East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures

East Asian students are often educated in a more instructor-led and less interactive manner than their North American and European peers. Therefore, as international students at Western universities, they need to adapt to unfamiliar teaching practices that involve classroom communication emphasising...

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Main Authors: Isabella Langen, Christian Stamov Roßnagel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-05-01
Series:Heliyon
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023029559
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author Isabella Langen
Christian Stamov Roßnagel
author_facet Isabella Langen
Christian Stamov Roßnagel
author_sort Isabella Langen
collection DOAJ
description East Asian students are often educated in a more instructor-led and less interactive manner than their North American and European peers. Therefore, as international students at Western universities, they need to adapt to unfamiliar teaching practices that involve classroom communication emphasising critical thinking, debating, and challenging others' views. We explored the stress from such communication by assessing the relationships between East Asian students' perceived ease of engaging in Socratic communication and stress. 51 students from various majors completed the Ease of Socratic Communication scale and the Conceptions of Learning Inventory. One week later, students rated on the Perceived Stress Scale their levels of helplessness and self-efficacy. East Asian students found it less easy to engage in Socratic communication than their non-Asian peers,. The harder students found Socratic communication, the higher were their stress levels. On the other hand, higher Socratic communication ease was associated with higher self-efficacy. Moreover, the relationship between Socratic communication ease and stress was less pronounced the more students viewed learning as the development of personal competence. Complementing extant qualitative research, our findings suggest that Socratic communication may act as a stressor to East Asian international students. Reducing that stress might help improve international students’ learning experience and thus foster their academic integration.
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spelling doaj.art-1efa20dea30148329a8037bb965ba3842023-05-31T04:45:23ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-05-0195e15748East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage culturesIsabella Langen0Christian Stamov Roßnagel1Constructor University, School of Business, Social, & Decision Sciences, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, GermanyCorresponding author.; Constructor University, School of Business, Social, & Decision Sciences, Campus Ring 1, 28759, Bremen, GermanyEast Asian students are often educated in a more instructor-led and less interactive manner than their North American and European peers. Therefore, as international students at Western universities, they need to adapt to unfamiliar teaching practices that involve classroom communication emphasising critical thinking, debating, and challenging others' views. We explored the stress from such communication by assessing the relationships between East Asian students' perceived ease of engaging in Socratic communication and stress. 51 students from various majors completed the Ease of Socratic Communication scale and the Conceptions of Learning Inventory. One week later, students rated on the Perceived Stress Scale their levels of helplessness and self-efficacy. East Asian students found it less easy to engage in Socratic communication than their non-Asian peers,. The harder students found Socratic communication, the higher were their stress levels. On the other hand, higher Socratic communication ease was associated with higher self-efficacy. Moreover, the relationship between Socratic communication ease and stress was less pronounced the more students viewed learning as the development of personal competence. Complementing extant qualitative research, our findings suggest that Socratic communication may act as a stressor to East Asian international students. Reducing that stress might help improve international students’ learning experience and thus foster their academic integration.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023029559Higher educationCross-cultural communicationInternational studentsAcculturation
spellingShingle Isabella Langen
Christian Stamov Roßnagel
East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
Heliyon
Higher education
Cross-cultural communication
International students
Acculturation
title East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
title_full East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
title_fullStr East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
title_full_unstemmed East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
title_short East is East: Socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
title_sort east is east socratic classroom communication is linked to higher stress in students from confucian heritage cultures
topic Higher education
Cross-cultural communication
International students
Acculturation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023029559
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