Comparative Study On American And Chinese Math

He points out that the Chinese have their number naming systems to thank. The Chinese have a very short and simple way of saying their numbers, unlike the English language which is very irregular making math considerably more challenging. In English there are numbers such as fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, but then the numbers preceding them are not oneteen, twoteen, or threeteen it is eleven, twelve, and thirteen which takes more time for American children to learn. Meanwhile, the Chinese count like one-ten-one for eleven, one-ten-two for twelve and so on, which gives them an advantage in math fundamentals and allows them to move on to more difficult skills at a younger age. “Asians have a built-in advantage” (Gladwell, 230) because the way they say their numbers and fractions are more comprehendible, putting less stress on the student, thus compelling the student to enjoy math, try harder, and take more math classes. The number systems are distinguishable between the East and the West – it suggests that the root of being good at math can all be traced to the group’s

In “Thinking About Diversity”, Frank H. Wu details about his experiences as an Asian American. Wu says that, “some non-Asian students do, indeed, assume that I am gifted with mathematical, scientific, or computer-programming talents solely on account of my race” (Wu, 147), this concept shows the overview picture of Asians, but this does not apply to every Asians. The mathematic, science or computer programming is a universal subject that most industrialized places like Asia teach to students. Most Asian immigrants are familiar with those subjects because they already learn it back home and are able to do well on them, not because of a race. A race cannot provide a special intelligent to people, it’s just a different classify groups of people.

Disturbingly, “nearly one-fifth of high school students and over 50 percent of middle school students are enrolled in math classes whose teachers neither majored or minored in math” (Drew, 2011, p.9). In 2000, 31 percent of high

No under 30 of the 56 different nations that took an interest in the Program for Worldwide Understudy Appraisal (PISA) math test had a bigger level of understudies who scored at what might as well be called the propelled level on our National Evaluation of Instructive Advance (NAEP) tests. While 6 percent of U.S. public and private school understudies evaluated as cutting edge in eighth grade arithmetic, 28 percent of Taiwanese understudies did (Hanushek, 2010). This is revealing to me that different nations are using something we are not that is enabling their understudies to exceed expectations pass the U. S. No less than 20 percent of understudies in Hong Kong, Korea, and Finland were exceptionally expert, and 12 different nations had no less than double the level of very proficient understudies as the U.S. also, different nations (Hanushek,2010). This proof demonstrates that only 8 years prior U.S. understudies were failing to meet expectations in math and

Its impressive how something like a number-saying system can influence in the level of difficulty an Asian student, compared to an American average student, can have in math. Asians have a built in advantage when it comes to math. Does that mean they are more likely to succeed? Not necessarily but it I an advantage rooted in a group’s culture, in this case, Asians. Therefore cultural legacy is another key factor in the why of what we do and who we become.

Gladwell believes that the Chinese are good at math for several reasons. In the beginning of the chapter, Gladwell tells us that the Chinese are better at math than English speakers because their numbers are easier for little kids to process, and the way they are added is easier for them to think about. Later in the chapter, Gladwell furthers his thinking to state that another reason the Chinese may be as good at math as they are is because many of their families work on rice paddies. Gladwell states that this has to do with math because it allows the people to be more hardworking and persistent when working on a math problem, where Americans may just give up more easily (Gladwell 247, 248). This chapter is also very interesting, as it explains something that people have been thinking about for a long time in a way that other people have never done

One of the biggest problems Americans face today is a US student’s underwhelming academic performance. When compared to other countries, the United States comes in 18th place in math literacy and 25th place in reading literacy. The problem is not just a standard problem throughout the country, as there is much variation between graduation and subject literacy rates, with huge differences also between schools alone. These statistics are disappointing because the US is considered one of the largest world powers. The disparities in American students academic achievement is also detrimental because they are less able to compete in the global market place. Many things have been used to explain this disparity but race has often led as the main

