Approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic environment among university students in China

Asia Pacific Journal of Education

Volumn 31, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 159-175

  Price, Linda ^a   Richardson, John T E ^a   Robinson, Bernadette ^b   Ding, Xia ^c   Sun, Xiaoling ^c   Han, Cuiling ^c  

^a OPEN UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

^c Gansu Radio and Television University   (China)

Author keywords

Approaches to studying; China; Higher education; Students' perceptions

Indexed keywords

EID: 79960189388     PISSN: 02188791     EISSN: 17426855     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/02188791.2011.566996     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. Allen, A. (1995). Confucius rules OK? Cultural influences on distance learners in Asia. In A. Tait (Ed.), Putting the student first: Learner-centred approaches in open and distance learning (pp. 1-19). Cambridge: Open University, East Anglia Region.
2. Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J. (1984). Study abroad: A manual for Asian students. Kuala Lumpur: Longman.
3. Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J. (1997). Teaching international students: A brief guide for lecturers and supervisors. Deakin, ACT: IDP Education Australia.
4. Bell, D.A. (2008). China's new Confucianism: Politics and everyday life in a changing society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
5. Benson, J., & Hocevar, D. (1985). The impact of item phrasing on the validity of attitude scales for elementary school children. Journal of Educational Measurement, 22, 213-240.
6. Biggs, J.B. (1996). Western misperceptions of the Confucian-heritage learning culture. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp. 45-67). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
7. Biggs, J., & Watkins, D. (1996). The Chinese learner in retrospect. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp. 271-285). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
8. Biggs, J.B., & Watkins, D.A. (2001). Insights into teaching the Chinese learner. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 277-300). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
9. Chan, C.K.K., & Rao, N. (Eds.). (2009). Revisiting the Chinese learner: Changing contexts, changing education. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre.
10. Chang, W.C. (2001). In search of the Chinese in all the wrong places? Journal of Psychology in Chinese Societies, 1, 125-142.
11. Cheng, S.-T., & Hamid, P.N. (1997). Dispositional optimism in Chinese people: What does the Life Orientation Test measure? International Journal of Psychology, 32, 15-22.
12. Clark, R., & Gieve, S.N. (2006). On the discursive construction of "the Chinese learner". Language, Culture and Curriculum, 19, 54-73.
13. Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (2001). Large classes in China: "Good" teachers and interaction. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives (pp. 115-134). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
14. Cronbach, L.J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16, 297-334.
15. Dahlin, B., & Regmi, M. (1997). Conceptions of learning among Nepalese students. Higher Education, 33, 471-493.
16. Eley, M.G. (1992). Differential adoption of study approaches within individual students. Higher Education, 23, 231-254.
17. Entwistle, N., & Entwistle, D. (2003). Preparing for examinations: The interplay of memorising and understanding, and the development of knowledge objects. Higher Education Research and Development, 22, 19-41.
18. Entwistle, N., Tait, H., & McCune, V. (2000). Patterns of response to an approaches to studying inventory across contrasting groups and contexts. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 15, 33-48.
19. Gieve, S., & Clark, R. (2005). "The Chinese approach to learning": Cultural trait or situated response? The case of a self-directed learning programme. System, 33, 261-276.
20. Herche, J., & Engelland, B. (1996). Reversed-polarity items and scale unidimensionality. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 24, 366-374.
21. Ho, A.S.P. (1998). Changing teachers' conceptions of teaching as an approach to enhancing teaching and learning in tertiary education (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), University of Hong Kong. Retrieved from http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B31237009
22. Kember, D. (1996). The intention to both memorise and understand: Another approach to learning? Higher Education, 31, 341-354.
23. Kember, D., & Gow, L. (1990). Cultural specificity of approaches to study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 60, 356-363.
24. Kember, D., & Gow, L. (1991). A challenge to the anecdotal stereotype of the Asian students. Studies in Higher Education, 16, 117-128.
25. Lai, J.C.L., & Yue, X. (2000). Measuring optimism in Hong Kong and mainland Chinese with the revised Life Orientation Test. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 781-796.
26. Laurillard, D. (1979). The processes of student learning. Higher Education, 8, 395-409.
27. Lee, W.O. (1996). The cultural context for Chinese learners: Conceptions of learning in the Confucian tradition. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp. 25-41). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
28. Li, J. (2003). US and Chinese cultural beliefs about learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 258-267.
29. Lu, G. (2003). The development of the Inventory of Learning Styles for undergraduate students. Journal of Xi'an Jiaotong University (Social Sciences), 23, 86-97. [In Chinese]
30. Marton, F. (1976). What does it take to learn? Some implications of an alternative view of learning. In N. Entwistle (Ed.), Strategies for research and development in higher education (pp. 32-42). Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
31. Mugler, F., & Landbeck, R. (2000). Learning, memorisation and understanding among distance learners in the South Pacific. Learning and Instruction, 10, 179-202.
32. Murphy, D. (1987). Offshore education: A Hong Kong perspective. Australian Universities' Review, 30(2), 43-44.
33. Nakano, K. (2001). Psychometric evaluation on the Japanese adaptation of the Aggression Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 853-858.
34. O'Connor, B.P. (2000). SPSS and SAS programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and Velicer's MAP test. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 32, 396-402.
