The impact of culture on preferences for E-learning systems in higher education. A comparison between China and Germany.

Autor/in	Ji, Hui
Titel	The impact of culture on preferences for E-learning systems in higher education. A comparison between China and Germany. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Der Einfluss der Kultur auf die Präferenzen des E-Learning-Systems in der Hochschulbildung. Ein Vergleich zwischen China und Deutschland.
Quelle	Hamburg: Kovac (2011), 187 S.Verfügbarkeit Zugl.: Cottbus, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2011.
Reihe	Innovative betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis. 295
Beigaben	Illustrationen; Literaturangaben S. [153) - 176
Zusatzinformation	Inhaltsverzeichnis Verlagshomepage
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
ISSN	1437-787X
ISBN	978-3-8300-5832-8
Schlagwörter	Kultur; Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft; Lernkultur; Entwicklungsland; Hochschulbildung; E-Learning; Differenz; Hochschulschrift; Präferenz; Student; Studentin; Informationstechnologie; Asien; China; Deutschland; Ostasien
Abstract	"Nearly half of the foreign students in Germany drop their courses of study. According to a large-scale survey by the Higher Education Information System GmbH, Hannover (HIS), for the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW) this high dropout rate is mainly caused by orientation and adaptation problems of the foreign students and not by inadequate intellectual skills. The foreign students simply have problems with getting used to the German higher education system and the German teaching/learning culture due to cultural differences. It is assumed that additional introductory or concomitant lectures and seminars could improve this situation, but due to the already considerable workload of the teaching staff, these additional activities have narrow Limits. Alternatively, often e-learning is proposed as a helpful instrument, especially when the support is adapted to the specific teaching/learning culture. The author analyzes these problems, taking the differences between German and Chinese students as an example. The main research questions were the following: What are the differences in the preferences for e-learning systems between students that come from different countries, e.g. Germany and China? What are the predominant factors in cultural standards and teaching/ learning cultures that influence these preferences? What changes in cultural standards and learning styles take place when students are abroad for a longer time? A conceptual model for analyzing these differences and their effects was developed. The model was empirically tested using a survey with 372 German and 207 Chinese students at German universities, as well as 280 Chinese students at Chinese universities. The students were interviewed about their learning styles as well as their general attitudes and values, their satisfaction with their courses of study as well as their preferences with respect to e-learning systems. The survey was complemented by various in-depth interviews with students in Germany and abroad. A causal analysis was used to test various hypotheses deduced from past surveys and theories. The analysis provides some valuable insights into German and Chinese teaching/learning cultures: Both German and Chinese students think positively to- wards the use of new media as innovative techniques to improve their teaching/ learning modalities. However, cultural differences between German and Chinese students are large, especially in the students' perception and cognition, even after years of living in the foreign country. Consequently, the author proposes that intercultural training should be provided to local lecturers and foreign students in order to improve intercultural sensibility and competence." (extract).
Erfasst von	GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Mannheim
Update	2012/3