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Towards a More Curricular Focus in International Comparative Studies on Mathematics and Science Education
Abstract
From international comparative studies (TIMSS, PISA) it appears that students in lower secondary education in the Netherlands perform relatively well in mathematics and science compared to their peers from other participating countries. Policy-makers, especially, are eager to bring these positive outcomes into the limelight. However, one may wonder whether, in case of the Netherlands, there is good reason for such zeal. An evaluation study, conducted by the Netherlands Inspectorate of Education, shows that lower secondary schools do not meet the quality required in implementing a curriculum reform that started in 1993, entitled ‘basic secondary education’. So, in spite of all rhetoric on the positive outcomes of TIMSS and PISA in the Netherlands, when putting the relatively good student performance in the context of the implementation of this ambitious curriculum reform, many people become puzzled. Research findings on the quality of mathematics and science education seem to be in conflict with the results of TIMMS and PISA. This conclusion and also the observation that international comparative assessment studies have serious difficulty in meeting the goal of providing proper interpretations of student achievement, especially from a curriculum perspective, give reason to attempt to disentangle the conflicting images.
... The analytical framework is developed to evaluate the transition of teaching materials into classroom practice. The concept of curriculum representations is a broadly accepted theory on implementation that is commonly employed for this purpose (Goodlad, 1979;Van den Akker, 1998;Kuiper, Boersma & Van den Akker, 2005;Gilbert, 2006;Pilot & Bulte, 2006;Van Berkel, Pilot & Bulte, 2009). It served to define 'implementation as intended'. ...
Creating context-based learning environments has appeared to be quite a difficult problem (Pilot & Bulte, 2006). For teachers it involves a change in pedagogical approach and content to teach within a new vision on the goals and emphasis in science education. The research described in this chapter focuses on the implementation on factors that hinder or facilitate the implementation of innovative context-based teaching materials in classroom practice by senior chemistry teachers who are not familiar with context-based education.
There is ample evidence that failure lies ahead when curriculum renewal goals are not (or are inadequately) reflected in assessment approaches, procedures and instruments to be linked with the renewal. Changes in curriculum goals require concurrent changes in assessment and examination policies and practices. However, restructuring assessment is one of the most significant challenges facing science education curriculum reform. This chapter focuses on the importance of the alignment between science curriculum renewal efforts and assessment of learning by means of external exit examinations, and the traps involved in seeking this alignment. Three recently completed science curriculum renewal pilots in senior secondary education in the Netherlands (2007–2010) are used as exemplifying cases. These subject-specific pilots aimed at the development and piloting of new so-called examination programmes, outlining the goals to be attained and tested in the internal and external exit examinations for physics, chemistry and biology. The focus in all three renewals is on a context-based approach.
The three pilots have been supported by an extensive, independent evaluation study. It aimed at finding out to what extent the intended curriculum reforms have resulted in programmes that are, amongst other things, assessable by means of external pilot examinations. Data have been collected about the process of constructing external pilot examinations, the content of the external pilot examinations and the performances of the pilot students on these exams. The evaluation findings demonstrate the delicacy of finding a proper balance between the science education reform perspective and psychometric concerns about reliability and comparability. A too strong focus on psychometric issues tended to be the cause of some renewal ambitions and ideas being in danger of being overlooked.
