Research on the career trajectories of doctoral recipients often assumes that all PhD students begin in roughly the same starting position. Consequently, the impact of pre-programme experiences remains understudied. This qualitative study draws on 59 interviews with PhD students studying in mainland China and Hong Kong to explore the influence of…

The question of how to better prepare ethnic minority students to access higher music education has raised concerns around the world in terms of educational equity and cultural diversity. In China, despite similar concerns, little is known about the preparation process and experiences of ethnic minority students to take the Music College Entrance…

This study investigates how educational equity is applied in university preparatory classes from the perspective of minority students. It explores minority students' access to, participation and outcomes in preparatory classes, as well as the factors that influence their experience and attitude. Using a mixed research method, 320 students from a…

Growing a large vocabulary is one of the most important tasks of language learners and yet research reports on low levels of lexical knowledge for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. In EFL contexts, textbooks are a vital source of exposure to English and the words that are worth learning. The New Concept English textbook series is…

An investigation was carried out into laboratory practical skills development and students' specific challenges in transition from laboratory chemistry at Chinese High School (HS) to a fully English style university laboratory course. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study of its type investigating practical laboratory skills for a…

The growth of Sino-foreign cooperative universities, departments and courses in China necessitates further discussion of how to develop teaching approaches that suit students attending these institutions. Despite substantial analysis of the commercial dimensions of Sino-foreign university partnerships, discussion of effective teaching strategies…

Since more Indonesian students are coming to pursue higher education in China, understanding the factors influencing Indonesian students' satisfaction could facilitate Chinese higher education institutions and the policymakers to improve and develop their services to match the needs of current Indonesian students in China and to attract potential…

Foundations studies programs (FSPs), sometimes termed pathways programs, seek to prepare international students for an undergraduate education. While enrolments in these programs continue to grow in Australia, there has correspondingly been little research exploring how FSP students experience their transition into university life and study. In…

After 60 years of development, minority education not only has made great achievements in China, but also faces many problems. Among them is the problem of science education. The students learning in high school in the basic education in minority areas have faced particular difficulties in learning science. The teaching quality is not high,…

This article argues that new international programs within public secondary schools in China represent a vigorous and legitimatized approach to meeting the demands of newly affluent Chinese families for pre-collegiate education that equals the best international standards and constitutes preparation for higher education at the leading universities…

Background: Deficient sleep is linked to detrimental outcomes in health and school performance for adolescents. This study characterized sleep patterns in Chinese adolescents preparing for the College Entrance Exam (CEE) and evaluated the association between sleep patterns, self-rated academic performance, and the CEE scores. Methods: A sample of…

This study examines how ten young adults in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China, perceived how their parents helped them with homework during their childhood and adolescence. Between 2011 and 2012, we interviewed five men and five women from Dalian who had first been recruited in 1999 from a college prep high school, a vocational high school,…

In this grounded theory qualitative study, we interviewed 34 graduates from one cohort of 51 students from a prestigious early college entrance program in China. Based on the interview data, we identified distinct convergent and divergent patterns of lived experiences and changes. We found several dominant themes, including peers' mutual…

This report provides an introduction to the system and culture of the college entrance examination (CEE) of China. College entrance examinations in China (and in several other Asian countries such as Korea and Japan) are so important that they are commonly dubbed "once in a lifetime" or a "one-test-to-determine-a-life" for most…