[[alternative]]The Relationship between Serious Leisure and Leisure Benefit for the Children and Youngster Volunteers--A Case Study of the Tropic of Cancer Solar Exploration Center

[[abstract]] 「服務學習」是二十一世紀所有地球公民所必須學習的重要課題，Stebbins於2001年提出認真休閒的概念，並將志願服務視為認真休閒的一環；多位學者提出休閒效益可改善休閒參與者身心狀況。因此，本研究旨在瞭解兒童及少年志工認真休閒特質與休閒效益之關係。 本研究採問卷調查方式，以北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工為研究對象，共發放得有效問卷89份，將回收資料實施統計分析，採描述性統計等方法。茲將研究結果歸納成下列幾點：一、 北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工背景，以女性、家中排行最大、國中學生、無學科及才藝補習、父親是大學學歷、母親是高中學歷、父母親從事工商服務業、年資一年(含)以上未滿三年、每月服務時數3小時(含)以上未滿6小時占多數。二、 北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工具備認真休閒特質，在持久效益得分較高，並認同擔任太陽館志工已成為休閒生活的一部分。三、北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工在休閒效益方面，在教育效益得分較高，並認為在參與過程中強化了天文知識與興趣。四、不同課後才藝補習、父親教育程度、母親教育程度、母親職業、有擔任其他種類志工之北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工，其認真休閒特質有顯著性差異。五、不同課後才藝補習、父親教育、每月服務時數、參與年資、有擔任其他種類志工，其休閒效益有顯著差異。六、北回歸線太陽館兒童及少年志工之認真休閒特質與休閒效益之間，呈顯著正相關。 最後，就歸納之結論進行討論，提出相關建議，作為北回歸線太陽館經營、志工管理之參考。[[abstract]] Service-learning is an important topic for all Earth citizens in the twenty-first century. Stebbins (2001) created the concept of serious leisure, and service-learning has been considered in the prior research as a part of serious leisure. Many proposed that leisure has the benefits of improving physical and mental condition for the participants. The aim of this paper is to study the serious leisure attributes and benefits of the children and youngster volunteers of The Tropic of Cancer Solar Exploration Center (TCSEC). The research was conducted using a questionnaire method, with the children and youngster volunteers of the TCSEC as the objects of study, and obtained 89 completed and returned questionnaires. The analysis is based on the descriptive statistics and dummy-variable regression results from the response data.The major findings of this research are as follows:(1) The majority of the young volunteers of the TCSEC are: female, the oldest children at home, junior-high school students, not having after-school tutoring, having fathers with a university degree, mothers with a high-school degree, with at least one parent working in a business or service sector, with between one and three years of TCSEC experience, working between three to six hours per month.(2) The most notable serious leisure attribute of the young volunteers of the TCSEC is the durable benefit, indicating that the volunteer work has become a part of their leisure life.(3) The most notable benefit for the volunteers is the educational benefit, represented by a reinforced interest and growing astronomical knowledge in the participants.(4) Different levels of serious leisure attributes are found for the volunteers on the following characteristics: after-school talent tutoring, father’s education, mother’s education, mother’s job, and other types of volunteer services.(5) Different levels of serious leisure benefits are found for the volunteers on the following characteristics: after-school talent tutoring, father’s education, monthly service hours, volunteering tenure, and other types of volunteer services.(6) High levels of correlation are found between the serious leisure measures and the leisure benefits for the young TCSEC volunteers. Finally, this research provides some suggestions about the volunteers’ management for the Tropic of Cancer Solar Exploration Center. Suggestions are also provided for the possible follow-up researchers to consider