Learning styles of Confucius heritage learner: A case study at Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus

Dharshini Balasingam, Anbalagan Krishnan and Eunice Kong Eik Fong
Edith Cowan University

Higher Education in Sarawak is heavily influenced by a strong Confucius learning tradition. While the tradition emphasises the importance of learning and academic excellence, it poses certain difficulties in terms of creating an environment which allow Sarawak students to take more active responsibility towards their own education and to adopt deep learning strategies which are better suited for their undergraduate level studies.

In view of the inadequate data that is currently available, this paper seeks to:

1. Identify the learning styles of Curtin University Sarawak Campus students both at pre-university and undergraduate level; and
2. Highlight differences (if any) in learning styles between our pre-university and undergraduate students; and
3. Serve as a platform for further studies on improving teaching strategies that will be tailored to the Sarawak students' needs and learning behaviour.

It is hoped that this pilot study will assist the teaching staff in bringing out the "excellent" learner in students through "excellent" teaching.