The corona-virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a huge challenge to the education system worldwide, which national education system has never faced before. This COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed the lives of the students in various aspects, depending not only their level and course study, but also on the point they have reached in their program [1]. Moreover, as a result of social distancing, the most effective preventive strategy since the emergence of COVID-19 [2], medical education has been profoundly disturbed as it involves in-person didactic lectures and tutorials, clinical rotation exposures, laboratory experiences, observing and assisting relevant medical and surgical procedures [3]. During this crisis, the requirement for On-line learning in the modern world of education has become clear. Various institutions, along with teachers and students, have found new avenues to repair the damage cause and to continue their learning process in digital format. On-line education provides one such avenue by creating new opportunities for student, faculty, regulators of education, and educational institutions [4]. Since the emergence of the internet, it has become an important medium of communication, as well as a research tool for learning and information [5]. On-line learning refers to the use of internet technologies to deliver a broad array of solutions that enhances knowledge and performance [6]. E-learning is “an approach to teaching and learning, representing all or part of the educational model applied, that is based on the use of electronic media and devices as tools for improving access to training and communication and interaction and that facilitates the adoption of the new ways of understanding and developing learning” [7].
“On-line learning” can be broadly referred to almost any learning environment in which electronic media such as computers are used as a component of an instructional delivery system. The benefits of on-line learning are that learners have a control and responsibility for the learning, and the content can be taken whenever a learner has access allowing more flexibility and large amounts of content are broken down into smaller manageable modules. On-line learning offers a means of self-directed education with improved learning through interactivity [8].
The inter-cultural research most focused on motivational to successful learning and related learning [9]. There are a variety of ways individuals from different cultures are motivated to learn, which are supported by various researches. It is being noted that the students from Asian countries those of Confucian heritage culture (CHC) have been outperforming students from western countries both in studies making comparisons across nations as well as where Asian students have studied in Western countries, as migrants or as international students. The countries of “Confucian- heritage cultures” includes mainly China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan [10]. Cultural diversity has become a defining characteristics of students’ bodies [11].
There are various impacts of culture on learning style preferences. Yu-Chih et al. Conducted a review of literature in order to compile results of earlier research, such as Hofstedes’s cultural dimension, which pertains to the impacts of culture on learning style preferences. With advancement in the studies conducted in the filed of learning, it has become evident that the teaching quality is positively associated with the characteristic of students, teaching styles, as well as the teaching environment. Also, when a student is transferred from an unsuitable learning environment to a suitable one, there is resulting improvement in academic performance [12].
Studies have shown that teaching methods and style do not threaten the socio-cultural backgrounds of the learners. Indeed, teaching methods can vary significantly. There are teachers who want to focus on instructions, while there are also those who make learners significantly engage with their peers. Other teachers also encourage learners to look for their own resources however studies also attest that certain cultural barriers prevent effective interaction between teachers and learners [13].
When it comes to learning, motivation is relevant to learning, because learning is an active process which requires conscious and deliberate activity. For students to derive maximum benefits from school, educators must provide a leaning context in which students are motivated to engage actively and productively in learning activities [14]. Functional definition of motivation is to understand “its as a natural human process for directing energy to accomplish a goal” [15].
On-line learning offers a means of self-directed education with improved learning through interactivity. The most concentrated cross-cultural research on learning pertains to achievement motivation and related learning. The current study aims to analyse differences in motivation on on-line learning and the impact of their culture through a survey conducted in a Chinese University with splendid experience in international education.