Chinese Postgraduate Students’ Perspectives on Developing Critical Thinking on an UK Education Masters

Labake Fakunle,Pete Allison,Ken Fordyce

doi:10.5430/jct.v5n1p27

Abstract

Statistics on enrolment of international students in higher education, and studies on limitations of their adaptation to other (usually Western) cultural and learning norms dominate literature. There is much less emphasis on a specific aspect of the student experience. This study examined Chinese postgraduate students’ perspectives on how they develop critical thinking during a one year postgraduate programme in Education. Semi-structured interviews conducted with six Chinese students illuminate key occurrences over the study period which impacted their learning. Findings suggest that participants needed to adjust to the concept of critical thinking and the expected level of critical thinking on their programme. A key factor identified in the study suggests that a trigger event: coursework feedback, affected how the participants develop critical thinking. The study concludes with suggestions for timely pedagogical support to enhance the learning experiences of Chinese students who encounter unfamiliar academic requirements during their study abroad.

Highlights

In just over a decade, the number of Chinese students in UK HEIs increased by 146%; from 35,740 students in 2002/03 (Shi, 2006) to 87,895 students in 2013/14 (HESA, 2015)
This study examined Chinese postgraduate students’ perspectives on how they develop critical thinking during a one year postgraduate programme in Education
Before I came to do my Masters here, I have not heard a lot about critical thinking, so I just take it at the meaning of the word - critical - in my opinion, this means that you have to criticise something, list the disadvantages or the mistakes with some argument (Lan)

Summary

Introduction

In just over a decade, the number of Chinese students in UK HEIs increased by 146%; from 35,740 students in 2002/03 (Shi, 2006) to 87,895 students in 2013/14 (HESA, 2015). HESA (2015) published data show that first year student enrolment of Chinese students in UK HEIs in the academic year 2013/14 exceed total student numbers from all European Union countries (see Figure 1). There is little doubt that the huge representation of Chinese students in UK HEIs motivate wide-ranging research efforts to examine their psychological, sociological and educational adaptation to the UK academic environment (Spencer-Oatey & Xiong, 2006; Zhou & Todman, 2009). There has been very limited attention given to the specific area of academic adjustment of postgraduate students

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Conclusion