Recent changes in the scholastic system in Poland, i.e cutting the secondary upper school from 4 to 3 years, show how such "reforms" can influence in a non-desired way teaching curricula, in particularly in exact and sequential sciences like Physics. As far as the basis, i.e. Newton's laws remained unchanged, the most dramatic cuts touched more advanced courses, like Electromagnetism. Some textbooks treat this subject in a very formal way, introducing vector algebra and integrals, other are much detailed in graphical explanations. In some books the whole magnetism is treated as a kind of "apparent phenomenon", using Einstein's special relativity theory and shrinkage of electrical charges in movement, with no mentioning magnets, electromagnets, Faraday's induction law and so on. We try to numerate "the minimum" notions – necessary steps which can not be removed if a secondary school curricula on electromagnetism should remain a valid didactical unit. The Polish education standards in Physics for the secondary upper school, issued by the Ministry of Education describes as the contents of teaching the following issues: Interactions in the nature, Type of interactions in micro and macroworld, Fields of forces and their influence on the motion. In the process of teaching Physics in the secondary upper school the teachers have to relate strictly the new contents to the knowledge already acquired by pupils in the gymnasium. It is absolutely necessary, because the students learn Physics only four hours over the whole lyceum cycle. The standards in Physics education list, for example, the following student achievements: 1. The observations and descriptions of Physics and Astronomy phenomena. 2. Planning and demonstrations of Physics experiments and simple astronomical observations, writing and analyzing the results. 3. Plotting and interpreting graphs. 4. Adaptation of Physics knowledge to explaining the functioning of technical devices and machines. To get these achievements it is necessary to do many experiments during the physics lessons. The best way is if the students prepare everything alone or with help of teacher and then present the experiments.
This book offers in-depth information resulting from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Launched in 1995, the TIMSS examines elementary and secondary mathematics and science achievement in 40 countries. The book explains that curriculum has a profound effect on student achievement and plays a crucial role in providing opportunities for student learning. The 11 chapters examine: (1) "How Does Curriculum Affect Learning?"; (2) "A Model of Curriculum and Learning"; (3) "Measuring Curriculum and Achievement"; (4) "The Articulation of Curriculum"; (5) "Curriculum Variation"; (6) "The Structure of Curriculum"; (7) "A First Look at Achievement"; (8) "Learning and the Structure of Curriculum"; (9) "Curriculum and Learning Gains across Countries"; (10)"Curriculum and Learning Within Countries"; and (11) "Schools Matter." The book concludes that reform efforts should be redirected to create challenging curriculum across all years of schooling for all students. The four appendixes focus on: TIMSS mathematics and science curriculum frameworks; relationship between content measurement categories for TIMSS framework, teachers, and TIMSS test; TIMSS framework codes and number of items for each mathematics and science test sub-area; and supplemental material related to the two-level analysis of mathematics achievement: chapter 10. (Contains 96 references, 56 tables, and 32 figures.) (SM)
In TIMSS-95, participating countries could administer the TIMSS Performance Assessment consisting of practical tasks, and considered to match well with the Dutch intended curriculum. But in 1995, Dutch students did not score as expected on this test, revealing a discrepancy between intended and attained curriculum. Therefore, in 2000, the test was replicated. Results show an increased teachers' acceptance of the test, but – still – no significant gain in Dutch students' achievements. Additionally, if reliability is well controlled, the study revealed that there are valid mathematics assessment alternatives, which can supplement paper-and-pencil tests, not only in The Netherlands.
Policy-makers in many nations are involved in educational reforms. To make effective educational decisions for the 21st century, policy-makers need information of a wide variety of kinds, such as comparative performance data and curriculum information from other nations. International surveys provide a broad base of information and allow countries to view their current status and planning within an international perspective. This paper describes the goals of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This study is the largest international comparative study of student achievement in mathematics and science ever attempted. 45 countries are participating and focus is on 9-yr-olds, 13-yr-olds, and students in their final year of secondary education. TIMSS was designed to obtain data that is meaningful in an international context and that will contribute to the formation of educational policy and reform in mathematics and science education in the participating countries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
PREFACE The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the g- ernments of the participating countries, is acomparative study of education in mathematics and the sciences conducted in approximately 50 educational systems on six continents. The goal of TIMSS is to measure student achievement in mathematics and science in participating countries and to assess some of the curricular and classroom factors that are related to student learning in these subjects. The study is intended to provide educators and policy makers with an unpar- leled and multidimensional perspective on mathematics and science curricula; their implem- tation; the nature of student performance in mathematics and science; and the social, econ- ic, and educational context in which these occur. TIMSS focuses on student learning and achievement in mathematics and science at three different age levels, or populations. • Population 1 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 9-year-old students; • Population 2 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 13-year-old students; and • Population 3 is defined as all students in their final year of secondary education, incl- ing students in vocational education programs. In addition, Population 3 has two “specialist” subpopulations: students taking advanced courses in mathematics (mathematics specialists), and students taking advanced courses in physics (physics specialists).
