Ronald Miller Paul Freebairn Jeremy Orrego Keitaro Yoshida Sin Sze Cecilia Yiu

1. Ronald Miller Paul Freebairn Jeremy Orrego Keitaro Yoshida Sin Sze Cecilia Yiu Asian students are less likely to participate in class discussions--does that mean they don't learn as much?

3. BYU Hawaii • Small, 4-year comprehensive university • About 2400 students • Highly international campus • Mission to serve Asia & Pacific • Arts & sciences (professional programs in business, education and computing) • Located near Oahu’s north shore

4. What we’re presenting… • Overview • NSSE and BYUH’s Participation • Research Questions, Methodology & Statistical Analysis • Previous Studies ( NSSE, Participation & Culture) • In-class Participation • Actual GPAs • Other Variables • Distribution of Majors • Grades in Discussion-intensive vs Lecture Courses • How Students Spend Their Time • Faculty & Student Feedback • Summary & Implications

5. Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education(Chickering & Gamson, 1987) • Student-faculty contact • Active learning • Prompt feedback • Time on task • High expectations • Respect for diverse learning styles • Cooperation among students

6. Participation in NSSE • Since 2002 65% average response rate over 4-yrs BYUH NSSE Database (n=1989) • Ethnicity (1331) Asian (632) Caucasian (699) • 440 FY and 891 SR • Country of Origin Asian Countries: Japan (111), Hong Kong (70), South Korea (69), China (46), Taiwan (32), Mongolia (26), Thailand (25), and Malaysia (19) USA (1105)

7. “Asian” Cultural Values • Respecting elders • Group over individual interests • Maintaining harmony in relationships

8. Research Questions • Do Asian students participate less in class? • Do Asian students participate more as seniors than they do as first-year students? • Does participation in class impact a student’s GPA? • Are there other factors related to academic performance besides classroom participation? • Do course grades for Asian students differ significantly in discussion-intensive courses? • Do Asian students tend to gravitate to certain majors?

9. Previous Studies • Discussion between peers and instructors increases problem solving ability (Hake, 1998). • Students who engage in learning perform significantly better than lectured and tutored students (Redish & Steinberg, 1999). • Higher engagement levels and higher grades go hand-in-hand (Kuh, 2003) • Asian students participate significantly less in class than others (Yeh & Inose, 2003) • Students report better understanding of course concepts when actively engaged in learning (Ahlfeldt, Mehta & Sellnow 2005)

10. Statistical Analysis • Hotelling’s T² t-testby ethnicity • ANOVA (Tukey post-hoc test) by ethnicity and home country • Correlations(GPA/participation by ethnicity and home country)

11. Class Participation

12. Class Participation Questions (NSSE) Students were asked how often they did each of the following: (Scale: 1-Never, 2-Sometimes, 3-Often, 4-Very Often) • Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions (CLQUEST) • Included diverse perspectives (different races, religions, genders, political beliefs, etc.) in class discussions or writing assignments (DIVCLASS)

13. Class Participation by Ethnicity * * *Significant at the .01level Asians participated in class significantly less than Caucasians

14. Class Participation by Country Students from Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan participated in class significantly less than students from the U.S.

15. Class Participation (FY to SR) * * Participation in classdid not differ significantly for First-Year and Senior students from Asian countries

16. Actual GPA’s

17. GPA Comparison by Ethnicity * *Significant at the .01 level When comparing GPA’s by ethnicity, Asian students tend to have slightly (but significantly) lower GPA’s than Caucasians, however…

18. GPA Comparison by Country There is no significant difference in GPA’s when comparing country of origin (Asia to USA)

19. Class Participation of Asian and Caucasian Students Class participation is significantly correlated with GPA for Caucasians (r=.20)* but not for Asians (r=.05) *significant at the p<.05 level

20. Other Correlations for Asians • Preparing for class (r=.13)* • Relationships with Faculty (r=.12)* • Acquiring a broad general education (r=.12)* • Acquiring job or work-related knowledge and skills (r=.13)* • Attending the same institution if you could start over again (r=.12)* *significant at the p<.05 level

21. Other Variables Course grades (English & Biology) Distribution of majors How students spend their time

22. Course Grades

23. Grades in ENGL101(by Country) Class participation is essential in English 101 at BYUH

24. Grades in BIOL100(by Country) Class participation is not required in Biology 100 We found no significant difference between grades received in either English 101 or Biology 100

