Session Information
09 SES 04 A, Findings from International Comparative Achievement Studies: Relationships in Mathematics and Science Performance
Paper Session
Contribution
The Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA], a project of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], aims to assess whether the students near the end of compulsory education have essential knowledge and skills to participate in modern societies (OECD, 2010). PISA allows the participating countries monitor the yields of their compulsory education systems by assessing the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science in three-year cycles. In each cycle, one subject area is designated as the main focus, called the major domain. In PISA 2006 and 2009, scientific literacy and reading literacy were the major domains of assessment, respectively.
Turkey participated in PISA 2003, 2006, and 2009. The results of these tests provided the state of science education in Turkey. In all 3 tests, Turkish students consistently performed below the international average. Nevertheless, Turkey ranked the third among the participating countries that improved their science scores from PISA 2006 to PISA 2009. Many research studies have been conducted to examine possible causes of Turkish students’ science achievement levels in a single PISA test (e.g. Alacacı & Erbaş, 2010; Anıl, 2009; Yalcin, Aslan, & Usta, 2012). Lacking are studies comparing the science achievement difference between two PISA tests. In this study, we sought to compare the determinants of Turkish students’ science achievement by constructing a model that partially explains science achievement of Turkish students in PISA 2006 and PISA 2009. Sharing this approach with other researchers might improve the current model that we constructed. Also, the model could be adapted for different countries to examine the students’ science achievement in those countries.
Previous research revealed that the determinants of student achievement could be classified into three categories: family characteristics, student characteristics, and school characteristics (Engin-Demir, 2009; Sousa, Park, & Armor, 2012). Family characteristics are typically measured by parental education level, parent occupation, and family’s economic means such as family income, household wealth, cultural possessions, and availability of a study room. Student characteristics include students’ gender, region, ethnic background, motivation, effort, and scholastic activities such as learning time of a subject matter. School characteristics are usually determined by school size, teacher-student ratio, teacher quality, instructional resources (e.g. instructional materials, library, and laboratory equipment), teacher shortage, and ability grouping in school or classrooms. In our model, we focused on family, student, and school related factors to examine how these factors influence the science achievement. When we selected variables from PISA 2006 and 2009 data sets for our hypothesized model, we considered the following criteria: The variables should exist in both PISA 2006 and 2009 data sets; previous research could suggest variables; and the selected variables might not hinder the working model. Therefore, the research questions that guided this study are: (1) Is there any model explaining the equality of the factor structure across PISA 2006 and PISA 2009 data sets? (2) To what extent, do family, student, and school related factors explain the variance in Turkish students’ science achievement in PISA 2006 and PISA 2009?
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Alacaci, C., & Erbas, A. K. (2010). Unpacking the inequality among Turkish schools: Findings from PISA 2006. International Journal of Educational Development, 30, 182-192. Anil, D. (2009). Factors Effecting Science Achievement of Science Students in Programme for International Students’ Achievement (PISA) in Turkey. Education and Science, 34 (152), 87-100. Engin-Demir, C. (2009). Factors influencing the academic achievement of the Turkish urban poor. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, 17–29. Jöreskog, K.G., & Sörbom, D. (1999). PRELIS 2: User’s Reference Guide. Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International, Inc. Kalender, İ., & Berberoğlu, G., (2009). An assessment of factors related to science achievement of Turkish students. International Journal of Science Education, 31(10), 1379-1394. OECD (2010). PISA 2009 results: What students know and can do – Student performance in reading, mathematics and science (Volume I). Sousa, S., David, E. J., & Armor, J. (2012). Comparing Effects of Family and School Factors on Cross-national Academic Achievement using the 2009 and 2006 PISA Surveys. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 14(5), 449-468. Yalcin, M., Aslan, S., & Usta, E. (2012). Analysis of PISA 2009 Exam according to some variables. Mevlana Intenational Journal of Education, 2(1), 64–71.
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