Enhancing Chinese direct entrants’ cross-cultural transition: A two-phase study

Adaptation into UK Higher Education institutions (HEIs) is a challenging journey for many international direct entry students, due to differences in both cultures and education systems (Kember, 2001; Biggs, 1996; Wang et al., 2012). This phenomenon is much severer for Chinese Direct Entry (CDE) students, whose previous studies are granted of credit and are brought to UK universities for direct entry into the third year (Burnett, 2015; Barron & D’Annunzio-Green, 2009). Our research design is a two-phased and evidence-informed intervention. In phase 1 interview study was conducted to identify specific needs for the intervention on cross-cultural transition. In phase 2, a series of workshops were designed, based on cross-cultural adjustment model (Oberg ,1960) and scaffolding approach(Van de Pol, et al., 2010), to help students have a smooth transition in different cross-cultural stages. Dynamic and experiential learning activities in the workshops provide a practical way to help CDE students acquire skills to develop psychological capital and social network. Both qualitative and quantitative feedback showed positive results