose a service-learning course that fits your career plan.
3. Set your own service learning goals.
4. Participate in PILOT growth camp and UCAN test.

B. Preparation

Definition

1. Prepare for learning: Set service content according to learning objectives, and plan learning opportunities and courses.
2. Prepare for service: Familiarize participants with the service learning program, provide knowledge and competency training, ensure all details are prepared, and resolve logistical issues.
3. Prepare for Growth: Help participants explore personal, social, cultural, or other issues that may arise in the program based on growth goals.

Importance

1. A successful program is largely determined by the completeness of preparation.
2. Ensure that participants are committed, have a good service experience with the communities they serve, and strengthen their civic engagement.

Learning Points

1. 18 hours of class to learn the overview of service learning, including definition, concept, implementation, process and service knowledge training.
2. Understand why service learning is so important?
3. Cultivate students’ soft skills, such as expressiveness, communication skills, stress resistance, emotional management, etc.

 

C. Action

Definition

1. When the service provided is meaningful, the execution level is the most visible part.
2. Implementation enables participants to understand social issues and put them into practice, which is beneficial to community life.

Importance

1. Action is the phase at the heart of service learning.
2. Participants not only provide services to meet the needs of the community, but also enhance their self-growth and fully demonstrate what they have learned in the reflection and achievement exhibition stages.

Learning Points

1. Go to a service organization for 18 hours of service-learning practice.
2. Combine with future development plans to stimulate learning motivation.
    

D. Reflection

Definition

1. Reflection should involve thinking, analysis, interpretation and problem solving.
2. Reflection helps participants apply their experiences and integrate knowledge with their own perceptions.

Importance

1. To help students gain an in-depth understanding of the world around them and develop self-confidence, social responsibility and political morality.
2. Inspire more caring, deeper relationships, and a stronger sense of belonging.
3. Promote student engagement in school.
4. Helping young people inspire new ideas, horizons and new approaches.

Learning Points

1. Understand the importance of reflection.
2. Learn about reflection methods.
3. Reflection through service learning to create a second learning.

Method

1. In-depth observation and analysis.
2. Reflect on your own experiences, listen to others and be inspired by their testimonies and successes.
3. Link community service and classroom learning.
4. Written writing via assessment and reflection sheets.
5. Oral sharing, communication and discussion.
6. The aim is to acquire attitudes, values ​​and passions of “renewed mind”.

To The Service Itself

1. What do I gain from helping others?
2. How can others benefit from my assistance?
3. What or who made me different?
4. What or who is making it difficult for me?
5. Do I think everyone should help their community?
6. What values ​​and beliefs are most important in serving others?

Self-positioning

1. What did I do? What have I been exposed to? What do I see or hear? What are the resulting feelings and thoughts? Why do you feel this way? How have these experiences changed how I see things, see the world, and perceive myself? What have I learned? What are my values ​​and experiences with this group? What technology do I use to assist them?
2. What does my service plan do? What level of activity was the most fun? What level is the most challenging? What additional skills or knowledge can enhance my service? How do the people I serve and the organizations that serve me perceive me? How has it changed for my personal and professional growth?
3. What is the social problem I want to solve? What new problems did I have during the service process? How can my service learning team be trusted? How can you be a community-changing group?
4. What is my previous successful experience (service experience or general experience)? What was the biggest challenge of your last experience? How to overcome these challenges later? So, facing the challenge of this new service project, what belief should I have?
5. What are my plans next time? What are my possible new actions and how to cope in the future?

To Others

1. Who do I work with?
2. What are their values, beliefs, expectations and dreams?
3. What do they have in common? How are they different?
4. What are their needs and problems?
5. How has their work and services changed their lives and growth?
6. What conditions limit their effectiveness?
7. The onlookers see most clearly. What advice do you give them?

To The Community

1. What issues do I serve?
2. What are the political, economic and social contextual factors influencing this issue?
3. If the program is successful, how will it affect people?
4. What new knowledge have I learned on this topic?
5. How has this knowledge positively affected my life?

To Taiwan

1. Am I satisfied with the current stage of Taiwanese society?
2. What is the development trend of Taiwanese society?
3. What are the social problems in Taiwan?
4. What can I do to reduce social problems in Taiwan?
5. Am I willing to be a seed for improving Taiwanese society?
    

E. Achievement Exhibition and Celebration

Definition

1. Teaching others is the fastest way to learn. It gives participants the opportunity to integrate what they have learned and articulate their learning experiences, resulting impact and growth experiences.
2. To celebrate is to affirm and praise the achievements.

Importance

1. An exhibition showing the results of youth learning and impact, sometimes combined with reflection or assessment activities.
2. The significance of the Outcomes Exhibition is to integrate learning, youth voice and leadership development, growth and community influence, and participants can increase self-efficacy and eliminate negative stereotypes. They also inspire the community to engage in issues or events they want to address.
3. Rewards, praise, and celebration reinforce learning and strengthen youth commitment to the community.
4. The content of the specific celebration must place the performance of learning, growth and influence very important.

Learning Points

Integrate what you have learned, and articulate the impact and growth of your learning journey.

 

F. Sustainability

Definition

1. Sustained (aka institutionalized) service learning, emphasizing the integration of service learning with part of the organizational plan and organizational culture, and allowing “graduated” participants to continue serving and civic engagement in their lives. Participants should use service learning as a learning strategy and platform to influence more people. The attitude should be positive promotion.
2. Co-lead by stakeholders of the organization or system (including youth, parents, partners, as well as organization committees, supervisors, and administrators).
3. Every stakeholder agrees that service learning is an important strategy for achieving organizational goals.
4. There are sufficient resources to pay for personnel, training and other expenses.
5. Have ample time for planning and cooperation.
6. Provide training for different levels of experience.
7. Open discussion and methods of giving back.
8. Each member has a sense of common goals and mutual trust.

Importance

1. Service learning is an innovative approach that needs to be actively promoted in the organization to survive.
2. The goal of sustainable development is to make service learning a part of the organization’s operation, and everyone is a core role in it. Continuous improvement of service learning quality is equivalent to maintaining a valuable part of organizational contribution.
3. Sustaining service-learning is a challenge for the community, because it is not yet popularized, and students have a lot of misconceptions about schoolwork.

Learning Points

After the end of the service action, confirm the new topic or the next service plan (or engage in related club activities, international volunteers, and corporate internships).