Approaches to Learning across Cultures: The role of assessment

In the context of a broader research study on the intercultural understanding of teachers in Australia, Japan and Thailand, this paper focuses on approaches to learning and the role of assessment in shaping such approaches. Popular contrasts portray Asian learners as compliant and favouring rote memorisation and Western learners as independent and favouring deep, conceptual learning. Yet Asian students frequently outperform their Western counterparts in competitive tests purported to measure higher cognitive skills. Biggs and his associates have challenged the stereotypical view of Asian students as rote learners as a Western misperception. But data from the present cross-cultural study suggest it is more than a Western misperception, being shared by teachers in Japan and Thailand. With this background, this paper then explores the role of assessment through an analysis of examination papers in the three countries at the high stakes, year 12 level. This analysis of the ways in which knowledge and comprehension are assessed identifies different practices across cultures but not ones corresponding to the rhetoric on contrasting approaches to learning. Rather it concludes that assessment tasks classified superficially as comprehension can be approached through memorisation and conversely, those often classified as memorisation can require careful reading, thought and interpretation, while drawing from an extensive knowledge base. A shared understanding of the nature of assessment tasks in different cultures thus has the potential to dissolve the demarcation of culturally embedded learning styles and to enhance deep learning grounded in specialist knowledge for scholars, be they students or teachers, in all cultures.     

Adolescent academic achievement: A model of social support and grit

Grit has been defined as passionate perseverance toward long-term challenging goals and it is associated with various positive outcomes for youth, including academic achievement. However, less is known about these associations for the two facets of grit (i.e., perseverance of effort, consistency of interest) and few studies have examined the link between grit and perceived social support. The present study examined the group-level demographic differences (i.e., gender, grade, socioeconomic status, and special education status) of grit in a high school sample (N = 1,077). In addition, direct associations between grit and perceived social support from multiple sources (i.e., teacher, classmate, parent) were examined, as well as a potential enhancing effect of social support as a moderator of the relation between grit and academic achievement. Results indicated positive associations among grit and its facets with social support from parents and classmates. Furthermore, the positive relation between grit and achievement was stronger for students reporting high social support from teachers, but not other sources (i.e., classmates, parents). Practical and theoretical implications for promoting student success are discussed.     

Designing Training for Global Environments: Knowing What Questions to Ask

As instructional design professionals are being asked more frequently to develop interventions for global environments, they must account for many complex intercultural communication and corporate globalization strategy variables. Simple rules of etiquette and stereotypes about particular cultures are tempting but dangerous assumptions upon which to base the design and delivery of training for multicultural learners. On the other hand, a full understanding of the subtle cultural differences that could impact global training is beyond the expectations to which instructional designers could reasonably be held. A more sensible approach than trying to know all the answers is knowing what questions to ask in the needs analysis and assessment phases. Based on a synthesis of literature and instantiated by several short examples, a framework for identifying important issues for instructional design and delivery in global settings is presented.     

Beyond sensation seeking: affect regulation as a framework for predicting risk-taking behaviors in high-risk sport

Sensation seeking has been widely studied when investigating individual differences in the propensity for taking risks. However, risk taking can serve many different goals beyond the simple management of physiological arousal. The present study is an investigation of affect self-regulation as a predictor of risk-taking behaviors in high-risk sport. Risk-taking behaviors, negative affectivity, escape self-awareness strategy, and sensation seeking data were obtained from 265 high-risk sportsmen. Moderated hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant main and interaction effects of negative affectivity and escape self-awareness strategy in predicting risk-taking behaviors: high-risk sportsmen's negative affectivity leads them to adopt risk-taking behaviors only if they also use escape self-awareness strategy. Furthermore, the affective model remained significant when controlling for sensation seeking. The present study contributes to an in-depth understanding of risk taking in high-risk sport.     

Sociology of science as a means to a more authentic,inclusive science education

In this article, we argue that insights from scholarship in the sociology of science can provide a powerful basis for making science education more authentic and inclusive. Drawing on recent work in the sociology of science, we describe how adopting sociological ideas as integral components of science curricula and instruction can provide opportunities for students that a traditional approach cannot. We focus on three insights from sociology—social networking, peer review, and skepticism—to demonstrate how sociological understandings can inform and improve the content, structure, and pedagogy of science classrooms. We argue that shifts in the balance of power and authority that result from explicit attention to these aspects of the nature of science offer a more authentic science education for all. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 483–499, 1998.     

Reaching the students that student‐centred learning cannot reach

Student‐centred learning has the potential to engage a more academically diverse student body than the more conventional teacher‐centred approaches. In spite of the evidence in favour of student‐centred learning, a recent study showed that it was ineffective for around 30% of undergraduates in a large and diverse group studying business operations management. The possible reasons for this are explored in two ways. First, the literature relating to student engagement and participation is reviewed from three different perspectives: the sociological, the epistemological and the approaches to learning perspectives. Second, all three perspectives are applied to data generated from the original study within the context of a post‐1992 university. The advantages of a three‐perspective approach over a single‐perspective approach are discussed. Finally, the development of a holistic model integrating all three perspectives is called for, to be used as a guide for further empirical research into student engagement and as a tool for evaluating and developing inclusive and engaging learning environments.