scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Course for University Students in Hong Kong

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C. F. Sun ◽  
Y. H. Chui ◽  
S. W. Lit ◽  
Walter W. Yuen ◽  
...  

With higher education, university graduates are important elements of the labor force in knowledge-based economies. With reference to the mental health and developmental problems in university students, there is a need to review university’s role in nurturing holistic development of students. Based on the positive youth development approach, it is argued that promoting intrapersonal competencies is an important strategy to facilitate holistic development of young people in Hong Kong. In The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a course entitled Tomorrow’s Leader focusing on positive youth development constructs to promote student well-being will be offered on a compulsory basis starting from 2012/13 academic year under the new undergraduate curriculum structure. The proposed course was piloted in 2010/11 school year. Different evaluation strategies, including objective outcome evaluation, subjective outcome evaluation, process evaluation, and qualitative evaluation, are being carried out to evaluate the developed course. Preliminary evaluation findings based on the piloting experience in 2010/11 academic year are presented in this paper.

Author(s):  
Xiang Li ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Esther Y. W. Shek

Although mental health problems among Hong Kong university students are serious, there is a lack of studies examining the psychometric properties of related assessment scales and correlates. This study attempted to validate the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in Hong Kong university students and examine the demographic (gender), time (cohort), and well-being correlates (positive youth development attributes and life satisfaction) of psychological morbidity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the DASS (n = 6704). Gender and cohort invariance were further established using a multigroup CFA. The three-factor model of the DASS showed a superior fit and factorial invariance across gender and five different cohorts. Regarding gender and cohort correlates of psychological morbidity, males exhibited more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms than their female counterparts. The intensity of psychological distress also escalated after the Umbrella Movement in 2014. Furthermore, well-being measures (positive youth development and life satisfaction) were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. In short, the Chinese DASS demonstrated good psychometric properties. This study also showed that gender, cohort (occurrence of political events), and well-being were associated with psychological morbidity indexed by the DASS measures.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 563-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek

With reference to the mental health and developmental problems among university students, there is a need to review the university's role in nurturing holistic development of students. This paper explores the question of how holistic development of university students in Hong Kong can be promoted. Based on the positive youth development approach, it is argued that promotion of intrapersonal competencies, interpersonal relationship skills, civic responsibilities, and citizenship among university students is an important strategy to facilitate holistic development of young people in Hong Kong. Two general education or freshman seminar courses that focus on the cultivation of intrapersonal competencies, interpersonal relationship skills, civic responsibilities, and sense of citizenship among university students in Hong Kong are proposed.


Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M.S. Ma

AbstractThe changes in university students after taking a subject on leadership and intrapersonal development (“Tomorrow’s Leaders” at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) are presented in this paper. Adopting a pre-experimental design (one group pretest-posttest design), 1029 students responded to a questionnaire assessing different aspects of development, including measures of positive youth development and life satisfaction. While students showed positive changes in self-determination, thriving and life satisfaction, their scores declined in some measures of positive youth development. The present findings are consistent with the previous findings that the subject is able to promote the holistic development of university students in Hong Kong, but it also generated some odd findings to be clarified in future studies.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 182-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek

The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is a curricular-based program that attempts to promote positive youth development in Hong Kong. In the second year of the Full Implementation Phase, 20 experimental schools (n = 2,784 students) and 23 control schools (n = 3,401 students) participated in a randomized group trial. Analyses based on linear mixed models via SPSS showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale. Differences between experimental and control participants were also found when students who joined the Tier 1 Program and perceived the program to be beneficial were employed as participants of the experimental schools.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek

The purpose of this study was to examine the postlecture evaluation by the students taking a course (Tomorrow's Leaders) that attempted to promote their leadership qualities and intrapersonal competencies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in Hong Kong. Except for the last lecture, students were invited to respond to a 12-item postlecture questionnaire after each lecture. Results showed that the students had positive perceptions of the subject, class, and teacher attributes, and they had positive global evaluation of the teacher and the subject. The postlecture evaluation questionnaire was found to possess good psychometric properties. Multiple regression analyses showed that subject, class, and teacher attributes were predictive of global evaluation of the lecture and the teacher. In conjunction with other evaluation findings, the present findings strongly suggest that students had positive perceptions of the attributes and benefits of “Tomorrow's Leaders.”


2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1466-1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek

There are two tiers of programs in the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes). In the Tier 1 Program, teaching units based on different positive youth development constructs are covered. Pre- and post-test data utilizing the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) and post-test subjective outcome evaluation data were collected from 546 students who participated in the 20h Tier 1 Program of the P.A.T.H.S. Project. Results showed that high proportions of the respondents had positive perceptions of the program and the instructors, with 85.3% of the respondents regarding the program as helpful to them. Positive changes in the program participants in many measures of positive youth development were also observed. Although there were some increases in problem behavior in some areas, adolescent problem behavior was generally stable. The present study provides preliminary support for the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Ba’yah Abdul Kadir ◽  
Rusyda Helma Mohd

A substantial body of evidence supports Lerner and colleagues’ 5Cs model of positive youth development (PYD) in the United States (U.S.). Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether the 5Cs can be used to identify positive development in the under-researched Asian contexts, such as Malaysia. Thus, this study examined the 5Cs of PYD (competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring) and their importance to purpose in life, hope, and well-being in a sample of emerging adult undergraduate university students in Malaysia. Data were collected from 400 participants from 15 Malaysian universities (132 males, 268 females; ages ranged from 18 to 26 years old, M = 22). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the 5Cs of PYD (confidence and connection) as well as hope were important to explaining variation in well-being. The findings imply that there are strong links between PYD, especially confidence and connection, and well-being, while purpose in life and hope were indirectly related to the 2Cs (confidence and connection) of PYD and well-being. Therefore, mental health professionals are encouraged to review and redefine their treatment design to include confidence, connection, purpose in life and hope when working with Malaysian emerging adult university students.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 2101-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun

The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is a positive youth development program in Hong Kong. After completion of the program, program implementers were required to draw five conclusions based on the subjective outcome evaluation findings collected from the program participants and implementers as reported in the evaluation report. Secondary analyses of the data collected from 48 schools that had joined the Secondary 3 program showed that most of the conclusions concerning perceptions of the program, instructors, and effectiveness of the program were positive in nature. There were also conclusions indicating strengths and possible improvement of the program. The present findings are consistent with the previous findings that suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is well received by the stakeholders and the program is beneficial to the development of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. S. Ma ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek

Objective: The present study explored the outcomes of a positive youth development (PYD) program entitled “Project P.A.T.H.S.” based on a total of 12,281 Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Method: To understand the impact of this program, the study assessed the changes in developmental outcomes using a single group pretest and posttest design. Results: Findings showed that the participants displayed positive changes in PYD attributes, life satisfaction, and thriving after joining the program regardless of the program content. Conclusion: In conjunction with other studies, the study demonstrates the benefits of PYD programs in promoting positive development in Chinese adolescents.


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