I think many colleagues may face many difficulties when teaching students nowadays. They may have a general impression that teaching students today is more difficult to some extent when compared with the past. Indeed, I found today's students are different from those in the 1980s. Upon reading an alumni's magazine from Canada, I wish to share two pieces of news that concern education today as well as advancement of education in China:
"In 1978 China spent less than $2 billion on education, health, and other social investments. By 2006 that number was $117 billion, a 58-fold increase. In 2007 China surpassed the US in the numbers of college graduates focusing on science, math, engineering, and technology fields. By 2030, China will have 200 million college graduates – more than the entire US workforce. Today, China ranks sixth in the world among countries with the most universities ranked in the world's top 500 universities." (p.28-29)
"In the US, a federal survey showed that the literacy of college-educated citizens declined between 1992 and 2003. Only a quarter were deemed proficient, defined as "using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals and to develop one's knowledge and potential." Almost a third of students these days do not take any courses that involve more than 40 pages of reading over an entire term. There is apparent grade inflation. A remarkable 43% of all grades at four-year universities are As, an increase of 28 percentage points since 1960. Grade point averages rose from about 2.52 in the 1950's to 3.11 in 2006." (p.28-29)
Though it is glad to see more youngsters are getting higher and better education in China, it looks the same sort of problem is faced not only in Hong Kong but also in the US. By understanding the behavior of students nowadays, we can try our best to think of methods of improving our students as this would probably be one of the important tasks for any one of us. Undoubtedly, enhancing confidence in the mind of students in achieving a better grade, a real rather than an inflated one, is probably an essential prerequisite to success.
Reference
Global trends: Excerpts from around the world. (2013), (Fall/Winter), Viewpoints, 33(2), 28-29.