U.S. Higher Education Classroom Experiences of Undergraduate Chinese International Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate Chinese international students’ perceptions about their classroom experiences in the United States institutions of higher education. Double consciousness, introduced by W.E.B. Du Bois, was used as the theoretical framework for this study. After analyzing the 15 interviews to Chinese international students, the following areas were discussed: comparison of classroom experiences in the United States and China; positive and negative classroom practices in the U.S.; perceptions of the way American faculty and students perceived Chinese international students; and double consciousness of Chinese international students. While most of the participants preferred the American classroom practices over practices in China, their perceptions about the way American students and faculty perceived them were conflicting. The concept of double consciousness also helped to illustrate the internal identity conflict of being Chinese and being “Americanized.”