Examining Science Achievement in Chile: A Multilevel Model Approach

This study employed data from the 2015 Chilean sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment to examine the factors that influence science achievement and factors that may reduce the gender gap in science achievement. Our research was guided by Eccles’ Expectancy-Value Theory, which focused on motivational factors that influence gender differences in students’ achievement choices and performance. Our results indicate that socioeconomic status (SES), motivation, enjoyment of science, expected occupational status, school SES, and class size are related to higher science achievement. Also, anxiety was negatively associated with science achievement. Implications for Chilean policymakers and school administrators to improve Chilean girls’ science achievement are discussed.

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National Gross Domestic Product, Science Interest, and Science Achievement: A Direct Replication and Extension of the Tucker-Drob, Cheung, and Briley (2014) Study

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797619835768 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (5) ◽

pp. 776-788 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anqing Zheng ◽

Elliot M. Tucker-Drob ◽

Daniel A. Briley

Keyword(s):

Gross Domestic Product ◽

Low Socioeconomic Status ◽

Science Achievement ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Domestic Product ◽

Student Interest ◽

Similar Data ◽

Science Interest ◽

International Student Assessment

We replicated the study by Tucker-Drob, Cheung, and Briley (2014), who found that the association between science interest and science knowledge depended on economic resources at the family, school, and national levels, using data from the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In more economically prosperous families, schools, and nations, student interest was more strongly correlated with actual knowledge. Here, we investigated whether these results still held despite substantial changes to educational and economic systems over roughly a decade. Using similar data from PISA 2015 ( N = 537,170), we found largely consistent results. Students from more economically advantaged homes, schools, and nations exhibited a stronger link between interests and knowledge. However, these moderation effects were substantially reduced, and the main effect of science interest increased by nearly 25%, driven almost entirely by families of low socioeconomic status and nations with low gross domestic product. The interdependence of interests and resources is robust but perhaps weakening with educational progress.

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Gender, Parental Characteristics, and Financial Knowledge of High School Students: Evidence From Multicountry Data

Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning ◽

10.1891/1052-3073.30.1.97 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 97-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rebecca G. Chambers ◽

Carlos J. Asarta ◽

Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Financial Literacy ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Financial Knowledge ◽

Literacy Assessment ◽

School Students ◽

International Student Assessment

This study examines the gender gap in financial literacy by using the Financial Literacy Assessment from the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The analysis focuses on the influence of parents on their children's understanding of financial concepts, utilizing multilevel modeling procedures to examine variance among students, within schools, and within countries. Based on data from 18 countries, results suggest that a gender gap in financial knowledge favoring male high school students is present and that parents may influence their children's financial knowledge.

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Taiwan: Performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment

Improving a Country’s Education ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-59031-4_10 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 203-226

Author(s):

Su-Wei Lin ◽

Huey-Ing Tzou ◽

I-Chung Lu ◽

Pi-Hsia Hung

Keyword(s):

Gender Gap ◽

Education System ◽

International Student ◽

Cultural Beliefs ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Government Investment ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Rural And Urban ◽

Top Performers ◽

Math And Science

AbstractTaiwan has, from 2006, participated in five Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys. This chapter discusses Taiwan’s performance in PISA and its implications. At first, the education system and the process of educational reform in Taiwan were described. Then Taiwan’s performances for reading, math, and science in PISA were delineated. Taiwanese students have had consistently excellent performance for math and science; its reading performance, although not as outstanding as those for math and science, has improved significantly from 2009 to 2018. The gender gap in reading, in favour of female students, has narrowed, and the gender gap in math and science has been small. Educational equity, especially between rural and urban students, has also improved from 2006 to 2018. The proportion of high performers in reading and the proportion of low performers in reading, math, and science has increased from 2006 to 2018, while the proportions of top performers in math and science have decreased. These findings are interpreted from the perspectives of cultural beliefs, changes in the education system and national assessment, government investment in the related domains, and the nature of the PISA assessment.

