Abstract:

Background:
Traditionally, service-learning projects were done face-to-face and previous studies have demonstrated its positive impacts on students. Yet, under the current COVID-19 pandemic, most service-learning activities were done virtually instead of face-to-face. The present pilot study proposed the use of telephone calls to carry out service-learning projects. Given the novelty of telephone-based service learning, it is worth investigating its impacts on students.

Method:
Student volunteers were recruited from the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Only volunteers able to speak fluent Cantonese were included in the study. Each volunteer was paired up with an elderly subject recruited from a local Elderly Community Center. The five-week telephone-based service-learning program consisted of one online training session and five phone call sessions. The training session was instructed by two social workers and focused on basic communication skills with elders. During each phone call session, knowledge surveys covering three COVID-19 related health topics including Medication Safety, Healthcare Voucher, and COVID-19 Prevention were conducted by volunteers. When elderly participant answered incorrectly, student volunteers would educate them and correct their mistakes based on standardized explanations. In the end, volunteers were invited to fill in a survey consisted of 8 open-ended questions regarding the most and least enjoyable parts of the program, major challenges encountered, new skills acquired and preferred mode of service learning (phone-based versus face-to-face). Further, students were asked to elaborate on the differences between their expectations and reality of the project. Descriptive statistics were run to evaluate the impacts of telephone-based service learning on students. No control group was involved.

Results:
25 volunteers were recruited and all of them completed the program. 80% of volunteers did not experience any difficulties in reaching elders. 28% of the students found the program too short and hoped to build up a long-term relationship with elderly subjects. 56% of the students enjoyed the flexibility of using telephones to educate elderly. Yet, 48% found it challenging to communicate with elders by phone calls solely. Luckily, 92% of the volunteers believed that as a result of such limitation, their communication skills improved significantly. For instance, they learnt how to bond with elderly subjects without face-to-face interactions by being more sensitive and cautious about verbal cues. Still, 68% preferred face-to-face service learning due to the difficulty in communicating with elders using only telephones. 75% of the volunteers believed that elderly participants were more knowledgeable than expected. Unlike traditional large-scale educational seminars, one-on-one phone enabled students to spend more time communicating with their corresponding elderly participants and develop a better understanding of the Hong Kong geriatric population.

Conclusion:
To conclude, our pilot study offered initial evidence to suggest the positive impacts of telephone-based service learning on students. Arguably, some of these benefits would be less prominent if the service-learning project was conducted face-to-face rather than via telephones. Future studies should be conducted to compare the impacts of telephone-based and face-to-face service learning on students.

Keywords:

Service learning, Virtual learning, Undergraduate education.