How Educated is Our Working Society???
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SOME Singaporeans may think the world of themselves, and a few actually believe the sun revolves around the earth.
Six of them - including three Shenton Way executives - said this when they were asked a series of basic questions on science.
They were among 100 mostly professionals and working adults polled by The New Paper.
COMMON RESPONSE
Other questions which stumped many included those on insects' legs and the gas that makes up most of air. (See below for questions.)
One-fifth of those polled did not know that an insect has six legs. Most of those who answered wrongly thought insects have eight legs. Other answers included four, 10 and 12 legs.
A common response to this question was 'it depends on what insect it is'.
More than a quarter could not answer half the eight questions correctly.
And only three of the 100 people polled managed a perfect score.
Singaporeans, however, can take heart that they fared somewhat better than Americans in a similar poll.
Reporting on the poll held in the US this year, The New York Times said about one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun moves around the earth.
And only about half know that humans did not live at the same time as the dinosaurs. However, this may not be caused by the inadequate teaching of maths and science in US schools.
Rather, it may point to the arrogance of liberal arts and cultural snootiness among the population, said the report.
According to some Americans interviewed for the poll, not knowing 'who Plato, Monet or Dickens is would be considered a more heinous crime, as compared to being oblivious about Einstein's Theory of Relativity'.
Singapore is known for having plenty of talent in science and maths, having had students participate and win competitions regionally and internationally.
BEST PERFORMANCE
In July 2005, five junior college students won three gold and two bronze medals at an international physics competition, giving Singapore its best performance in the 17 years that it has taken part.
The Republic ranked a respectable fifth out of 74 participating countries.
So, one may assume there is a reasonably high level of science literacy in Singapore.
However The New Paper poll, conducted in Shenton Way and the Tampines town centre, revealed that many working professionals here have a rather poor knowledge of science.
'My goodness, I'm shocked,' said teacher Goh Cheo Hoon, 45, when told about the few who didn't know that the earth goes around the sun.
'Maybe they got it mixed up because it was a survey and they had to give the answer on the spot.'
But it wasn't just that question.
One-fifth did not have a clue that photosynthesis is the process by which plants convert carbon dioxide to oxygen during the day.
Mr Albert Tan, 30, a banker, thought photosynthesis is the process by which plants flower. When told that his answer was wrong, he was not very bothered, responding with a simple 'Oh, okay'.
One-third of those polled did not know that nitrogen makes up 78 per cent of the air we breathe.
A typical answer from Madam Tan Muey Kee, 53, a housewife: 'It has to be oxygen. How else do we survive?'
Other answers included carbon dioxide and even hydrogen, which is not even normally present in the air.
As the questions got tougher, such as the one which asked for the most common hydrocarbon in petrol, almost everyone got it wrong.
About 40 of those polled did not have a clue about this, while about 50 tried to guess and got it wrong.
Only seven of the 100 respondents managed to give the correct answer - octane.
On the chemical name of salt, Ms Nicolette Chan, 25, a clerk, said: 'Erm, it's sodium something, I've never used the chemical name since I left school.'
So, are people just memorising facts while in school and forgetting them after that?
When asked for her view on this, a teacher, who gave her name only as Ms Tay, said: 'Upon graduation, adults are likely to lose touch with areas involving science, unless they go into specialised research and development.'
Another teacher, who teaches chemistry in a secondary school, said: 'Most people don't observe the things around them and they can't relate to the questions asked.'
So it was not surprising that the only three who got a perfect score were all junior college students who had just completed their A-level examinations.
One of them, Mr Cheng Mao Xin, 18, said: 'People usually don't apply what is learnt in school, so a lot of things are forgotten or under-utilised.'
Miss Cindi Ho, also 18, felt the same way. She said: 'Some of these facts were learnt in primary school, so they might have forgotten them as people don't keep their knowledge up to date. Most just study for exams and drop the facts after that.' - Additional reporting by Yang Yanyi and Goh Su Xin
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THE QUESTIONS
1) Does the sun move around the earth or does the earth move around the sun?
Answer: Earth moves around the sun
Correct: 94 out of 100 polled
Wrong: 6
Don't know: 0
2) How many legs does an insect have?
Answer: 6
Correct: 80
Wrong: 19
Don't know: 1
3) What is photosynthesis?
Answer: Process by which plants make food using carbon dioxide and water
Correct: 80
Wrong: 13
Don't know: 7
4) What is the chemical name of salt?
Answer: Sodium chloride
Correct: 44
Wrong: 28
Don't know: 28
5) What is the chemical the body secretes when a person is under stress, fear or excitement?
Answer: Adrenaline
Correct: 38
Wrong: 17
Don't know: 45
6) What's the name of the common hydrocarbon in fuel?
Answer: Octane
Correct: 7
Wrong: 53
Don't know: 40
7) Which gas constitutes the largest percentage of air?
Answer: Nitrogen
Correct: 64
Wrong: 31
Don't know: 5
How many planets are there in the solar system?
Answer: 9
Correct: 69
Wrong: 29
Don't know: 2
The Science Poll covered 100 mostly working professionals and adults -
It is not important for a finance executive to know the periodic table or programming in FOTRAN to do his/her job.
Similarly, a programmer does not need to know how predict the stock market or drive a taxi to do his/her job well.
