TIMSS 1995 Science in the Middle School Years: Table of Contents

Science Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Report

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Executive Summary

Introduction

Chapter 1: International Student Achievement in Science

Chapter 2: Average Achievement in the Science Content Areas

Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Science Content Area

Chapter 4: Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards the Sciences

Chapter 5: Teachers and Instruction

Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures

Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Appendix C: Selected Science Achievement Results for the Philippines

Appendix D: Selected Science Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German Speaking) - Eighth Grade

Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Science Achievement

Appendix F: Acknowledgments

Table of Contents (PDF format, includes page numbers)

Executive Summary

Introduction

Which Countries Participated?

Table 1: Countries Participating in TIMSS

Table 2: Information About the Grades Tested

What Was the Nature of the Science Test?

How Do Country Characteristics Differ?

Table 3: Selected Demographic Characteristics of TIMSS Countries

Table 4: Public Expenditure on Education at Primary and Secondary Levels in TIMSS Countries

Figure 1: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Curriculum Syllabi

Figure 2: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Textbooks

Figure 3: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Examinations

Chapter 1 : International Student Achievement in Science

What Are the Overall Differences in Science Achievement?

Table 1.1: Distributions of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 1.1: Multiple Comparisons of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 1.2: Distributions of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Figure 1.2: Multiple Comparisons of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

What Are the Increases in Achievement Between the Lower and Upper Grades?

Table 1.3: Achievement Differences in the Sciences Between Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)
What Are the Differences in Performance Compared to Three Marker Levels of International Science Achievement?

Table 1.4: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 1.5: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

What Are the Gender Differences in Science Achievement?

Table 1.6: Gender Differences in Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table 1.7: Gender Differences in Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

What Are the Differences in Median Performance at Age 13?

Table 1.8: Median Achievement in the Sciences: 13-Year-Old Students

Chapter 2 : Average Achievement in the Science Content Areas

How Does Achievement Differ Across Science Content Areas?

Table 2.1: Average Percent Correct by Science Content Areas - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table 2.2: Average Percent Correct by Science Content Areas - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table 2.3: Profiles of Relative Performance in Science Content Areas - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

What Are the Increases in Achievement Between the Lower and Upper Grades?

Figure 2.1: Difference in Average Percent Correct Between Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades) Overall and in Science Content Areas

What Are the Gender Differences in Achievement for the Content Areas?

Table 2.4: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Science Content Areas - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 2.5: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Science Content Areas - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Science Content Area

What Have Students Learned About Earth Science?

Table 3.1: Percent Correct for Earth Science Example Items -
Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.1: International Difficulty Map for Earth Science
Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Earth Science Example Items

What Have Students Learned About Life Science?

Table 3.2: Percent Correct for Life Science Example Items - Lower and
Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.2: International Difficulty Map for Life Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Life Science Example Items

What Have Students Learned About Physics?

Table 3.3: Percent Correct for Physics Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.3: International Difficulty Map for Physics Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Physics Example Items

What Have Students Learned About Chemistry?

Table 3.4: Percent Correct for Chemistry Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.4: International Difficulty Map for Chemistry Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Chemistry Example Items

What Have Students Learned About Environmental Issues and the Nature of Science?

Table 3.5: Percent Correct for Environmental Issues and the Nature of Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.5: International Difficulty Map for Environmental Issues and the Nature of Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Chapter 4 : Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards Science

What Educational Resources Do Students Have in Their Homes?

Table 4.1: Students' Reports on Educational Aids in the Home: Dictionary, Study Desk/Table, and Computer - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.2: Students' Reports on the Number of Books in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.3: Students' Reports on the Highest Level of Education of Either Parent - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.1: Country Modifications to the Definitions of Educational Levels for Parents' Highest Level of Education

What Are the Academic Expectations of Students, Their Families, and Their Friends?

Table 4.4: Students' Reports on Whether They Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.5: Students' Reports on Whether Their Mothers Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.6: Students' Reports on Whether Their Friends Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

How Do Students Spend Their Out-of-School Time During the School Week?

Table 4.7: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.8: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Leisure Time -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.9: Students' Reports on Total Amount of Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.10: Students' Reports on the Hours Spent Each Day Watching
Television and Videos - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade) .

How Do Students Perceive Success in the Sciences?

Table 4.11: Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.2: Gender Differences In Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.12: Students' Reports on Things Necessary to Do Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.13: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Get Their Desired Job - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.14: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Get Into Their Preferred University or Secondary School - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.15: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Please Their Parents - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

What Are Students' Attitudes Towards the Sciences?

Table 4.16: Students' Reports on About Liking the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.3: Gender Differences in Liking the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Chapter 5 : Teachers and Instruction

Who Delivers Science Instruction?

Table 5.1: Requirements for Certification Held by the Majority of Lower- and Upper-Grade (Seventh- and Eighth-Grade) Teachers

Table 5.2: Teachers' Reports on Their Age and Gender - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.3: Teachers' Reports on Their Years of Teaching Experience - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

What Are Teachers' Perceptions About Science?

