Students’ Engagement with the Multicultural Education Curriculum through Multicultural Learning Experiences at Shandong University, China

HRMARS - This study examines the extent to which Shandong University students’ multicultural-based learning experiences predict their perceptions and engagement with the Multicultural Education Curriculum. The research was designed as a quantitative cross-sectional survey study with 384 undergraduate students from Shandong University and from other universities in Shandong Province, China being surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to check the predictive power of the studied variables. The results revealed that all five dimensions of multicultural-based learning experiences significantly predicted students’ perceptions of and engagement with the Multicultural Education Curriculum. Collaborative and Social Interaction Learning emerged as the strongest predictor (? = 0.270, p < .001), followed by Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (? = 0.238, p < .001), Experiential Multicultural Learning (? = 0.221, p < .001), Community-Engaged Multicultural Learning (? = 0.203, p < .001), and Social Justice and Advocacy-Based Learning (? = 0.179, p < .001). The model explained 25.0% of the variance in students’ engagement with the Multicultural Education Curriculum. Diverse multicultural learning experiences, especially in the form of collaborative learning, culturally responsive teaching, experiential learning, social justice, and community engagement, play important roles in students’ engagement with multicultural curricula. From China higher education perspectives, students’ experiences in multicultural learning situations greatly impact how they perceive the Multicultural Education Curriculum. Thus, for university instructors and curriculum developers, adopt in the multicultural education curricula of higher education in China a host of strategies and approaches in order to promote students’ involvement and engagement in the curriculum. Future research will be necessary to investigate more variables including those that are higher education institutionally and contextually related, which can increase students’ engagement with multicultural education curricula in a positive way.