Inside the Chinese university, and implications for student transition to Australian education

What goes on inside the Chinese university classroom? How is academic success achieved in China, and how does this differ from success in Australia? In this seminar, we will present findings from an OLT-funded, collaborative Australian-Chinese project which identifies that a disparity exists between pedagogic practices and student learning experiences in China and Australia.

We will consider how this disparity affects the ability of students from mainland China to transition quickly and effectively into Australian higher education as international students. We will raise some specific challenges for both students and lecturers related to the development of their intercultural literacy. 

The second part of the seminar is a workshop where we will introduce and discuss teaching strategies and draft learning materials for potential use by Australian lecturers to support Chinese students to deal with specific cultural and disciplinary challenges.  These resources are part of a research-based toolkit which is multi-faceted and multi-level, intended for use by lecturers in China, students pre-departure from China, tutors in Australian learning support centres, Chinese students in Australia, and lecturers in Australian tutorials.

The Presenters

Associate Professor Heather Yu, School of Economics and Management, Communication University of China.

Associate Professor Christine Daymon (Project Leader) School of Arts, Murdoch University.

Dr Lindy Norris, School of Education, Murdoch University.

The project involves six other Australian universities, including research partners Victoria University.

Refreshments will be provided. Please rsvp to Linda Butcher l.butcher@murdoch.edu.au