A Comparative Study Of College Student Experience Between A University (China) And B Unviersity (Japan)

The purpose of this research was to explore the extent to which the junior students in A University (China) and B University (Japan) are engaged in educationally purposeful activities, and what are they actually gaining from their college experience. The questionnaire used in this research was a self-report survey which includs items concerning background information about respondents and about their experience in educationally purposeful activities ("course learning"; "peer interaction"; "student-faculty interaction"; "co-curricular participation"; "amount of reading, writing, and studying") and estimate of gains. The main findings of this research were showed as followings: (a) Students at A University most commonly engaged in the activities related to "course learning", then the areas of "peer interaction" and "co-curriculum participation", but did not engage in a great many "student-faculty interaction" activities. With respect to estimate of gains, they reported that they gained most in the areas of "information acquiring competence", "intellectual skills" and "self-understanding", but gained least in the areas of "general knowledge" and "pratical competence". (b) At B University, the college experience of many students may be a rather uninvolved affair. Except for the activities related to "course learning", the level of engagement in the areas of "peer interaction", "student-faculty interaction" and "co-curriculum participation" was relatively low. B groups did not believe that the university contributed a lot to their educational and personal development, but they indicated that they gained more in the areas of "specialized knowledge" and "self-understanding" than "general knowledge", "social skills"and "pratical competence". (c) Through comparison, this research found that students at A University were engaged more in educationally purposeful activities and gained more from their college experience. Results from "independent samples t-test" and "effect size analysis" showed that there were significant differences between the two groups in the areas of "co-curriculum participation" and "peer interaction", and relatively small differences in "course learning" and "student-faculty intertaction". As to the estimate of gains, there were significant differences on almost all items between the two groups, except for the item of "understanding oneself".