7-Month Talent Donation 'Cheonggak Volunteer Team' Brings Fun, Fulfillment, and Employment Benefits
Experiential University Premium Extracurricular Program Creates Synergy with Curriculum
First Launched in 2019, Increasing Annually; 35 Teams
Professor Seongmin Lee of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Dongmyung University, leading the Living Lab extracurricular program.
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Solving real-world problems encountered outside the campus walls can become a skill and talent. Dongmyung University’s innovative extracurricular program, ‘Living Lab,’ launched a few years ago, is gaining momentum by adding considerable value to early employment.
Living Lab, meaning a living laboratory, sees students from dozens of departments each year abandoning classroom theory education to step into ‘classrooms beyond the campus walls.’
For several months, students identify and solve local community issues on their own, engaging in talent donation experiential activities that leverage their department’s characteristics, expertise, and fieldwork.
Since the first implementation of Dongmyung University’s Living Lab in 2019 with 6 teams and 28 students participating, the program has grown to ▲24 teams with 131 students in 2019 ▲29 teams with 172 students in 2020 ▲35 teams with 176 students in 2021. Activities have remained vigorous despite COVID-19.
Among last year’s 35 teams, the Dongmyung Hearing Volunteer Team won the grand prize for the most outstanding activities, also receiving a prize of 1 million KRW, continuing their ‘hot’ challenges and volunteer work.
The team leader is Kim Ki-yong, with team members including Byun Ho-yeon, Ok Na-young, Jeong Min-kyung, Choi Ye-jin, Ha Yu-rim, and Heo Ji-soo, all students from the Department of Speech Therapy and Audiology. Professor Lee Sung-min is their advisor.
From April 19 to November 30, 2021, the Dongmyung Hearing Volunteer Team conducted diverse activities at places such as the Busan Nam-gu Senior Welfare Center to help elderly people living in an aging society overcome dementia, depression, and isolation caused by hearing loss. The hearing volunteer activities were supported by Ghanaan Hearing Aid, a specialized company in the audiology field.
The seven students titled their project ‘Deullina?!’ (Can you hear?!). They produced 100 brochures highlighting the importance of hearing aids, which were distributed to the Busan Nam-gu Senior Welfare Center, Dongmyung Speech Clinical Center, Dongmyung Hearing Clinical Center, and other locations.
The project provided information on the effects and types of hearing aids, answered related questions through Q&A, and actively promoted the hearing impairment diagnosis process and hearing aid subsidy system.
They also visited the Busan Nam-gu Senior Welfare Center to educate 13 elderly individuals experiencing hearing loss about the functions of auditory organs, principles of sound transmission, and the importance of hearing care.
Practical services such as ear examinations, pure tone audiometry, tympanometry, otoacoustic emissions testing, result consultations, and communication skills counseling were provided.
The Department of Speech Therapy and Audiology student team consists of 14 members and has even formed a specialized club called H.I.T (Hearing Influencer Team), engaging in continuous volunteer work since November last year.
Among the seven members of the Dongmyung Hearing Volunteer Team, three?team leader Kim Ki-yong and members Choi Ye-jin and Heo Ji-soo?also participated in hearing volunteer Living Lab activities in 2020.
Kim Ki-yong has served as the Living Lab team leader for two consecutive years since 2020.
Team leader Kim said, “During the seven months of Living Lab, providing hearing services such as education on presbycusis, hearing tests, and hearing aid consultations in the field was much more enjoyable and rewarding than rigid theory.”
Professor Lee Sung-min of the Department of Speech Therapy and Audiology proudly stated, “Thanks to vivid clinical experience in the field during their studies, students Byun Ho-yeon, Choi Ye-jin, and Ha Yu-rim from the volunteer team secured early employment and are already working before graduation.”
Dongmyung University LINC+ Project Director Shin Dong-seok said, “The university’s Living Lab, one of the best in the country, has reached its fifth year,” adding, “We plan to continuously support employment challenges through field experiences despite COVID-19.”
Dongmyung University President Jeon Ho-hwan said, “Not everyone needs or can go to Seoul National University, and in this era, finding and solving problems is more important than just accumulating knowledge,” emphasizing, “Through Living Lab and the 3No (No Grade - No Credit - No Teaching) experiential activities, we will nurture ‘Doing’ talents who never give up.”
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