Research Ideas

The emerging new technologies such as the Internet and World Wide Web are providing new channels to distribute knowledge. These computer and networked technologies, in fact, have opened the way for educators to reach the learners “beyond brick and mortar (McIsaac, 2002)”. The learners are not just from the local areas, they could be learners in other countries around the world. Harasim (2000) has proclaimed that the revolution of new technology with the changes of society and economy has actually changed education at all levels. Online learning is no longer supplementary in education, but has become a part of the mainstream in our current education. A new paradigm in learning is just about to emerge.

However, the literature is lacking the research related to cultural aspects of online learning and teaching, and there are only a few research-based studies on this topic (Gunawardena, Wilson, & Nolla, 2003). McLoughlin (1999) warned us that design features in the learning environment may nevertheless cause cultural misunderstanding. For example, the color of texts in the online learning environment is critical to Chinese students (Tu, 2001). Chinese students interpreted red texts as a warning, but the instructor just wants to emphasize the content.

There are many different ways to approach the understanding of cultural considerations in online learning environment, and there is a lack of a sound theoretical framework for studying this topic. In fact, researchers have argued that the actually shift of education from traditional classrooms to online learning environments should involve a change of pedagogies (Hase & Ellis, 2001). The online environment is the medium, and the pedagogy embedded in online learning teaching is what really influences learning. Thus, in my research, I wish to focus on the pedagogical differences among cultures, and find better design principles to build a learning model to accommodate the culture adaptation of international students taking online courses in the United States.

My initial research idea is to use the "IT studio model" as the foundation or model for building an online learning environment that includes a culture adaptation model. Although our current "IT studio model" is a face to face course design, it is actually a blended design course (face to face & online). I intend to identify the effective "online" components, and to see how different pedagogical backgrounds (cultures) interact with these components. Then, I shall investigate student reactions to these online components as well as the face to face sections in the studio to build a culture adaptation model. My goal is to promote the revised studio model to help international students to adapt their learning in the American culture, as well as to introduce this revised model to other subjects. In order to narrow down my research scope, I intend to focus my target audience on Asian students.

Research questions

• How do Asian students learn within the online sections as well as the face to face sections in the IT studio model?

• To what extent are Asian pedagogies compatible with the IT studio model?

• How can the needs of Asian students in the IT studio model be accommodated?

• How can a revised IT studio model be applied to other subjects to facilitate Asian students' learning?

  As Gunawardena et al. (2003) mentioned, “Future researchers need to conceptualize identity issues in cross-cultural studies to go beyond simplistic stereotyping and use qualitative methods to understand how people define themselves” (p. 771), I realize the importance to use qualitative methods to generate data. Additionally, in order to make the research design robust, several different data collection strategies will also be adopted.

  Research tasks

Identify the online components in the IT studio model

The first thing is to define what is "online" by doing the literature review. Then, investigate the IT studio model to identify what components are already online and what components could be put online. This could be done by examining the IT studio handbook and conducting interviews with the instructors in the IT studio courses.

IT studio model

Understand the underlying theories behind IT studio model, and categorize the pedagogies used in the model. First, locate the theories by examining the IT studio handbook, and then conduct a literature review to explore these theories. Write an article about the theory foundation of IT studio model along with the pedagogies that can apply into it.

The Asian pedagogies

The goal for this task is to identify main dimensions of Asian pedagogies by conducting thorough literature review. I intend to develop a questionnaire to measure Asian students’ attitude about Asian pedagogies, as well as their attitude about IT studio model.

Research design

This study will adopt both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data. The research tasks mentioned above are needed to be completed before data collection. The study procedures are listed below:

1. In-depth interviews and participant observations: Several interviews will be conducted to Asian students in the IT Studio courses to understand their experience about learning in the IT Studio model. Several participant observations will also be adopted to collect data.

2. Questionnaire analysis: Use the questionnaire developed in the research task to collect data. Adopt the statistic method (ANOVA) to analyze the relationships between Asian pedagogies and IT studio model based on the participants' responses. The compatible elements between these two pedagogies (Asian & IT studio model) will be identified, and the conflicts will be discussed.

3. Revise IT studio model: Based on the results got from previous data collections, identify the weakness and strength of IT studio model from the standpoints of Asian students. Then, revise the model to better accommodate the needs for Asian students.

    

Research skills needed

• Interviews and observations techniques & analysis

• Literature review ability

• Statistic analysis skills

 

Reference

Gunawardena, C. N., Wilson, P. L., & Nolla, A. C. (2003). Culture and online education. In M. G. Moore & W. G. Anderson (Eds.), Handbook of distance education (pp. 753-775). Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Harasim, L. (2000). Shift happens: Online education as a new paradigm in learning. Internet and Higher Education, 3, 41-61.

Hase, S., & Ellis, A. (2001). Problems with online learning are systemic, not technical. In J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching & Learning Online: Pedagogies for new technologies (pp. 27-34). Sterling: Stylus Publishing Inc.

McIsaac, M. S. (2002). Online Learning from an International Perspective. Educational Media International, 39(1), 17-21.

McLoughlin, C. (1999). Culturally responsive technology use: Developing an on-line community of learners. British Journal of Educational Technology, 30(3), 231-243.

Tu, C.-H. (2001). How Chinese perceive social presence: An examination of interaction in online learning environment. Education Media International, 38(1), 45-60.

 

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