Skip to main content

Table 3 Joint displays of quantitative data and qualitative data

From: Effects of an internationalization at home (IAH) programme on cultural awareness among medical and nursing students in Hong Kong and Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study

Concept

Meta-inferences

Quantitative results

Qualitative findings

Inferences of quantitative findings

Quantitative results

Inferences of qualitative findings

Qualitative findings verbatims

Learning process - IAH as an enjoyable experience

The qualitative findings provide a context for the learning process in IAH program and explain what leads to the positive result in quantitative.

(Convergent)

After the IAH program, students feel more comfortable in interacting with people from different cultural background, and students become more satisfied about the multicultural learning of the university

Significant increase in CAS score on subscales ‘Behaviours/comfort with interactions’ and ‘general education and research experience ‘

IAH as an enjoyable experience

“It is interesting to discuss culture with people from other countries. In my opinion, it is very interesting. It helps us to widen our horizons and allows us to understand that everyone is different.’ (HK-GP1)

‘I am excited. I think cultural exchange is an interesting thing. I grasped every opportunity for discussion so that I could get to know them (Hong Kong students) better. I mean … I was given these opportunities. So, why would I not use these opportunities properly? I feel happy and excited because I can meet people from a different background.’ (IN-GP1)

‘I am really excited because it is the first time that I have gotten a chance to collaborate with foreigners –the Hong Kong students. That teaches me how to work with new people.’ (IN-GP2)

Learning process -Viewing the experience as a new form of cultural exchange, but still valuing the essence of face-to-face interactions

The qualitative findings provide a context for the learning process in IAH program and explain what leads to the positive result in quantitative.

(Convergent)

After the IAH program, students feel more comfortable in interacting with people from different cultural background

Significant increase in CAS score on ‘Behaviours/comfort with interactions’

Viewing the experience as a new form of cultural exchange, but still valuing the essence of face-to-face interactions

‘I still prefer to know more about the culture by visiting there (Indonesia) locally. That was my goal. I mean … if I were given the chance to taste the local food there, it would be better for me to learn about their culture.’ (HK-GP2)

‘Because of the pandemic, there is no chance to go abroad, so this programme does give us a chance to communicate with students from other countries. It is better than nothing.’ (IN-GP2)

Facilitators - The micro-movie as a useful medium for triggering cross-cultural discussions and interactions

The qualitative findings explains the quantitative findings, allowing us to understand what facilitates a more comfortable interaction with students from other country -Micro movie triggers their discussions in the IAH session.

(Convergent)

After the IAH program, students feel more comfortable in interacting with people from different cultural background

Students become more satisfied about the multicultural learning of the university

Significant increase in CAS score on subscales ‘Behaviours/comfort with interactions’ and ‘general education and research experience ‘

The micro-movie facilitates cultural discussions

‘The main characters in the movie are the Hong Kong lady and the Indonesian mom. There are a lot of conflicts in their lifestyles. The conflict was especially obvious when both characters lived together…. For example, the mum doesn’t eat luncheon meat. It’s because there is so much oil, salt, sugar, and so on in it. So, I think the movie captured the difference in eating habits well.’ (IN-GP2-Micromovie)

‘There was a discussion after the movie. The movie stimulated our discussion. It’s enough, to stimulate our discussion about diet, physical activity, addiction. We already know what will be discussed.’ (HK-GP1-Micromovie)

Facilitators - Active discussion as a facilitator of successful cultural exchange

The qualitative findings can explain the quantitative findings, allowing us to understand what facilitates a more comfortable interaction with students from other country- Active discussion

(Convergent)

After the IAH program, students feel more comfortable in interacting with people from different cultural background

Significant increase in CAS score on subscales ‘Behaviours/comfort with interactions’

-Active discussion leads to a successful cultural exchange

-Language barriers lead to an inactive discussion

For my group, the communication is really good…. All of them are considered active in my opinion. This really helps with the discussion.’ (INDO-Active communication)

‘In my group, the problem is more that they don’t want to communicate in English … students from both countries. It is very awkward.’ (IN-GP2) ‘There are still people at our university who are still not confident in speaking English, even though they are able to do it, but they are shy. (IN-GP1-Active communication).

Learning outcome - Awareness of cultural diversity (new knowledge, noticing differences, social responsibility)

The qualitative findings provides a context for quantitative findings and explain why cultural awareness is enhanced- Cultural awareness is enhanced by learning new knowledge and noticing differences and similarities in cultures

(Convergent)

After the IAH programme, students started to aware more about the impact of cultural value on belief, attitudes, and behaviors.

Significant increase in CAS score on subscale ‘cognitive awareness’

Awareness of cultural diversity via gaining new knowledge and noticing differences and similarities in cultures

‘My group was responsible for the topic of addiction. So we discussed the cultural reasons behind alcohol abuse. Like related laws and regulations. I am surprised that alcohol is available everywhere in Hong Kong and that it is even available in vending machines. The drinking habit there is deeply embedded. For example, alcohol is often served in their company events for the purpose of social bonding, or in family events, so I can imagine that it is harder to manage in Hong Kong.’

