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Perceptions of quality and approaches to studying in higher education: a comparative study of Chinese and British postgraduate students at six British business schools

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Abstract

Previous studies of “the Chinese learner” have confounded the effects of culture and context or have used heterogeneous samples of students. In this study, 134 British students and 207 students from mainland China following 1-year postgraduate programmes at six British business schools completed the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI). The two groups yielded the same factor structure on both instruments. There were no significant differences in their scores on the CEQ. On the RASI, the British students produced higher scores on deep approach and strategic approach. These differences could not be attributed to differences in response style. In short, when British and mainland Chinese students were compared within the same educational context, their perceptions and approaches to studying showed the same underlying constructs, but in the present context Chinese students were less likely to exhibit deep or strategic approaches to studying.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out by the first author in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD in the Open University Business School. The authors are most grateful to the staff of the Open University’s Survey Office for assistance in the design, production and analysis of the survey questionnaires; to the participating institutions and their students for their cooperation; and to James Hartley, Jane Henry, Jenny Lewis, Geoff Mallory, Erik Meyer and Mantz Yorke for their comments and advice.

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  1. The Open University Business School, Milton Keynes, UK

    Haoda Sun

  2. Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    John T. E. Richardson

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  1. Haoda Sun
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Correspondence to John T. E. Richardson.

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Sun, H., Richardson, J.T.E. Perceptions of quality and approaches to studying in higher education: a comparative study of Chinese and British postgraduate students at six British business schools. High Educ 63, 299–316 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-011-9442-y

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