A Comparison of Chinese and European–American University Students’ Virtue and Mind Learning Beliefs and Academic Achievement in Global Cultural Exchange

Yanchi Liu, Ruixiang Gao, Xixin Lan, Xinyu Zhou, Shiqi Huang, Danying Wu, Qiqi Li, Yujun Zhou, Ning Luo, Huang Zuo and Lei Mo
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Yanchi Liu: Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510631, China
Ruixiang Gao: Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510631, China
Xixin Lan: School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Xinyu Zhou: School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Shiqi Huang: School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan
Danying Wu: College of Teacher Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Qiqi Li: School of Foreign Studies, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Yujun Zhou: School of Information Technology in Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Ning Luo: School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510000, China
Huang Zuo: Institution for Teachers’ Professional Ethics and Virtues Building, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510631, China
Lei Mo: Philosophy and Social Science Laboratory of Reading and Development in Children and Adolescents, South China Normal University, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510631, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 10, 1-17

Abstract: The world’s two largest economies, the United States and China, have fundamentally different cultural beliefs about learning. Thus, when examining Chinese learners, Western researchers were confused by the contrasting phenomenon between seemingly poor learning approaches and high academic achievement, i.e., the Paradox of Chinese Learners. In addressing this paradox, Jin Li offered a theoretical framework of the Chinese virtue model versus the European–American mind model to comprehensively understand the differences in students’ learning beliefs and academic achievement between the two cultures. However, Li does not pay attention to global cultural exchange or directly link learning beliefs to academic achievement. Therefore, this paper presents two empirical studies addressing these research gaps. Study 1 adopted both qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate the learning beliefs of Chinese and European–American university students, and revealed that deepening cultural exchange narrowed the gap between the two models (Study 1a), but the impact of the virtue model on European–American students was weaker than that of the mind model on Chinese students (Study 1b). Study 2 further revealed that both models were beneficial for Chinese students’ academic achievement, whereas only the virtue model benefited European–American students. These findings have important implications for addressing the Paradox of Chinese Learners.

Keywords: cross-cultural comparison; virtue model; mind model; learning beliefs; academic achievement; Chinese students; European–American students; paradox of Chinese learners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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