Critical Thinking Of Chinese Students

The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education provides a single compendium on the nature, function, and applications of critical thinking. This book brings together the work of top researchers on critical thinking worldwide, covering questions of definition, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, research, policy, and application.

The issue of critical thinking (CT) by Chinese students first aroused my interest when I was doing the research for my MA project, in which CT was considered by many students to be a salient weakness of their academic writing in the UK. The CT of Chinese students in English academic writing has been discussed extensively in the literature, and researchers are becoming increasingly interested in the impact of the learning context on it. However, there has been a lack of empirical research into this area, especially in-depth qualitative studies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the undergraduate training Chinese students receive in China on their critical thinking skills in academic writing. The focus is on its usefulness as preparation for a higher degree abroad, specifically in the UK. It is the first attempt to explore this issue by seeking evidence primarily from qualitative data.

This qualitative study examined reflections of 12 Chinese students who studied in a U.S. college, and 10 of their U.S. faculty in terms of their conceptualization of critical thinking. Throughout the study, a situated cognitive framework was applied to analyze the interview data and explore the concept of critical thinking. ☐ The participants of this study were asked to explicitly define critical thinking, and to assess the importance of critical thinking to students’ learning and students’ lives. The study also explored whether and how critical thinking was related to some of the challenges that the Chinese students faced as students studying abroad in the U.S. ☐ The results showed that the definitions of critical thinking provided by the U.S. faculty and Chinese students were embedded in different contexts. The professors were more likely to define critical thinking as universal thinking skills embedded in certain disciplines. The Chinese students were more likely to contextualize critical thinking in their study abroad experiences, as well as in the purpose of activities, and in their future jobs. The U.S. faculty and Chinese students also assessed the importance of critical thinking in this study. Generally speaking, U.S. faculty attached more importance to critical thinking than the Chinese students. Some of the Chinese students regarded universal critical thinking skill as not transferable to their work and their life, and hence, not that important. Finally, U.S. faculty and Chinese students reflected that attributing some of the challenges that Chinese students faced while studying abroad to critical thinking might be problematic. Chinese students’ descriptions of the challenges that they faced in Western university were not necessarily related to critical thinking. Those descriptions tend to focus on whether it was safe to express themselves in class, whether their voices and experiences were valued in the class community, whether they understood the interactional patterns present in a U.S. university and their English language proficiency. ☐ Examining the concept of critical thinking through Chinese students’ perspectives and experiences is significant to the field of international education for several reasons. To start, it problematizes critical thinking concept as a standard that is used to measures students’ skills and abilities. The study also demonstrates conceptualizations of critical thinking in ways that consider Chinese students’ social, cultural, and educational backgrounds instead of in ways that focus on deficits of Chinese students while they study abroad in Western countries. Further, this study is informative because the challenges that Chinese students faced in this study might be faced by other Chinese students who are studying abroad. The U.S. faculty and Chinese students’ reflections on what helped Chinese student conquer their difficulties might be helpful for teachers and researchers of Chinese students. Finally, by interviewing Chinese students, this study incorporated Chinese students’ voices in studies that consider the role of critical thinking.

This dissertation, "Critical Thinking of Chinese Students: Conceptualization, Assessment and Instruction" by Yee-lai, Ku, 顧伊麗, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. DOI: 10.5353/th_b4020347 Subjects: Critical thinking - China - Hong Kong College students - China - Hong Kong High school seniors - China - Hong Kong Critical thinking - Study and teaching (Secondary) - China - Hong Kong

Over the past decade, a wave of Chinese international undergraduate students—mostly self-funded—has swept across American higher education. From 2005 to 2015, undergraduate enrollment from China rose from under 10,000 to over 135,000. This privileged yet diverse group of young people from a changing China must navigate the complications and confusions of their formative years while bridging the two most powerful countries in the world. How do these students come to study in the United States? What does this experience mean to them? What does American higher education need to know and do in order to continue attracting these students and to provide sufficient support for them? In Ambitious and Anxious, the sociologist Yingyi Ma offers a multifaceted analysis of this new wave of Chinese students based on research in both Chinese high schools and American higher-education institutions. Ma argues that these students’ experiences embody the duality of ambition and anxiety that arises from transformative social changes in China. These students and their families have the ambition to navigate two very different educational systems and societies. Yet the intricacy and pressure of these systems generate a great deal of anxiety, from applying to colleges before arriving, to studying and socializing on campus, and to looking ahead upon graduation. Ambitious and Anxious also considers policy implications for American colleges and universities, including recruitment, student experiences, faculty support, and career services.

