Hydrology education at Chinese universities: a comparative case study between Hohai University and the University of Arizona

Abstract Hydrology education for hydrological professionals is an important field due to the complex and multifaceted water issues that hydrologists face. Currently, hydrology education at Chinese universities is mainly focused on hydrological engineering, which leads to inadequate scientific and professional training from the perspective of an interdisciplinary educational framework. In this context, the knowledge and skills of future hydrologists cannot be systematically prepared. In this study, we explore the challenges and constraints that hinder the advancement of hydrology education at Chinese universities by conducting an inductive analysis in which we compare the hydrology education that occurs in China with that of the United States. The result suggests that a lack of adequate financial support is the main constraint and that it leads to inevitable problems such as a high student-teacher ratio, insufficiently qualified educators, and poor teaching materials and equipment. To address this issue, financial support for this program should be increased. In addition, collaborative programs based on online learning can effectively resolve the inadequacy of teaching resources. Assessing the hydrological education system in American universities carries a certain significance for Chinese universities in creating a reasonable interdisciplinary hydrological educational system by emulating traditional engineering hydrological education.