The primary aim of this introductory chapter is to outline some basic notions on curriculum and curriculum development. It is certainly not my aspiration to offer a comprehensive overview and analysis of the scholarly field of curriculum theory. For that purpose a number of thorough, extensive books are available, for example The Handbook of Research on Curriculum (Jackson, 1992a) or, more recently, Curriculum Books, The First Hundred Years (Schubert, Lopez Schubert, Thomas & Carroll, 2002). Nor is it my intention to provide a synoptic guide for the study of curriculum. For that purpose many valuable books have been published, for example Fundamentals of Curriculum (Walker, 1990, 2003) and Curriculum: Alternative Approaches and Ongoing Concerns (Marsh & Willis, 2003), to name two of my favorites.
Many visions, many aims (TIMSS Volume 1): A Cross-National Investigation of Curricular Intentions in School Mathematics 97003667 edited by William H. Schmidt ... [et al.]. ill. ; 27 cm. Includes bibliographical references. v. 1. A cross-national investigation of curricular intentions in school mathematics -- v. 2. A cross-national investigation of curricular intentions in school science.
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It is widely accepted that the Japanese educational system is more effective than the U.S. system and that this greater effectiveness produces across-the-board higher achievement. Using the data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA.) Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS), this paper examines both curriculum and achievement in Japan and the United States in grade 7/8 algebra and grade 12 elementary functions and analysis (calculus). The results suggest that overall, the lower achievement of the United States is the result of curricula that are not as well matched to the SIMS tests as are the curricula of Japan. Where the American curriculum is comparable to both the "curriculum" of the test and the curriculum of Japan, that is, in grade 8 algebra classes, U.S. achievement is similar to that of Japan. These findings suggest that the analytic methodology of cross-national achievement Studies like those of IEA or International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) with their focus on the undifferentiated variable of "country" as a unit of analysis needs to be rethought. While the emphasis on comparative national standings that emerges from such studies may excite political and public interest, it cannot be regarded as a legitimate approach to comparative analysis.
Discusses the national option mathematics test developed by Dutch educators because of doubts that the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) mathematics test was appropriate for Dutch students. Discusses test results that indicate that the TIMSS was, in fact, appropriate for use in the Netherlands. (SLD)
Discusses results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in the Netherlands. The TIMSS was given at a time of curricular innovation in the Netherlands. By the time of the 1999 TIMSS data collection, students may be more used to hands-on tasks than they are at present. (SLD)
IEA studies hold the promise of meeting governments’ needs to obtain information on how their educational system operates relative to other systems, which may help to identify deficiencies and strengths. In this paper, ways in which this information might influence policy and decision‐making are described and examples are provided of cases in which the findings of IEA studies have been reported to have influenced policy. Problems in interpreting and applying IEA findings are considered. Finally, nine conditions are outlined which international studies should meet if their findings are to satisfy the currently expressed needs of educational policy‐makers and decision‐makers.
Nederland in TIMSS-1999. Exacte vakken in leerjaar 2 van het voortgezet onderwijs
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Werk aan de basis. Evaluatie van de basisvorming na vijf jaar. Algemeen rapport
- Inspectie Van
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Curriculum reform and teaching practice (doctoral dissertation)
- W Kuiper
Wiskunde en de natuurwetenschappelijke vakken in leerjaar 1 en 2 van het voortgezet onderwijs. Nederlands aandeel in TIMSS populatie 2
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15: Natuur-en scheikunde in de basisvorming. Evaluatie van de eerste vijf jaar
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Comparing American and Japanese achievement: Is the United States really a low achiever? Educational Researcher
- I Westbury
- I. Westbury
Wiskunde en de natuurwetenschappelijke vakken in leerjaar 1 en 2 van het voortgezet onderwijs. Nederlands aandeel in TIMSS populatie 2
- W Kuiper
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