Background: Educators have divided and often strongly held views on whether service-learning should be required of all students. However, studies examining students' view on mandatory service-learning are limited in the literature. Purpose: This article contrasts and examines students' views toward a service-learning requirement at a Hong Kong university before and after attending a mandatory service-learning course, and any resulting changes. Methodology/Approach: This is a retrospective qualitative study using semistructured interviews. Participants were 49 students who completed a service-learning course in the 2013-2014 academic year. They were selected according to the nature of their performance in their completed course. Findings/Conclusions: Results show that students' perspectives toward service-learning are not static but rather change dramatically as a result of their experiences. Most students, even those who recalled being initially negative or resigned, reported positive views toward service-learning after completing the course. Implications: Students' initial resistance alone is not a reason for making service-learning optional. Some students have a negative view due to a lack of information or misinformation. Making it compulsory gives these students an opportunity to decide for themselves based on true experience, which, if implemented effectively, has the potential of nurturing initially hostile or inert students into more civic-minded citizens. Copyright ©2021 SAGE Publications.

Many universities have integrated community engagement in their undergraduate programs. At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, it is compulsory for all students to take at least one 3-credit subject on service-learning (SL). In each SL subject, there are purpose-designed academic teaching, rigorous service and structured assessment components. At full implementation, roughly 4,500 undergraduate students would enroll in around 70 subjects offered by a wide range of departments and faculties across the university. The subjects cover a diverse range of topics, such as digital divide, learning difficulties, engineering design, healthy living environments, orthotics, and ecotourism. The target beneficiaries are equally diverse, including slum dwellers, disabled people, children with HIV, villagers without water nor electricity, new immigrants, mentally ill patients, ethnic minorities, and children of migrant workers. To date, students have served different groups of clients in Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Rwanda. This chapter outlines the pedagogical design of the program, challenges and strategies for implementation, and the experiences gained so far.
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