15-year-olds in Asia are better problem solvers than in the US

Children in Asian countries like Singapore and South Korea are on average better problem solvers than their European and American peers, according to a new OECD study.
Students in Asian countries are quick learners, highly inquisitive and able to solve unstructured problems in unfamiliar contexts, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.
In 2012 the OECD tested more than 85,000 15-year-olds in 44 countries and economies on their problem solving skills, testing their ability to explore limitations or obstacles and to understand information given to them.
While Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea were among the top-performing economies, the US scored just above the average and Russia and Israel lagged behind with lower-than- average scores.

The OECD says ability to crack complex problems is key to the economic success in the future.
"Today's 15-year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrow's adults struggling to find or keep a good job," said Andreas Schleicher, acting director of education and skills at the OECD.

The problems in the test were designed to be similar to those faced by many workers in every day situations -- such as using an unfamiliar mobile phone or a ticket-vending machine.
The students were also asked to consider situations involving a number of alternatives and constraints to make a decision -- for example choosing the right pain killer given sufficient details about the patient, their complaints and the available pain killers.

One question asked the children to plan a seating plan for a birthday party according to the wishes of the individual party guests.
The results suggested that one in five students in the OECD countries is only able to solve "very straightforward problems -- if any -- provided they refer to familiar situations, such as choosing from a catalog of furniture, showing different brands and prices, the cheapest models to furnish a room."
But the same students failed when put in new situations and asked to solve unfamiliar problems.
The report says this is a consequence of education focused on various sets of rules, such as the rules of algebra. While algebra is important, the reports points out that in real world, applying the rules of mathematics is only the second part of finding a solution to a problem.

"The first step -- the step computers can't do -- involves examining the messy set of facts in a real-world problem to determine which set of algebraic rules to apply," CNN quoted the study as saying.