This paper examines the role of international service learning (ISL) in facilitating undergraduate students' exploration of their conception of self-the use of specific values and beliefs to define one's role in society and relationships with others. ISL is intentionally structured activities involving students in social services for community members in overseas settings. Existing research underscores the importance of inducting students to other-oriented (showing care and empathy for others) values in facilitating students' self-exploration. In this paper, students' development of other-oriented values in the moral, cultural and leadership domains are considered in the context of ISL experiences. Findings from interviews conducted with 48 Hong Kong students suggest the need for students to exercise critical reflection and perspective taking when engaged in ISL experiences, which facilitated their incorporation of other-oriented values into their conception of self. Implications for service learning practitioners to support students' self-exploration in ISL are proposed.

The current study explored the impact of students' residence hall experience in terms of academic, social and personal development and students' motivation to join residence hall activities at a Hong Kong university. The results revealed significant differences, with females, local and non-first-year student groups reporting more gains from their residential hall experience relative to male, non-local and first-year students. Findings are useful in the refinement of the residence hall system to cater for students of diverse backgrounds.

With more non-local (Mainland China and overseas) students admitted into the universities of Hong Kong, the student population on campus is becoming much more diversified. This study was a phenomenological inquiry into the social engagement experiences of local and non-local Chinese students in their first year at a university in Hong Kong. Qualitative data was obtained from 10 focus groups. The findings suggested that the majority of the students in the study were active in social engagement and most achieved a sense of belonging to the university or its sub-communities. The culture in student communities played an important role in students' social engagement. It pushed students to become intensively involved in out-of-class activities and challenged them to reflect on the direction in which they would carry this historical legacy forward in the diversifying campus.

Given the widely accepted notion of whole person education in Confucian societies such as Hong Kong, Mainland China and Singapore, it is surprising that research literature originated in these societies pays little attention to how students learn and develop through out-ofclass experiences at university. There is little research evidence on how the prevailing culture among student social communities (residential halls and student societies/ clubs) influences students' social involvement and development. This paper examines 42 Chinese students' social experiences and development during their freshman year at a Hong Kong university. The majority of them were intensively involved in out-of-class activities. Their active social involvement was both a response to the culture of student communities and a conscious choice about social experiences at university. As a result, the students attained development in four dimensions: (1) the social competences of interpersonal and collaboration skills and new friendships; (2) the practical competences of time management, organisation, negotiation, decision making and leadership; (3) the intellectual competences of openmindedness and independent judgment; and (4) the personal competences of self-responsibility and self-confidence. Educational implications are discussed towards the end of the paper on supporting and advising students regarding social involvement, particularly during the first year of university.