How Cultural and Learning Style Differences Impact Students’ Learning Preferences in Blended Learning

Abstract

In teaching introductory statistics to first year students, the Maastricht University uses a blended learning environment that allows them to attune available learning tools to personal preferences and needs, in order to address large diversity in students. That diversity is a direct consequence of a heterogeneous inflow of primarily international students, transferring from different secondary school systems with large differences in prior knowledge, and transferring from very different cultural backgrounds. In this empirical contribution, the authors focus on the role an adaptive online tutorial as component of the blend can play in bridging the consequences of a broad range of differences such as prior mastery of the subject, cultural background, and learning approaches. They do so by investigating the relationships between the intensity of the use of the e-tutorial and students’ characteristics related to nationality, cultural background, learning styles, goal-setting behavior, achievement motivations, self-concept constructs, and subject attitudes.

Understanding social learning relations of international students in a large classroom using social network analysis

“…3 students follow programmes with many students (Gallego & Casanueva, 2009;Tempelaar et al, 2012), students have fewer opportunities to develop strong relationships with the teacher (Zepke & Leach, 2005) and other students.…”

“…While extensive research on internationalisation is available regarding how individual characteristics, such as academic integration (Rienties et al, 2011;Zepke & Leach, 2005), learning styles (De Vita, 2001;Joy & Kolb, 2009;Tempelaar et al, 2012), personal-emotional adjustment, stress and anxiety (Rienties & Tempelaar, 2013;Russell et al, 2010;Ward et al, 2005;Ward, Okura, Kennedy, & Kojima, 1998), influence how international students learn, adapt and adjust to the host-institute (See also recent reviews by Zhou et al (2008) and Volet & Jones, 2012). A limited number of studies have focussed on how social (learning) relations of international and host students influence how they learn in and outside the classroom.…”

The role of cultural dimensions of international and Dutch students on academic and social integration and academic performance in the Netherlands

“…A large body of research has found that substantial cultural differences exist even within small geographic areas, such as Europe (Hofstede, 1986;Joy & Kolb, 2009;Kivinen & Nurmi, 2003;Tempelaar, Rienties, Giesbers, & Schim van der Loeff, 2012). Furthermore, there are substantial differences in the dominant instructional formats and pedagogical models across Europe (Kivinen & Nurmi, 2003).…”

“…Furthermore, there are substantial differences in the dominant instructional formats and pedagogical models across Europe (Kivinen & Nurmi, 2003). For example, (even just) moving from Germany, which on average has a more traditional approach to teaching in secondary and higher education, to the Netherlands, which has a more student-centred approach to learning in secondary and higher education, may require a different learning style and approach from German students (Hofstede, 2001;Tempelaar et al, 2012;Tempelaar, Rienties, & Gijselaers, 2007).…”

“…Eringa & Huei-Ling, 2009;Ward, Leong, & Low, 2004). Furthermore, many of these studies use rather simplistic statistical methods such as t-test comparisons and correlation analyses, and/or aggregate international students in a single category (De Vita, 2001), rather than acknowledging that the culture of students is strongly influenced by prior education and learning style (Hofstede, 1986;Joy & Kolb, 2009;Tempelaar et al, 2012).…”