Perceptions of online learning in an Australian university : Malaysian students' perspectives

Several researchers have reported that cultural and language differences can affect online interactions and communications between students from different cultural backgrounds. Other researchers have asserted that online learning is a tool that can improve teaching and learning skills, but, its effectiveness depends on how the tool is used. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the kinds of challenges encountered by the international students and how they actually cope with online learning. To date little research exists on the perceptions of online learning environments by international Asian students, in particular Malaysian students who study in Australian Universities; hence this study aims to fill this gap. A mixed-method approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data using a modified Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) instrument and focus group interviews. The sample comprised 76 international students from a university in Brisbane. Thirty-five domestic Australian students were included for comparison. Contrary to assumptions from previous research, the findings revealed that there were few differences between the international Asian students from Malaysia and Australian students with regard to their perceptions of online learning. Another cogent finding that emerged was that online learning was most effective when included within blended learning environments. The students clearly indicated that when learning in a blended environment, it was imperative that appropriate features are blended in and customised to suit the particular needs of international students. The study results indicated that the university could improve the quality of the blended online learning environment by: 1) establishing and maintaining a sense of learning community; 2) enhancing the self motivation of students; and 3) professional development of lecturers/tutors, unit coordinators and learning support personnel. Feedback from focus group interviews, highlighted the students‘ frustration with a lack of cooperative learning, strategies and skills which were expected of them by their lecturers/tutors in order to work productively in groups. They indicated a strong desire for lecturers/tutors to provide them prior training in these strategies and skills. The students identified four ways to optimise learning opportunities in cross-cultural spaces. These were: 1) providing preparatory and ongoing workshops focusing on the dispositions and roles of students within student-centred online learning environments; 2) providing preparatory and ongoing workshops on collaborative group learning strategies and skills; 3) providing workshops familiarising students with Australian culture and language; and 4) providing workshops on strategies for addressing technical problems. Students also indicated a strong desire for professional development of lecturers/tutors focused on: 1) teacher attributes, 2) ways to culturally sensitive curricula, and 3) collaborative learning and cooperative working strategies and skills, and 4) designing flexible program structures. Recommendations from this study will be useful to Australian universities where Asian international students from Malaysia study in blended learning environments. An induction program (online skills, collaborative and teamwork skills, study expectations plus familiarisation with Australian culture) for overseas students at the commencement of their studies; a cultural awareness program for lecturers (cultural sensitivity, ways to communicate and a better understanding of Asian educational systems), upskilling of lecturers‘ ability to structure their teaching online and to apply strong theoretical underpinnings when designing learning activities such as discussion forums, and consistency with regards to how content is located and displayed in a learning management system like Blackboard. Through addressing the research questions in this study, the researcher hopes to contribute to and advance the domain of knowledge related to online learning, and to better understand how international Malaysian students‘ perceive online learning environments. These findings have theoretical and pragmatic significance.

“Prosuming” across cultures : youth creating digital media across borders

The Scratch Online Community is a space that enables young people to share their creative digital projects internationally with a level of ease that was impossible only a few years ago. Like all creative communities, Scratch is not just a space for sharing products, work, techniques and tips and tricks, but also a space for social interaction. Media literacy educators have unprecedented challenges and opportunities in digital environments like Scratch to harness the vast amount of knowledge in the community to enhance students’ learning. They also have challenges and opportunities in terms of implementing a form of digital media literacy education that is responsive to social and cultural representation. One role of digital media literacy is to help young people to challenge unfair and derogatory portrayals of people and to break down processes of social and cultural ‘othering’ so that all community members feel included and safe to express themselves. This article considers how online community spaces might draw on social interaction to enhance cross-cultural understandings and learning through dialogue and creative practice. The article uses statistics to indicate the amount of international interaction in the Scratch community. It then uses qualitative analysis of forum discussions and creative digital work to analyse the types of cross cultural interaction that occurs.

