Experiential Learning Strategies for Promoting Adolescents’ Voluntarism in Hong Kong

2010

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) targets adolescents with greater psychosocial needs, and the related programs were designed and implemented by school social workers. After completion of the Tier 2 Program (Secondary 1 Level), 9,931 participants in 212 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C) in order to assess their views of the program, workers, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Based on the consolidated reports submitted by the agencies to the funding body, the research team aggregated the consolidated data to form a “reconstructed” overall profile on the perceptions of the program participants. Four major types of program were identified, including programs based on the adventure-based counseling approach (n = 58), programs concentrating on volunteer training and services (n = 31), programs offering both adventure-based counseling and volunteer training activities (n = 91), and other programs with different foci (n = 32). Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the programs and the workers, and over four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as helpful to them. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong for the Full Implementation Phase.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Youth Development Programs Targeting Students with Greater Psychosocial Needs: A Replication

Lee

2010

“…They were both popular program approaches used by social workers working with adolescents and young people in Hong Kong. Both of them ground their theoretical base in the experiential learning theory [6,10,11]. The Type C program has a much longer history that can date back to the late 1960s and has since been a popular program, while Type B was formally adopted as the major program theory for a huge social intervention program entitled "The Understanding the Adolescent Project" (UAP) to combat problems among students identified as adolescent-at-risk from 2001 to 2004 in Hong Kong [12,13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Youth Development Programs Targeting Students with Greater Psychosocial Needs: Subjective Outcome Evaluation

Lee

Sun

et al. 2008

The Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) targets adolescents with greater psychosocial needs, and the related programs were designed and implemented by school social workers. After completion of the Tier 2 Program, 2,173 students in 52 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C), assessing their views of the program, instructors, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Based on the consolidated reports submitted by the agencies to the funding body, the research team aggregated the consolidated data to form a “reconstructed” overall profile of the perceptions of the program participants. Four major types of program were identified, including programs based on the adventure-based counseling approach (N = 8), programs concentrated on volunteer training and services (N = 7), programs incorporating both adventure-based counseling and volunteer training elements (N = 30), and other programs with different foci (N = 7). Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the programs and the instructors, and roughly four-fifths of the respondents regarded the program as helpful to them. The present study provides support for the effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong for the experimental implementation phase.

“…They were both popular program approaches used by social workers working with adolescents and young people in Hong Kong. Both of them ground their theoretical base in experiential learning theory [23,24,25]. The VTS element only program has a much longer history that can date back to the late 1960s and has since been a popular program, while the ABC only program was formally adopted as the major program theory for a huge social intervention program entitled -The Understanding the Adolescent Project‖ (UAP) to combat problems among students identified as adolescent-at-risk from 2001 to 2004 in Hong Kong [26,27].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective Outcome Evaluation Findings: Factors Related to the Perceived Effectiveness of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S.

M.S.

2010

After completion of the Tier 2 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes), 8,489 participants in 196 schools responded to the Subjective Outcome Evaluation Form (Form C) to assess their views of the program, program workers, and perceived effectiveness of the program. Four major program elements were identified, including programs based on the adventure-based counseling approach (n = 48), programs concentrated on volunteer training and services (n = 44), programs with both the adventure-based counseling approach and volunteer training activities (n = 63), and other programs with different foci (n = 41). Descriptive statistics showed that the respondents had positive perceptions of the program, workers, and benefits of the program. Perceived qualities of the program and the program workers were positively associated with perceived effectiveness of the program. Multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived qualities of the program, but not the program workers, predicted perceived effectiveness of the program. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.