The System Matters: Comparing Student Attitudes Toward Learning Outcomes in the U.S. and China.

The UCLA Higher Education Research Institute's Cooperative Institutional Research Program conducts an annual survey of college seniors to assess attitudes toward different aspects of their college experience. We received permission to survey students on a campus in China and gave a subset of 128 of these questions to 385 students at Lanzhou University, China. The results highlight attitudinal differences toward education in China and the United States and shed light on how different educational systems produce different results.This work is relevant for at least two reasons. This paper provides insights into reforms that can be considered in both systems. The differences between the Chinese and American educational systems are profound. While large parts of society in China have been reformed since the opening in 1979, the Chinese educational system remains largely intact and structurally unreformed. Looking at areas where satisfaction is greater in each system can help provide insight into reforms that might be considered in both.This paper also offers a glimpse of one aspect of China's future. China is rapidly increasing its investment in higher education in the hope of growing a knowledge economy. The success of this endeavor will rest in large part on the ability of the graduates to contribute to society. Chinese student attitudes toward their educational experience will shed light on how successful this investment has been and ways it can be improved. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]