Learning Styles in Asian International Students Report

Abstract

Teaching curriculum differs among various universities nationwide. Students adopt certain learning strategies depending on the University of learning. This poses a great challenge to Universities that accommodate ‘global’ students as it means that the students have to be inducted into the new curriculum. It is therefore important that institution heads and management develop a universal curriculum that favors diverse cultures and learning strategies nationwide.

Education theories: Learning styles

Introduction

Learning has become one of the most important emerging issues in the world. In a world that is rapidly changing, learning is going global with increase in the number of students seeking to enhance their learning capacity in Western universities. Social institutions are also changing due to impact of globalization, in order to accommodate ‘global’ students who wish to study in foreign countries. The impact of international changes has been felt by virtually every individual in the nation (Rothkop, 1997).

Therefore, there is a desire to keep up with the trend and learning diversification. The educational expectations of international students are as diverse as those of domestic students (Biggs, 2003; Ryan, 2005). A research on undergraduate students studying in Melbourne indicated that there are a number of challenges facing international students.

These challenges include: learning and living in a different cultural environment; learning in a foreign university context; learning while developing English language proficiency and learning the academic disciplinary discourse (University Planning Office, 2005).

Effective lectures need to have an outline on areas of study, clear explanation of the key concepts in use and other external sources of study that relate to the subject of learning. This facilitates effective learning of all students including those taking English as a second language as they can explore various research items for purposes of understanding.

Group discussions and team work should be encouraged among international and domestic students to enhance understanding and effective learning. This report aims at highlighting the initial problems faced by Asian international students in terms of learning styles and how they strive to overcome these difficulties through discussions and practice (Wong, 2004).

Literature review

The culture of people differs among countries. Students travelling to other countries experience numerous adjustment challenges in their host countries to the difference in cultural background. It is not surprising that the physical and psychological well-being of students, as well as their academic performance can be affected by these adjustment challenges (Ward, Bochner & Furnham, 2001).

The students are likely to experience a “culture shock”(Oberg,1960), due to sudden change of environment and trend of doing things. They struggle with issues of belongingness, misplaced routines and connectedness.

The relationships between cultural stress and measures of mental health (depression, anxiety and stress) and study and social lifestyle balance suggests that there is a constellation of negative psychosocial consequences for international students which may seriously interfere with their adaptation to the host country and to their capacity to achieve optimally in the university settings (Thomson, Rosenthal & Russell, 2006).

Globalization, which is the tendency to world-wide convergence in education and other sectors are changing the environment in which English is learnt as a foreign language (EFL) or second language (ESL).

First, economic and cultural globalization includes the globalization of language, and in particular the spreading role of English as a universal global lingua franca (Biggs, 2003). Students learning English language as a second or foreign language are greatly affected in adapting to teaching and learning styles used in foreign countries.

The styles used prior to the new teaching and learning styles in foreign countries greatly influence the way these students embrace the learning styles in foreign universities. Some students may be conversant with English spoken language while others may be more proficient in the oral aspect of the language. It is important for universities in foreign countries to implement teaching and learning styles and a curriculum that addresses the predicament of such students to promote effective learning.

The education system that international students experience prior to their enrollment into foreign universities determines how efficient the students are inducted into the foreign education system. The complexity of some systems of learning poses a great challenge to students who would like to study in foreign universities. Students may find it difficult to adapt to new academic disciplines and learning strategies.

Learning theories include the basics of Behaviorism, Cognitivism and Constructivism. Ward (2001) made the following observations on the three theories:

1. Behaviorism is based observable changes in behavior and it focuses on a new behavioral pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic.
2. Cognitivism is based on the thought process behind the behavior whereby changes in behavior are observed, and used as indicators as to what is happening inside the learner’s mind and
3. Constructivism is based on the premise that we all construct our own perspective of the world, through individual experiences and schema and it focuses on preparing the learner to problems solving in ambiguous situations.

The focus is on a specific automated goal that is achieved through repetitive action and practice. The learner is therefore motivated to achieve the set goal due to its clarity in nature. However, the learner may sometimes find it difficult to respond to the stimulus due to prevailing circumstances.

It aims at training learners to accomplish tasks universally to ensure consistency. Universities that incorporate the principle use of cognitivism provide their students with common teaching and learning styles, which they should follow. The limitation of this type of learning however is that the learning approach provided may not be suitable to the learner or the task in study.

It involves use of personal judgment, critical analysis of situations and formulation of one’s own strategies. Constructivism enhances the learner’s ability to solve problems and facilitates better understanding of learning styles. It may be classified as a student centered approach to learning.

Many universities have come up with plagiarism detective measures and disciplinary measures have consequently been put in place for those that infringe the academic laws. New international students should be enlightened on the rules governing academic disciplines for effective learning.

Students from Confucius Cultural Heritage are capable of high-level critical thinking (Biggs, 2003). Teachers should demonstrate and encourage development of critical thinking skills to students, both domestic and international to enhance efficient learning in post-secondary education (Biggs, 2003, p. 25).

