Asian students are top in knowledge - but girls beat boys in tests
It is a renowned study in the meantime and important since the world economy is moving into a direction where knowledge becomes more and more important. Trying to find the most knowledgeable students in the world, even so the question of testing intelligence and knowledge is always something that might be a bit subjective. But at least, you have a yardstick.
Finnish students are the most knowledgeable, apparently, followed by South Korea, and Hong Kong, China, and Japan ranked three, four and five respectively - as such, the number of Asian countries in the top is amazing.
The United States, the home of Harvard and Stanford, ranked 24th on the list, which is quite embarrassing.
At the bottom of the list were Tunisia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico.
What are other findings of the study?
1.) Girls are better students than boys, even though boys are still outperforming girls in math. However, the gap between girls and boys in math has narrowed.
2.) Girls continue to excel in reading comprehension.
3.) The study finds that a good relationship between students and teachers is critical to good learning.
4.) A non-stressful environment for the teaching of mathematics is important
5.) Constructive rules to enforce discipline is supporting great learning experiences
6.) Big spending on schools doed not guarantee the greatest educational success. Instead, a climate of high expectations, decentralised decision-making and motivated staff and students produced the most knowledgeable and skilled young people.
The study also concludes that:
"It is not the cognitive process underlying mathematics that gives boys an advantage, but the context in which mathematics appear in school."
More than 250,000 students in 41 countries took part in the survey. It will include 11 more countries in 2006, representing a third of the world's population. The test measured knowledge in mathematics, science, reading comprehension and problem solving.
Update: You can find some sample questions here
(By Asia Business Consulting)
Finnish students are the most knowledgeable, apparently, followed by South Korea, and Hong Kong, China, and Japan ranked three, four and five respectively - as such, the number of Asian countries in the top is amazing.
The United States, the home of Harvard and Stanford, ranked 24th on the list, which is quite embarrassing.
At the bottom of the list were Tunisia, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico.
What are other findings of the study?
1.) Girls are better students than boys, even though boys are still outperforming girls in math. However, the gap between girls and boys in math has narrowed.
2.) Girls continue to excel in reading comprehension.
3.) The study finds that a good relationship between students and teachers is critical to good learning.
4.) A non-stressful environment for the teaching of mathematics is important
5.) Constructive rules to enforce discipline is supporting great learning experiences
6.) Big spending on schools doed not guarantee the greatest educational success. Instead, a climate of high expectations, decentralised decision-making and motivated staff and students produced the most knowledgeable and skilled young people.
The study also concludes that:
"It is not the cognitive process underlying mathematics that gives boys an advantage, but the context in which mathematics appear in school."
More than 250,000 students in 41 countries took part in the survey. It will include 11 more countries in 2006, representing a third of the world's population. The test measured knowledge in mathematics, science, reading comprehension and problem solving.
Update: You can find some sample questions here
(By Asia Business Consulting)
posted by Andreas @ 2:29 pm
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