In recent years, educational and cultural communications across the Taiwan Strait were frequent. However, differences in two educational ideologies have led to different educational outcomes. In this study, we adopted a quantitative approach with purposive sampling and recruited college students in both Taiwan and Shanghai as our participants. The present study aimed to examine college students’ cognition of teachers’ teaching-leading ability of both sides. The results showed: (1) teachers’ instructional leadership was perceived as more effective by the college students in Taiwan as compared to those in Shanghai; (2) In both Taiwan and Shanghai, there were significant correlations between students’ demographic variables, particularly their age and fields of study; (3)The area (Shanghai versus Taiwan) and field of study are predictive of the students’ perception of teachers’ instructional leadership. As such, we suggested that, in order to inspire their learning desire, teachers in both sides should understand students’ need in the beginning of courses. In addition, teachers of both sides should enhance their communications for improving students’ learning effectiveness.