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Teacher-Directed Learning Approaches and Science Achievement: Investigating the Importance of Instructional Explanations in Australian Schools

Research in Science Education ◽

10.1007/s11165-021-10002-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Dean Cairns ◽

Shaljan Areepattamannil

Keyword(s):

Science Achievement ◽

International Student ◽

Science Classroom ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Mediation Effect ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Instructional Explanations ◽

Significant Positive Association ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Scientific Ideas

AbstractThis study investigated the relationships of teacher-directed approaches with science achievement in Australian schools. The data for this study were drawn from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 database and analysed using multilevel modelling (MLM). MLMs were estimated to test the contribution of each item to students’ science achievement scores and to estimate the mediation effect of teacher explanations on these relationships. Only explicit, teacher-directed practices demonstrated a significant, positive association with science achievement. The positive, significant nature of the item ‘the teacher explains scientific ideas’ (B = 29.61, p < 0.001) suggested that this practice should take place in all science lessons. In the mediation model, the explicit, teacher-directed approaches in the inquiry scale revealed a significant indirect effect on science achievement, through the process of the teacher explaining scientific ideas. This indicated that effective explanations also underpin other instructional approaches such as contextualised science learning. These findings, accompanied by an analysis of the teacher-directed items and their relationships to science outcomes, give teachers and policymakers clear guidance regarding the effective use of instructional explanations in the science classroom.

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DETERMINATION OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL IN TURKEY AND SINGAPORE: AN APPLICATION OF QUANTILE REGRESSION MIXTURE MODEL

Journal of Baltic Science Education ◽

10.33225/jbse/20.19.247 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 247-260

Author(s):

Serpil Kiliç Depren

Keyword(s):

Quantile Regression ◽

Mixture Model ◽

Science Achievement ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Finite Mixture ◽

Achievement Level ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Regression Mixture

In the last decade, the usage of advanced statistical models is growing rapidly in many different disciplines. However, the Quantile Regression Mixture Model (QRMIX), which is a developed approach of the Finite Mixture Model (FMM), is an applicable new method in the educational literature. The aim of the proposed study was to determine factors affecting students' science achievement using the QRMIX approach. To reach this aim, data of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, which has been conducted by the Organization Economic for Co-Operation and Development (OECD) every 3 years, was used. Dataset used in the research is composed of 6,115 students from Singapore, which is the top-performer country among the participant countries, and 5,895 students from Turkey. The results showed that the factors affecting students' science achievement and its importance on the achievement differentiated according to the achievement levels of the students. In conclusion, it was revealed that Turkish students with the lowest science achievement level should be supported with home possessions, perceived feedback, and environmental awareness and Singaporean students with the lowest achievement level should be supported with perceived feedback, enjoyment of science, and epistemological beliefs. Keywords: finite mixture models, Programme for International Student Assessment, quantile regression mixture models, science performance.

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Immigrant optimism or immigrant pragmatism? Linguistic capital, orientation towards science and occupational expectations of adolescent immigrants

Large-scale Assessments in Education ◽

10.1186/s40536-021-00101-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Joanna Sikora ◽

Artur Pokropek

Keyword(s):

International Student ◽

Immigrant Students ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Occupational Status ◽

Playing Field ◽

Linguistic Resources ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

Strategic Adaptation ◽

Occupational Expectations ◽

Immigrant Optimism

Abstract Background Studies demonstrate that occupational optimism can boost adolescents’ academic attainment and perseverance in education. To contribute to this literature, we consider two hypotheses. The first posits that bilingual immigrants are remarkably resourceful and determined. Thus, they are more occupationally ambitious than their peers. The second proposes that immigrant students engage in “strategic adaptation” by specializing in science, viewed as a level playing field. Methods To assess these hypotheses at two points of time, we analyze data from 19 societies that participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2006 and 2015. Our primary method is path analysis with balanced replicate weights (BRR) undertaken separately for each country’s data. Results We find that, in many countries, bilingual immigrants expect to enter higher status occupations than non-immigrants. However, immigrants who do not speak another language are also optimistic, so linguistic resources cannot explain occupational ambition. Furthermore, immigrants accord science more instrumental value and enjoy it more at school, which accounts, across societies, for up to 12% of the variation in vocational optimism indicated by the expected occupational status, and up to 41% in plans to pursue a career in science professions. Conclusion Our results align with the “strategic adaptation” argument that many young immigrants might seek to specialize in science as a pragmatic tactic to ensure high occupational attainment.