Diversity interventions for a socially sustainable construction industry

Major construction sites in Australia have an above average presence of ethnic minorities. These groups and the interfaces between them require effective management in order to meet the social imperatives of sustainable design and construction. A survey of 1155 workers and 204 managers on Sydney construction sites respectively, found a significant level of normalisation of negative forms of cross cultural interaction. Yet it was also found that anti-racism programs are not currently a management priority and that they generally lack sophisticated community relations aspects. This paper presents the results of a desk-top study of leading global companies within and outside the construction sector which have won international awards and recognition for their cultural diversity strategies. A key insight is that the companies profiled see diversity as a key resource and as an opportunity rather than a risk which is best harnessed through long-term and on-going commitment of senior management. These leading companies also recognise that cultural diversity strategies operate at three levels - in terms of its relationship with its own workforce; its relationship with its clients and; its relationships with the communities in which it operates - and if properly managed it can be a source of competitive advantage.

Different inflections

Australia has often been defined by its landscape – actual, romanticized, imagined – iconic images and experiences taken up by artists in a myriad of ways. This paper examines inter/intra cultural practices of three Australian dance companies and their directors, and how they inflect images of Australia in different ways. Each artist brings perspectives from their particular hybridized cultural and ethnic backgrounds as well as their formative dance experiences. In their practices, notions of landscape embrace physical, metaphorical and spiritual dimensions. Kai Tai Chan, who founded the One Extra Company in 1976, pioneered accessible and confronting intercultural dance theatre in Australia from the 1970s to the 1990s, challenging our notions of what it is to be Australian. A Chinese Malay who came to Australia to study architecture, he stayed to create a significant body of work in which different cultural frameworks became lenses through which to explore stories of ordinary lives and experiences, revealing complexities of the human condition and larger social-political issues. Spiritual connections feature strongly in the practice of another Chinese Malay Australian, Tony Yap. Here the landscape is an inner one influenced by a form of Malaysian trance dance known as the sen-siao (“spirit cloud”) tradition. Yap has forged a unique space in the Australian dance and theatre scene, exploring a movement language informed by psycho-physical research, Asian shamanistic trance dance, Butoh, voice and visual design. Whilst primarily a solo performer, his practice includes collaborations with Asian diasporic as well as Anglo Australian cross-cultural visual and sound artists. His work is situated in a metaphysical rather than socio political context. In contrast, the newest company to emerge on the intercultural Australian stage is Polytoxic, reflecting a Pacific rather than Asian inflection. Key members, Fa’alafi and Efeso Fa’anana (both of Samoan descent) and Leah Shelton (of Anglo-Saxon descent), aim to critique the exoticism and cultural kitsch that often accompanies representations of the Pacific islands, with a pastiche of street dance, cabaret and contemporary techniques, blended with traditional Polynesian vocabulary. A parallel aim is to provide audiences with insights into the traditions and history of Samoa from the perspective of the artists as contemporary Australians. This examination, spanning three decades of inter/intra cultural practices, reveals stylistic, generational and philosophical differences with a commonality of variously inflected notions of landscape, spirituality and identity.

The development and evaluation of a culturally affirmative counselling model for deaf clients in Australia

