Understanding Chinese Engineering Doctoral Students in U.S. Institutions: A personal epistemology perspective

196 Pages·2017·3.719 MB·English

by  Jiabin Zhu (auth.)

East-West Crosscurrents in Higher Education
Jiabin Zhu
Understanding
Chinese Engineering
Doctoral Students
in U.S. Institutions
A Personal Epistemology Perspective
East-West Crosscurrents in Higher Education
Series editor
Ruth Hayhoe, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
This book series focuses on higher education crosscurrents between Asia and the
West, including traditional comprehensive universities, normal universities for
teachers, higher vocational institutions, community colleges, distance and on-line
universities and all the differing approaches to higher education emerging under
processes of massification and diversification. It gives attention to the ways in
whichtheAsiancontextshapestheinternationalizationofhighereducationandthe
response to globalization differently from that of the West, as well as new
phenomena that are arising in the interface between these two broad regions, such
as higher education hubs and regional networks of collaboration. Lastly, it will
highlight the growing reciprocity between these two regions, whose higher
education systems have grown from such deeply different historical roots.
Higher Education has deep roots in the cultures and civilizations of diverse
regionsoftheworld,butperhapsthemostinfluentialmodelsshapingcontemporary
globalization come from Europe and China. Universities established in Europe in
theMiddleAgeshavedevelopedintowhatisnowdescribedasthe“globalresearch
university,”amodelprofoundlyshapedby19thcenturyGermanyand20thcentury
America,andspreadaroundtheworldboththroughcolonizationandtheemulation
of its scientific achievements and contribution to nation building. A millennium
earlierChinaspawnedanotherinfluentialmodel,characterizedbycloseintegration
within a meritocratic bureaucracy that entrusted governance to those who could
demonstrate their knowledge through written examinations. The Chinese model
wasgreatlyadmiredinEuropefromthetimeitwasintroducedinthe16thcentury,
and one can see its contours in what Burton Clark described as the “continental
model” in contradistinction to the “Anglo-American model” epitomized in the
global research university.
What has become clear in the maelstrom of globalization, which has stimulated
the growth of a global knowledge economy and created circumstances where
nations consider higher education as crucial to remaining competitive, is that the
integration of core features from both models would be optimal: from Asia, a
tradition of strong state support for and involvement in higher education, which is
crucial for good governance and social advancement; and from Europe and North
America, the ideas of university autonomy and academic freedom, which are
essential to promoting scientific creativity and innovation.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13844
Jiabin Zhu
Understanding Chinese
Engineering Doctoral
Students in U.S. Institutions
A Personal Epistemology Perspective
123
Jiabin Zhu
Graduate Schoolof Education
ShanghaiJiao Tong University
Shanghai
China
ISSN 2364-6810 ISSN 2364-6829 (electronic)
East-West Crosscurrents in HigherEducation
ISBN978-981-10-1135-1 ISBN978-981-10-1136-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1136-8
JointlypublishedwithHigherEducationPress
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Foreword
Overthepastthreedecades,therehasbeenacontinuingflowofChinesestudentsto
Western countries—in particular, the United States—for higher education. The
learning experiences of overseas Chinese students in the US higher educational
system and their perspectives on such experiences say much about East–West
crosscurrents in higher education. How do these Chinese students perceive the US
higher educational system? How would they compare the Chinese and US higher
educationalsystems?ThisvolumeconstructsacogentdialoguebetweentheUSand
Chinese higher educational systems through the lens of personal epistemology.
In the realm of personal epistemology, another interesting East-West dialogue
has been formulated by the author’s testing of Perry’s scheme of intellectual and
ethical development, rooted in epistemology, among Chinese students studying in
the United States. Given that it was originally established on the basis of an
investigation into the intellectual development of white male students at Harvard
University, can the Perry scheme be effectively applied to overseas Chinese stu-
dents? The research participants described in this book—Chinese engineering
students studying in top U.S. research universities—represent an elite group who
had studied in top-tier 211 and 985 higher educational institutions in Mainland
China.Dr.Zhu’sstudyoffersauniquecomparisonbetweentheoverarchingprofile
of the epistemological development of a group of overseas Chinese students with
thatoftheoriginalelitewhitemalestudentsinPerry’sstudy,whichinitselfreflects
another dimension of East–West crosscurrents in higher education at both the
theoretical and the practical level.
ReaderswilllearnaboutthefascinatingexperiencesofChinesestudentsasthey
wrestled with academic decisions and life decisions, the challenges they faced and
thestrugglestheywentthrough,aswellastheirendeavorsandtheirgrowth—both
academically and personally, especially in the domain of cognitive development.