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French Lower Secondary School—Collège

Lifelong Learning ◽

10.11118/lifele201606028 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 8-22

Author(s):

Miroslava Váňová

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Grade Retention ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Educational Process ◽

School Level ◽

School Type ◽

Lower Secondary School ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

And Performance

The paper deals with the comprehensive lower secondary school—Collège de France. It describes its origins, objectives, current configuration, development and present problems. In this context the author highlights the importance of this school level in terms of school system characteristics as well as in terms of different ways of addressing currently important problems such as grade retention, social and performance homogeneity or heterogeneity of class groups as well as social and performance diversity of educational institutions of this level. With regard to the fact that French system of education is not commonly known to the wider teaching public, the author initially presents the current state of this type of school as a result of a series of reforms and innovations which this school went through since its origin in the 70s of the 20th century, and which were primarily aimed at deepening its internal differentiation, while retaining its original goals of a school for all eleven to fifteen-year-old pupils. On this basis, the author shows the persisting problems coming from the great social and intellectual heterogeneity of pupils of this school type. These problems are documented in the form of opinions of various participants in the educational process, especially teachers and educators—researchers as well as in the form of results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In conclusion, the study presents the expected development in solving all the mentioned problems.

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Fostering Problem Solving and Performance Assessment among Malaysian Mathematics Teachers

Sains Humanika ◽

10.11113/sh.v9n1-2.1098 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (1-2) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Madihah Khalid

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Performance Assessment ◽

Mathematics Teachers ◽

Lesson Study ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

Evaluation Process ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

And Performance

Problem solving is considered important in the learning of mathematics because it develops the logical thinking aspect of doing mathematics. Thus it allows students to reason, communicate ideas, and employ knowledge to new and different variation of problems and situations. In the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) result on problem-solving, Malaysian 15 year olds scored 422, which is significantly below the OECD average of 500. One of the causes for the unsatisfactory performance is that our students’ ability to solve problems are not nurtured at the mainstream school. This paper will touch on some implication from the PISA result, the pedagogical approach of Malaysian mathematics teachers in teaching and learning of mathematics, and suggestions on how to implement lesson study to encourage teaching of mathematics through problem solving. At the same time, effective assessment of problem solving requires more than just looking at answers, it also involves a thorough analysis of the process. Therefore, in the evaluation process of problem solving in mathematics, the role of performance assessment will be examined – for example how it can be implemented together to satisfy the School-based assessment needs. Finally, results of a few research on problem solving and lesson study approach will be presented. The author’s own research on lesson study, problem solving and performance assessment will be used as examples and discussed.

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A Partial Simulation Study of Phantom Effects in Multilevel Analysis of School Effects: The Case of School Socioeconomic Composition

Sociological Methods & Research ◽

10.1177/0049124120986195 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 004912412098619

Author(s):

Hao Zhou ◽

Xin Ma

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽

Science Achievement ◽

International Student ◽

Student Assessment ◽

The United States ◽

Linear Modeling ◽

Real World Data ◽

International Student Assessment ◽

School Ses

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is often used to estimate the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on academic achievement at different levels of an educational system. However, if a prior academic achievement measure is missing in a HLM model, biased estimates may occur on the effects of student SES and school SES. Phantom effects describe the phenomenon in which the effects of student SES and school SES disappear once prior academic achievement is added to the model. In the present analysis, partial simulation (i.e., simulated data are used together with real-world data) was employed to examine the phantom effects of student SES and school SES on science achievement, using the national sample of the United States from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment. The results showed that the phantom effects of student SES and school SES are rather real. The stronger the correlation between prior science achievement and (present) science achievement, the greater the chance that the phantom effects occur.

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