Understanding Chinese Engineering Doctoral Students in U.S. Institutions

This book uses a mixed-method approach to address the topic of personal epistemology among Chinese engineering doctoral students from U.S. institutions.  It presents a broad view of the epistemological development among Chinese engineering students from five U.S. Midwestern doctoral programs. At the same time it provides deep insights into the thinking styles and behavioral patterns for each particular epistemological developmental stage and offers practical examples from students’ academic experiences in these programs.

It allows readers to gain an understanding of Chinese engineering students’ academic lives in U.S. institutions through a solid cognitive theoretical lens. It also highlights a number of factors that can potentially facilitate adult students’ cognitive development, and extends the discussion on the benefits of study-abroad and cross-cultural education for the epistemological domain.