Pop quiz
Posted by ampontan on Tuesday, January 25, 2011
THERE’S a digression worth noting in a long article about the consumption tax written by Takahashi Yoichi for Gendai Business Online.
Mr. Takahashi writes:
“The following problem appeared on the 2008 Center Test.”
(The Center Test is the preliminary university entrance examination administered every January by the Japanese government for national and public universities. The results are also increasingly being used by private universities. It is similar to the SATs in the United States.)
“Question: Select one from among the following as the most suitable measure it is thought a central bank can take.
1. Reduce the money supply during a deflationary period.
2. Reduce the required ratio of cash reserves to deposits during an inflationary period.
3. Purchase government bonds from commercial banks during an economic downturn.
4. Reduce the interest rate on funds lent to commercial banks during an economic upturn.
“Of course the correct answer is #3. Since 2000, however, the Bank of Japan has actually done #1. This question can be answered by the ordinary high school student, but it seems to be too difficult for the Governor of the Bank of Japan, the academics carrying water for the Bank of Japan, and the mass media.”
*****
Reat that again and let it sink in: This is information a Japanese high school senior who wants to attend university is expected to know. Not the elite universities—any university.
How many American high school seniors would know the answer to that question? Wait, scratch that—how many American college seniors would know the answer to that question? Wait, scratch that one too—how many American (or Western) adults with a university degree would know the answer to that question?
And some people think there’s a crisis because the youth of Japan is shunning American universities?
I think not.
*****
Here’s what American students know about school and U.S. bonds.
Fat Tony said
Um. Isn’t there actually some disagreement about this. I agree that (3) is the right answer, but many think there are financial risks. And wouldn’t writing an essay about what those risks are be a better test of knowledge than answering a multi-choice question?
——–
FT:
1. When I took the SATs, they were all multiple-choice questions. Has that changed?
2. Writing an essay about financial risks is not something most high school students could handle anywhere. Even college is pushing it. I think it likely the teachers responsible for presenting the material explained the reasons.
3. Note the qualifiers, “it is thought”, i.e., a general consensus or conventional wisdom, and “most appropriate”. Those were in the original. Some people think central banks are a bad idea, for that matter.
But of course all of this is beside the point of the post.
- A.
Tony said
Amazing ability to conclude based upon one sample question from the center test that Japanese students are much better prepared for ……something…. than American high school students, American university students, American adults and Western adults with a university degree. That is almost as mind boggling as this sample question being used as evidence that there isn’t a crisis among Japanese high school students of shunning American universities. Where is the connection? If this question can do all that, it begs the question why have anymore questions when one is so very informative?
On a more serious note, I do wonder a couple things about that question though:
1) how many students got it right ?
2) did the question come from the high school curriculum? (doubt it as juku’s are needed to teach material that goes beyond the curriculum found on the test which, by the way, is created by Japanese largest juku
3) does the question reflect a deep understanding of economics and finance OR rote memorization? I bet the latter.
Still I do admire the way you sometime make connections between – nothing. It always makes for an interesting read and when there really are connections, usually makes for a great read. Keep on connecting.
———-
Thanks for the kind words.
- A.
Tony said
A, a question or two for you.
I had an interesting conversation today with a group of freshman students. We discussed what they see as the greatest problems facing Japanese society today. I didn’t want to give them issues I thought were important so I didn’t give them any examples but I did explain, and the problems had to related to Japanese society. N
Their answers are presented in the order they gave them:
1) lack of jobs for college graduates
2) young girls in danger from men who slash their faces
3) volcano in Kagoshima
4) bird flu
These are the students who have passed the center test and have nearly completed 1 year of university. My questions are, am I justified in being disappointed in the quality of their answer(s)? Were/are my expectations to high for students who have practically finished their first year of university?
Keep in mind these are the same type of students who have passed the center test which asks questions such as*
“Question: Select one from among the following as the most suitable measure it is thought a central bank can take.
1. Reduce the money supply during a deflationary period.
2. Reduce the required ratio of cash reserves to deposits during an inflationary period.
3. Purchase government bonds from commercial banks during an economic downturn.
4. Reduce the interest rate on funds lent to commercial banks during an economic upturn.
———–
T: Since I know of no college entrance exam anywhere that asks questions about “the problems facing society today”, and few high schools (or universities) anywhere whose primary purpose is to examine “the problems facing society today”, whatever they are, your question to me seems pointless.
And since it seems you asked a small sample size of students a vague question without telling them what you mean by “social problems”, and without knowing whether you asked in English or in Japanese, they gave three pretty good answers out of four.
If you think that second point is not valid, pick up a Japanese newspaper and look at the sort of stories that are covered in the 社会 section.
Get a larger sample of students from colleges throughout Japan and ask them about the problems of government and the economy, and then ask me again.
- A.
Tony said
Hmmm, so you think my expectations were too high. I’m inclined to agree with you, although I am still disappointed in the quality of the answers. This didn’t occur in a conversation class but a content-based class in which many societal issues had already been discussed and written about, albeit in regards to other countries.
I didn’t mean to imply that my question would be found on an entrance exam. I guess I did assume that after one year of university, students who were expected to answer such a specific narrow question – a question for which the answer would based upon some understanding of finance and what Takahashi feels is economic common knowledge – would be able to answer this vague, more global question a little better than they did.
I expected the first and last answers to come up but I also expected some other points that are societal problems, not the answers 2 & 3 which, while being topical and newsworthy are more local in scope. And I understand that point two comes us in the social sections of newspapers here but when the female student answered the question, she did in Japanese and specifically said, “cutting her face” so I took it that they were focusing more on that sensational/tragic aspect of this event rather than the entire safety for women issue. None of the guys thought of it, at least none of them seemed to think of it anyway.
Do you think a random small group of western university students who are just 5 days away from finishing their first year of university would be able to answer this question any better? I have no idea. In a way, I would probably feel better if I knew the answer was a definitive “no” to this question. I don’t expect freshman students to do much better in April, but after 1 year?
On a related point. Everyone of them said the job they wanted after graduation was being a civil servant because it is stable. That scared me too.
—————-
1. The civil service has usually been viewed that way in Japan. It was when I got here. The man who first employed me quit his job as an English teacher at the best high school in the city to open his own English school and start an NPO for international exchange. His family and friends thought he was crazy to give up a job like that.
My first job after college was as a civil servant, and I quit to go back to school to study Japanese. When I first came to Japan and told people that, many were startled to hear it.
2. Very generally speaking, the students at that university might also tend to have a lower career horizon than perhaps those elsewhere.
- A.
Tony said
Yeah, the civil service is considered a “plum” job because of a little status and a lot of job security and other than a few research areas in engineering and agriculture students here may have lower career horizons. I’m still a little disheartened.
Andrew in Ezo said
Their answers are presented in the order they gave them:
1) lack of jobs for college graduates
2) young girls in danger from men who slash their faces
3) volcano in Kagoshima
4) bird flu
_ _ _ _ _
*pretty good sample for 4 individuals, IMO
Rather than be disappointed, I would see this as an opportunity to teach the students to think deeper and challenge themselves to see beyond their own personal experiences or spheres of interest.