World Class Tests Candidates Are Better at Arriving at Right Answers Than Explaining the Reasoning | The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

World Class Tests in Mathematics and Problem Solving administered by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found that Hong Kong students are better at getting the right answers than at explaining the reasoning process.This observation was made based on the results of 2,273 students who took part in the April 2010 World Class Tests for the 8-11 age group and the 12-14 age group.

These include 1,529 students from 124 primary schools and 744 students from 73 secondary schools. Among them, 1,504 of these students, or 66%, were boys, while 769, or 34%, were girls.

“Over the years, we have observed that Hong Kong students are in general well trained in doing examination papers, especially in answering multiple choice questions that do not require the candidate to explain his reasoning process. The results of the latest Tests further confirmed this observation,” said Prof Wong Man-Yu of the HKUST Mathematics Department.

Prof Edmund Chiang of the same department said, “While it is often sufficient for an examination candidate to be able to arrive at the correct answer, this is not good enough if the student wishes to explore the subject in greater depth. It is equally important for the student to understand the topic in a holistic manner and be able to explain clearly the thinking process behind. This is particularly important to a person’s lifelong development.”

The World Class Tests

Since the launch of the World Class Tests in 2001 by the British Government’s Department for Education and Skills for assessing and nurturing gifted youngsters, the Tests have become an international benchmark for Mathematics and Problem Solving. The questions in the tests are designed by professors of renowned universities in the UK, USA and Australia.

The Tests were first introduced in Hong Kong in 2004, and since then, about 32,000 students from about 400 primary and secondary schools have taken the Tests. In 2008 HKUST was commissioned to promote and administer the Tests in the Asian region.

World Class Tests are organized throughout the world in April and November each year, and the results announced today are of the April 2010 tests conducted at various school test sites in Hong Kong.

More information about the World Class Tests is available through the following link: https://www.worldclasstests.hk/en.

For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :

Ross Lai
Tel: 2358 6306 / 9103 2928
Email: rosslai@ust.hk

Donna Wong
Tel: 2358 6317
Email: donnaw@ust.hk