Smarter than a Harvard Senior?

[matgb]

Um, I don't know how to react to this. paulatpingu asks So how much do you know about American civic history?

On this quiz I scored 66%, which would place me in one of the top three American Universities when the same quiz was carried out there. Basically, even though I know very little about the specifics of US history, my general knowledge on the subject is better than most American college students.

The quiz itself is here at American Civic Literacy, my result?

You answered 47 out of 60 correctly — 78.33 %

Now, admittedly, some of the questions are about political theorists (Plato and Locke, for example), which both of us studied as undergrads. But, um, it's mostly about United States history and governance. From the breakdown of results by US college (they tested students in the Senior year):

1. Harvard University 69.56%

I, a Brit, score better in a test of US history, than the average senior at Harvard, the premier US university? And despite temptation, no googling, no look ups, just general knowledge and educated guesses.

I know there are smart, capable, switched on USians out there--a chunk of them are on my friends list. But seriously, if even the most educated know so little about their own history and system of government...

My brain hurts. Take the test, can you beat a Harvard senior?

---

Catching up, thanks for all the supportive comments during my travels yesterday, brain is now slowly waking back up

Comments

[nadriel.livejournal.com]

You answered 35 out of 60 correctly — 58.33 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.1%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 75.1%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

Not bad considering I've never studied American history, politics or economics....

[paulatpingu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for picking this up - it deserves the wider audience that your LJ will give it. I couldn't believe how low the average mark on this test was - Becky got 60% on the quiz and she willing admits to knowing 'practically nothing' about US history.

I mean, some of the questions are pathetically easy, with options that are clearly joke options. With this, and, supposedly, a decent knowledge of the history of your own country, surely you'd do better, right?

[matgb]

it deserves the wider audience that your LJ will give it

Um, yeah. 32 comments and rising--I keep forgetting at times how much reach I can have if I need it. Thanks for posting it; where did you see it from?

[dainul.livejournal.com]

56%. Most of the answers were educated guesswork, though. There was a fair bit of political and economic theory I simply guessed what sounded half plausible.

[matgb]

The guesswork/plausibility thing is part of doing well--I figured some of the questions out by first principles. Given your background in science some of the stuff is going to be not covered--I do wish civics and history were taught more generally though.

[waka-laka.livejournal.com]

You answered 40 out of 60 correctly — 66.66 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.1%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 75.1%

Sweet, I'm not that far off! I DID learn something in my A Level American History classes!

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

I think I'll pass on the test.

I've been presented with enough evidence of my stupidity for one day thanks! LOL

[hano.livejournal.com]

You answered 44 out of 60 correctly — 73.33 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.1%

Not bad, the economic theory and Constitutional details let me down. And I'm surprised the the Federal Govt has spent more on social security than the military over the years but they you go.

[matgb]

I got that one wrong as well--I went for interest on national debt. Military would've been second choice though.

[nwhyte]

Heh. I got 55 out of 60 — 91.67 % !

[matgb]

Now why doesn't that surprise me at all?

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

46 out of 60, although I should have known two more but didn't think long enough about them before picking an answer...

[matgb]

I have the exhausted hangover from doom as well, some of my answers were a bit daft in hindsite. I'm guessing LJers generally will score well, we tend to be knowledge junkies. Well, my corner does, anyway.

[nannyo.livejournal.com]

but you were a politics type student, right? So it makes sense that you studied things like that. Harvard teaches people all sorts of things, including a large number of sciencey type things, and engineering type things, and language, and arts that are not history or politics related. So surely it's impressive that the average senior, while studying a lot of other stuff, very intensely, can score approximately 70% on that test? That's how I look at that statistical analysis.

I'm not sure that a survey of UK students at even the top universities would score so highly on our own political history.

Please don't use an internet press release to damn a whole nation... I'm not sure the UK would measure up so well.
N.

[strictlytrue.livejournal.com]

I agree totally with this analysis.

There's a further point, too - age difference. I know a vast amount more about US and UK civic history now than I did as an undergraduate.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

39 out of 60- I know very little about Plato, American History, their legal system or economics. I wouldn't be surprised to have got similar results if the quiz had been UK-based.

[matgb]

if the quiz had been UK-based
I might cobble one together when I've time, might be good for a laugh.

[getawaywithit.livejournal.com]

You answered 57 out of 60 correctly — 95.00 %

Though I have a slight advantage over some takers in having had a year's education in the US - though that was over 15 years ago and at High School level.

[matgb]

That and general politics geekery and a bit of general knowledge I think. Certainly explains some of my scores, I've no real economics training, I just want to know as much as I can.

[akicif.livejournal.com]

You answered 49 out of 60 correctly — 81.67%

Okay, so the quiz is mostly based on what they'd have learned at school, but I'd still have expected it to be harder.

[tinuvielberen.livejournal.com]

Oh dear:

49/60 81.67%

...and I'm a Yank!

[matgb]

I'm not sure whether you're pleased with that result or not--I think a perfect score would be wrong--KC below got 88%, and we know she's well infromed, and Jenn (baseballchicao3) teaches politics, she got 90.

There is a slight bias to my results, both Paul and I are politics geeks anyway, so a lot of it was second nature to us.

