The students were happy, but did they change positively?

At The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a 2-credit General Education subject entitled ?Service Leadership? was developed to promote service leadership qualities (including leadership competencies, moral character, and caring disposition) in university students. The subject was piloted in one class with 60 students in the 2012/13 academic year. Pretest and posttest data utilizing measures of positive youth development, life satisfaction, and service leadership qualities were collected. Positive changes in the program participants were found, particularly for measures in behavioral competence, moral competence, character strengths, general positive youth development qualities, and overall service leadership qualities. The present study provides preliminary support for the effectiveness of the subject in nurturing service leadership qualities of Chinese university students in Hong Kong.Department of Applied Social Science