China Looking to US for Hands-On Science Instruction

When it comes to science and mathematics education, the United States has often ranked low compared to our educational counterparts in Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. However, China has started to look to the United States for something that their science curriculum has been lacking: hands-on activities. According to Education News, in an effort to improve their higher education systems, China is working to improve what is lacking in early education institutions. With a past shift on standardized testing, China is starting to realize the higher value in practices that include more practical and hands-on approaches to science, similar to what is often practiced in the United States.

Science Is Not Just PowerPoints

Chinese families that have immigrated to the United States can testify to the power of hands-on science education. One 15-year-old Iowa student, Zhang Ruifan, told The New York Times about his school transition from Beijing to Des Moines, Iowa. In China, he was expected to memorize entire books of information and learned about important concepts via PowerPoints. In West Des Moines, he experimented with gravity by dropping various balls from a roof. His mother justified sending Zhang to live with a host family, stating, “I didn’t want my son to become a book-cramming robot.”

In 2009, Shanghai was ranked first out of 70 countries in science, with the United States falling in at 23. Yet, Chinese educators are becoming disenfranchised with a “testing culture.” Ni Minjing, a physics teacher and director of the Shanghai Education Commission’s basic education department, said, “When American high school students are discussing the latest models of airplanes, satellites and submarines, China’s smartest students are buried in homework and examination papers. Students also have few chances to do scientific experiments and exercise independent thinking.” To compensate for this, Chinese education officials are considering a more holistic approach to education — an approach fully utilized in the U.S. education system.

While no dramatic changes have been implemented yet, science teacher Wei Jinbao is hopeful. China has never had a Nobel winner in the sciences with “homegrown research,” but once students move beyond the facts and embrace real application, the prospects can be huge.

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