Asian Test-Score Culture Thwarts Creativity

Abstract

Asia has been hailed as the next global science player as fast-growing Asian economies invest heavily in science and technology to drive further growth. However, Asian science will continue lagging behind the West because the Asian education system does not nurture the creativity and thinking skills required in successful scientists. In Asia, high scores determine the future career of the students as well as which schools get more funding. Teachers, under pressure to maintain their school's scoring record, teach to the test and organize extra classes for exam drills. Parents ferry children as young as first grade to centers for private tuition and exam preparation after school and on weekends. In Singapore, a 2008 poll found 97 out of 100 students enrolled in private tuition ([ 1 ][1]). Last year, the test preparation industry was worth $16.3 billion—36% of the public education expenditure—in South Korea ([ 2 ][2]), a country where, on college entrance exam day, parents pack churches and temples to pray and flights are rescheduled to reduce noise ([ 3 ][3]). Amidst pressure from long school days and heavy homework, the Asian student's most intellectually demanding work is memorizing facts for regurgitation. The product of this educational culture is deficient in the inquiry, investigation, and reasoning skills needed for scientific discovery. My experience with aspiring local graduate students has been that while motivation and work rate is usually high, they are weak at seeing connections in the published literature, extrapolating ideas, and generating hypotheses. The fact that they are top test-takers suggests that the Asian education system does not foster scientific talent. East Asians have been described as strong in absorbing existing knowledge and adapting existing technology, but weak in making original contributions to basic science ([ 4 ][4]). A radical transformation of the educational culture must happen before homegrown Asian science can challenge Western technological dominance. 1. [↵][5]1. M. Toh , “Tuition nation,” The Straits Times, 15 June 2008; [www.straitstimes.com/print/Free/Story/STIStory_248124.html][6]. 2. [↵][7]1. C. Sang-Hun , “Tech company helps South Korean students ace entrance tests,” The New York Times, 2 June 2009, p. B4; [www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/business/global/02cram.html][8]. 3. [↵][9]1. S.-S. Park , “Exam sees Korea engaged in collective prayer,” The Korea Times, 12 November 2009; [www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/117_55389.html][10]. 4. [↵][11]1. S. Kanazawa , J. Evol. Psychol. 4, 120 (2006). [OpenUrl][12] [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [6]: http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Free/Story/STIStory_248124.html [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [8]: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/business/global/02cram.html [9]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [10]: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/117_55389.html [11]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [12]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJ.%2BEvol.%2BPsychol.%26rft.volume%253D4%26rft.spage%253D120%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx