International students often desire to study overseas and many countries, including New Zealand, welcome them into their schools and universities. Students from Mainland China, one of the most populous countries in the world and, until quite recently closed to the rest of the world, have, in the past few years, made up the large majority of those who come to New Zealand to study. Those wishing to enter university after completing high school in China must acquire a specified level of English and successfully complete a two semester long Foundation Studies course, before being eligible for undergraduate study. Research into independent or self-regulated learning has shown that Western (mainly American) students are much more successful academically and enjoy their studies more if they are willing and able to self-regulate their learning. This research has occurred mostly in Western settings with Western participants. The present research using a mixed methods approach aimed to examine the self-regulated learning, epistemological beliefs, demographic factors and personality traits of Mainland Chinese students studying in the Foundation Studies course and to determine whether any of these factors appeared to have any appreciable effect on their experiences in the course and on their final outcomes. The research found that while no one specific factor seemed to determine experiences and outcomes, it would appear that personality characteristics of face, optimism and other Dependability scores may mediate factors such as ability (measured by grades), length of time in the country, self-regulated learning and motivational strategies (such as organisation, time management, effort regulation and self-efficacy), and previous independent learning to influence these experiences and outcomes. While it appears that the North American theory of self-regulated learning is applicable to these students, it seems that cultural beliefs may affect which self-regulatory factor is most salient in their academic outcomes. Further research would be valuable to clarify these differences.

The large influx of international students to universities of the developed world, the increased use of Problem-Based method of teaching and learning in the field of Health Education and growing awareness of the need to accommodate varying learning styles in any classroom are the three factors that influenced this research. This study was designed to investigate the effect of learning styles and demographic differences on performance in Biology when taught using two different methods of teaching. One was the teacher-directed Traditional Teaching and Learning (TTL) and the other was the student-centred Problem-Based Learning (PBL). The preferred learning styles of all Foundation Studies (FS) Biology students over four academic years at RMIT were determined using the Paragon Learning Style Inventory (PLSI). These students were taught two selected topics in Biology by the researcher using the two different methods and their performance assessed by a written test at the end of each topic. Two instruments were developed to assess student participation in PBL. The first instrument Students' Participation in Group Discussions (SPGD) rating scale was designed for teacher evaluation of student participation in PBL group discussions while the second instrument the Student Self Evaluation (SSE) rating scale was for self-evaluation by stud ents. Individual interviews provided students' views and opinions about their learning styles and the two teaching methods. The analysis of data was predominantly conducted by quantitative methods, supported by qualitative analysis of the interview data. Effect size analyses were used to investigate differences in performance under the two teaching methods on the basis of demographic and learning style differences. Further probes were conducted to elicit any interactions among the demographic variables and the learning style traits in their effect on performance under the two teaching methods and a quantitative measure for interaction was derived using effect sizes. While results confirmed some of the trends displayed by learning style traits in other disciplines, a number of interactions among variables were found to affect performance in Biology as well as performance under the two teaching methods. Gender, age, prior qualification and the language of instruction of prior education had various levels of interactions with the introvert/extrovert, intuitive/sensing, thinking/feeling and perceiving/judging learning traits and affected performance in Biology to varying extents. However, it was found that international students from diverse backgrounds were able to cope with both methods of teaching though there was a definite preference expressed for the traditional teacher directed method. The conclusions from this study have resulted in a number of recommendations for Biology educators, FS administrators, authors and all practitioners of PBL. Several suggestions have opened new avenues for future research. These recommendations for pedagogy and suggestions for future research can improve the outcomes of Biology education as well as other disciplines in related fields. As a consequence of this study two new instruments have been developed to assess student participation in the group discussions of PBL. These could prove to be valuable assessment tools for practitioners of this methodology.