Abstract
The purpose of this research is to investigate how gender, experiences, background, personality and reflection-impulsivity influence the efficacy of participatory learning which has been introduced into education for international understanding in recent years. The result of a study on 70 fifth grade elementary school pupils showed that gender, overseas trip experiences, English conversation classes, number of foreign friends, relatives and teachers, did not influence the efficacy of the lessons. However, agreeableness and reflection-impulsivity were found to enhance the awareness of international understanding. Moreover, agreeableness, conscientiousness and reflection-impulsivity were found to influence the international understanding of lessons. Furthermore, satisfaction with participatory learning activities was discovered to have less influence than satisfaction with participatory learning content. Those who were satisfied with activities had less conscientiousness and reflection-impulsivity than the other children. Content-oriented children scored higher marks in the international understanding of lessons. In conclusion, although participatory learning is effective for all children, it is efficacy varied with different categories.