35. Pedhazur, E.J., & Schmelkin, L.P. (1991). Measurement, design, and analysis: An integrated approach. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
36. Pilotte, W.J., & Gable, R.K. (1990). The impact of positive and negative items stems on the validity of a computer anxiety scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 50, 603-610.
37. Prosser, M. (2010, July). Student learning in the East and the West. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia, Melbourne.
38. Prosser, M., & Trigwell, K. (1999). Understanding learning and teaching: The experience in higher education. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.
39. Ramsden, P. (1979). Student learning and perceptions of the academic environment. Higher Education, 8, 411-427.
40. Ramsden, P. (1991). A performance indicator of teaching quality in higher education: The Course Experience Questionnaire. Studies in Higher Education, 16, 129-150.
41. Richardson, J.T.E. (1978). A factor analysis of self-reported handedness. Neuropsychologia, 16, 747-748.
42. Richardson, J.T.E. (1994). Cultural specificity of approaches to studying in higher education: A literature survey. Higher Education, 27, 449-468.
43. Richardson, J.T.E. (2000). Researching student learning: Approaches to studying in campus-based and distance education. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.
44. Richardson, J.T.E. (2005). Students' perceptions of academic quality and approaches to studying in distance education. British Educational Research Journal, 31, 7-27.
45. Richardson, J.T.E., Gamborg, G., & Hammerberg, G. (2006). Perceived academic quality and approaches to studying at Danish schools of occupational therapy. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 12, 110-117.
46. Robinson, J.P., Shaver, P.R., & Wrightsman, L.S. (1991). Criteria for scale selection and evaluation. In J.P. Robinson, P.R. Shaver, & L.S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 1-16). San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
47. Sadlo, G., & Richardson, J.T.E. (2003). Approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic environment in students following problem-based and subject-based curricula. Higher Education Research and Development, 22, 253-274.
48. Samuelowicz, K. (1987). Learning problems of overseas students: Two sides of a story. Higher Education Research and Development, 6, 121-133.
49. Scouller, K. (1998). The influence of assessment method on students' learning approaches: Multiple choice question examination versus assignment essay. Higher Education, 35, 453-472.
50. Sun, H. (2008). Students' perceptions of academic quality and their approaches to studying in British postgraduate business education: A cross-cultural investigation. Unpublished PhD thesis, The Open University, Milton Keynes.
51. Suzuki, T., Tsukamoto, K., & Abe, K. (2000). Characteristic factor structures of the Japanese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: Coexistence of Positive-Negative and State-Trait factor structures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 74, 447-458.
52. Tait, H., & Entwistle, N. (1996). Identifying students at risk through ineffective study strategies. Higher Education, 31, 91-116.
53. Thompson, B. (2004). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Understanding concepts and applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
54. Vermetten, Y.J., Lodewijks, H.G., & Vermunt, J.D. (1999). Consistency and variability of learning strategies in different university courses. Higher Education, 37, 1-21.
55. Vermunt, J.D. (1998). The regulation of constructive learning processes. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 149-171.
56. Vermunt, J.D.H.M., & van Rijswijk, F.A.W.M. (1988). Analysis and development of students' skill in self-regulated learning. Higher Education, 17, 647-682.
57. Watkins, D. (1996). Hong Kong secondary school leavers: A developmental perspective. In D.A. Watkins & J.B. Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp. 107-119). Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
58. Watkins, D. (2000). Learning and teaching: A cross-cultural perspective. School Leadership and Management, 20, 161-173.
59. Watkins, D. (2003). Teacher thinking and practice from a Chinese cultural perspective: Lessons for East and West. In F. Salili & R. Hoosain (Eds.), Teaching, learning, and motivation in a multicultural context (pp. 243-258). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
60. Watkins, D.A., & Biggs, J.B. (Eds.). (2001). Teaching the Chinese learner: Psychological and pedagogical perspectives. Hong Kong & Victoria: University of Hong Kong, Comparative Education Research Centre & Australian Council for Educational Research.
61. Watkins, D., Regmi, M., & Astilla, E. (1991). The-Asian-learner-as-a-rote-learner stereotype: Myth or reality? Educational Psychology, 11, 21-34.
62. Webb, G. (1997). Deconstructing deep and surface: Towards a critique of phenomenography. Higher Education, 33, 195-212.
63. Webster, B.J., Chan, W.S.C., Prosser, M.T., & Watkins, D.A. (2009). Undergraduates' learning experience and learning process: Quantitative evidence from the East. Higher Education, 58, 375-386.
64. Wilson, K.L., Lizzio, A., & Ramsden, P. (1997). The development, validation and application of the Course Experience Questionnaire. Studies in Higher Education, 22, 33-53.
65. Wong, N., Rindfleisch, A., & Burroughs, J.E. (2003). Do reverse-worded items confound measures in cross-cultural consumer research? The case of the Material Values Scale. Journal of Consumer Research, 30, 72-91.
66. Xiao, Z., & Dyson, J.R. (1999). Chinese students' perceptions of good accounting teaching. Accounting Education, 8, 341-361.
67. Zhang, L.F. (1999). A comparison of U.S. and Chinese university students' cognitive development: The cross-cultural applicability of Perry's theory. Journal of Psychology, 133, 425-439.
68. Zhang, L.F. (2004). The Perry scheme: Across cultures, across approaches to the study of human psychology. Journal of Adult Development, 11, 123-138.
69. Zhang, L.F., & Watkins, D. (2001). Cognitive development and student approaches to learning: An investigation of Perry's theory with Chinese and U.S. university students. Higher Education, 41, 239-261.
70. Zhang, P., Lu, G., & Cheng, W. (2006). Impact of teaching situations on undergraduates' approaches to teaching. Research in Teaching, 19, 301-305. [In Chinese]