JUGS TO BE FILLED OR CANDLES TO BE LIT? STUDENT-CENTRED LEARNING IN CHINESE AGRICULTURAL POSTGRADUATE COURSE WORK

The theory and practice of learning are compared in the context of encouraging learning related to rural development and water resource management at post-graduate level in Chinese universities. “How people learn” (Donovan et al., 2004) offers a framework for examining the effectiveness of learning practice. Early experience of teaching and learning within the Scottish Agricultural Colleges provided a predilection for using a framework based around Bloom’s taxonomy of learning (Bloom, 1956). Awareness of elements of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College commitment to facilitation of the development of learning communities across rural Australia (Bawden, 2000) was also a key part of the preparation for teaching in the context of Chinese agricultural postgraduate work. Hazy understanding of the vision, auditory, and kinesthetic (Gardner, 1983) learning styles had also been gained through use of video to encourage learning related to farm machinery use in Scotland. What has been learned at Chinese universities, through evolving material by using feedback, is compared with the analysis in “How people learn”. A multiplicity of learner expectations is apparent and what has been learned is compatible with stated aims of Chinese Higher Educational reform to address rural development issues (Liu and Zhang, 2004).