Culture Matters: Learners’ Expectations Towards Instructor-Support

Institut für Informatik und Wirtschaftsinformatik (ICB)

Culture Matters: Learner‘s Expectations Towards Instructor Support

Global Learn Asia Pacific 2012 conference Thomas Richter

Picture: Winding-tower, Essen

Pictures: University of Duisburg Essen

Culture Matters: Learner’s Expectations Towards Instructor Support

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Previous Research: Obstacles in using learning contents from other contexts (OER) 1.  OPAL Project (EC funded LLL): International survey on Open

Educational Practices (500 samples) – Success factors and obstacles (online survey)1 o  Findings: One of the major challenges to adapt contents from other

(foreign) contexts is the missing awareness on possible (cultural) conflicting potential

2.  Investigation on German school teachers on special challenges related to the use of OER (group-interviews)2 o  Findings: German teachers almost exclusively use German learning

contents because they are not aware on how to determine cultural adaptation needs and thus, they fear to cause conflicts

3.  Study with e-Learning professionals in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland on special skills, learners need for e-Learning3 o  Findings: Motivation revealed being the core success-factor

1. Andrade, A., et al. (2011). Beyond OER – Shifting Focus to Open Educational Practices: OPAL Report 2011. Due-Publico, Essen. 2. Richter, T., & Ehlers, U.D. (2011). Barriers and Motivators for Using Open Educational Resources in Schools. eLearning Papers, No. 23, March 2011. 3. Richter, T. & Adelsberger, H.H. (2011). E-Learning: Education for Everyone? Special Requirements on Learners in Internet-based Learning Environments. In: T. Bastiaens & M. Ebner (Eds.), Proceedings of the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hyper-media and Telecommunications 2011, (Lisbon, Portugal), Chesapeake, VA: AACE, pp. 1598-1604


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Open Questions after Previous Research …

What can instructors do to keep learner’s motivation high?

Do not ‘destroy’ their initial motivation1

Instructor-based services play a central role for student satisfaction2

Our claim: Know and meet the learners’ expectations regarding instructor-based

services!

1.  Bowman, R.F. (2007). How can students be motivated: A misplaced question? Clearing House, 81(2), pp.81-86. 2.  Bekele, T.A. (2010). Motivation and Satisfaction in Internet-Supported Learning Environments: A Review. Educational Technology &

Society, 13(2), pp.116–127. 3. 


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Survey Questions (Demands for Instructor-based Services)

What do you consider being the lecturer’s/professor’s tasks and responsibilities in the learning process? A lecturer’s/professor’s tasks and responsibilities base on … 1.  giving support according to technical matters, which are

relevant for the learning process (e.g. in case of computer problems or installation of soft-ware).

2.  providing well-selected contents and contextual information. 3.  giving support according to organizing the learning process. 4.  assisting within the individual student’s process of finding

information. 5.  giving feedback on my knowledge base, working results and

general professional development.


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Survey Settings

n  Survey with university students from Bulgaria, Germany, South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine: July 2010-May 2012

n  Questionnaire using 4 point Likert-scale n  Only fully (100%) completed questionnaires were evaluated n  Settings per country:

o  Bulgarian students: online survey; language Bulgarian; link distributed through local students’ associations; 30 evaluated sample elements; response-rate unknown

o  German students (in-depth study): online survey; language German; full investigation in 3 universities; 1817 evaluated sample elements; response rate: 2-5%

o  South Korean students (broad study): paper survey; random path algorithm for choice of sample-elements; students from 39 universities in and around Seoul; 286 evaluated sample elements; non-response rate 50%

o  Turkish students: online survey; language Bulgarian; link distributed through local students’ associations; 40 evaluated sample elements; response-rate unknown

o  Ukrainian students: online survey; language Bulgarian; link distributed through local students’ associations; 53 evaluated sample elements; response-rate unknown


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Survey Results

Displayed here: % positive answers (fully agree & agree); No significant differences between male and female students were found.

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Spectrum versus Absolute Values

n  General Question resulting: At which amount of difference to the expected setting/services do learners experience a conflicting situation?

n  Recommendations in literature1 considering the answer-spectrum instead of absolute mean values:

n  Spectrum of answer variety within a cultural context represents upper and lower border of acceptance.

n  Recommendation for Instructors: o  Compare answer spectrums of different contexts

o  Determine areas that are not common in both contexts’ answers?

o  Particularly focus on those areas when designing educational scenarios and instructor-based services

1. Pless, N.M. & Maak, T. (2004). Building an Inclusive Diversity Culture: Principles, Processes and Practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(2), pp.129-147.


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Contrasting Answer Spectrum from German and Korean Students

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Findings

n  Demands for Instructor-support differs significantly between national contexts

n  Absolute values are suitable to get an impression of differences but cannot answer when changes are necessary

à  Analysing answer-spectrum revealed as a reasonable addition

n  Limitations: o  It still is unclear to which extent learners accept differences to what

they expect and when actually changes are required o  The answer spectrum gives a hint of an answer but it only shows what

the learners already know/experienced within their national context o  The found spectrum does not necessarily describe the limits of

acceptance but a kind of ‘inner’ border o  Culture cannot be investigated on national level if a nation consists of

various cultural contexts. Indicators are languages, tribes, … o  Educational culture varies significantly between Higher and Adult

education. Our results can not be generalized but are related to HE

1. Richter, T. & Adelsberger, H.H. (2012). On the myth of a general national culture: Making specific cultural characteristics of learners in different educational contexts in Germany visible. In: F. Sudweeks, H. Hrachovec, & C. Ess (Eds.), CATaC'12 Proceedings (Aarhus, Denmark): Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication. School of Information Technology, Murdoch University: Murdoch.


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Culture Matters: Learners’ Expectations Towards Instructor-Support

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