In Australia, there is only one, newly established, dedicated mental health service catering specifically for the signing *Deaf community. It is staffed by four part-time hearing professionals and based in Brisbane. There are currently no Deaf psychologists or psychiatrists and there is no valid or reliable empirical evidence on outcomes for Deaf people accessing specialised or mainstream mental health services. Further compounding these issues, is the fact that there are no sign language versions of the most common standardised mental health or psychological instruments available to clinicians in Australia. Contemporary counselling literature is acknowledging the role of the therapeutic alliance and the impact of 'common factors' on therapeutic outcomes. However, these issues are complicated by the relationship between the Deaf client and the hearing therapist being a cross-cultural exchange. The disability model of deafness is contentious and few professionals in Australia have the requisite knowledge and understanding of deafness from a cultural perspective to attend to the therapeutic relationship with this in mind. Consequently, Deaf people are severely disadvantaged by the current lack of services, resources and skilled professionals in the field of deafness and psychology in this country. The primary aim of the following program of research has been to propose a model for culturally affirmative service delivery and to provide clinicians with tools to evaluate the effect of their therapeutic work with Deaf people seeking mental health treatment. The research document is presented as a thesis by publication and comprises four specific objectives formulated in response to the lack of existing services and resources. The first objective was to explore the use of social constructionist counselling techniques and a reflecting team with Deaf clients, hearing therapists and an interpreter. Following the establishment of a pilot counselling clinic, indepth semi-structured interviews were conducted with two long-term clients following the one year pilot of this service. These interviews generated recommendations for the development of a new 'enriched' model of counselling to be implemented and evaluated in later stages of the research program. The second objective was to identify appropriate psychometric measures that could be translated into Australian Sign Language (Auslan) for research into efficacy, effectiveness and counselling outcomes. Two instruments were identified as potentially suitable; the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS), a measure of global functioning, and the Session Rating Scale (SRS), a measure of therapeutic alliance. A specialised team of bi-lingual and bi-cultural interpreters, native signers and the primary researcher for this thesis, produced the ORS-Auslan and the SRS-Auslan in DVD format, using the translation and back-translation process. The third objective was to establish the validity and reliability of these new Auslan measures based on normative data from the Deaf community. Data from the ORS-Auslan was collected from one clinical and one non-clinical sample of Deaf people. Statistical analyses revealed that the ORS-Auslan is reliable, valid and adequately distinguishes between clinical and non-clinical presentations. Furthermore, construct validity has been established using a yet to be validated sign language version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items (DASS-21), providing a platform for further research using the DASS-21 with Deaf people. The fourth objective was to evaluate counselling outcomes following the implementation of an enriched counselling service, based on the findings generated by the first objective, and using the newly translated Auslan measures. A second university counselling clinic was established and implemented over the course of one year. Practice-based evidence guided the research and the ORS-Auslan and the SRS-Auslan were administered at every session and provided outcome data on Deaf clients' global functioning. Data from six clients over the course of ten months indicated that this culturally affirmative model was an effective approach for these six clients. This is the first time that outcome data have been collected in Australia using valid and reliable Auslan measures to establish preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of any therapeutic intervention for clinical work with adult, signing Deaf clients. The research generated by this thesis contributes theoretical knowledge, professional development and practical resources that can be used by a variety of mental health clinicians in the context of mental health service delivery to Deaf clients in Australia.

Negotiation 2.0 in the twitter age : using Web 2.0 applications to facilitate successful negotiation outcomes

The high-pressure, cross-cultural, cross-factional and frequently cross-national nature of contemporary negotiation means that there are a number of clements potentially hampering efforts to achieve successful negotiation outcomes from face-to-face interactions. These hindrances include: resource scarcity (for example, finances, technology and facilities), time scarcity, geographical separation, lack of a COnl1110n language and an inability to Inaintain a consistent ongoing dialogue.

Print media portrayals of giving : exploring national ‘cultures of philanthropy’

In their 2010 study drawing on 500 empirical philanthropy studies, Bekkers and Wiepking identified eight consistently significant giving mechanisms. The pilot study reported here extends what is known about one mechanism, values, as a giving driver, in particular considering how national cultural values apply to giving. Personal values are not formed in a vacuum. They are influenced by the wider culture and society: thus values have a socio-cultural dimension. Accordingly, this pilot research draws on media theory and cultural studies work on national ethos to explore how these national cultural values interact with giving. A directed qualitative content analysis has been undertaken to compare US and Australian print media coverage about philanthropy. The two nations share an Anglo–Saxon orientation but differ significantly in national character and philanthropic activity. This study posits that a nation's media coverage about giving will reflect its national cultural ethos. This coverage can also shape personal values, thus implications exist for theory about the antecedents of personal giving values. Wider national values may drive or stifle giving, so this wider view of values as a driver has implications also for philanthropy promotion and fundraising.

No longer Singaporean : visibilising the everyday contestations of identities

In the past decade or so, the citizens of Singapore have been vigorously urged by the state to turn their cultural and linguistic affinities with China to economic advantage. At the same time, the city-state has opened its doors to selected, skilled migrants from Asia including many of those from mainland and Greater China. These concurrent emphases have coincided with the trend and growing numbers of Singaporeans heading overseas for one reason or another. Through a reflexive journey sparked by a recent visit, I argue in this paper that the resultant change in the makeup of its population produces tensions that may well have important repercussions for a nation that is constitutionally multiethnic though pragmatically meritocratic. However, because these frictions find form only in everyday, pedestrian practices, they are often dismissed or ignored. It is my contention that as the stage on which innocuous, creeping shifts in social identities are enacted, finessed and (re)embedded into social imaginaries, these everyday contestations of identities need to studied for indications of what is at stake.

