Out of the box

Company spurs outbound Chinese students to think critically with unconventional methods

In 2004, Jiayu Li, at the time a high-tech executive in New York City, came up with an idea to bring back home to China. After seeing how Harvard University had forced his son Jimmy to think critically in his studies, Li wanted to develop software that helps overseas-bound Chinese students with the SAT, the college admissions exam that he thought was the United States' benchmark for critical thinking.

Li, who got a master's degree in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1989, established USAdaxue LLC in 2004 and moved to Beijing in 2006. The company not only employs software to help Chinese students train for the SAT, but uses nontraditional methods to help them develop a knack for critical thinking.

Chinese students have been top performers in academic performance tests, as evidenced by the winning scores in 2009 by a group of Shanghai students in the Programme for International Student Assessment exams, which is administered in various nations to 15-year-old students and tests them on mathematics, science and reading.

But despite these accolades, Chinese students have also been criticized for a lack of creative and critical thinking. Many blame it on the principles and teachings of Confucianism, which encourages conformity and obedience.

"Chinese students need to develop their ability for critical thinking and have all-round undergraduate studies while pursuing undergraduate degrees in the US," Li says.

Li, 49, claims that more than 50 percent of clients who have applied to the top 50 universities in the US are accepted into their schools of choice. He credits his company's success in developing his clients' abilities to think critically and improving their test-taking abilities on the SAT.

The SAT, a standardized college admissions exam in the US, is crucial for Chinese students who plan to study at a top US university. The number of Chinese students who are taking the SAT has increased rapidly in recent years.

In 2003, there were only 200 from the Chinese mainland who took the SAT Reasoning Test in Hong Kong. In 2010, that number increased to 20,000, according to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, which is permitted to hold the SAT in Hong Kong.

The reasoning test is "a measure of critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college", according to the Hong Kong authority. The SAT is not offered on the Chinese mainland.

But as much as the software by USAdaxue will help Chinese students with the SAT, Li says it will not help develop their abilities to think critically.

"Critical thinking basically means you have to be skeptical about an objective claim, consider its truthfulness based on subjective analysis and measurement, and it is very important as it is the essence of US education," Li says.

He says Chinese students must accept a more Western way of thinking when they study.

His solution is to teach students in English instead of Chinese. He has recently selected 20 classic novels and compiled them into SAT training material. Works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Orwell are included.

"Novels such as Animal Farm are quite good in its language. By requiring Chinese students to read them, they will not only improve their ability in critical reading, but also get in touch with English literature at an early age," Li says.

USAdaxue, which has branch offices in Nanjing, Shenyang, Xiamen and Harbin, is also training students unconventionally. In one of the company's programs, students are required to read a novel, watch a dramatization of the work and re-enact the play.

"By asking them to watch a video of the story and play a drama of it, students place themselves into that environment and it is more logical for them to develop critical thinking," Li says.

There are about 30 teachers at USAdaxue. Li says he plans to recruit more this year to meet an increasing demand for SAT training.

liaoxue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/18/2012 page11)