Enhancing Chinese students’ learning in an Australian 2+2 undergraduate engineering program

Undergraduate engineering units (subjects) are delivered by Australian academics at two universities in China over athree-week period. Students may choose to transfer to the Australian university to complete the final two years of theBachelor of Engineering with Honours degree (2+2 program). The aim of this study is to determine what strategies aremost effective for the Australian university academics to adopt for effective delivery of engineering units at Chineseuniversities. A mixed methods approach was applied to in-class feedback and student surveys. Three major themes:Language, Learning and Social were identified. These themes were further explored in a quantitative survey ofChinese students newly-arrived in Australia in 2016. Successful strategies for delivering engineering units includedreferring questions to discussion groups; students explaining difficult concepts to other students; writing key words onthe board and flash cards. The principal concern for students before they transferred to Australia was the teaching andlearning style of the Australian university academics. However, English language proficiency was the major concernfor students transferred to Australia. The strategy for improving Chinese students’ engagement and learning outcomesshould focus on additional support both in China and Australia