Folk opera and theatre for development

The research field was intercultural theatre, specifically adapting indigenous performance forms for applied theatre purposes. The context was the rich performative traditions of Papua New Guinean cultures, which have remained largely untapped over several decades of "theatre for development" and "entertainment education". Papua New Guinean company Raun Raun Theatre developed Folk Opera from a similar concept in African theatre in the 1970s. The form incorporates elements of song, dance, ritual, chant, metaphor, music, and body adornment from traditional cultures. The form’s spectacular scope suited international touring in large theatrical venues, and the themes of emerging nationalism with which Raun Raun was concerned. The research team made three key innovations in the use of Folk Opera: adapting the form from theatres to community contexts, using the form to address issues of individual choice for health promotion, and emphasising experiential education over entertainment. Field-testing in Karkar Island showed community members gained clearer understandings of relevant health issues through participating in the folk opera form than through other educational approaches. The significance of the research was recognised by the members of the cross-cultural workshop team and the community of Karkar Island including the local Member of Parliament. The success of the Folk Opera form as an approach to sexual health promotion was recognised through the provision of AUD$74,000 funding by the National AIDS Council Secretariat of Papua New Guinea for a train-the-trainer program incorporating this innovative form of applied theatre. The research has been presented at a number of national and international conferences including the 6th International Research in Drama Education conference in 2009.

Philanthropic capacity to support Indigenous causes : the journey to improvement

The role of philanthropy in addressing Indigenous causes is still conceptually emerging in Australia despite many years of practice. This paper reports on a qualitative study with grantmakers and grantseekers to better understand the issues affecting the philanthropic grantmaking system for Indigenous causes in Australia. An attitudinal emphasis on human rights for politically, economically and socially disadvantaged groups and an impetus for structural change emerged that has yet to deliver real funding equity. The way forward is still largely focussed on ‘improving’ Indigenous community capacity in organisational governance systems. In contrast, this study points to strategic leverage points within philanthropic organisations which could be used to first assess and then develop policies, processes and their underlying attitudes which impact on cross-cultural work i.e. the ‘cultural competence ’ of philanthropic organisations. It is argued such an approach would support improved social justice practice in the sector and subsequently Indigenous outcomes.

Re-constructing Asianness in Australia : Yumi Umiumare, Owen Leong, and the remobilisation of monstrosity

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Australia’s relationship with its Asian neighbours has been the subject of ongoing aesthetic, cultural and political contestations. As Alison Richards has noted, Australia’s colonial legacy, its Asia-Pacific location, and its ‘white’ self-perception have always made Australia’s relations with Asia fraught. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the paradoxes inherent in Australia’s relationships with and within the Asian region became a dominant theme in debates about nation, nationhood and identity, and prompted a shift in the construction of ‘Asianness’ on Australian stages. On the one hand, anxiety about the multicultural policy of the 1970s and 1980s, and then Prime Minister Paul Keating’s push for greater economic, cultural and artistic exchange with Asia via policies such as the Creative Nation Cultural Policy (1994), saw large numbers of Australians latch on to the reactionary, racist politics of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party. As Jacqueline Lo has argued, in this period Asian-Australians were frequently represented as an unassimilable Other, a threat to Australia’s ‘white’ identity, and to individual Australians’ jobs and opportunities. On the other hand, during the same period, a desire to counter the racism in Australian culture, and develop a ‘voice’ that would distinguish Australian cultural products from European theatrical traditions, combined with the new opportunities for cross-cultural exchange that came with the Creative Nation Cultural Policy to produce what Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo have characterised as an Asian turn in Australian theatre...

A situated approach to historical thinking in the Australian Curriculum : History

This paper focuses on the importance of foregrounding an emphasis on the development of historical thinking in the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: History as a way of making the study of history meaningful for their students. In doing so, it argues that teachers need to take up the opportunity to situate the study of Asia as a significant component of the curriculum’s ‘Australia in a world history approach’. In the discussion on the significance of historical thinking, the paper specifically addresses those seven historical concepts articulated in the new history curriculum by drawing from the international scholarship in the field of history education on the ways in which children and adolescents think about historical content and concepts.

