Motivation and Materials in delivering Degree Modules to

Multi-Cultural Students in the UAE

Carrie Annabi
Lecturer
Murdoch University International Study Centre
Block 10, 4th Floor
Academic City
Dubai
UAE
P.O.Box 345005
Phone +971 4 4355700
carrie.annabi@murdochdubai.ac.ae

Zana Azeredo
Lecturer
Murdoch University International Study Centre
Block 10, 4th Floor
Academic City
Dubai
UAE
P.O.Box 345005
Phone +971 4 4355700
zana.averdo@murdochdubai.ac.ae
There is little research into motivation and learning for the multi-cultural mix of higher
education students within the UAE. This study looks at a sample Management and Business
Degree undergraduate class in a university where the teaching medium is English and takes a
litmus test of the students’ understanding of material presented and their approach to
learning.

The regular class of 18, of whom only 3 had English as their mother tongue, was augmented
by 2 further native English speaking visiting students. The weekly lectures were replaced
with highly visual slides which had specifically been designed for the group who were
predominantly English as Second Language students. Lectures were also peppered with
interactive discussions in order to ‘fix’ key theories for student learning. The students were
able to access the original PowerPoint material generated by the mother university campus in
Australia and they were asked to evaluate the traditional material against the imagery and key
themes presented in the new PowerPoint slides.

Lahur (20051) reported that ESL students find it difficult to interpret the nuances if their
language skills are insufficiently developed. Whilst, in this context Luhur’s area of interest
focused on academic integrity, it echoed Nurthahja and Lahur’s (20022) earlier research on
how student’s approached their assignment criteria.

This research evaluates students’ responses to augmented material and puts forward the
hypothesis that creative teaching methodology underpins deep learning outcomes. Deep
learning relates to student personification of ideas and themes transforming learning into
knowledge. The relevance and usefulness of material from the students’ perspectives was
also reviewed by asking them the relevance to them of reference books, the weekly lecture
slides and internet sources of their own choice related to the subject area.

The gender sample of the core group was equally set however the additional visiting students
were both female. This research does not base outcomes on gender and there was no issues
raised by the students regarding mixed gender group work and, indeed, groups naturally
selected and contained both males and females. Over 12 nationalities were represented in this
study.

1
Lahur, A.M. (2004) Plagiarism among Asian students at an offshore Australian campus: Is it a cultural issue?
Proceedings of the 2004 Annual International Conference of the Higher Education Research and Development
Society of Australasia (HERDSA) 4-7 July 2004
2
Nurthahja, O & Lahur, A.M. (2002) Students’ responses to lecturers’ feedback: problems and suggestions.
Curtin University