Cultural challenges arise as a result of diverse cultural backgrounds of the students. This leads to a difference in norms, values and beliefs in the way of doing things. Appropriate culturally diverse teaching strategies should therefore be used for effective learning of international students.

Most international students have their roots in countries where English language is learnt as a second or third language, or where it is learnt for literacy purposes only. It is therefore challenging for students who are not highly proficient in English language to adopt international learning culture.

Western Universities realizing the growth in demand to their education should therefore aim at developing teaching strategies that address language issues and provide English proficiency modules, for effective understanding and efficient adoption of the Western learning. Interaction of International students with domestic students should be highly encouraged to ease understanding and learning of foreign languages (Knight, 2003, p.52).

Methods

This research employs the descriptive method of research which mainly concentrates on gathering information on the current prevailing conditions in the area of study. The employment of the descriptive research method is in the quest to ensure that the respondents identified give rich information on the research question. It can use qualitative data or quantitative data, and in some cases even both, which gives the researcher a variety of options to choose from when conducting his or her research.

The process of gathering the data involved primary data via interviews. Since this study adopts the use of a questionnaire alongside other published literatures, its approach combines both the qualitative and the quantitative data. This makes the research richer in content as this overcomes some of the limitations that other researchers suffer when conducting their studies on similar topics.

Analysis and Discussion

Study Questionnaire on Learning styles and the nature of learning, which was conducted on 10 students.

Closed ended

What is your age?

1. 15-20
2. 21-30
3. 31-40
4. Over 41

Are you a native English speaker?

1. Yes
2. No

If your answer above is no, does it have a negative impact on your education considering that English is the mode of language used in your University?

1. Yes
2. No

Are you an Australian National?

1. Yes
2. No

How can you range the level of satisfaction of your institutions’ teaching style?

1. Very dissatisfied
2. Dissatisfied
3. Satisfied
4. Very satisfied

The international Universities should advocate adoption of the native culture.

1. Agree
2. Disagree

Open ended

1. What is the impact of culture, language and foreign curricula on the learning ability of International Students?
2. Discuss any measures and strategies that have been put in place to address the constraints above. Have the measures been effective?
3. What is the role of University facilitators in promoting effective learning of International students?
4. Would it be advisable to offer mixed lessons for both International and domestic students? Explain your answer.

Fig 1. Student’s level of satisfaction.

Learning can either be teacher centered or student centered. Learning styles include lectures, project evaluations studies and group discussions. Lecture methods are teacher centered, whereas group discussions and projects may be grouped as student centered.

According to a study carried out by Wong(2004) on Asian international undergraduate students taking their studies at an Australian University, majority of the students (70%) taking part in the study preferred student centered styles of learning, used by their university. This might have explained why most students were very happy with the teaching style of their institution (Wong, 2004).

When the students were further implored on how best they learned, most of them(65%) indicated that they learnt best on their own, with little or no guidance from the lecturers, 21% believed they learnt better with lecturer guidance and 14% preferred being spoon-fed by the lecturers.

These findings further confirmed that Asian international students predominantly preferred a student centered learning style (Wong, 2004). However, use of a different set of data revealed that teaching and learning changes as students advance into higher levels of study.

It was observed that 33% of the Asian international students preferred student centered style in their first year of study but this preference changed as they progressed into their third and fourth year, with only 23% preferring the Lecturing style of teaching and learning. The overall results have shown that Asian international students preferred a more student centered style of teaching and learning despite their previous educational and cultural background (Wong, 2004).

Fig 2. Students teaching style reference.

Conclusion

International learning is widely gaining popularity due to the fast spreading globalization. Students are dynamically seeking to study in universities that offer quality education nationwide. Learning styles should be considered an issue of great concern if effective global learning is to be achieved in this nation.

For effective learning of international students, it is only important that universities should adopt appropriate teaching. The universities should also aim at addressing issues concerning cultural stress, language constraints and academic disciplines that hinder effective and efficient learning (Knight, 2003).

Recommendations

Lecturers should aim at promoting effective learning for the international students by ensuring that the students clearly understand the objectives of learning have access to sufficient research materials and clearly understand the assessment expectations required of them. This will ensure successful induction into the new education system and academic disciplines.

Reference List

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. Berkshire: Open University Press.

Knight, J. (2003). Updated Internationalization definition. International Higher Education, 33, 2-3.

Oberg, K. (1960). Culture shock: Adjustment to new cultural environments. Practical Anthropology, 7, 177-182.

Rothkop, D. (1997). In praise of cultural imperialism? Effects of globalization on culture. Web.

Ryan, J. (2005). Improving teaching and learning practices for international students: implications for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. New York: Routledge.

Thomson, G., Rosenthal, D., & Russell, J. (2006). Cultural stress among international students at an Australian University. Adelaide: University of South Australia.

University Planning Office. (2005). Survey of final year international students on their experience of the University of Melbourne. Melbourne: University of Melbourne.

Ward, C., Bochner, S., & Furnham, A. (2001). The psychology of culture shock. London: Routledge.

Wong, K. (2004). Are the Learning Styles of Asian International Students Culturally or Contextually Based? International Education Journal, 4(4), 5-16.