‘They have a variety of resources – different educational materials and databases. Here in Indonesia, I think we only have materials from the Health Ministry. When the Health Ministry says something, we always follow along. But they have more than that, and this information is helpful to our project.’ (IN-GP1)

‘We read each other’s Instagram stories. And I can see that from her story, she was hanging out with her girlfriends and her boyfriend. This is a good exchange. You can learn about their lifestyle, just like health. It really made me become more curious about the Hong Kong culture.’ (IN-GP1)

‘I gained more understanding of the health situation in another country, and we learned to view health problems not just from a Hong Konger’s perspective. I have learned to care about the health issues of other people around the world. Some places require attention from us.’ (HK-GP1)

‘It widens our horizons and allows us to understand that everyone is different. At some point, I realized that we have an obligation to help them. We should respect them. You gained insignificant insights and thoughts.’ (IN-GP2)

Learning outcome - Adoption of new learning styles from students of other countries

The quantitative findings explain the qualitative findings. The awareness of cultural difference in learning style allows students to adopt a new learning style from students of other countries.

(Convergent)

After the IAH programme, students started to aware more about the impact of cultural value on belief, attitudes and behaviors.

Significant increase in CAS score on subscale ‘cognitive awareness’

Adoption of new learning styles from students of other countries

‘I am only a year 1 student. The Indonesian students were able to think of more aspects and perspectives than me. I learned to view things in a different perspective.’ (HK-GP1)

‘The first thing I noticed is that students from Indonesia really took the initiative to speak up, and they are more proactive than our Hong Kong students, so I started to be more proactive as well in the discussions.’ (HK-GP1)

‘I have learned the importance of a team in the two-day workshop on internationalization.’ (INDO-GP1)

Learning outcome - Developed cultural sensitivity in clinical practice

Quantitative and qualitative findings showed consistent findings. The verbatims of qualitative results provide more examples of how students cultural sensitivity in clinical practice had been improved.

(Convergent)

Students developed more sensitivity about culture-related clinical issues

Significant increase in CAS score on subscale ‘clinical issues’

Developed cultural sensitivity in clinical practice

‘It widened my horizons. It widened my understanding. It turns out that their practices are different from Indonesians, so for me it’s more.... In the future, if I have to meet patients who I want to interact with, I am going to understand their cultural background first, how to respect, to understand their culture and also their habits to educate them and give them the appropriate intervention.’ (IN-GP2)

‘It was fun to share something about our habits and cultures. In the group discussions, we got to know about the lifestyle differences between the two countries. Our plan was to create a change in lifestyle for both Hong Kongers and Indonesians. We discussed what kinds of adjustments were needed there, how we should adapt. It was fun!’ (INDO-GP1)

Outcome - Improved language skills

Qualitative findings reveal a theme that is not covered in the quantitative findings.

(Divergent)

/

/

Improved language skills

Many of our local students communicate in Cantonese, but in order for us to interact with the Indonesian students, we cannot use our mother tongue. Our English level may not be good enough. I mean, when you want to express your ideas, you may not be able to articulate well. In the end, we have to use English to explain ourselves. I was able to practise my spoken English. (HK-GP1)

‘It is very interesting, speaking English, listening, and learning, and again to talk to foreigners. Yes, in my opinion I gained additional knowledge.’ (INDO-GP1)

Barriers - Poor time management

Inconsistent to the positive findings of quantitative results, qualitative findings reveal some dissatisfactions related to the IAH program (poor time management). This suggests potential barriers in IAH which may hinder students learning.

(Divergent)

Students become more satisfied about the multicultural learning in the university after the IAH program

Significant increase in CAS score on ‘general education and research experience ‘

Poor time management

Personally, it has something to do with the time, the project time. I think the time is too short to work on a project between students of two countries.’ (IN-GP2)

‘This workshop should not be placed in the senior year, as it clashes with our thesis and community services…. If it is possible, it should be placed in the second or third year.’ (INDO-GP1)

Barriers - Insufficient briefing prior to the session

Inconsistent to the positive findings of quantitative results, qualitative findings reveal some dissatisfactions related to the IAH program (insufficient briefing). This suggests potential barriers in IAH which may hinder students learning.

(Divergent)

After the IAH program, Students find the university places more focus on multicultural issues

Significant increase in CAS score on ‘general education and research experience’

Insufficient briefing prior to the session

‘I thought it was a student exchange programme. But that was different from my initial expectation. It turned out to be a programme for learning each other’s culture.’ (IN-GP1)

‘The overview for this event was a bit sudden (referring to the overview note that the team sent to students prior to the workshop). We didn’t know what this event was about.… The downside would be the short notice beforehand.’ (IN-GP1)

  1. Remarks: The joint display shows qualitative and qualitative data as well as inferences of the two types of data. The column on meta-inferences are interpretations the research team have drawn after data integration (synthesized area of divergencies and convergencies of both types of data)