Measurement of the impact of service learning on second year human resource management students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Abstract

South Africa is a country, which is rich in history and has a young democracy, which continues to evolve. The new democratic Government has envisioned a Higher Education (HE) system that would be accessible to all who wants to further their tertiary studies. The White Paper on the Transformation of Higher Education of 1997 reaffirms the purpose of HE with regard to social responsibility, since it incorporates community engagement as a scholarly activity, which places emphasis on developing students as future citizens of South Africa. HE can produce different forms of community engagement, which include but is not limited to distance education, community based research, participatory action research, professional community service and service learning. The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) accepts that South Africa has social and economic challenges, as any young democracy has, and incorporates Service Learning as a mechanism, which may contribute to the solutions of such challenges. In this research study, emphasis is placed on Service Learning as a teaching methodology to enhance students’ interpersonal and diversity skills, while it also develops their professional learning experience, as well as their corporate social responsibility. Students are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences, both academically and personally. The literature survey reveals that South African HE is a member of the Talloires Declaration (2005) that unites universities globally to a uniform framework on the civic role and social responsibilities of HE. South African HE has partnerships with both the United States Fordand Kellogg Foundations in order to promote, develop and create awareness regarding social responsibility.