Chinese students’ perception of out-of-class groupwork in Australia

Abstract

Despite increasing number of mainland Chinese students studying in western tertiary settings, there is limited information available on their learning experiences and responses to popular educational practices in these contexts. There is an assumption in the literature that Chinese students respond well to the collaborative demands of groupwork due to the collectivist nature of their culture, however there are few reports to substantiate this claim. This paper reports on mainland Chinese students' perception of groupwork in two Australian tertiary settings. Thirteen students from mainland China were interviewed on their groupwork experiences. All interviews were completed in either Mandarin or Cantonese. Two types of groupwork were identified: assignment groupwork (AGW) and student generated groupwork (SGGW). Three criteria for collaboration: level of interaction, construction of knowledge and a shared goal were used to search for signs of collaborative elements in the Chinese students' recall of their groupwork experience. Indicators of collaboration were identified in the reports of AGWs but were less consistent in SGGWs. The findings of this study suggest that Chinese students perceive out-of-class groupwork in an Australian context as a positive learning experience, reporting enhanced understanding of academic contents, application of knowledge and socializing with other Chinese students.

Effect of Group Work on EFL Students’ Attitudes and Learning in Higher Education

“…They stated that group work helped students remember information better than the students who worked individually. Many other studies supported this idea (Gomleksize, 2007;Tuan & Neomy, 2007;Wichadee, 2007;Li et al, 2010;Nihalani et al, 2010;Li & Vandermensbrugghe, 2011 among others).…”

“…It has shown that group work helps students learn and remember knowledge better than individualistic learning (Cockrell et al, 2000;Johnson et al, 2000). Overall, research demonstrates that group work results in better achievement and more effective relationships among students (Gomleksize, 2007;Tuan & Neomy, 2007;Wichadee, 2007;Li et al, 2010;Nihalani et al, 2010;…”

“…The studies on students' perceptions of group work point out that students enjoyed and benefited from working in groups (Greenop, 2007;Yazedjian & Kolkhorst, 2007;Li et al, 2010). For instance, Li et al (2010) examined students' perceptions of group work in Australia.…”

“…For instance, Li et al (2010) examined students' perceptions of group work in Australia. Thirteen Chinese graduate and undergraduate students from two universities in Melbourne were interviewed.…”

“…Finally, students' learning is improved and deepened. Group work was seen to generate a lot of discussion (Greenop, 2007;Li et al, 2010;Ibnian, 2012;Arumugam et al, 2013), lead to the construction of new knowledge (Tuan & Neomy, 2007;Li et al, 2010), help students understand concepts better (Hendry et al, 2005;Greenop, 2007;Al-Sheedi, 2009;Li et al, 2010), learn more (Holloway, 2004;Smialek & Boburka, 2006;Wichadee, 2007) and perform better on final exams (Meteetham, 2001;Smialek & Boburka, 2006). Students in groups support and influence each others' learning (Hendry et al, 2005), clever students help weak students (Smialek & Boburka, 2006;Tuan & Neomy, 2007), weak students start to ask more questions and ask for help when they never do in a lecture (Smialek & Boburka, 2006) and finally students become fully engaged in course content (Yazedjian & Kolkhorst, 2007).…”