Chinese graduate students represent one of the largest and fastest-growing inter-
national student bodies in the US. A deep understanding of their learning experi-
enceswillshedvaluablelightontheongoingEast-Westconversation.Forexample,
how has their epistemological thinking been shaped by the rigorous engineering
v
vi Foreword
graduate programs, by the individualistic yet cooperative campus culture, and,
further, by the larger context of American culture and society? What personal,
professional, or cultural factors have proved to be relevant or even useful in pro-
moting these students’ cognitive development?
By using a predominantly quantitative-driven, mixed research method design,
with a questionnaire survey supplemented by interviews, Dr. Zhu has provided
insightful answers to the above and many other important questions. She has
succeeded in telling a holistic and in-depth story of the cognitive development of
overseas Chinese students in the United States. Readers will find the story told by
Dr. Zhu, a young Chinese scholar who went through both the Chinese and US
higher educational systems herself, engaging and thought-provoking.
Li-fang Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
Preface
The US has experienced a large surge offoreign talent, as evidenced by the large
numberofinternationalstudentsenrollingeachyearinthescienceandengineering
fields.Amongtheforeigncountriesandeconomies,Chinarankstopinthenumber
of doctorate degree recipients from US institutions in the science and engineering
fields. This book focuses on studying the epistemological development of Chinese
engineering doctoral students who are pursuing degrees in US institutions.
ThisworkstemsfrommypersonalinterestontheChinesestudentpopulationin
USandmyexperiencesasoneofthemthroughsevenyearsofstudyintheUS.Itis
certainlynotaone-manjob.Firstofall,IwanttogivethankstomyheavenlyFather
who sustained me through this work. I would like to give special thanks to my
advisor Dr. Monica F. Cox. Her professional guidance and inspirations have
encouragedmethroughoutmydoctoraltraining.Sheandherhusband,IshbahCox,
haveshoweredwonderfulblessingsonmeandservedasrolemodelsforme.Deep
appreciation goes to professors at the School of Engineering Education and other
departments at Purdue University. They offered critical insights, helped me, and
worked with methrough many big and small steps. They are Dr. Brent Jesiek, Dr.
Yating Haller, Dr. William Graziano, Dr. Phillip Wankat, Dr. David Radcliffe, Dr.
Ruth Streveler, Dr. Robin Adams, Dr. Alice Pawley, Dr. Donna Ennerson, and
many other professors.
MuchgratitudegoestostaffmembersattheSchoolofEngineeringEducationat
Purdue University. Their kindness and helpful spirits have been of great encour-
agementandinspirationtome.TheyareMs.LorettaMckinniss,Ms.TamaraHare,
Ms. Cindey Hays, and many others. I would like to also acknowledge the profes-
sional guidance from Ms. Cindy Lynch. Also, I want to thank Mr. Joe J.J. Lin for
his kind help and valuable feedback on this research. I want to acknowledge Dr.
Lifang Zhang who kindly supported this research by sharing the copy of Zhang’s
Cognitive Development Inventory. Also, I want to thank all of the participants in
this study. It is their help that made this study possible.
vii
viii Preface
Many thanks go to colleagues and classmates at Purdue University and around
the world. They include:
Ms. Jeremi London, Mr. Benjamin Ahn, Dr. Rocia Chavela, Dr. Osman Cekic,
Dr. Nathan McNeill, Mr. Mark Carnes, Ms. Ming-chien Hsu, and many others.
Still more thanks go out to my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, who have
been loving and supportive throughout my years at Purdue University, West
Lafayette, IN, USA.
Last but not least, special thanks to my dear mother, who showered me with
sacrificial love and kindness. This work would have been impossible without her
consistent support.
Shanghai, China Jiabin Zhu
Contents
1 Influx of International Talents in the United States:
An Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Influx of International Talents to the US. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Research on Understanding Chinese Students in the US . . . . . . 4
1.3 Overview of This Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Part I Epistemological Developmental Theories
and Their Applications
2 Epistemological Developmental Theories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Conceptualization of Personal Epistemology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Perry’s Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Extension of Epistemological Development Frameworks
After Perry’s Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.4 Synthesis of Theoretical Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3 Measurement of Epistemological Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1 Qualitative Measures of Epistemological Development. . . . . . . 29
3.2 Quantitative Measures of Epistemological Development . . . . . . 31
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4 Personal Epistemology in Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1 Application of Epistemological Developmental Theories
in Engineering Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.2 Application of Epistemological Developmental Theories
in Graduate Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.3 Application of Epistemological Developmental Theories
in Chinese Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
ix