The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the extent of agreement with the principles of Confucian philosophy on the learning preferences of students enrolled in a research extensive university in the southern region of the United States. This study also compared the extent of agreement with the Confucian philosophy and the extent of preferences for learning methods by cultural background (as defined by nonresident Far East Asians from Confucian-influenced countries, Asian Americans, and White Americans) of enrolled students.
The researcher used survey methodology to determine the current level (extent to which the subjects agreed with the principles) of Confucian philosophy and to describe the current preferences for learning of the students. Exploratory factor analysis was used to summarize the information regarding the 581 university students' levels of agreements with 45 statements of Confucian and their preferences for 33 learning methods. Pearson's correlation, one-way ANOVA, and independent t-test were utilized to determine whether an association exists between the levels of Confucian philosophy (as well as the preferences for learning methods) and selected demographic characteristics.
Three key conclusions emerged from the study. One, there are different levels of adults' agreement on the values of Confucian philosophy and, as the students agreed more with the philosophy, the higher preferences for individual learning, passive/traditional learning, active learning, and group learning methods. Two, age, gender, nationality, lengths of time working inside and outside of the U.S., and academic status influenced the students' values of Confucian philosophy and preferences for learning methods. Three, a universal agreement on the values of Confucian harmonious relationship and a universal preference for alternative learning methods were found (regardless of students' cultural background, length of time working in the U.S., and academic status). It is recommended that human resource development professionals, adult educators, trainers, and training designers use this study to understand the cultural difference between Westerners and Confucian adult learners and to develop and manage appropriate training programs that create culturally relevant approaches to learning while addressing the students' preferences for learning methods.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-11012007-210852 |
| Date | 06 November 2007 |
| Creators | Chuang, Szu-Fang |
| Contributors | Donna H. Redmann, Michael F. Burnett, John-Paul Hatala, Geraldine H. Johnson, John B. Henderson |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-11012007-210852/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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