Comparing Chinese undergraduate students’ level of intercultural communication competence: does studying in the USA make a difference?

This article presents the results of a study conducted in order to determine whether Chinese students who study in the USA for a portion of their internationalised undergraduate degree programme report differences in intercultural communication competence (ICC) compared to their classmates who remain in China. The results showed no significant differences in reported intercultural communication competence between students studying in Beijing and those studying in Denver. Frequency of multicultural group work was not associated with higher intercultural communication competence for students in Beijing, but it was positively associated with higher intercultural communication competence for students in Denver. The strongest relationship observed in the data was between intercultural communication competence and reciprocity, that is, the equal exchange of information and ideas among students. These results have implications for alternatives to study abroad, as well as classroom interventions designed to improve students’ intercultural communication competence.     

Similarities and differences in views of ageing and learning in Hong Kong and Australia

This article is an overview and summary of the findings from a General Research Fund project funded (2012–2014) by the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong to investigate cross cultural understanding of ageing and learning by seniors in Hong Kong and Australia. Results have been published separately in Boulton-Lewis, & Buys (2015), Boulton-Lewis, Aird, & Buys (2016), Boulton-Lewis, Tam, Buys, & Chui (2016), Tam (2016), Tam & Chui (2016) and Tam, Aird, Boulton-Lewis & Buys (2016). These articles have dealt separately and variously with either a qualitative or quantitative analysis of learning choices in Australia, structural barriers to learning in Australia, a comparison of views of and ageing and learning in both cultures, Chinese views of later life learning, the meaning of ageing and learning to Chinese elders and an analysis and comparison of results in both places. The focus of this article is a summative discussion based mainly on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the main themes of ageing and learning. It intends to provide an overview of the findings in some of the publications above. Other details can be found in the publications listed.     

Imagery and Verbal Ability and Recognition Memory for Pictures and Words in Males and Females

Objective and subjective indices of imagery and verbal ability and their relationship to recognition memory for pictures and concrete words were examined in a large correlational study. Objective spatial tests of imagery proved to be better predictors of picture recognition than were self‐assessments, the Flags test excepted. Spatial tests also predicted word memory in males, but not females. Imagery control and imagery vividness bore little relation to recognition; vividness within specific modalities may have some influence, however, particularly in males. Verbal fluency and verbal comprehension were either unrelated or marginally negatively related to performance. In general, a more specialised pattern of ability‐performance correlations emerged for females than for males.     

Perceptions of the university climate among students in different academic majors at two colleges of arts and sciences

This study employed the semantic differential technique to investigate the consistency of differences in perceptions of the institutional climate among humanities, social science, and natural science majors in two colleges of arts and sciences. Significant differences were obtained on two of four factors. Humanities majors at one institution rated the institutional climate significantly higher on an Aestheticism/Idealism factor than their peers in the social sciences. A more significant finding was that social science majors at both universities rated the climate of their institution significantly higher on a Bureaucracy factor than either humanities or natural science majors. A possible explanation for this latter finding as the interaction of initial student dispositions and subsequent major field experiences is outlined.     

Pretreatment Change Reports by Clients in a University Counseling Center: Relationship to Inquiry Technique,Client, and Situational Variables

This study examined the effect of inquiry technique at intake on reports of pretreatment change. There was no statistically significant difference in the percentage of clients who reported pretreatment change regardless of which format was used. The study also examined 5 client and situational variables and obtained no significant differences.     

Informal faculty-student contact and commuter college freshmen

Based on prior research conducted at residential colleges and universities, nonclassroom informal faculty-student contact appears to be an element of student socialization. This study extends this line of research to a commuter student population. The extent to which informal contact socializes students by influencing their educational aspiration level in a commuter setting is investigated using a longitudinal data collection with the student as unit of analysis. Ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares techniques are used to analyze the data. Significant interactions between informal faculty-student contact and race were found. White and nonwhite students were sbusequently analyzed separately. The ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression results suggest that informal contact makes a slight but significant contribution to the explanation of freshmen aspirations for whites, but not for nonwhites. The two-stage least squares (2SLS) analysis suggests that the assumption that contact influences aspiration may not be valid and, indeed, that aspiration level may cause students to seek to initiate informal contact with faculty.