Simone Volet

Common Misconceptions about Students from South‐East Asia Studying in Australia

International students from South‐East Asia who study in Australia are often portrayed negatively compared to local students in terms of learning and study practices. This article discusses some of the misconceptions held by university teachers and administrators about South‐East Asian students studying in Australia and examines them in the light of recent research. In particular, it challenges the views that students from South‐East Asia are surface learners, passive non‐participants in class who prefer the company of other Asian students. These findings challenge university teachers to reconsider accepted beliefs and practices when teaching all students, but particularly students from South‐East Asia.

Self- and Social Regulation in Learning Contexts: An Integrative Perspective

This article outlines the rationale for an integrative perspective of self- and social regulation in learning contexts. The role of regulatory mechanisms in self- and social regulation models is examined, leading to the view that in real time collaborative learning, individuals and social entities should be conceptualized as self-regulating and coregulated systems at the same time. Living systems theory provides support for the claim that although all forms of regulation have an adaptive function, the distinct, regulatory processes occurring at different systemic levels (e.g. individual, social) are concurrent and interdependent. Challenges for future research from an integrative perspective are discussed.

Research on Motivation in Collaborative Learning: Moving Beyond the Cognitive–Situative Divide and Combining Individual and Social Processes

In this article we propose that in order to advance our understanding of motivation in collaborative learning we should move beyond the cognitive–situative epistemological divide and combine individual and social processes. Our claim is that although recent research has recognized the importance of social aspects in emerging and sustained motivation in collaborative learning activities, the social is mainly conceived as a unidirectional source of influence on individual motivation. In the article we examine the significance of motivation in research on collaborative learning. We discuss two characterizations of the role of the social in conceptualizations of motivation, namely, social influence and social construction, and outline our case for moving beyond the cognitive–situative divide and combining individual and social processes in research on motivation. Finally, we present illustrations from recent research on motivation in collaborative learning that has attempted to bridge the cognitive–situative divide across theoretical perspectives or using different methods.

Students’ attitudes towards culturally mixed groups on international campuses: impact of participation in diverse and non‐diverse groups

International campuses provide social forums to enhance students’ intercultural competence, skills and confidence. Yet, despite multiple opportunities for social contact, the most typical pattern is one of minimal interaction between students from different cultural backgrounds. This study examined students’ attitudes towards culturally mixed group work in the natural setting of an actual group project. More specifically, it investigated the attitudes towards culturally mixed group work held by students in different years of undergraduate study, the relationship of attitudes to experience with multiple languages (as multiple cultures), whether attitudes are related to observed behaviour, and how attitudes change over the course of participation in a diverse or non‐diverse group. The study involved matched questionnaire data from 233 students enrolled in a first, second or third year business unit that included a semester‐long group project. The study provides support for the value of promoting culturally mixed group assignments.

Learning across Cultures: Appropriateness of Knowledge Transfer.

This chapter focuses on the issue of transfer of cognitions, motivations, and dispositions related to learningacross different cultural-educational contexts. Research with learners from Confucian Heritage Culture, mainly from Singapore and Hong Kong, studying in their home country and as international students in Australia is used to establish the usefulness of the concept of socio-cultural appropriateness to understand transfer. The examples discussed reveal how some aspects of students learning travel extremely well and are congruent with the characteristics of learning valued in the host context, while others reflect ambivalent, difficult, or inappropriate transfer. The significance of mutual individual-context dynamic interactions, subjective nature of appropriateness, and emotional dimensions involved in transfer of learning is highlighted. Implications for educational practice in an international, multicultural perspective are outlined. The literature on transfer of learning is replete with studies investigating the most effective ways to help learners transfer their knowledge and skills flexibly and appropriately across tasks and contexts. Overall, there is a general agreement that successful transfer of learning involves more than a cognitive match between the learners mental baggage brought to the situation and the requirements of the transfer task or situation. The importance of the person-context mutual interactions, or the match between the individuals’ effectivities and the affordances provided by the environment has been highlighted (Snow, 1994; Greeno, 1997). Recent transfer research has also stressed that attitudes (Resnick, 1987), dispositions (Bereiter, 1995), mindfulness (Salomon & Globerson, 1987), and motivation (McKeachie, 1987) are critical components of effective transfer alongside cognitive and metacognitive aspects. In addition to person characteristics, Boekaerts’ (1997) research suggests that situation-specific cognitive, motivational and emotional appraisals of tasks and contexts also have a significant influence on learning and transfer. Without necessarily downplaying the importance of learners’ effectivities and situation-specific appraisals, recent situated cognition research (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Resnick, 1987; Rogoff, 1990; [Greeno, 1997] and [Greeno, 1998]) has emphasized the critical impact of affordances that learning contexts and activities provide to participants (Gruber, Law, Mandl & Renkl, 1995; Gibson, 1979/1986). It has been claimed that regardless of whether the focus is theory development, applied research, or improvement of educational practice, the unit of analysis must be the person-in-context or the whole activity setting. Although some situationists (e.g., Lave, 1988) have argued that transfer of knowledge may not exist since knowledge cannot be decontextualized, most theorists recognize that transfer of learning can be socially mediated and that guided forms of learning have potential for enhancing the likelihood of transferacross tasks and contexts. This chapter examines the effectivities–affordances interface in individuals’ transfer of cognitions, motivations, and dispositions related to learningacross broad cultural-educational contexts. Research with learners from Confucian Heritage Culture, mainly from Singapore and Hong Kong, studying in their home country and as international students in Australia is used to establish the usefulness of the concept of socio-cultural appropriateness to understand transfer.

