CSCL in Asia

Mainland China participated in 2009 in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests for the first time since PISA started to be administered internationally by the OECD in 2000. China was represented by students from Shanghai. Shanghai took first place in all three major categories: reading, science, and mathematics. The PISA tests are given every 3 years to a large sample of 15-year-old students in over sixty countries. In the recently released results from testing in 2009, generally 5 of the 6 top-placing countries were Asian (see Table 1). With the participating Asian countries all at the top, the United States and most of the European countries (except Finland) were way down in the mediocre world-average range. Of course, educational researchers may question the significance of standardized testing from many perspectives. In particular, CSCL researchers may wonder if high scores reflect an outmoded individualized drill-and-practice approach of memorizing facts rather than building knowledge collaboratively. Do winning scores result from an oriental Confucian philosophy that accepts traditional ways but will fail at creating innovation in a knowledge society? Arguing against such suspicions, the OECD report and associated videos (http://www. oecd.org/document/13/0,3343,en_2649_35845621_46538637_1_1_1_1,00.html#Videos) indicate that Shanghai’s success is the result of consciously forward-looking government policies. As quoted in the New York Times, OECD spokesman Andreas Schleicher summarized: