The Moon, the Ghetto, and Clusters of Intelligence : Comparison And Evaluation of Models of Learning Styles And Approaches - Global Settings, Global Samples, Global Syllabi

• The purpose of this study is to compare cross-cultural variability to learning in Australian, Canadian, Hong Kong, Nigerian and South African global samples using Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ: Biggs, The learning process questionnaire (LPQ) manual. Australian Council for Educational Research, 1987; Australian Psychologist, 23, 197–206, 1988; British Journal of Educational Psychology, 63, 3–19, 1993). Different formal indices aimed at identifying the motives and strategies that comprise those approaches that emphasise creative, analytical, learning skills, as well as practical thinking or open-minded reasoning and memory-related skills, were identified and operationalized. The empirical exploration of the framework was applied to the analysis of 602 participants; data subsumed to different robust constructs. The assumption of male variability in learning strategies is questioned. The interaction of gender and culture is likened to two sides of the same coin (proverbial hedgehog vs fox), which is meant to enhance human learning. Results uphold cross-cultural support for the dimensions of deep and surface strategies; despite the differences in learning conceptualizations, the strategies utilized by students in the Western educational context are similar to those used by their African counterparts. In addition, discussion focuses on the implications of this desideratum for scale development, taxonomy construction, and theory building that are generalizable to a wide range of cultures.  Of course, a full examination of these novel differences requires more thorough, systematic fine-ingrained inquiry.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Globaliseringsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Globalisation Studies (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)