A Phenomenographic Study of Chinese Undergraduates’ Conceptions of Learning in Transnational Programs

Although higher education transnational programs are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide, little is known about student’s conceptions of learning, which could help to improve the education quality of such programs. This study investigated Chinese undergraduates’ conceptions of learning in programs cooperatively run by Chinese and non-Chinese universities. The research methodology adopted is phenomenography. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews with 30 undergraduates and analyzed following the phenomenographic principles to identify the referential and structural aspects of each conception. Ultimately six main conceptions of learning and four sub-conceptions are identified, namely, learning as increase of new knowledge, memorization with/without understanding, application with/without understanding, making sense of the knowledge acquired, gaining a new perspective to view reality and personal change and growth based on an extensive understanding of learning. Generally speaking, the relationship found between conceptions is hierarchical, yet the sub-conceptions or branches are also notable. The findings not only demonstrate the complexity of Chinese students’ conceptions of university learning under a cross-culture learning and teaching context, but they also point to the possibility of there being something new to discover, even for some familiar and well-established conceptions. The implications and recommendations for future studies are provided in the end.