Comm 102: Final Exam Essay Questions
Using as many words as you need answer the following question: Explain the relationship between
culture and learning. Be sure to include ways of knowing in your response. Also, support your response
with clear examples of two different cultural approaches to learning as part of your response. - correct
answer Learning and culture are significant because we live in a globalized society with a melting pot
of many different people who come from different ethnic backgrounds. In fact, on page three hundred
fifty-six, it says that in 2011, one hundred fifteen thousand researchers and educators who worked in
the education institutions in the United States were born in another country. (356). Therefore, in an
ever-changing globalized society, we must understand how to engage in interpersonal conversations
with people from other cultures. There are various cultural approaches to learning. One example is that
it is commonplace in West African cultures to use storytelling as a means to teach a lesson. Another
example is that in East Asian cultures, such as Vietnam, the visual learning style, meaning that they
typically write information down by taking notes and reading books to acquire knowledge.
Using as many words as you need, apply Kohl's List of Values Americans Live By, to explain how the early
settlers of the United States contributed to the cultural values in the U.S. today. - correct answer
Khol's List of Values Americans Live By are: personal control over environment, change, time and its
control, equality, individualism/privacy, self-help, competition, future orientation, action/work
orientation, informality, directness/openness/honesty, practicality/efficacy, and
materialism/acquisitiveness.
1. Personal Control Over Environment: When the European immigrated to America, they used biblical
Scripture to justify their rights to take control over the land, in the New World. In Genesis 1:28, it says,
"And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living
thing that move on the earth.' " Today, in the US, people believe that it is ethical to control the
environment. As a result, there is the belief that people should have the right to control their own
environment and they should be able to achieve any personal goals.
2. Change: Early settles in the US focused on modernization of American society. For example, early
settlers were rebuilding the frontier settlement to build railroads that connected to all across the entire
country. As a result, the United States places an emphasis on looking towards the future, optimism, and
a receptivity to change.
3. Time and Its Control: Time in American society is considered valuable, and it is used towards making a
profit. Time is measured, and it is broken down into hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to add in
