An Interdisciplinary Study of Global Education Issues Within Sociopolitical Spheres of World Dominance

• In Event: Creative Thinking and Learning Within a Global Context

Abstract

The goal of this research is to explore creativity in international education through an interdisciplinary study of learning specifically in China and the United States. Education and science as disciplines share common ground in this qualitative study that uses Kaufman and Beghetto’s (2009) creativity model. For this follow up study, data are being analyzed from Chinese and American students in mechanical engineering. The IRB-approved protocol is titled “Apprenticeship Learning in China by a Boundary-Spanning Engineering Group.” Data collection involve observation of teamwork in the laboratory unit in China; individual 60-minute interviews with 20 participants in America, and document analysis. Data results suggest that the faculty-led STEM team is a creative, dynamic, and sustainable research apprenticeship that effectively uses cascade mentoring.

Author

• Carol A. Mullen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University