Recent media reports about hundreds of Chinese students failing the University of Sydney's business school exams have provided much food for thought.

Some 300 students out of 1,200, with the majority of them being overseas Chinese students, failed the critical thinking part of the business course last semester. And the Chinese students have questioned whether the university was making things difficult for them.

The business school authorities, for their part, said the students' poor English and their lack of critical thinking skills were to blame. It is the lack of training in critical thinking in Chinese schools that is the most likely reason for the student's poor performance in this course module.

As such, both the university and the Chinese students need to build mutual understanding so that they could gradually narrow the differences and find a solution acceptable to both sides.

 On the other hand, the Chinese students need to reflect upon their own learning habits. Those who were trained by the "duck-stuffing" type of teaching, which is typical in Chinese schools, should not expect the same from Western universities, where teaching and learning are both student-centered and teachers just provide guidance.

What has happened in the University of Sydney should serve as a timely reminder for Chinese students who want to pursue their studies overseas that they need to be fully prepared physically, psychologically and culturally for the differences they will encounter in Western university life: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

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