A Study On The Development In Self-authorship Of Chinese Students In US Colleges From The Perspective Of Attribution Theory

Universities need to assist students in developing a complex array of capacity to function effectively in today’s fully interconnected world. Why the author is interested in this field of research is because the author is very interested in seeing how individual ability, study environment and technology can affect the communication and learning ability of Chinese students in this multicultural course under a blended learning environment.This qualitative study through the perspectives of attribution, use the theory of self-authorship to analyze interactions of the online discussion and in class discussion part of those six Chinese students in a multicultural course at Texas A&M University(德州农工大学)in America. The course used dialogic principles in a blended learning environment, combining face-to-face interactions with an online platform, a variety of resources including articles and videos, which also supports online journaling and online discussion forum.Attribution theory (Weiner,1971) provided us a viewpoint to analyze the attributions to the development of self-authorship through three dimensions, which include individual ability and individual effort as internal dimensions, classroom teaching as an external dimension.In accordance with Baxter Magolda’s self-authorship theory, this study will explore the ways to develop self-authorship of those six native-born Chinese students across three domains:cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. Try to figure out that how self-authorship can be further developed through the use of the Learning Partnerships Model.The key issue of this study is whether there is an effect on developing self-authorship in the online portion. A further consideration is whether the online discussion has a positive or negative impact on students’self-authorship development. As the analysis in Chapter Four illustrated, there has evidence in the online discussion postings of the intermediate nature of the self-authorship development of each of the six students we’ve interviewed.Applying what has been learned in enhancing online discussion groups and inter-group dialogue combined with application of the principles of the Learning Partnerships Model would help produce an online discussion portion of U St150which would help contribute to self-authorship development.Using self-authorship to explore online discussion interactions provides a different lens for understanding. The six students we’ve interviewed appear to be at intermediate stages of self-authorship development, their online interactions reflect this in cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects.Combinations of online exploration with face-to-face approach can encourage students to explore perspectives online in a more private way, allowing for reflection and thoughtful formulation of understanding and responses. It can allow students’ to show their expressions of voice more freely.At the end of this study, some evidences of students’ self-authorship development have been found. Lack of facilitation in the online discussion appeared to have the potential to result some resistance and the Learning Partnerships Model.To be most effective, we found that inter-group dialogue can be well sustained through face-to-face interaction, and well facilitated. While this may be ideal, the principles underlying inter-group dialogue can provide an important basis for other multicultural dialogue courses. There is a good balance between the process of dialogue and the content, which helps students understand more fully the historical underpinnings of social identity groups.Furthermore, better facilitation could encourage self-authorship expression and development through helping all students’ voice to be heard. This kind of environment might encourage students who are at more intermediate levels of self-authorship development to engage more fully and in a timely manner, as they may feel that it is a safe environment.Self-authorship, which results in intercultural maturity, involves the process of learning to appreciate multiple perspectives, to work with and appreciate differences, and to be able to engage in discussions in which each person has deeply held very different perspective, while maintaining a sense of self based, not on others’ judgments but on personally developed understanding.