| Students in the US and | Students in China, Japan and Korean |
| What do they value? | | goals and purposes |
| Ways of study | working individually | listen to the teachers |
| forming their own ideas and opinions | memorizing and |
| a lot of discussion in the classroom | not much discussion |
| Learning to think for themselves | learning much more math and by the end of high |
| studying more hours each day and more days each year |
| good for a society that values ideas. | good for a society valuing and self-control |
| disadvantages | students haven't memorized many basic rules and facts when before | Information is forgotten easily |