According to Apple Daily, Ming Pao, ETTV, BOC, FTV and TVBS, a
junior high school in Taipei city administered a commercially
published history examination that contained some controversial
items. This has caused some parents to complain to the media.
Example: "Taiwan got a bad deal when the occupation ended. Many
people died from starvation, the price of goods soared and the
mainlanders grew fatter day by day
(äàsõ^håkCì¯EêåÍC¨JêúêúMC¢Rêúêúì)."
What is this report about? Answer: 2/28
Example: "Prior to the 2/28 incident, there were popular sayings
among the people such as 'The old governor leaves and a new
governor comes,' 'The wolf leaves and the tiger comes,' 'We leave
hell in order to jump into the fire.' Whom is the old governor,
wolf and hell referring to?" Answer: Japan
But the most controversial question is this contemporary one:
"During the difficult process of democratization in Taiwan, which
president made no contribution whatsoever
(Näàs¯å»|³vàÙ?)?"
A. Chiang Kai-shek
B. Chiang Ching-kuo
C. Lee Teng-hui
D. Chen Shui-bian.
Out of 36 students in class, 30 (=83%) picked Chen Shui-bian as the
answer. According to one student, "Apart from being elected as
president, I cannot think of any other contribution of his."
Another student picked Lee Teng-hui because in his impression, Lee
Teng-hui is just an old guy who often spoke in Minnan dialect and
drew a high salary.
According to the scoring instructions, the correct answer is
"Chiang Kai-shek" and all those students who picked Chen Shui-bian
got zero on this item. Teachers and educators are complaining that
such questions are controversial (that is, one and only one answer
is right and the others are wrong for scoring purposes). While this
teacher was merely using a commercially available examination,
he/she should have exercised professional judgment to avoid using
such questions.
What about the adults? According to the Apple Daily automated
telephone poll of 208 respondents (note: small sample and
unreliable methodology), the question "During the democratization
of Taiwan, which president can be said to have made no
contribution?"
- 68% Chen Shuibian
- 21% Chiang Kai-shek
- 7% Lee Teng-hui
- 2% Chiang Ching-kuo
Apple Daily also has KMT Ma Ying-jeou's reaction: "It is unfair to
say that President Chen has made no contribution towards democracy,
because the policies that he proposes when he first assumed office
was popular with the people ... I would have picked 0, or none of
the above. All four presidents made contributions!"
Therein lies the problem with this exam question. It is not "Which
president made the least contribution towards the democratization
of Taiwan?" which is a relative question. Instead, it is an
absolute question: "Which president made no contribution whatsoever
towards the democratization of Taiwan?" and since the specificed
issue is the process of democratization (e.g. universal suffrage,
freedom of speech and press, etc), popular policies are not
irrevelant unless they pertain to that process.
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/AppleNews/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Article&NewsType=twapple&Loc=TP&showdate=20060416&Sec_ID=5&Art_ID=2542437