| This study uses the data collected by Student Experience in Research Universities Consortium to compare engagement in academic activities between Chinese and American undergraduate students in Foreign Language Majors. The study also examines relationships between engagement and value added in learning outcomes.The findings show that American undergraduate students in Foreign Language Majors are significantly more engaged in activities related to improving critical thinking abilities, participation in class discussions, and interaction with faculty, but Chinese students in the same majors are significantly more engaged in pre-class preparation, challenging coursework, and research activities. It is also found that the self-rating of American students at the time they entered the university and the time the survey was administered on reading, writing, knowledge of major, self-awareness, social-awareness, research, and communications is significantly higher than that of Chinese students. Also, the gains of American students on reading, writing, and knowledge of major are higher than Chinese students, but the gains of Chinese students on the rest measures are higher. The statistics demonstrate a significant correlation between engagement and value added in learning outcomes regardless of what country participants are. This means that the more engaged students are, the more gains they would have for their learning outcomes.The findings suggest that Chinese universities should adopt a comprehensive review process to encourage high schools to strengthen students' non-cognitive skills, undergraduate students should try their best to get engagement in learning activities, universities should offer more general education courses to help students to achieve learning outcomes, and finally faculty should change their traditional instructional approach to provide more opportunities for students to participate in various learning activities. |
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