Group work at university: significance of personal goals in the regulation strategies of students with positive and negative appraisals

This paper examines the mediating role of students’ goals in group work at university. Research on cooperative and collaborative learning has provided empirical support for the cognitive, motivational and social benefits of group work but the antecedents of motivation and ongoing management of emerging motivational and socio‐emotional issues have received less attention. A theory of self‐regulation that incorporates students’ personal goals and perceptions of context, combined with a sociocultural perspective on co‐regulation of individuals and contexts, can help understand why and how some groups resolve their social challenges while others are less successful. An empirical study highlighted the mediating role of students’ goals in their appraisals of group assignments, perceptions of various aspects of the contexts, and in turn regulation strategies to achieve their goals. Qualitative differences were found in the regulation strategies of students with positive and negative appraisals.

University Students’ Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards Culturally Diverse Group Work Does Context Matter?

This article presents two consecutive studies aimed at disentangling the significance of study contexts on students’ attitudes towards learning and interacting in culturally diverse groups. Context was operationalised as two distinct study programmes with contrasting organisational and instructional characteristics and diverse/nondiverse groups embedded within each. The combination of a small longitudinal questionnaire study (Study 1) and follow-up in-depth interviews (Study 2) provided valuable insight into the significance of contextual aspects of the learning environment for students’ intercultural experiences and attitudes. The findings revealed that language proficiency, academic competencies, and cohort characteristics play an important role for students’ intercultural encounters. The results also suggest that students’ own attitudes towards intercultural interactions may be affected by the quality of close peers’ experiences in culturally diverse groups (extended contact effect).

Motivation in Real-Life, Dynamic, and Interactive Learning Environments: Stretching Constructs and Methodologies

Recent research on motivation has taken a leading role in the study of learning and instruction. Theory-based studies carried out in real-life, dynamic, and interactive learning environments have attempted to bridge the gap between basic and applied psychological and educational research. Constructs and methodologies have been stretched to include new, innovative features, with motivation commonly conceptualized as a dual psychological and social phenomenon and researched using multiple methodological approaches in combination. This paper discusses the major challenges faced by researchers who are grappling with those issues.

South-east Asian students at Australian universities: A reappraisal of their tutorial participation and approaches to study

ConclusionThis study is a beginning—it begins to question the established literature, and hopefully to provoke university staff into reassessing their perceptions of Southeast Asian students and their assumptions that all students from South-east Asia fit a particular mould. On the other hand we acknowledge that adjustments need to be made by South-east Asian students studying at Australian universities, and depending on their English language proficiency and background these adjustments may be substantial and challenging. However, many of the adjustments South-east Asian students face in Australia will be similar in kind to those that confront all students moving from the more structured environment of the school to a university setting where greater self-reliance and self-management of study is required. Some of the adjustments will be unique to the particular circumstances of each individual student. Some of the adjustments will be related to reconciling the competing demands of university study, securing financial resources, maintaining personal relationships, and setting aside time for recreation. Within these overlapping sets of adjustments will be socially and culturally constituted strategies and resources that students will draw on as they move forward through their programs of study. We need to learn to recognise the resourcefulness of students in this process rather than presume that their differences are a deficiency.

A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing Students' Knowledge of Programming

This article proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing students’ knowledge of programming. The framework integrates three distinct types of programming knowledge identified in the educational computing literature (syntactic, conceptual, and strategic) with three distinct forms of knowledge proposed in the cognitive psychology literature (declarative, procedural, and conditional). Analysis of empirical data from a previous experimental study (Volet, 1991) provided support for the usefulness of the model and its educational potential for diagnosing deficiencies in the programming knowledge of novice programmers during a course of instruction and for designing appropriate instruction in introductory programming.