[shaysdays.livejournal.com]

You answered 42 out of 60 correctly — 70.00 %
Average score for this quiz during September: 75.1%
Average score since September 18, 2007: 75.1%
You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

I got nearly every question having to do with dates wrong- I've never been good with dates no matter what the subject.

Still, I can handle being a C student- considering I never actually went to college, I think that's not too bad.

[matgb]

Aye, that's not bad at all really, you've beaten some above who've got postgrad degrees. OTOH, I think the test would be easier for internet geeks--I know you've read through comment threads on MQ where a bunch of us have gone into minute detail about how things work, bound to pick some stuff up.

But yeah, dates are a bit of a weakness for me at times, fortunately most of these were fine--I think I got the Jamestown question wrong, beyond that I was ok.

[ms-ntropy.livejournal.com]

I'm torn between being pleasantly surprise and kicking myself for my 66.67% score.

But one thing remains true in spite of it all: Friends don't let friends go to Harvard.

[matgb]

Oh? I don't know much about the internal politics of US university choice--I know I rejected the idea of OxBridge, but I'm not aware of an anti-Harvard thing.

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

I'm relieved. I beat you. I scored 51 out of 60 correctly for a total score of 85%.

Basically, I was boned on the financial questions. My knowledge of history, governance, and governing philosophy saved my bacon on this one.

But still...this makes me very depressed. When I was in grammar school (6 to 11 years of age), many school systems were already phasing out "social studies" (basically civics) from the curriculum. By the time I was in high school (14 to 18), no one was teaching it at all.

The loss of civics from the classroom has demonstratively hurt U.S. citizens. It makes me deeply sad.

[matgb]

It was the financial ones that helped me up I think, all the reading about economics I've been doing gave me a solid grounding, that and I've studied all the theorists, including the Federalist Papers.

The UK is now bringing in 'citizenship' lessons, we've not had them before recently, and the lack of knowledge of the average person is at times palpable--I had planned at one point to be a history teacher, how that translated to IT marketing is another thing entirely.

The thing that bothers me is that the US makes such a big thing about the citizen-democracy thing, so to find such ignorance at such a high level disturbs me. We've always just muddles through, ignorance is still seen by some as a virtue, but we're getting better. Ah well.

[caseytalk.livejournal.com]

88.3%, but I'm a ringer. One of them I mis-read or I would have scored higher.

[matgb]

I'm a ringer

I didn't have you specifically in mind when I wrote the piece, but yeah, generalisations always daft. Average Joe getting not many right wouldn't surprise me, they are fairly involved questions at times, but the higher end should just know it.

OTOH, a few people have pointed out it's the mean of all Harvard students, not just those taking governance specialties. Ah well.

[baseballchica03.livejournal.com]

I'm TAing the intro to American government and politics class this semester. I had to cancel my recitations last week because of Rosh Hashana, so I assigned the students to e-mail me either questions or what they thought was a key point from the chapter. One of my students asked why the Americans were subject to British rule if they weren't in England.

Um... what? How do you get to be 18 years old - educated in a former colony, no less - and not understand what a colony is?

I got 54/60 = 90%, which is not so bad considering that I haven't taken economics since high school and I haven't done political theory in a good eight years. (That's where I missed all of my questions.)

[matgb]

My brain hurts again. I'm guessing the same person would be utterly bemused at the constitutional position of places like Puerto Rico as well. I expected you and caseytalk to score best, but it turns out you've been beaten by a Brit. Not by much though--95%.

[burkesworks.livejournal.com]

You answered 43 out of 60 correctly — 71.67%

Mostly the questions on law and, to a lesser degree, economics that let me down. I'd be interested in a UK-centric version of this quiz.

[matgb]

I'll look into some scripts so I can host it, might ask for suggestions, or just work one through with SB over the weekend.

[mooism.livejournal.com]

You answered 52 out of 60 correctly — 86.67 %

Frankly, this scares me.

[matgb]

What, your result or the US lack of?

You beat me--given that it's effectively my specialty and not yours, that's definitely cheating.

[doccy.livejournal.com]

60% success rate here - and the right answers came through (a) educated guessing, and (b) The Films I Have Seen ("We hold these truths to be self-evident... and so on").

[susanne-est-moi.livejournal.com]

Well, I got 55/60 and I'm only a Harvard SOPHOMORE! Mwahaha. Oh dear.

I must say though, I expect to remember much less of this by the time I'm a senior.

In high school, I took AP US history, AP economics, and AP government, which constitute a grand majority of that test. I'm starting to forget already (and I never knew all the philosopher stuff to begin with).

Sooo...yeah. Some of it I expect my peers to remember, but some of that stuff is REALLY not important in the grand scheme of "things to know", especially when it can all be wikapediaed quite easily.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

You answered 35 out of 60 correctly — 58.33 %

[pickwick.livejournal.com]

I got 66.something percent, which is pretty amazing since I'm another person who'd claim to know nothing about American history, and while I studied politics for a year at uni, it was pretty basic "here are the types of voting system, here are the influences on how people vote" sorta thing.

I've never officially learned any economics at all, but...I read the news. I go and find out about stuff like interest rates so I can figure out if my mortgage will go up. That sort of thing. Apparently, this qualifies me for Princeton!

[frankie-ecap.livejournal.com]

I got 44/60 (73.33%) - I was actually amazed that I did that well. A lot of my answers were guesses.

It is a great shame that we don't learn more of this.