Each professional knows a lot about their chosen trade while having mediocre knoweldge in other areas. -
That insect question is so ambiguous.
Should slap the person who came up with it in the first place. -
I think the results are OK. New Papaer is simply doing a cheap poll and trying to sensationalise to sell paper. And some are dumb enough to take it seriously.
I think our workforce is definitely educated but lacks critical thinking skills. -
ha ha... Nicely put.Originally posted by Salman:I think the results are OK. New Papaer is simply doing a cheap poll and trying to sensationalise to sell paper. And some are dumb enough to take it seriously.
I think our workforce is definitely educated but lacks critical thinking skills. -
Ambiguous?Originally posted by ditzy:That insect question is so ambiguous. Should slap the person who came up with it in the first place. 
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So what about the sun revolving around earth..?Originally posted by SilverPal:It is not important for a finance executive to know the periodic table or programming in FOTRAN to do his/her job.
Similarly, a programmer does not need to know how predict the stock market or drive a taxi to do his/her job well.
Each professional knows a lot about their chosen trade while having mediocre knoweldge in other areas. What kind of profession is that? -
The New Paper fails to realize that Singaporeans don't care about science. It's money we are interested in...
They should ask questions like where is the nearest 4-D shop, how much is the top prize for Toto, etc. -
i only know the correct answers to 5 of the 10 questions.
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Most of the questions I agree are basic science but unless you have been teaching your children you may not know the details, like there are 6 legs in an insect.
But who would learn what chemicals our body secretes under stress? I only know I vomit blood ....
and who says octane is the number of hydrocarbon in fuel?? what fuel? diesel fuel, gasoline, marine fuel or jet fuel? we only need to know the octane number of the gasoline we need for our cars, and octane number is not the number of hydrocarbon.
I won't be too concerned if i don have a perfect score, but I do wonder why there are ppl still thinking that sun revolves around earth, are there still ppl believing that the earth is square?
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anyway monthly income is more important.
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Applying what one already knows in a vocation or existing knowledge in whatever one happens to be engaged in may be more useful than trying to get the next academic qualification recognized by the society.
From young, many of us have been indoctrinated with a system of scoring overall academic results rather than applying knowledge in whatever one has learned in order to go to the next level in our academic system of education.
Many keep trying to study everything or gain more overall knowledge instead of appling existing knowledge in what one may be professionally engaged in.
Thus, many students keep trying to get to the next level and get the next paper qualification. An average person will want to get to the university instead of making good to be a better mechanic or technician or craftsman. As a result, we miss out in many fields in applying certain existing knowledge to excellence which is what entrepreneurship or economic vibrancy is all about.
We do have see many of our people excelling in existing professions or trades.
If only our students in schools can learn early to choose certaint trades or fields of professions and try to cultivate the passion to excel or apply knowledge in those fields, we could have produced many more entrepreneurs and professionals and prepare them better early in school or university so that some of them will excel in those professions or trades.
When one is well prepared to go into trades or professions, ne will probably fare better in life and become a businessman or entrepreneuer. However most students will want to graduate in traditional university route instead of trying to apply a trade or knowledge with passion.
That is why we are producing so many graduates and many are following the beaten path of academics and very few are becoming entrepreneurs or businessmen.
There is a Chinese saying - every vocation has its mandarin. Thus, we should get more people to apply their professional knowledge in whatever they are engaged in and specialise in them to excellence instead of trying get more qualifications and more chase.
Hence, a mathematician should go on focusing on applying his mathematics and an accountant in his accounting and a doctor in his medicine.
The problem with our society is there is too much generalists and managers and too few people are concerned with doing what he is best at.
Consistency and focus gets one his results but many people try to be good in everything...because many people have learned this habit from his school days and try always to score points in overall subjects...trying to get recognition instead of trying to get results. -
7/8! Haha...
Welcome to Singapore....
You study hard -> Smart
Smart - > Lots of A's
Lot's of A's -> Smart school
Smart school -> Good degree
Good degree -> Top management
Therefore: You're in the top level, you're expected to be smart.
And why didn't TNP say anything like, Einstein (or was it Edison) failed his maths when he was young, or say anything about Bill Gates educational history?
They nothing else to write liao lah... -
Politicians believe in rules and not exceptions to the rules. They rule that way. Yet, the truth is they are the exceptions and others the rules.
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The point is that we are moving quickly towards a knowledge-based economy...I need employees who can perform PCR and expression profiling, I don't need those who have a world of experience with outdated techniques..existing knowledge is useless in an industry that is moving quickly. Why should I care if you are an expert in COBOL or FORTRAN if my systems use a different language?Originally posted by robertteh:Applying what one already knows in a vocation or existing knowledge in whatever one happens to be engaged in may be more useful than trying to get the next academic qualification recognized by the society.
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Totally agree... Why should my programmer care if the sun revolves around the earth of vice versa?Originally posted by oxford mushroom:The point is that we are moving quickly towards a knowledge-based economy...I need employees who can perform PCR and expression profiling, I don't need those who have a world of experience with outdated techniques..existing knowledge is useless in an industry that is moving quickly. Why should I care if you are an expert in COBOL or FORTRAN if my systems use a different language? -
you mean you run the country by exceptions? Wouldn't that be disastrous?Originally posted by robertteh:Politicians believe in rules and not exceptions to the rules. They rule that way. Yet, the truth is they are the exceptions and others the rules.