This dissertation first reviews the history of and theories about critical thinking in the West, particularly in the USA. It examines relevant research studies about teaching critical thinking and its applications in American universities. Taking the Quality Enhancement Project of the University of Louisville as a case study, the dissertation examined three professors' syllabi, by applying Bloom's Taxonomy and Paul-Elder's Critical Thinking Framework. Next, this study examines the cultural tradition of critical thinking in China, reviewing relevant research, and pointing out factors that hinder Chinese students from applying it. To do so, the author presents the syllabi of Chinese teacher of English literature, analyzing how critical thinking skills are applied in their teaching, for sake of comparison. Chinese English majors' critical thinking skills in writing are measured, using, the Qualitative Florida Scale For Critical Thinking Skills Test designed by the University of Florida, and Chinese English teachers' critical thinking cognitive skills are tested, using Lv (2007) adjusted Teacher Critical Thinking Scale (TCTS), based on Taiwan Scholar Zhu et Ye's original version for teachers. This dissertation is divided into seven chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction: an overview of Western thought on critical thinking. The purpose of this research, the research questions, the originality of the research and research methodologies are explored in this chapter. Chapter Two is a "review of the literature" that explores the tradition of critical thinking and its definitions, different critical thinking theories and models in contemporary America, including Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy and its revised version, the Paul-Elder Framework. To examine how Bloom's Taxonomy and the Paul-Elder Framework can be applied to a text, the author chose Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Models for teaching Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, applying Bloom's Taxonomy and the Paul-Elder's Framework, are suggested. Chapter Three explores critical thinking traditions in Chinese Culture, noting relevant research studies by contemporary Chinese scholars, and analyzing the level of critical thinking skills that are evident in the essay assignments completed by three Chinese English students, noting that the essays reveal a low level of applied critical thinking skills. Chapter four is a comparative study of the application of critical thinking models of the University of Louisville (U of L), USA, and at Dezhou University, China. The Quality Enhancement Project at U of L is introduced. Syllabi designed by three American professors and one Chinese teacher of American and English literature are analyzed, based on the critical thinking theories explored in Chapter Two. A qualitative study, using the University of Florida Thinking Skills Test, measured Chinese students' critical thinking skills in writing, in order to set up the basis for the critical thinking model discussed in a later chapter. Chapter Five studies the factors that influence the development of Chinese students' critical thinking in English education, namely classroom and school climate, instructional materials and teacher training. Chinese English teachers' critical thinking cognitive skills were tested, using Lv (2007) adjusted Teacher Critical Thinking Scale (TCTS) based on Taiwan Scholar Zhu et Ye's original version for teachers. Chapter Six constructs models for teaching critical thinking to Chinese students in English education, including course outlines and their justification. Chapter Seven is the Conclusion. While Chapters One and Two are theoretical in nature, Chapters Three through Five center on the practical side of critical thinking. The measurement done in Chapters Four and Five provides ample data for continued research on how to develop Chinese students' critical thinking skills. This research will contribute to future cross-cultural studies that concern the development of students' critical thinking skills across the globe.

The book inquires into critical thinking through a cultural approach. Based on an ethnographic study, it compares Chinese postgraduate students’ conceptualisations and applications of critical thinking in three different settings in China and the UK. From an insider’s perspective, it analyses the intricate interplay of multiple cultural and individual factors that conditions students’ critical thinking development as they learn to write an academic thesis and to manage postgraduate learning. The book offers insights into the nature of problems that Chinese students encounter with critical thinking and envisions possibilities for the ideas for critical thinking to have a transformative power in an intercultural space. The book will primarily be of interest to academics and educators who work on critical thinking and academic writing, especially those who work with Chinese students. Scholars interested in intercultural issues in higher education may also find it relevant.