25. Distribution of Majors

26. Distribution of Majors (USA) • Most popular: • International Business Management (12%) • Information Systems (8%) • Intercultural Studies (7%) • Least popular: • Hawaiian Studies (1%) • Math (1%)

27. Distribution of Majors (Asian) • Most popular: • Psychology/Social Work (16%) • International Business Management (9%) • Hotel and Tourism Management (9%) • Accounting (9%) • Least popular: • Elementary Education (1%) • English (1%) • Political Science (1%)

28. Distribution of Majors (Japan) • Most popular: • Psychology/ Social Work (23%) • Information Systems/Computer Science (12%) • TESOL (8%) • Least popular: • Biology / Biochemistry (1%) • English (none) • History (none)

29. How students spend their time

30. Time Spent Studying (by Country) Students from China, Mongolia and Japan prepare for class significantly more than students from the U.S. 1 = 0 hours 2 = 1-5 hours 3 = 6-10 4 = 11-15 5 = 16-20 6 = 21-25 7 = 26-30 8 = More than 30 hours

31. Time Spent Relaxing & Socializing (by Country) 1 = 0 hours 2 = 1-5 hours 3 = 6-10 4 = 11-15 5 = 16-20 6 = 21-25 7 = 26-30 8 = More than 30 hours Students from Asia spent about the same amount of time relaxing and socializing as U.S. students

32. Time Spent in Co-curricular Activities (by Country) 1 = 0 hours 2 = 1-5 hours 3 = 6-10 4 = 11-15 5 = 16-20 6 = 21-25 7 = 26-30 8 = More than 30 hours Students from Asia spent about the same amount of time in co-curricular activities as U.S. students

33. What we’ve learned…from our Faculty

34. Faculty L2 survey results

35. Some faculty comments… • “The ESL Students will not ask questions in class. Most feel that it is not their place to ask.” • “Generally, I call on those students who volunteer to respond. ESL students (with several notable exceptions) are often hesitant to raise their hands or otherwise volunteer to participate.” • “Some of my ESL students lack confidence in joining in class discussions for fear of not understanding or being able to express themselves or are fearful other students will not understand them.” • “Nonverbally, they are begging me not to. While I want to challenge students I don't want so much stress in their lives that it becomes counter productive and impromptu oral engagement/argument can do that.” • “I don't always have the chance to manipulate the situation so that they are not being asked to speak off the top of their heads without time to organize what they will say.”

36. What we’ve learned…from our Students

37. Asian students participate less… • Because it takes them longer to process • “I would speak out but it takes me longer than other students to think what to say.” • “Foreign students do not always understand what the teacher is talking about and need time to think about it. They want to participate but cannot just jump into the discussion.” • “In a class where the majority of people are Americans, they talk about things that only Americans will understand.” 2006 Focus Group Members

38. But Asian students… • Participate in different ways • “In class, I may not say something, but I am participating in my mind.” • “Sometimes as Asians we take in what other people say and analyze it. That is how we are trained.” • “I think some students ask questions just because they want to impress the teacher.” • “Teachers back home ask for the correct answers to a question, whereas teachers here ask for students’ opinions.” • “Under the Asian style education system, getting good grades is learning.” 2006 Focus Group Members

39. Summary & Implications

40. Summary • Although there are significant differences in class participation, there is not much difference in actual GPAs for Asian and Caucasian students. An Asian students’ amount of participation doesn’t increase over time. • Class participation is moderately correlated with GPA but only for Caucasian students. For Asian students, class preparation, relationships with faculty and acquiring a broad general education and work-related skills and knowledge are slightly correlated with GPA. • Asian students do as well academically in discussion-intensive courses (English 101). • Some Asian students compensate for less participation in class by spending more time in preparation for class and and less time relaxing and socializing. • Both Asian and US students enjoy a variety of majors that are participatory in nature.

41. Implications for the Classroom • Create alternatives • Share expectations • Be sensitive to cultural values • Schedule sufficient office hours • Remember names (direct questions) • Give students time to think about discussion topics in advance (email, preview topics)

42. Questions?

43. Please contact us… Ronald Miller (millerr@byuh.edu) Paul Freebairn (freebaip@byuh.edu) Jeremy Orrego (orregoj@gmail.com) Keitaro Yoshida (keicima0154@gmail.com) Cecilia Yiu (ceci1027@gmail.com) Accreditation & IR Websites http://w2.byuh.edu/PIRAT/Accreditation/index.php http://w2.byuh.edu/PIRAT/Institutional%20Research/AIR2006-participation.pps