EPISTEMOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHINESE ENGINEERING DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN THE US INSTITUTIONS: A COMPARISON OF MULTIPLE MEASUREMENT METHODS

A large number of international doctoral students flow into the U.S. higher education system each year. Among the foreign countries/economies where students are from, China ranks top in the number of doctorate recipients from U.S. institutions in science and engineering fields. With the prominent representation of Chinese students among the science and engineering doctoral students in U.S. institutions, however, these Chinese scientists and engineers are understudied compared to their U.S.-born peers. Researchers propose to use Perry's cognitive development theory as a theoretical framework to understand the cognitive developmental profiles of Chinese Engineering doctoral students in U.S. institution. In this paper, the researchers conducted a comparison of multiple measures that are currently available among literatures to identify an appropriate quantitative measure for mapping the profiles of Chinese engineering doctoral students' epistemological development.