A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF OCCUPATONAL THERAPY STUDENTS' APPROACHES TO ACADEMIC STUDY

Background: To investigate if cross-cultural differences exist between occupational therapy students from Australia, Norway and Hong Kong in their approaches to academic study. Methods: 644 undergraduate occupational... [ view full abstract ]

Background: To investigate if cross-cultural differences exist between occupational therapy students from Australia, Norway and Hong Kong in their approaches to academic study.

Methods: 644 undergraduate occupational therapy students from Australia (n=376), Norway (n=159), and Hong Kong (n=109) completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST). The ASSIST measures students approaches students’ approach to student. Data were analysed using analysis of variance.

Findings: Australian students differed significantly from Norwegian and Hong Kong students on the ‘Seeking Meaning’, ‘Organised Study’, and ‘Time Management’ subscales. Hong Kong students were significantly different from Australian students on the ‘Alertness to Assessment Demands’, ‘Monitoring Effectiveness’, ‘Lack of Purpose’, and ‘Unrelated Memorising’ subscales. Norwegian students were significantly different from Hong Kong students on the following approaches to study: ‘Monitoring Effectiveness’, ‘Lack of Purpose’, and ‘Unrelated Memorising’. Overall, there were no significant differences between the three student groups on Deep approaches to learning, however, there were significant differences on Strategic and Surface approaches to academic study.

Practice & Education Implications: From the results, it appears occupational therapy students have similar approaches to Deep types of learning, but differ in their Strategic and Surface approaches academic study. This provides valuable information for academic and fieldwork educators of students.

Conclusion: Students’ cultural background appears to impact their approaches to study. When academic educators and practice education supervisors are designing learning opportunities, they should take students’ cultural background into consideration. They should also provide a range of learning opportunities that facilitate Deep, Strategic, and Surface approaches to study.