This study examined learning strategy use in mathematics among East Asian students in East Asian educational systems. By employing latent class analysis on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 data, we found four classes of learning strategy types, namely memorization with metacognitive strategies (17.49%), metacognitive…

The present study was motivated by theoretical considerations in cognitive linguistics associated with the concept projection as well as by theories in cognitive science related to self-directed learning on computers, to apply them in developing Japanese learners' knowledge of the different degrees of sureness attached to CERTAIN, PROBABLE, and…

High student achievement across East Asia is often explained as an outcome of highly competitive, stress-inducing college entrance exams across the region. This 'exam hell' drives students to study longer and harder than their peers worldwide, a race that leads--unsurprisingly--to higher marks in international comparisons such as the Programme for…

Will my children's creativity be hindered if I place them within the rigidity of an East Asian school? Conversely, could my children's math and science skills benefit from the high expectations of an East Asian curriculum and teacher? The purpose of this study is two-fold. Firstly, it aims to demonstrate that comparison between Eastern and Western…

From 1992 to 1994, the author was a visiting professor at the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business Administration (Nagoya Shoka Daigaku), a private 4-year coeducational university located on the grounds of a modern campus on the outskirts of Nagoya. It is the only university for commerce and business administration in the area and has…

Purpose: To provide an understanding of the ways in which Confucian Heritage students use reflection as a means of learning at university. Design/methodology/approach: The approach is an exploratory qualitative study into the ways in which Confucian Heritage students learn while studying at university. Data are collected by means of…

Discusses what Western nations could learn from Japan's educational system. Negative features include (1) rote learning; (2) standardization of materials taught; (3) government control of textbooks; and (4) an examination system that does not promote individualism. Positive features include the high value placed on education and the work ethic.…

The current preoccupation in the United States with test-based accountability is founded on a set of faulty assumptions--about education practices elsewhere in the world, about international test score comparisons, and about the extent to which test scores are valid indicators of the quality of education or the state of the economy. For example,…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between approaches to learning and locus of control of students from the USA, Japan, and Taiwan. The results show that students from the USA utilized more rote memory learning compared to students from Japan and Taiwan, while students from Japan were more likely to be "Achieving"…

Although Japanese society has long valued and practiced lifelong learning, it has not yet been successful in building an ethic that prizes learning, teaches creativity, and includes everyone. Bureaucratic and legal mechanisms undertaken in Japan to promote lifelong learning have included the establishment of Lifelong Learning Councils, a system…

Japan produces more technicians and engineers than the U.S. as a result of higher standards for high school graduation and college entrance, highly effective teacher inservice training, and public support for science and technology. However, the reliance on imitation and rote learning remains a weakness in the Japanese educational system. (WD)

This paper focuses on the difficulties of learners of Japanese as a second language from non-kanji backgrounds and the special difficulties they encounter in trying to learn the kanji writing system. It is asserted that most teachers of Japanese as a second language do not spend enough time on kanji teaching, with the students typically forced to…