A common assumption in higher education is that international students find it difficult to develop learning and friendship relations with host students. When students are placed in a student-centred environment, international students from different cultural backgrounds are "forced" to work together with other students, which allows students to learn from different perspectives. However, large lecture rooms may provide fewer opportunities for students to work together in small groups. The purpose of this article is to understand how 191 international students from 34 cultural backgrounds and 16 host students build learning and friendship relations in a large classroom of 207 students. We have used an innovative mixed-method design of Social Network Analysis in a pre-and post-test manner combined with two sets of focus groups.Using multiple regression quadratic assignment procedures, the results indicate that learning ties after 11 weeks were significantly predicted by the friendship and learning ties established at the beginning of the module, (sub)specialisation, and whether students were Chinese or not. Contrary to previous findings, team divisions played only a marginal role in building (new) learning relations. A substantial segregation between Confucian Asian, European international and UK students was present. Follow-up qualitative data highlighted that international students made a conscious effort to build friendship and learning relations primarily outside the formal team, which for some were along co-national lines, while others were pro-actively looking for new perspectives from multi-national students. These results indicate that the instructional design might have a strong influence on how international and host students work and learn together. We believe that this study is the first to provide an in-depth and unique understanding of how international students from different cultural backgrounds build friendship and learning-relationships with other students in-and outside their classroom over time in a large classroom of 200+ students.
We conducted a systematic review of relevant literature to address how religious and occupational identities relate to each other in the workplace. We identified 53 relevant publications for analysis and synthesis. Studies addressed value differences associated with religion and occupation, identity tensions, unmet expectations, and the connection of religious identity to well‐being and work outcomes. Key variables in the connection between religious and occupational identities included personal preferences, the fit between religious identity and job‐related concerns, and the organization's policies, practices, and expectations. We highlight the personal and organizational consequences of being able to express religious identity at work and the conditions that promote high congruence between religious identity and its expression in the workplace. From these findings, we develop a research agenda and offer recommendations for management practice that focus on support for expression of religious identity at work while maintaining a broader climate of inclusion.
While interdisciplinary courses are regarded as a promising method for students to learn and apply knowledge from other disciplines, there is limited empirical evidence available whether interdisciplinary courses can effectively "create" interdisciplinary students. In this innovative quasi-experimental study amongst 377 Master's students, in the control condition students were randomised by the teacher into groups, while in the experimental condition students were "balanced" by the teacher into groups based upon their initial social network. Using Social Network Analysis, learning ties after eleven weeks were significantly predicted by the friendship and learning ties established at the beginning of the course, as well as (same) discipline and group allocation. The effects were generally greater than group divisions, irrespective of the two conditions, but substantially smaller than initial social networks. These results indicate that interdisciplinary learning does not occur "automatically" in an interdisciplinary module. This study contributes to effective learning in interdisciplinary learning environments.Key words: interdisciplinary learning, social network analysis, post-graduate management education, boundary crossing In higher education there is a wide acknowledgement that graduates should be able to learn and apply interdisciplinary perspectives, approach problems from multiple vantage points (Borrego and Newswander 2010, Boni, Weingart, andEvenson 2009), and to synthesise knowledge from different disciplines (Kurland et al. 2010) Higher education is "under growing pressure to provide graduates with opportunities to complement discipline-based competency with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary skills" (Pharo et al. 2012, 498).
The literature on knowledge transfer is confident in its assertion that a ‘stickiness’ pervades knowledge disclosure process. This phenomenon is often attributed to structural communication barriers but an equally valid explanation could stem from the individual feeling a sense of ownership of their knowledge which then engenders a reluctance to be open about their knowledge within a formal knowledge transfer process. We pursue this idea theoretically through notions of possessiveness and psychological ownership; and empirically by exploring the concept of willingness to disclose. Assuming willingness to be unidimensional a methodology is put forward that uses indicators to measures its direction. Using a sample of 1050 UK engineers we illustrate the direction of willingness on a reluctance–willing dimension. We argue that knowledge transfer requires management to examine more closely the stimuli that affect the process.
Developing learning relationships in intercultural and multidisciplinary environments: A mixed method investigation of management students' experiences. Studies in Higher Education. Developing learning relationships in intercultural and multidisciplinary environments: A mixed method investigation of management students' experiences
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