Victimization experiences of adolescents in Malaysia

Purpose There has been little community-based research regarding multiple-type victimization experiences of young people in Asia, and none in Malaysia. This study aimed to estimate prevalence, explore gender differences, as well as describe typical perpetrators and family and social risk factors among Malaysian adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1,870 students was conducted in 20 randomly selected secondary schools in Selangor state (mean age: 16 years; 58.8% female). The questionnaire included items on individual, family, and social background and different types of victimization experiences in childhood. Results Emotional and physical types of victimization were most common. A significant proportion of adolescents (22.1%) were exposed to more than one type, with 3% reporting all four types. Compared with females, males reported more physical, emotional, and sexual victimization. The excess of sexual victimization among boys was due to higher exposure to noncontact events, whereas prevalence of forced intercourse was equal for both genders (3.0%). Although adult male perpetrators predominate, female adults and peers of both genders also contribute substantially. Low quality of parent–child relationships and poor school and neighborhood environments had the strongest associations with victimization. Family structure (parental divorce, presence of step-parent or single parent, or household size), parental drug use, and rural/urban location were not influential in this sample. Conclusion This study extends the analysis of multiple-type victimization to a Malaysian population. Although some personal, familial, and social factors correlate with those found in western nations, there are cross-cultural differences, especially with regard to the nature of sexual violence based on gender and the influence of family structure.

International pre-service teachers' self-confidence in critical reflective thinking and writing through an intercultural Patches program

This paper describes part of an action research study that was designed to explore the outcomes of an ongoing program in which the participants, a group of domestic and international pre-service teachers and lecturers, worked together in reflective writing workshops. While the primary long-term goal of the program was to develop the intercultural competence and understanding of all of the participants through social activities, the development of social relationships was initiated and supported by involving the participants in weekly writing workshops that focused on shared salient skills of critical reflective thinking and writing. The focus of this paper is upon the outcomes for the international students, a cohort of second year pre-service teachers from Malaysia. Findings indicated that the program was successful in developing the Malaysian pre-service teachers’ self-confidence in perceiving themselves as writers and future teachers of writing, in shifting their focus from writing product to writing process and content, and in increasing the depth of their critical reflective thinking and writing

Normative influences across cultures : conceptual differences and potential confounders among drivers in Australia and China

Normative influences on road user behaviour have been well documented and include such things as personal, group, subjective and moral norms. Commonly, normative factors are examined within one cultural context, although a few examples of exploring the issue across cultures exist. Such examples add to our understanding of differences in perceptions of the normative factors that may exert influence on road users and can assist in determining whether successful road safety interventions in one location may be successful in another. Notably, the literature is relatively silent on such influences in countries experiencing rapidly escalating rates of motorization. China is one such country where new drivers are taking to the roads in unprecedented numbers and authorities are grappling with the associated challenges. This paper presents results from qualitative and quantitative research on self-reported driving speeds of car drivers and related issues in Australia and China. Focus group interviews and questionnaires conducted in each country examined normative factors that might influence driving in each cultural context. Qualitative findings indicated perceptions of community acceptance of speeding were present in both countries but appeared more widespread in China, yet quantitative results did not support this difference. Similarly, with regard to negative social feedback from speeding, qualitative findings suggested no embarrassment associated with speeding among Chinese participants and mixed results among Australian participants, yet quantitative results indicated greater embarrassment for Chinese drivers. This issue was also examined from the perspective of self-identity and findings were generally similar across both samples and appear related to whether it is important to be perceived as a skilled/safe driver by others. An interesting and important finding emerged with regard to how Chinese drivers may respond to questions about road safety issues if the answers might influence foreigners’ perceptions of China. In attempting to assess community norms associated with speeding, participants were asked to describe what they would tell a foreign visitor about the prevalence of speeding in China. Responses indicated that if asked by a foreigner, people may answer in a manner that portrayed China as a safe country (e.g., that drivers do not speed), irrespective of the actual situation. This ‘faking good for foreigners’ phenomenon highlights the importance of considering ‘face’ when conducting research in China – a concept absent from the road safety literature. An additional noteworthy finding that has been briefly described in the road safety literature is the importance and strength of the normative influence of social networks (guanxi) in China. The use of personal networks to assist in avoiding penalties for traffic violations was described by Chinese participants and is an area that could be addressed to strengthen the deterrent effect of traffic law enforcement. Overall, the findings suggest important considerations for developing and implementing road safety countermeasures in different cultural contexts.