‘Cultures of learning’ preferences among Chinese graduate students studying in the US and their impacts on learning
Orahood, Tammy
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122119
Description
Title
‘Cultures of learning’ preferences among Chinese graduate students studying in the US and their impacts on learning
Author(s)
Orahood, Tammy
Issue Date
2023-11-30
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Witt, Allison
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Witt, Allison
Committee Member(s)
Lindgren, Samantha
Burbules, Nicholas
Huang, Wenhao D
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
culture
learning
international students
Abstract
This study revolved around the concept of cultures of learning originally developed by Cortazzi and Jin (1996) as a way to counter the negative stereotypes that were developing around the idea of a passive Chinese learner. This mixed methods research study used an intervention to teach the concept of cultures of learning to international graduate students in the social sciences followed by a quantitative survey using the cultural dimensions learning preferences framework and key informant interviews with three students. The target population was roughly 25 master’s level Chinese students in the social sciences at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. As a control group, roughly 25 American graduate students in the social sciences were also surveyed at the same institution. The intervention was conducted during the on-site orientation, which the international students attended before classes started, during which the construct of cultures of learning was explained, the difference between American and Chinese preferences, and especially why each culture has those preferences. Finally, after one semester all of the students were surveyed again to see if the intervention had an effect. The interviews added depth and understanding to this construct and went into more detail about the experience of the Chinese students in an American higher education classroom as well as the barriers and challenges that they faced in their transition. The results of the interviews reinforced what has been written in the literature, but the results of the survey were surprising as no significance was found between the cultural learning preferences of each group of students. This may be due to the instrument itself as well as the population surveyed.
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