Because the Chinese number words are so brief, children can learn them faster and memorize more at one time. Mostly because of differences in the languages, “by the age of five...American children are already a year behind their Asian counterparts in the most fundamental of math skills” (Gladwell 229). Due to the transparency of the Asian math system, students often find it more enjoyable and logical. As a result, “students from five nations and territories in Asia have topped the latest global school rankings in science and math conducted by the OECD” (Maslog). This validates Gladwell’s conclusion because it has been shown that Asians have a leg-up in math from an early age, and it makes sense that this would translate to Asia’s achievements on mathematical exams. This particular cultural legacy would most certainly have an impact on Asian students’ probability of success, because it would most likely lead to them performing better in math classes and exams, and it could help them in a future career. This is one of the several instances in which a person’s cultural legacy would need to be greatly factored into their chance of

Today’s world economies are so tied together and react to one another that only the brightest and smartest will survive. The better educated a student is in the specific career that they have chosen to earn a degree in will give them the educated edge so that they can out compete with foreign markets. President Barack Obama said "In this kind of economy, countries who out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow. Already, China is graduating eight times as many engineers as we are. By 12th grade, our children score lower on math and science tests than most other kids in the world,” (“Full”). American colleges need to do a better job at improving math and science scores so that the graduating student can better compete in the world market Asian countries are continuously outperforming American students. Gary W. Phillips, chief scientist at the American Institutes of Research said “In this case, the bad news trumps the good because our Asian economic competitors are winning the race to prepare students in math and science,” (Dillon). The better colleges prepare students to edge out competitors in the world market needs to be their priority.

A stereotype that is used in everyday mathematics was explained in the book as to why Asians excel at mathematics. Usually people think asians were just naturally intelligent in this field, but it was a surprise to find out that there had been more to them turning out this way in modern society because of the way their culture emerged and evolved. Reading about the past of the Asian culture gave me a different point of view on asians. This book has given me a interest on the asian culture and I also learned that there could be a reason behind certain stereotypes saying asians are intelligent that make some true but not all.

Geometry and Algebra are so crucial to the development of the world it is taught to every public high school in the United States, around 14.8 million teenagers each year (National Center for Education Statistics). Mathematics is the engine powering our world; our stocks, economy, technology, and science are all based off from math. Math is our universal and definite language “I was especially delighted with the mathematics, on account of the certitude and evidence of their reasonings.” (Rene Descartes, 1637).

Each country has its own kind of education, and education always plays an important role in affecting students’ life and study on many aspects. Having received ten years of education in China and two years of education in the U.S. I would like to compare and contrast a few significant aspects of these two different kinds of educations. Knowing that no two education systems are the same, the differences between American education and Chinese education allow countries to take the essence and discard the dross through learning from each other so as to improve their own current education systems.

Chinese students are ahead of the Canadians in Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. This is because Chinese students are taught Physics, Chemistry and Biology starting from grade 7. While in Canada, we start learning these subjects in Grade 10. They have 3 year lead and they spend a lot more time doing homework. In a test done by OECD where 15 year olds are tested on Math, English and Science showed that the Canadians got a score of 518 in Math. The OECD average is only 498. But Chinese students had an average score of 613. This is extremely important because with the global economy, it is extremely easy to hire people from other countries. As a result, Canadian graduates are not just competing with Canadians but Worldwide graduates.

The objective of this article critique is to review and evaluate several empirical studies which have examined mathematics perception cross-culturally. The main study that focuses on examining mathematics perception cross-culturally is a study that was done in 2004 by Dr. Yea-Ling Tsao. In this study, researchers proved that Taiwanese students consistently score higher in cross-national studies of achievement than American students. Several other studies were done that also support this theory. Therefore, the main purpose of this article critique is to evaluate Tsao’s study in order to properly assess both the validity of Tsao’s design and the inferences drawn from the study. This critique will also show that, while

Here Gladwell dives into the stereotypical question “Why are Asians so good at math?”. But really, there’s factual evidence to support the fact that Asians are very proficient in the subject. One reason why Asians are good at math is the Chinese numbers system is much easier to work with. For instance, if you ask an seven-year-old American child what the answer to thirty-seven plus twenty-two is with only using their head, they would have to first convert the words to numbers (37+22). Then they would do the math, 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 plus 20 makes 50, so in total the answer would be 59. The Chinese number system is different, because if you asked an asian child the same question, you would ask them three-tens-seven and two-tens-two. It’s much