Three Chinese Students? Experiences of Taking On-line Courses in One American University

With wide adoption of on-line instruction as a new instruction format in higher education in the U.S. and the fast growing population of international students coming to pursue degrees in America, the exploration of international students? perceived needs and expectations towards this new learning experience becomes critical. Chinese students are the second largest group of international students in the U.S., yet, studies on their learning needs and challenges in on-line learning are limited. This case study aims at exploring the experiences of three Chinese graduate students, who major in education and have taken at least one on-line course in their programs. Data were collected through three in-depth individual interviews with the participants. Three research questions guided the study: 1) How do Chinese students feel about taking an on-line course as compared with traditional face-to-face lecture? 2) How confident do Chinese students feel about their language competency when they participate in the discussions of an on-line course? 3) What is Chinese students? understanding of the cultural issues as they participate in the discussions of an on-line course? There were four themes generated from the cross-case analysis. The themes were: a) preference of face-to-face courses over on-line courses; b) English language proficiency as a major challenge; c) enjoyment of cross-cultural interaction, and personal growth from the experience. Results revealed that:

1. Participants always have a preference for face-to-face format and regarded face-to-face interaction as an indispensible component; yet, since participants also welcome the adoption of on-line technology, they recommended a combination of two or more instruction methods such as an on-line method with face-to-face method or synchronous on-line chats with asynchronous discussion;
2. Limitation in English language proficiency is constantly a major challenge for participants as international students;
3. Participants enjoyed the cross-cultural communication with peers; and
4. Participants consolidated their knowledge base and developed the awareness of being a culturally responsive teacher.