East versus West: Effectiveness of Knowledge Acquisition and Impact of Cultural Dislocation Issues for Mainland Chinese Students Across Ten Commonly Used Instructional Techniques

Rajaram, Kumaran; Bordia, Sarbari

doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2013.070111

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Conversely, four of the instructional techniques -case study, individual research project, group project and classroom discussions -are reported by students to be excellent avenues for quality learning in terms of knowledge and information acquisition for mainland Chinese students. This can be further emphasized by a study with 402 mainland Chinese students from four major regions of China by Rajaram and Bordia (2013), who reported that the active instructional techniques (case studies and group projects) are among the highest rated techniques in term of learning effectiveness. When four active and six passive instructional techniques were measured across both with the combined scope of cultural dislocation elements (comfort, familiarity and knowledge transfer) and in an individual context, the active instructional techniques were rated highly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, other scholars (Ryan and Slethaug, 2010;Coverdale-Jones and Rastall, 2009;Littlewood, 2009;Ninnes et al, 1999;Watkins and Biggs, 2001;Rajaram, 2010) reported that Chinese students' learning characteristics have often been based on partial knowledge or misunderstandings which have led to negative stereotypes. Recent studies by Ryan and Slethaug (2010), Rajaram andBordia (2011), McNaught (2012), Yang (2009), Littlewood (2009), Chan et al (2009), Shi (2006) and Rajaram and Bordia (2013) have discussed the changing trend of mainland Chinese students' learning approaches and the need for instructors to shift their mindsets from a fixated perspective that both "Western" and "Asian" values are often described as discrete, homogeneous and unchanging.…”

Section: Identification Of Learning Effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Qualitative identification of learning effectiveness indicators among mainland Chinese students in culturally dislocated study environments

Rajaram

Collins

2013

Journal of International Education in Business

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose -This exploratory research project investigated how mainland Chinese business students studying overseas conceptualize and describe the learning effectiveness of ten different instructional techniques commonly encountered in their business courses. A large numbers of mainland Chinese students enroll in business courses in private international institutions in Singapore -dislocated from their home cultures -but needing to adapt to Western learning curricula and ultimately to acquire proficiency in Western business practices. Certain instructional techniques are likely to bridge the cultural gap better than others. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach -Twenty consenting students selected from 400 þ geographically diverse Chinese students participating in a larger study provided face-to-face interview information on how different instructional techniques stimulated different aspects of content acquisition, learner group dynamics, decision-making, learning efficiency, comfort, flexibility, familiarity, and applicability. Findings -Interviewees' free-form descriptions of "learning effectiveness" included phrases such as "quality of learning", "control over my learning", "scope of knowledge", "efficiency of learning", "gaining/acquiring knowledge", "understanding theories", "flexibility in time and place", "applicability of new information", "attractive learning environment", "[absence of] ambiguity and uncertainty", "security and ease of mind", etc. Their 340 descriptors were classified into 30 qualitative indicator categories, four of them common to many instructional techniques and ten more specific to individual techniques. Originality/value -Although Chinese mainland students generally prefer rote-learning styles of instructional techniques due to their prolonged exposure to it, rote-style techniques may not always be the preferred choices for learning effectiveness and adaptation to new culture norms and practices. This paper reports qualitative "consultations" with learners in new cultures and argues for holistic and engaged approaches to learning effectiveness for students dislocated from their home cultures while providing a starting-point for further research in mainland Chinese students' Western-based business education in Singapore and elsewhere.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Identification Of Learning Effectivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative identification of learning effectiveness indicators among mainland Chinese students in culturally dislocated study environments

Rajaram

Collins

2013

Journal of International Education in Business

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This suggests that Chinese students may typically exhibit a verbal learning style preference. In contrast, Western students tend to question authority and tend to prefer a participative, interactive and competitive learning environment (Rajaram and Bordia, 2013). Recent research has suggested that Chinese teachers and students have exhibited an adaptation to Western perspectives and may thus not conform to the historical tendency of authoritarian teaching and verbal learning style preferences (Li, 2013).…”

