How Hong Kong students learn using the study process questionnaire: Cross-cultural comparisons

Dasari, B.D. (2007) How Hong Kong students learn using the study process questionnaire: Cross-cultural comparisons. 4th Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Congress, Hong Kong. 22 - 25 Jun 2007.

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence abounds in Hong Kong to the effect that students entering tertiary education are predisposed to a “rote” learning approach. Until the research studies at City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic, there have been no systematic studies performed locally and as such in the absence of cross-cultural research, there is a tendency to rely on anecdotal statements about Hong Kong students’ approaches to learning. This study was designed to see if Hong Kong Chinese students predisposed to a surface or deep approach to learning react differently when moving progressively from one stage to the next stage in their undergraduate occupational therapy curriculum. This study adopted a longitudinal design method which followed a cohort of 80 undergraduate occupational therapy students over two years and measured their changes in their approaches to learning using the Biggs’ Study Process Questionnaire The internal consistency reliability estimates alpha for SPQ scales for samples of Hong Kong, Australian and British students was compared. The alpha estimates of this study varied from 0.56 to 0.75 which compares favourably with other studies reported in Hong Kong, Australia and U.K. The results of this study indicated that the Hong Kong Chinese students demonstrated a higher mean for the deep approach to learning (47.3 in Year 1 and 46.3 in Year 3) and a lower mean for the surface approach (42.7 in Year 1 and 42.4 in Year 3), similar to other Hong Kong studies from other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and Australia. From the findings, it is reasonable to conclude that students change their approach according to the different demands imposed by their varied learning needs. Based on this belief, the author while ruling out the potential for misunderstandings about Asian students, draws attention to the cross-cultural differences in approaches to learning which highlights on the changing nature of tertiary classroom and the implications for teaching and learning, with the major shift in the characteristic of student population.

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