What would you say if I said students are working too hard at school? Too good to be true, right? Now, from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, come statistics that indicate American students spend more instructional time at school and do more homework than students in either Japan and Germany.
Before you cram your textbook into the back of your locker and start dreaming about writing your own job description at the Microsoft Corp., understand that just because Americans work harder doesn't necessarily mean we're smarter. On the contrary, Americans scored below the international test result average, with nine countries coming in ahead of us out of a total 41 countries. The top 10 percent of American students scored the same on the test as the average Singapore student.
Americans have not fared well on international scholastic tests for years, but in the past, poor scores were blamed on American laziness. The latest test factored in teaching styles and classroom hours. Much to everyone's surprise, American students spent more time in the classroom and on homework than students in nations that scored better than we did. So if we are working harder but aren't scoring as well as students in other industrialized nations, something must be wrong.
Not surprisingly, there is a pattern of success in the countries that scored better than the U.S. In Germany, 77 percent of lessons were taught stressing concepts rather than memorizing facts; 83 percent of Japan's lessons were taught using concepts. In the nations that scored higher than Americans on the test, science and math lessons were taught through story problems, where questions are asked in a manner that applies the concept to a real-life situation. Students learned not only how to work the problem, but also when to use it in life.
Only 22 percent of America's lessons use concepts in teaching. Instead, we use the "drill and kill" technique, in which students are taught how to do a problem, and then are given worksheets with no application to real life.
The world is getting smaller. More people are competing for the same jobs - jobs which Americans will no longer be in the race to get if their education does not allow them to rise above their competition.
So if there is a better way to learn, why don't American schools change the way lessons are taught? It is proven that teaching with concepts accelerates learning. American schools need to focus less busy-work and more on substance, so students will be able to compete for jobs with foreign students in a global marketplace.