Raising the in‐class participation of Asian students through a writing tool

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of written communication as a tool to promote the participation of Asian students. It is suggested that teachers can unlock active participation through the use of written communication. To support this stance, the paper reviews existing work, and discusses empirical evidence collected from a large student survey carried out in Singapore and an example of the successful technique implemented by the author in Australia.

Keywords:

• Asian students
• communication
• participation

Acknowledgements

I thank Michele Scoufis and the staff of the Centre for Learning and Teaching of the University of New South Wales, Keiran Sharpe, Hwei‐Fe’n Cheah, the Director and staff of the Centre for the Development of Teaching and Learning, and the many academics of the National University of Singapore, who helped implement the student survey. Financial assistance from the University of New South Wales (Faculty Research Grants program), Universitas 21 and Sir Anthony Mason Fellowship schemes is gratefully acknowledged.