Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemThe influence of Chinese sociocultural values about education on the educational outcomes of Chinese students in Australia( 1996)This is a study into how Chinese sociocultural values attached to education have influenced the academic performance of Chinese students. The scope of this investigation is resident students of Australia whose parents have migrated to Australia. These students are largely educated in Australia. In the literature review reference is made to studies of Chinese cultural values including works by M. Bond, G. Hofstede, F. Hsu, D.T. Nakanishi and H.W. Stevenson. The methodology employed is appropriate to Chinese collective culture of small group bilingual interviews of parents whose children are 'excellent students. A proforma is used to collect profiles of the participating parents so that significant information about these participants can be taken into consideration when various factors are speculated and surmised. The study has focussed on a group of Chinese parents who are largely bicultural / bilingual, well educated and motivated to promote their children's opportunities to survive Australia where they lack social contact or capital. Underpinning and threading through this wish to see progress for their children is the undying cultural values attached to being, an educated person within the Chinese concept of "self".
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ItemNo common view: Chinese students and Australian graphic design education( 2007)Graphic design relies on the use of visual elements to communicate and transfer messages to a predetermined audience. The effective implementation of graphic design solutions is consequently highly dependent on the societal and cultural influences that have shaped our understanding of the world. International students and local teachers often do not share this knowledge and as a result outcomes produced by international students in post-secondary graphic design education programs often do not meet teacher expectations. This research project used a qualitative approach; it employed the field methods of interview and visual analysis to gather data. The study followed three Chinese international students and their Australian teachers through the realisation of individual design projects. The cases were selected from three different post-secondary settings, using three course specific projects. This allowed for variation in actual situations to be observed, thus increasing project scope and depth. Chinese students were selected because they form the largest minority of international student in each of the environments. All participants in each case were interviewed at three stages: after the brief presentation, after the first critique and at project completion. The project aimed to track the processes of teacher and student alike, observing mismatch in expectations, processes and decision-making. The data collected provided the opportunity to identify points of choice and variation between study pairs, as they occurred. This data then allowed analysis of the complex, multilayered differences that influenced misalignment in practical outcomes. To achieve this, interview data was analysed to extract, review and align processes to final design outcomes. The visual data, in the form of the project design solution, revealed how the misalignment was manifest in the student's work. These two data sources provided insight into attitudes and beliefs of both teacher and student. The research has revealed variation in teacher and student visual meaning and design processes from the outset of the project. This variation is manifested in the final design outcome and visually reveals how meaning and aesthetic values are shaped by socio-cultural knowledge. The study shows that the misunderstanding between teacher and student is not a simple linguistic matter, but stems from differences in underlying assumptions. The need for open and transparent discussion of these assumptions in the highly subjective domain of graphic design is evident.
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ItemCultivating knowledge sharing: an exploration of tacit organizational knowledge in Singapore( 2005)This thesis sought to understand the phenomenon of knowledge sharing embedded in human resource management practices with emphasis on aspects of Singaporean-Chinese culture. Based on a small-scale survey, this exploratory study revealed that tacit knowledge sharing was more widespread in Singapore-based American and European organizations than in Asian organizations located in Singapore. Medium-sized, Singapore-based, European organizations operating in the communications and information technology sector were the most intense in knowledge sharing while small-sized Asian companies in Singapore were the least intense in sharing what they know. Human resource leaders from participating organizations perceived competence diversity, mutual trust, and team spirit as crucial factors in cultivating a knowledge sharing culture. The findings revealed that informal discussions on work related matters, team reviews, and performance appraisal conversations that focused primarily on competence development were human resource management priorities that cultivated knowledge sharing. In addition, conversations with selected human resource leaders suggested that a more effective approach to tacit knowledge sharing is to move people with the relevant knowledge into diverse assignments and to different geographical locations such that the organization as a whole may benefit from the mobility of these expertises. As a result of this small-scale exploratory research, it was suggested that tacit knowledge sharing embedded in human resource management practices requires a broader and deeper understanding of the manner in which we represent what we know. Such understanding includes consideration of the specific cultural values that underpin the organizations researched. In the present case, these were Singaporean-Chinese values rooted in Confucian virtues in a climate of fear. A tacit understanding of the notions of kiasu (the fear of losing out to others) and guanxi (social relationships) are imperative for facilitating knowledge sharing in diverse Asian communities with a predominantly overseas Chinese population. For tacit knowledge sharing to be cultivated, it is important to understand more fully the corporate culture in an organization, the ethnic virtues of the employees, their national identities and the environment in which they lived