Differences between Chinese and Australian students: some implications for distance educators.

Abstract

First year undergraduate Business and Computing Chinese students studying on‐campus in Australia and from Confucian cultural heritage societies were compared with first year Australian undergraduate students of the same courses using Entwistle and Ramsden's (1983) Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI). Results were analysed for each ASI scale using analyses of variance. Significant differences were shown for a number of scales, with implications for the design and delivery of effective off‐shore distance education directed towards Confucian heritage cultures. The results are discussed in a context of the factor structure identified for Chinese students by Smith, Miller and Crassini (1998) with a view to informing instructional decision‐making.