Students' Attitudes Towards Collaborative Learning in Russia and China: The Case of HSE and XJTLU

The main purpose of the research was to assess the role of national cultural characteristics in students' attitudes towards and practices of teamwork. In order to gain a significant comparison, we aimed to find available datasets of broad cross-cultural research. In 2015, PISA conducted an empirical evaluation of students' abilities in various academic knowledge areas, as well as an estimation of the school environment. The main theorist of the cultural dimensions theory, Geert Hofstede, conducted research on cultural characteristics around the same time, providing indexes for each country based on dimensions. Using hierarchical linear modelling, we evaluated the predictive capacity of student- and country-level factors on attitudes towards collaborative learning. We observed that cultural dimensions like the individuality index, uncertainty avoidance index, and power distance index play a significant role in identifying differences in students' attitudes towards collaboration, with the individuality/collectiveness dimension being the most significant one. To validate the observed findings, the second part of the research focused on a case study investigation of 200 Chinese and Russian university students. A similar analysis was performed. However, the study did not support the expected hypotheses, leading to the conclusion that a complex cultural estimation is necessary. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the influence of cultural factors on students' attitudes towards collaborative learning in different educational settings. By examining the nuances of individualist/collectivist, power distance, uncertainty avoidance dimensions, and long-term orientation dimensions, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of collaborative learning practices within diverse cultural contexts.