Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/52799

Title

Business students' instruction, history, cultural values and learning style preferences: an exploratory investigation

Author(s)

Mitsis, Ann;  Foley, Patrick

Abstract

The majority of Australian International students originate from China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam, where Confucian value orientation is high. There is an assumption that students with Confucian values will have different learning styles than students with a more Anglo (non-Confucian) value orientation. This study empirically explored the interaction between cultural values, language of instruction history and learning style preferences of higher education business students at Victoria University. A total of 364 higher education business students (54 International students), were sampled. Two widely used inventories have been applied to access the cultural orientations of students and their preferred learning styles: Robertson and Hoffman's Cultural Values Scale, derived from the work of Hofstede, and Honey and Mumford's Learning Style Questionnaire, derived from the work of Kolb. This study found that International students had a stronger Collectivism, Confucian, Power Distance, and Traditional Masculinity value orientation than Australian students. Both International and Australian students within the sample had a higher orientation towards the Activist learning style, than any other learning style. Closer analysis found that International students had significantly higher Activist orientation, than Australian students. This Activist orientation questions the commonly held stereotype of International, especially Asian students, being passive learners but is consistent with Barron and Arcodia's Australian study of Hospitality and Tourism business students. One of the major findings of this study was that the Reflector learning style is not the dominant learning style between both the Australian and Overseas business students in the sample. Both gender and the language of instruction at primary and secondary school level of the student also helped explain variation in cultural values and learning styles. Implications of this for the design of courses are discussed.

Publication type

Conference paper

Source

Internationalising education: risks and returns: proceedings of the Victoria University/UCLA Conference, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 29-30 May 2003 / Ron Adams and Kate White (eds.), pp. 83-114

Publication year

2005

Keyword(s)

Australia;  Business studies;  Confucian values;  Education;  Globalisation;  International students;  Learning preferences;  Student cultural values;  Students

Publisher

Victoria University

ISBN

1862726477

Peer reviewed