Academic literature on the topic 'Chinese students' learning'

As international education continues to expand, countries providing such opportunities not only benefit but also face challenges. For traditional destinations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, the number of international students has been falling. At the same time emerging economies, such as China, are witnessing a rapid increase in the number of international students enrolled in their universities. China is, therefore, beginning to play an important role in the competitive global market for higher education. This thesis analyses and compares the experiences of international students in the UK and China using Transformative Learning theory. While there is an extensive literature on both international higher education and also Transformative Learning theory there are three important contributions that this thesis makes. First, this research applies the theory to two international student groups: UK students in Chinese universities and Chinese students in UK universities. Second, this study includes a focus on the intercultural learning of Chinese doctoral students in the UK filling a gap in current research. Finally, this investigation has extended the very limited number of current research projects on UK students in China. It is generally acknowledged that international students will experience various challenges when they are in a culturally different context. Little research has focused on how and why learners are transformed through exposure to their new environment and, also, why sometimes they are not. This study applies Transformative Learning theory to address two research questions: first, do UK international students in Chinese universities and Chinese international students in UK universities experience transformational learning in/during their overseas studies? Second, what factors foster or impede international students' experience of transformative learning? To answer the above questions semi-structured interviews were used to investigate international students' academic and social experiences. Based on the insights provided by Mezirow, Taylor, and previous studies on international students, I argue that international students' intercultural experience is a complex process. Transformation can occur in various ways and social and personal perspectives underpin the transformative learning of the students. Contributing factors include culture shock, educational conventions, the student's motivation, expectations, personality, gender and previous work experience. The results reflect the significance of differences in teaching styles in the UK and China and the impact this can have on the student teaching and learning process when they move to a new university.

Extensive research into students’ learning strategy use in classroom settings has convincingly established that effective use of learning strategies enables learners to take responsibility for their own learning, promotes learner autonomy, and positively relates to students’ academic performance. However, little research has systematically examined the learning strategy use of PhD students. Consequently, relatively little is known about how students carry out their doctoral learning, in which learner autonomy is of paramount importance. Even less is known about Chinese PhD students in Australian universities and how they cope with independent doctoral study. Few investigations have explicitly focused on the learning processes of this student cohort, and anecdotal evidence has often described Chinese school and university students as passive, dependent and reproductive learners, even though empirical studies assert otherwise. To better understand the learning processes of Chinese PhD students in Australian universities, this study examines their learning strategy use and the factors influencing their application of learning strategies. Using qualitative research methods, which focused on understanding the phenomenon from the students’ perspectives within the context, this study collected interview data from a group of Mainland Chinese PhD students of social sciences. Computer assisted qualitative analysis was performed to provide an in-depth, grounded understanding of the students, their interactions with the learning environment, and their learning processes. This study shows that the investigation of learning strategies is a powerful tool to reveal how PhD students develop autonomy in the doctoral learning process. The results show that the students adopted a range of learning strategies to improve their learning efficiency, to enhance their self-teaching, and to facilitate development of their research competence. Despite the commonalities in their learning strategy use, the students exhibited significant individual differences in applying specific learning strategies, which were determined by their personal qualities, their perceptions of learning contexts, and the demands of the research tasks. This reveals the idiosyncrasies in the learning behaviours of this group of Chinese students and their learner autonomy. This study demonstrates that theoretical and methodological preparation for PhD study was the most significant influence on the students’ learning experience. By applying effective learning strategies, the students who encountered problems of theoretical deficiency, insufficient methodological knowledge, and underdeveloped research skills were able to develop their knowledge and enhance their research competence through the actual process of doing the research. Nevertheless, it appears that methodological training and support were needed to assist them in further enhancing their learning efficiency. The findings of this study reveal that this group of Chinese PhD students were autonomous learners and their application of learning strategies was a result of dynamic interactions between their personal variables and the contextual demands. This study lends support to the argument that, in cross-cultural settings, it is constructive to develop a contextualised understanding of students’ learning behaviours. Furthermore, from the students’ perspective, supervisors who understand them as individuals at the personal level are better able to assist them in learning. Within the stated limitations, this study recommends that future research on Chinese PhD students’ learning strategy use incorporates the perspectives of both students and their supervisors and involves their counterparts from other ethnic backgrounds in order to further understand the effects of cultural differences on their learning strategy use.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>School of Cognition, Language and Special Education<br>Full Text