Innovation as a
Second Language

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China may have the world’s second-biggest economy, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into technological leadership. When it comes to home-grown innovation and high-tech start-ups, China traditionally lags. The country’s approach to higher education in the STEM fields is one of the reasons economists have marginalized China’s competitive potential on the global stage.

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review puts it this way: “Many believe … that China is largely a land of rule-bound rote learners – a place where R&D is diligently pursued but breakthroughs are rare.” In examining those beliefs, authors Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, and F. Warren McFarlan lay out a complex mix of political and cultural factors that squelch an otherwise strong innovation bent in the Chinese workforce. “The problem, we think, is not the innovative or intellectual capacity of the Chinese people, but the political world in which their schools, universities, and businesses need to operate, which is very much bounded,” they write.

China is working to change by partnering with the U.S. and other nations with strong track records in innovation. As the number of Chinese students enrolled in higher education soars – from 1 million students in 1978 to 23.9 million in 2012 – innovative international teaching and research partnerships are expanding students’ personal and professional competitiveness on the global stage.

Chinese students flock to the U.S. Source: Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange 2013 / Institute of International Education

 

 

In a typical International Articulation Partnership (IAP), Chinese students take their lower division courses in their home country, and then transfer to an English-speaking partner school for the upper-division classes and graduation. IAPs are described by the number of years a student spends in each university: 2+2, 1+3, 3+1, 3+2, depending on the degree requirements and academic goals of the program.

A novel twist on these partnerships is under development between Portland State University (PSU) and Changchun University of Technology (CCUT). They are connecting engineering faculty in both countries with linguistics specialists to infuse intensive English-language learning into the core engineering curriculum. By dividing their college years, students gain a more unified perspective of engineering practice around the world. They also gain rich international experience, practical speaking and listening skills in another language, and two accredited engineering degrees.

How It Works

English-language IAPs are used across many disciplines – often in fields such as engineering, where English remains the lingua franca of scholarly communication. IAPs effectively force students from non-English-speaking nations to stretch their language abilities in real-world situations. Studying with faculty and peers from the U.S., Australia, or Britain, they have no recourse but to speak, write, listen, and think in English. And not just the King’s English, but Engineering English, which has its own discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar, and ways of organizing information. It’s difficult to learn, and total immersion is an effective way.  In addition, students benefit from studying in universities where teaching approaches incorporate active learning and group projects, which can foster creative thinking, team building, and innovation.

“Students gain international experience and learn another language,” says James Hook, associate dean of PSU’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science “That makes them more competitive in the workplace and prepares them to work on global teams.”

IAPs benefit each partner in different ways. Both institutions take pains to ensure the other’s course offerings meet its graduation requirements. Chinese universities hope the practical exposure to Western-style research and education translate into big-thinking future engineers. U.S. partners view the partnership as a gateway to future international opportunities for their students, extended research collaborations for faculty, and new business relationships. In the current period of funding uncertainty from traditional grant-making agencies, tuition-sharing agreements provide welcome new revenues. Deans and faculty members on both sides of the partnership develop their own skills in intercultural understanding and gain new international perspectives.

Hook says creating an effective IAP presents significant challenges at the nuts-and-bolts level. The two partner schools must map one curriculum onto the other to determine which will count toward degree requirements. Programs also require the U.S. institution to provide on-site instruction in China, creating both academic and logistical issues.

PSU is working to develop an academic English curriculum that addresses U.S. standards and academic expectations in a Chinese setting, while also preparing students for a smooth transition to their third year in the U.S. Students take English courses taught by Chinese and American instructors, including one English course developed by PSU faculty. Changchun’s lower-division engineering students will take courses taught by visiting PSU professors with the aim of integrating English skills with subject matter content.

During the planning period, PSU has sent curriculum specialists to Changchun to survey students’ individual needs, assess English proficiency levels, and gauge the overall classroom dynamics and academic attitudes of the student body. At the same time, professors from Changchun have visited PSU for extended periods to improve their English skills and to observe how STEM courses are taught in a U.S. setting, with the hopes of incorporating new techniques into their classes when they return to China.

Seeds of Change

China has been working on an initiative to transform itself into “an innovative society” by 2020 and into a world science and technology leader by 2050. Top-down government policies designed to reduce reliance on imported technologies have spawned a number of home-grown R&D and technology-transfer efforts in the academic and private sectors. Whether or not these broad policies make an impact remains to be seen, but meanwhile the seeds of change are already taking hold at the grassroots level. Chinese and U.S. universities partnering to strengthen global awareness, one new engineer at a time.

Michael MacRae is an independent writer.

For Further Discussion

“[IAP programs] makes them more competitive in the workplace and prepares them to work on global teams.

Dr. James Hook, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science