Section: Regulatory Fit and Person-environment Fitmentioning

confidence: 99%

A test of the teaching-learning style mesh hypothesis in a Chinese MBA

Andres

Akan

2015

Journal of International Education in Business

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if “fit” and “non-fit” between authoritarian versus demonstrator teaching and visual versus verbal learning preferences differ in impact on Chinese MBA student academic performance in a large local urban Chinese university setting. In addition, the role of Chinese cultural behavioral tendencies in dictating specific teaching and learning style preferences among Chinese MBA students is also examined. Design/methodology/approach – Subjects were 135 Chinese MBA students that indicated their learning style preference (verbal or visual) and predominant teaching style encountered (authoritarian or demonstrator). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) main effects were used to identify the best teaching style and best learning style. ANOVA interaction effects were used to test the meshing hypothesis (i.e. teaching-learning style “fit” versus “non-fit” conditions). Findings – The results provided support for the mesh hypothesis – teaching style – learning style fit does matter. In general, authoritarian teaching was superior to demonstrator, and verbal learning was superior to visual. Findings also suggest that the demonstrator teaching style may better handle different learning styles (e.g. both verbal and visual) simultaneously as compared to the classic authoritarian teaching style. Research limitations/implications – The findings support and contribute to the body of knowledge about the mesh hypothesis and provide the foundations for further longitudinal studies evaluating teaching and learning styles learning styles in a multicultural and cross-cultural context. A limitation of the study is that self-report responses were used and the data were collected at one Chinese university. Practical implications – The results suggest that instructors are likely to reach only a selected few students if it is assumed that all students learn in the same way or based on cultural orientation alone. University administrators should be aware of the role of cultural tendencies related to teaching and learning and how cross-cultural communication and multicultural awareness can provide insights into strategies for social and academic integration of foreign students. Originality/value – To date, the meshing hypothesis has received far less theoretical or empirical attention than the general learning style and teaching style hypotheses. This study addresses that gap.

show abstract

“…From this perspective, differences among the clusters of instructional techniques are statistically significant for all four learning aspects --learning effectiveness (df=3, F=31.02, p<.001); comfort (df=3, F=113.49, p<.000); familiarity (df=3, F=28.80, p<.001); and knowledge transfer (df=3, F=5.59, p<.047). Comfort, Familiarity, andKnowledge Transfer Scholars (Aronson, 2002, Biggs 1994;Chow, 1995;Chan1999;Clarke and Gieve, 2006;Cortazzi 2006;Chan and Rao, 2009;Coverdale-Jones andRastall, 2009, Littlewood 2009;Ryan and Slethaug 2010;Rajaram, 2010;Rajaram and Bordia, 2011;Rajaram and Bordia, 2013;Shi 2006;Tang 1996;Turner, 2006 andWen andClement 2003;) have all provided evidence in the literature on learning method preferences for mainland Chinese learners. Few studies have been conducted about how effectively these students perceive to learn using specific (yet commonly used) groups of learning/teaching techniques that explicitly focus on a holistic coverage of a) to include a well balanced and mixed sample size which include students from varying cultural, social backgrounds, differing business programs, age and gender; b) western-based curriculum and teaching/learning approaches to be measured against in a cosmopolitan, developed with high influence of western values yet having the rooted CHC values country.…”

Section: Active Vs Passive Instructional Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning in Foreign Cultures: Self-Reports Learning Effectiveness Across Different Instructional Techniques

Rajaram

2013

WJE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Substantial numbers of Chinese mainland students are enrolled in overseas Western-based business courses but are dislocated from their home cultures. Business education curriculum and course designers need to understand how these students are best trained in western style education programs. Four-hundred students in Singaporean business training programs provided differential ratings of perceived learning effectiveness, plus dislocation measures of familiarity, comfort and ease of knowledge transfer for each of ten commonly used instructional strategies previously investigated by Rodrigues, four of which he termed "active" and six "passive". In terms of perceived learning effectiveness alone, Mainland Chinese students reported clear differences. In order of decreasing effectiveness, they reported lectures by instructors, case-studies, group projects, videos, guest speakers, classroom presentations, individual research projects, classroom discussions, computerized learning and lastly, reading textbooks. The study presents strategies and practices for facilitating effective learning for mainland Chinese students in western based education-choice of instructional techniques and mixtures, attention to students' cultural dislocation, comfort, familiarity, and ease of knowledge transfer.

show abstract

East versus West: Effectiveness of Knowledge Acquisition and Impact of Cultural Dislocation Issues for Mainland Chinese Students Across Ten Commonly Used Instructional Techniques

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Qualitative identification of learning effectiveness indicators among mainland Chinese students in culturally dislocated study environments

Qualitative identification of learning effectiveness indicators among mainland Chinese students in culturally dislocated study environments

A test of the teaching-learning style mesh hypothesis in a Chinese MBA

Learning in Foreign Cultures: Self-Reports Learning Effectiveness Across Different Instructional Techniques

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About