A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF LEARNING GAINS OF CHINESE MBA STUDENTS IN THE ENGLISH AND CHINESE PROGRAMS AT AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN THAILAND
Keywords:
Perceptions of learning gains; Chinese MBA students, MBA English Program, MBA Chinese Program, cross-border education, Thailand.Abstract
This quantitative study aimed to investigate whether there was a significant difference in the perceptions of learning gains held by Chinese MBA students, according to their semester and program, at an international university in Thailand. This study's sample comprised 176 Chinese MBA students from the English Program and 128 Chinese MBA students from the Chinese Program. The Questionnaire on Students' Perceptions of Learning Gains (QSPLG) was used to measure the perceptions of learning gains held by the participants at the end of Semesters 1, 2, and 3 of their MBA Program at the target international university. The results of the data analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in the perception of learning gains between Chinese MBA students in the English Program enrolled in Semesters 1, 2, and 3, who were all found to hold a neutral perception of the learning gains they made in the MBA English Program. However, there was a significant difference in the perception of learning gains between Chinese MBA students in the Chinese Program enrolled in Semester 1 and those enrolled in Semester 2. The former group having a significantly more positive perception of the learning gains they made in the MBA Chinese Program than the latter. The obtained research findings provide recommendations for MBA students, professors, administrators, and future researchers.
References
Anderson, A. (2006). An assessment of the perception of learning gains of freshmen students in an introductory course in nutrition and food science. Journal of Food Science Education, 5, 25-30.
Bonney, M. K. (2015). The case study teaching method improves student performance and perceptions of learning gains. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 16(1), 21-28.
Chomsky, N. (2007). Approaching UG from below. In U. Sauerland & H.-M. Gärtner (Eds.), Interfaces + recursions = language? Chomsky's minimalism and the view from syntax-semantics (pp. 1-30). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Cobb, S., Heaney, R., Corcoran, O., & Henderson-Begg, S. (2009). The learning gains and student perceptions of a second life virtual lab. Bioscience Education, 13(1), 1-9.
Goldstone, R. L. (1998). Perceptual learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 585-612.
International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education [INQAAHE]. (2008). Higher education in a global world: The context of quality assurance. https://www.inqaahe.org/sites/default/ files/1254907477module-1-unit-3-final.pdf
Knight, J. (2006). Higher education crossing the border. Paris: UNESCO.
Knight, J. (2012). Student mobility and internationalization: Trends and tribulations. Research in Comparative and International Education, 7(1), 20-33.
Lim, B., Hosack, B., & Vogt, P. (2012). A framework for measuring student learning gain and engagement in an introductory computing course: A preliminary report of findings. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 10(4), 428-416.
McGrath, H. C., Guerin, B., Harte, E., Frearson, M., & Manville, C. (2015). Learning gain in higher education. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR996.html
Pimpa, N. (2009). Learning problems in transnational business education and
Scholar: Human Sciences, ISSN 2586-9388, Vol.14 No.2 (Jul.-Dec. 2022)
training: The case of the MBA in Thailand. International Journal of Training and Development, 13(4), 262-279.
Study International. (2019, 18th January). Chinese students are flocking to Thai universities. https://www.studyinternational.com/news/chinese-students-are-flocking-to-thai-universities/
Vermunt, J. D., Ilie, S., & Vignoles, A. (2018). Building the foundations for measuring learning gain in higher education: A conceptual framework and measurement instrument. Higher Education Pedagogies, 3(1), 266-301.
Whitlow, J. H. (2017). Perceptions of MBA preparation: New master of business administration graduates, their employers, and higher education faculty (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MI, United States.
Wingert, J. R., Wasileski, S. A., Peterson, K., Mathews, L. G., Lanou, A. J., & Clarke, D. (2011). Enhancing integrative experiences: Evidence of student perceptions of learning gains from cross-course interactions. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(3), 34-57.
Wiriyachitra, A. (2002). A Thai university English scenario in the coming decade. Thai TESOL, 14(1), 4-7.
Wisconsin Center for Education Research [WCER] (2001). Student Assessment of Learning Gains. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/salgains/instructor Wongcha-um, P. (2019, 17th January). Thai universities tap into rising Chinese demand. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-education-china-idUSKCN1PB07B
Wuttiphan, N., & Ting, Y. (2013). The study of Thailand's Chinese teaching policy, Faculty of Education, Khon Kaen University. Journal of Education Khon Kaen University, 36(1), 16-22.
