Chinese students making sense of problem-based learning and Western teaching – pitfalls and coping strategies

Culturally different imaginations of student and teacher roles, incongruent perceptions of academic standards, and diverging conceptualizations of learning may cause ‘difficult times’ for institutions and individual learners involved in international education. Universities practicing alternative approaches to teaching and learning, for example problem-based learning (PBL), may face even larger challenges because of the unfamiliarity of international students with such approaches. This study explores the difficult times experienced by Chinese students in a PBL setting at a Danish University. The main result of the study is an increased understanding of these students’ remarkable ‘survival’ skills, coping strategies, and learning outcomes gained from the challenging immersion in a Danish PBL environment.