Transcript chapter09 - Creative

Chapter 9
Intelligence and its proxy measure:
International Assessments
National
intelligence and
well-being
• In theory we refuse to let IQ
dominate our agenda; in
practice we take it seriously.
• Rindermann (2008):
National intelligence is
considered a crucial
predictor of national wealth
• Hanushek & Woessmann
(2008): cognitive skills of
the population are strongly
associated with individual
earnings and economic
growth.
International test scores as a
proxy measure of national IQ
• Lynn and Mikk (2007): Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) test
scores for 8th graders and GDP per capita had a
moderate correlation (0.55) whereas national IQ
estimates and GDP per capita were correlated at
0.62.
• Hunt and Wittmann (2008): Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) test scores
provides an even better prediction of national
wealth than TIMSS.
IQ, PISA, and wealth
• If all 30 members of the OECD raise their
average scores on PISA by 25 points, in the
next 20 years it would lead to an aggregate
gain of $115 trillion in GDP over the lifetime
of the generation born in 2010.
• For the US a modest improvement in PISA
could result in $41 trillion gain in US’s GDP
over 80 years.
Obama’s response
In 2011 President Obama and Secretary advocated for the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
• Martin Caroy and Richard Rothstein (2013):
Disadvantaged students are oversampled in the US.
• David Berliner: Manufactured crisis
• If we remove the US students from the lowest SES,
the US students are the best in PISA.
• Contrary to the popular belief that Asian students are
good at rote learning, these Asian countries/regions
had the highest percentages of students reaching the
Advanced International Benchmark for science.
• At Grade 4
– Singapore: 36%
– Taiwan: 19%
– Median: 7%
• At Grade 8
– Singapore: 32%
– Taiwan: 25%
– Median: 3%
2014 OECD skill studies
• Adults: age 16-25
• Three categories:
– Numeracy
– technological proficiency
– literacy
• 5 levels
• US ranks at the bottom in numeracy and
technological proficiency
• Thirty-six million American adults have low
skills.
OECD skill studies
• Numeracy:
– 8% US adults achieve at Level 4/5,
– OECD average: 13%
– Japan and Finland: 19%
– A third of adults in the U.S. scored below Level 2
• Problem solving in technology
– About one-third (31%) of US adults score at least
at Level 2
– OECD average: 34%
OECD skill studies
• The tests show that a universal
pattern:
– develop skills and knowledge at
young ages
– peak in proficiency at 30
– decline afterwards.
• If people start out with poor
foundation, those disadvantages
will persist throughout their lives.
USSR is gone!
• Ravitch said, “The Soviet Union launched its
Sputnik satellite in 1957. We did not respond by
raising our test scores on international
assessments… something is wrong with those
international assessments, if our allegedly
terrible public schools continue to produce the
greatest workers, thinkers, leaders, and
innovators that created the greatest economy in
the world. The Soviet Union is gone, but we are
still here!”
“US continue to dominate”
• Since the 1960s US
students have never been
doing well in international
math and science tests
• But “US continues to
dominate in these fields”
• Don’t push people to learn
math and science.
• Liberal education is the key
to inventiveness.
US domination relies on
immigrants
• In 2003, of the 21.6 million scientists and
engineers in the US, 16% (3,352,000) were
immigrants (Kannankutty & Burrelli, 2007).
• Foreign-born doctorate holders in workforce:
– Engineering and computer science: 50%
– Physical sciences: 37%
– Mathematics: 43% (National Science Board,
2010)
National Foundation for
American Policy: 2010 figures
Nobel prizes
• Between 1950 and 2005, 27 of
the 87 American Nobel Prize
winners were born outside the
US (Vilcek & Cronstein,
2006).
• Counting from 1990, about
half of the US Nobel laureates
in the scientific and technical
disciplines were foreign-born.
For more information,
please read (optional):
• Yu, C. H., Wu, F. S., & Magan, C. (in press). Identifying
crucial and malleable factors of successful science learning
from the 2012 PISA. In Myint Swe Khine (Ed.), Science
Education in East Asia: Pedagogical Innovations and Best
Practices.
• Yu, C. H. (2012). Beyond Gross National Product: An
exploratory study of the relationship between Program for
International Student Assessment Scores and well-being
indices. Review of European Studies, 4.
doi:10.5539/res.v4n5p119 Retrieved from
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/res/article/view/
20478/14159
For more information,
please read (optional):
• Yu, C. H. (2012). Examining the relationships among academic self-concept,
instrumental motivation, and TIMSS 2007 science scores: A cross-cultural
comparison of five East Asian countries/regions and the United States.
Educational Research and Evaluation, 18, 713-731.
DOI:10.1080/13803611.2012.718511. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13803611.2012.718511
• Yu, C. H., Kaprolet, C., Jannasch-Pennell, A., & DiGangi, S. (2012). A data
mining approach to compare American and Canadian Grade 10 students in
PISA 2006 Science test performance. Journal of Data Science, 10, 441-464.
Retrieved from http://www.jds-online.com/file_download/362/JDS-1064.pdf
• Yu, C. H., DiGangi, S., & Jannasch-Pennell, A. (2012). A time-lag analysis of
the relationships among PISA scores, scientific research publication, and
economic performance. Social Indicators Research, 107, 317-330. doi:
10.1007/s11205-011-9850-5.
Assignment
• Form a group of 3-4 people to discuss the following issue:
• Multiple international assessments, such as PISA and TIMSS,
indicate that test performance in math, science, and reading of
American students is behind to that of European and Asian
students. OECD skill study report also warns that the skill level of
American adults is below the OECD average. Is the performance
gap indicated by OECD and TIMSS a “sputnik moment” (Obama’s
phrase) or just a “manufactured crisis” (David Berliner’s phrase)?
What lessons can we learn from OECD and TIMSS?
• Please take different arguments and counter-arguments into
account. Read the PowerPoint carefully. You are welcome to search
for additional information related to this topic.
• Post an individual report on Sakai (0.5-1 page)