Culture and context: critical thinking and student learning in introductory macroeconomics

Abstract

This article reports the findings of an in‐depth qualitative case study that explored the ways in which Chinese‐speaking international students adapt to a western learning environment, and the effect that the teaching context has upon student learning. The study explored this effect by investigating a critical thinking task from the perspectives of Chinese‐speaking international and English‐speaking local students. The study found that despite cultural and linguistic differences, international students' conceptualisation of critical thinking was very similar to their local counterparts. The study confirmed that, although cultural and linguistic differences are important, the way in which a subject and assessment task is presented to students has a profound impact on learning. The study highlights the adaptability of international students to different educational contexts and raises questions regarding the nature of critical thinking.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Kristina Love, Carol Johnston and Nilss Olekalns for their comments on earlier versions of this article.