Shanghai'd

Math.

I just read this NY Times article about the sorry state of shu xue education in US schools, and particularly the increasing backlash against the ludicrous "fuzzy math" curriculum. The fact that US kids lag Asians in math and science education should come as no surprise (especially to those who, like me, have had the opportunity to volunteer as a math tutor recently).

In a round-about way, shu xue is the reason why I'm in China in the first place. Poor primary school math education means US colleges are graduating fewer and fewer engineering students. Fewer US engineering graduates means companies like mine are forced to go where the talent is - primarily China and India - to hire the engineers they need. Obviously there are other reasons for outsourcing, economic advantages being the most visible, but for companies that are in the globalization game for the long haul, supply of engineering talent is at the top of the list.

For all of it's deficiencies, the Chinese educational system of learning math by rote is nothing if not effective. There are some skills that are just most conducive to memorization and repetition - multiplication tables and long division among them. I've seen the result of this first hand with my Chinese colleagues at work. While they trail US engineering graduates in some areas, their math skills are superior by leaps and bounds. We've got a team of Chinese engineers here doing crazy digital signal processing algorithms that I could only dream of understanding.

I can only hope US educators wake up soon. Mom, I know, you've been telling me all this for years!