Case Analysis of College Student Participation in Local Service Learning Programs in Taiwan

The goal of higher education is helping students' development and learning, fostering talents for the job market, through a series of services, programs and environments. With this in mind, guided by the policies of the Ministry of Education, the universities in Taiwan have been promoting service learning and incorporating it in their course designs to inspire students' concern for local development. This study is a case study of the Round-Island Cycling Companion Volunteer Service Learning Program between TransWorld University and Hsin-Yi Foster Home. It attempts to investigate the case through the case study inquiry of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The results of the study show that the students in service learning programs value the options and initiative in those programs, stress the sense of identity with the region, the cooperating units and themselves. They also need administrative support from the universities.