Figure 5.1: Percentage of Students Whose Science Teachers Agree or Strongly Agree with Statements About the Nature of Science and Science Teaching - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.2: Percent of Students Whose Science Teachers Think Particular Abilities Are Very Important for Students' Success in Science in School - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

How Do Science Teachers Spend Their School-Related Time?

Table 5.4: Teachers' Reports on the Proportion of Their Formally Scheduled School Time Spent Teaching Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.5: Teachers' Reports on Average Number of Hours Integrated Science Is Taught Weekly to Their Science Classes - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.6: Average Number of Hours Students' Teachers Spend on Various School-Related Activities Outside the Formal School Day During the School Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.7: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Meet with Other Teachers in Their Subject Area to Discuss and Plan Curriculum or Teaching Approaches - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

How Are Science Classes Organized?

Table 5.8: Teachers' Reports on Average Size of Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.3: Teachers' Reports About Classroom Organization During Science Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

What Activities Do Students Do in Their Science Lessons?

Table 5.9: Teachers' Reports on Their Main Sources of Written Information When Deciding Which Topics to Teach and How to Present a Topic - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.4: Teachers' Reports About Using a Textbook in Teaching Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.10: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Ask Students to Do Reasoning Tasks - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.11: Teachers' Reports on Frequency with Which Their Teacher Gives a Demonstration of an Experiment - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.12: Students' Reports on Frequency of Doing an Experiment or Practical Investigation in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.13: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Things from Every Day Life in Solving Science Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

How Are Calculators and Computers Used?

Table 5.14: Students' Reports on Having a Calculator and Computer in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.15: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Students' Use of Calculators in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.16: Teachers' Reports on Ways in Which Calculators Are Used at Least Once or Twice a Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.17: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Science Class to Solve Excersizes or Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.18: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

How Much Homework Are Students Assigned?

Table 5.19: Teachers' Reports About the Amount of Science Homework Assigned - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.20: Teachers' Reports on Their Use of Students' Written Science Homework - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade) .

What Assessment and Evaluation Procedures Do Teachers Use?

Table 5.21: Teachers' Reports on the Types of Assessment Given "Quite A Lot" or
"A Great Deal" of Weight in Assessing Students' Work in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.22: Teachers' Reports on Ways Assessment Information Is Used "Quite A Lot" or "A Great Deal" - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.23: Students' Reports on Frequency of Having a Quiz or Test in Their Science Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures: Science Achievement Results for Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students

History
The Components of TIMSS

Figure A.1: Countries Participating in Additional Components of TIMSS Testing

Developing the TIMSS Science Test

Figure A.2: The Three Aspects and Major Categories of the Science Framework Table A.1: Distribution of Science Items by Content Reporting Category and Performance Category

TIMSS Test Design
Sample Implementation and Participation Rates

Table A.2: Coverage of TIMSS Target Population

Table A.3: Coverage of 13-Year-Old Students

Table A.4: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table A.5: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table A.6: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade) .

Table A.7: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table A.8: Overall Participation Rates - Upper and Lower Grades
(Eighth and Seventh Grades)

Indicating Compliance with Sampling Guidelines in the Report

Figure A.3: Countries Grouped for Reporting of Achievement According to Their Compliance with Guidelines for Sample Implementation and Participation Rates

Data Collection
Scoring the Free-Response Items

Table A.9: TIMSS Within-Country Free-Response Coding Reliability Data
for Population 2 Science Items

Table A.10: Percent Exact Agreement for Coding of Science Items for International and Within-Country Reliability Studies

Test Reliability

Table A.11: Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Coefficients - TIMSS Science Test - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Data Processing
IRT Scaling and Data Analysis
Estimating Sampling Error

Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Table B.1: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.2: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table B.3: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.4: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Appendix C: Selected Science Achievement Results for The Philippines

Table C.1: Philippines - Selected Science Achievement Results - Unweighted Data

Appendix D: Selected Science Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German-Speaking) - Eighth Grade

Table D.1: Denmark - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Table D.2: Sweden - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Table D.3: Switzerland (German-Speaking) - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Science Achievement

Table E.1: Percentiles of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table E.2: Percentiles of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table E.3: Standard Deviations of Achievement in the Sciences -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table E.4: Standard Deviations of Achievement in the Sciences -
Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Appendix F: Acknowledgments

Back to: Science Achievement in the Middle School Years

Science Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study / by Albert E. Beaton, Ina V.S. Mullis, Michael O. Martin, Eugenio J. Gonzalez, Dana L. Kelly, and Teresa A. Smith

Publisher: Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy,
Boston College.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-71250

ISBN 1-889938-03-3

For more information about TIMSS contact:

The International Study Center
Boston College
Manresa House
140 Commonwealth Ave.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States

For information on ordering this report, write the above address
or call +1-617-552-1600

Funding for the international coordination of TIMSS is provided by the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the IEA, and the Canadian government. Each participating country provides funding for the national implementation of TIMSS.

TIMSS 1995 is a project of the International Study Center
Boston College, Lynch School of Education