This study explores how graduate students learn to participate in collaborative international science research. As part of an NSF-funded program, 21 graduate students participated in extended research visits to China, completing surveys before and after traveling, and participating in semistructured interviews upon returning to the U.S. These…

In this study, we explore East Asian graduate students' socio-cultural and psychological adjustment in a U.S. Midwestern University. Eight participants were interviewed about their acculturation challenges as well as their effective coping strategies. Data were analyzed using open-coding techniques and five themes emerged: three themes summarized…

This paper reports an ethnographic study of a group of Chinese international students' emotion-management experiences in intercultural adjustment in a UK university context. Drawing on a social constructionist paradigm, it investigates students' constructions of their emotion-management strategies, and the effects of social interactions on the…

Background and aim: Even though the beneficial effects of elderly learning are widely acknowledged, many older Chinese people are still not involved. This paper aims to examine the barriers that affect the level of educational participation of older adults in China. Methodology: Using a focus group methodology, 43 older participants (aged 55 years…

This study is an attempt to classify raters according to their weighting patterns and explore systematic differences between rater types in the rating process. In the context of an EFL speaking test, 126 raters were classified into three types--form-oriented, balanced, and content-oriented--through cluster analyses of their weighting patterns…

Literature reviews suggest that traditional approaches in folk music education are not necessarily compatible with the conventions of formal music education. Whilst many recent studies have tended to define these non-classical music learning contexts as "informal", the practice of folk transmission music appears to be much more complex…

This article presents findings of a qualitative study on school leadership and professional learning community in two high achieving senior high schools in Northeast China. The findings show that teachers participated in school-based communities of professional learning, such as Teaching and Research Groups, Lesson Preparation Groups, and Grade…

This study examines Chinese tertiary award-winning tutors' perceptions and reported practices of classroom-based assessment. Seventeen tutors in the final stage of a national university teaching contest were individually interviewed. An interview framework was developed using three process dimensions of assessment for learning (AfL). A sequential…

We respond to several important and valid concerns about our study ("The Prevalence of Folk Dualism in Early China," "Cognitive Science" 35: 997-1007) by Klein and Klein, defending our interpretation of our data. We also argue that, despite the undeniable challenges involved in qualitatively coding texts from ancient cultures,…

In this grounded theory qualitative study, we interviewed 34 graduates from one cohort of 51 students from a prestigious early college entrance program in China. Based on the interview data, we identified distinct convergent and divergent patterns of lived experiences and changes. We found several dominant themes, including peers' mutual…

Recently, a number of studies have examined the lived experiences of the international teaching assistants (ITAs) in the U.S. classrooms. The findings show that the ITAs face many challenges such as classroom management, instructional, linguistic, cultural and social challenges. Following this line of research, this interview-based study examined…

The latest national educational policy in the People's Republic of China calls for comprehensive educational reforms aimed at building the foundation for a modern learning society throughout China over the next 10 years. This research examines school leaders' efforts to implement school improvement initiatives that directly respond to the policy's…

Analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews with students, faculty, and administrators shows that Chinese minorities face substantial obstacles in higher education access. The article identifies several factors that limit ethnic minority student access--including background education, limited government funding, and low entrance examination…