Cultural Factors Influencing International Collaborative Software Engineering Education in China

Software engineering (SE) is a rapidly developing international discipline that requires up-to-date knowledge and skills. The need for well-educated professional software engineers is increasing globally. In China, universities are opening opportunities for collaboration and building cooperative relationships with Western universities in technology fields, including SE, to offer Chinese students possibilities for international education in China instead of studying abroad. Designing high-quality SE education in international collaborative programs faces challenges introduced by cultural factors that affect learning practices. In this study, we addressed these challenges in the context of international collaborative SE education in China. In the first step, we synthesized existing knowledge of Chinese cultural factors affecting learning by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR). In the second step, we conducted interviews with SE students and teachers in a Chinese university that is preparing an international collaborative SE program, in order to see whether the identified cultural factors are valid in the current learning contexts of SE education. The results revealed that many of the identified factors are still valid, but some of them present differently in the current context because of the novelty of the SE discipline and the changing educational environment in China.