In November, the College of Education at Georgia Southern University hosted a screening of Two Million Minutes, a documentary film produced by venture capitalist Robert Compton. In his international dealings, Compton discovered that high school students in India and China studied longer and harder than American students; that discovery prompted him to develop the film. In case you wonder about the title: Two Million Minutes is the estimated number of minutes that students spend in four years of high school.
Compton believes that America is losing its competitive edge because American students are becoming less and less interested in studying mathematics and science. In the film he contrasts the academic, social, and family lives of six high school students -- two American, two Chinese, two Indian -- and finds American students more social and less interested in academics. There's a reason for this: Chinese and Indian families believe that achievement in math and science is not only a way out of poverty, but insurance for the future. American students, born to families long since out of poverty, are not as "hungry" for security and success.
Some of my first-year writing students were offended by Compton and found his attitude un-American, while others argued that he was right. Many saw both sides, making it difficult for them to develop a strong thesis in their argument papers.
Making this film an essay assignment was a learning experience (for me AND for the students), and it certainly made me aware of the "math and science" differential. I was delighted to get yet another point of view when I read Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers. in the chapter he titled "Rice paddies and math tests." Gladwell finds that Asian languages, which are much more transparent in the field of mathmatics, provide a built-in advantage for Asian students.
From Outliers:
It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed ... The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty four is two-tens-four, and so on ... The difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children ... The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily (p. 228-229).
Of course, I read the book about two weeks after the semester was over, not in time to share Gladwell's thoughts with my students. Some of them will be in my ENGL 1102 next semester, so I will be able to follow up on this learning opportunity in January.
After high school, where my grades in math declined annually after ninth grade, I avoided math like the plague. My college professor in probability and stats passed me only after much angst (on my part) and kindness (on his). But after seeing 2MM, and after reading Gladwell, my next degree will be in math. Even if it is remedial!
Mrs. B
Compton believes that America is losing its competitive edge because American students are becoming less and less interested in studying mathematics and science. In the film he contrasts the academic, social, and family lives of six high school students -- two American, two Chinese, two Indian -- and finds American students more social and less interested in academics. There's a reason for this: Chinese and Indian families believe that achievement in math and science is not only a way out of poverty, but insurance for the future. American students, born to families long since out of poverty, are not as "hungry" for security and success.
Some of my first-year writing students were offended by Compton and found his attitude un-American, while others argued that he was right. Many saw both sides, making it difficult for them to develop a strong thesis in their argument papers.
Making this film an essay assignment was a learning experience (for me AND for the students), and it certainly made me aware of the "math and science" differential. I was delighted to get yet another point of view when I read Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers. in the chapter he titled "Rice paddies and math tests." Gladwell finds that Asian languages, which are much more transparent in the field of mathmatics, provide a built-in advantage for Asian students.
From Outliers:
It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed ... The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty four is two-tens-four, and so on ... The difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children ... The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily (p. 228-229).
Of course, I read the book about two weeks after the semester was over, not in time to share Gladwell's thoughts with my students. Some of them will be in my ENGL 1102 next semester, so I will be able to follow up on this learning opportunity in January.
After high school, where my grades in math declined annually after ninth grade, I avoided math like the plague. My college professor in probability and stats passed me only after much angst (on my part) and kindness (on his). But after seeing 2MM, and after reading Gladwell, my next degree will be in math. Even if it is remedial!
Mrs. B
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