Tampa, Florida
June 15, 2019
June 15, 2019
October 19, 2019
International
Diversity
14
10.18260/1-2--33398
https://peer.asee.org/33398
346
Jiabin Zhu is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her primary research interests relate to the assessment of teaching and learning in engineering, cognitive development of graduate and undergraduate students, and global engineering. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Engineering Education, Purdue University in 2013.
Yaxin Huang received a Bachelor's degree in English language and literature from Hohai University of China (2018), and is studying for a Master's degree in higher education at SJTU. Her research interest includes engineering students' international learning experiences, innovation and entrepreneurship education.
Mr. Bing Chen is an assistant research fellow at the Graduate School, and a S.J.D. candidate of the Leo KoGuan law school of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests include law education, graduate education and Chinese higher education reform.
Dr. Zhinan Zhang is an associate professor at School of Mechanical Engineering,Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research focuses on engineering design,design driven education.
Globalization requires future engineers to live up to the challenges from industry upgrading and development (Jesiek, Borrego & Beddoes, 2010; Gereffi et al., 2008). China, as the largest producer of engineering graduates in the world, has been encountering many challenges in the field of engineering education and undergoing a series of engineering education reforms. One of the major problems lies in the oversupply of unqualified engineers and the undersupply of high-quality engineers (Gereffi et al, 2008). Considering the challenges facing Chinese engineering education, the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) initiated the “Plan for Educating and Training Outstanding Engineers” (PETOE) in 2010 and the “Emerging Engineering Education” (EEE) plan in 2017. Both programs target to produce a large number of high-quality engineering talents with global competitiveness so as to better meet the demand of transformation from labor-intensive economy to knowledge-intensive economy (Lin, 2012). In response to the PETOE and EEE policies, many leading universities in China have actively carried out reforms in engineering education. A number of leading universities has begun to integrate international learning experiences for students to prepare globally competent engineers. Such international learning experiences include attending international conferences, international summer schools, studying abroad, bilingual courses (English and Chinese) and many others. Nevertheless, it remains unknown how these different experiences can affect engineering students’ outcomes. Using an instrument framed in the dimensions of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, we explored engineering students’ engagement with multiple types of international learning experiences. Specifically, we examined the impact of their prior international experiences on their current learning outcomes with international summer programs. Based on an analysis of survey responses from 200 students who participated in 2015 international summer programs at a leading Chinese research university, we identified the different impact that was associated with different forms of international learning experiences. For example, prior experiences attending international conferences helped students gain more in frontier engineering knowledge and discover new career interest or directions. Prior engagement in other international summer programs significantly helped students in their development of multiple skills (e.g. teamwork, analytical thinking, leadership, presentation skills) and in the change towards a more open, flexible attitude in cross-cultural communication. In sum, an exploration of the impact of multiple forms of international learning experiences can facilitate multiple stakeholders in designing and choosing suitable international experiences for students.
Zhu, J., & Huang, Y., & Bing, C., & Zhang, Z. (2019, June), The Impact of Participation in Multiple International Learning Experiences for Engineering Students Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--33398
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