第三次国际数学与科学研究:美国的回应及其启示

第三次国际数学与科学研究(简称TIMSS),是国际上迄今为止规模最大、最为严密、最具综合性的国际教育比较研究。在41个TIMSS参与国中,美国的回应最为积极而强烈,其对TIMSS信息的分析最为精细,开发与传递的策略也最为巧妙。透过美国的回应方式与策略,我们至少可以得到三点启示:鉴别国际基准,需要对研究信息作精细的分析;中小学数学与科学课程改革需要审慎的态度和基于研究的决策;教育行政部门应在改革中行使“领导”和“服务”双重职能。     

Curriculum Lessons from Europe?

Next year Britain will enter the Single European Market. This may encourage greater alignment of special educational legislation here with the laws in other member countries. Roger Merry, senior lecturer in education, School of Education, Leicester University, asks what lesson can be learned from practice in Europe, especially in relation to the National Curriculum.     

Class size effects on mathematics achievement in Cyprus: evidence from TIMSS

Class size reduction has been viewed as one school mechanism that can improve student achievement. Nonetheless, the literature has reported mixed findings about class size effects. We used 4th- and 8th-grade data from TIMSS 2003 and 2007 to examine the association between class size and mathematics achievement in public schools in Cyprus. We employ instrumental variables methods, and take advantage of a regression discontinuity design to examine causal effects of class size on mathematics achievement. The results indicate a non-significant relationship between class size and mathematics achievement in 8th grades. However, there is evidence of positive class size effects in 4th grade. The gender gap is significant and favoured males in 4th grade and females in 8th grade. SES indexes such as parental education and items in the home are positively and significantly related to mathematics achievement. Teacher and school variables are not significantly related with mathematics achievement.     

Diagnosing Competency Mastery in Science: An Application of GDM to TIMSS 2011 Data

Numerous diagnostic studies have been conducted on large-scale assessments to illustrate the students’ mastery profile in the areas of math and reading; however, for science a limited number of investigations are reported. This study investigated Iranian eighth graders’ competency mastery of science and examined the utility of the General Diagnostic Model (GDM) to produce diagnostic information using TIMSS 2011 data. Eight diagnostic attributes were extracted, using documentary analysis of the major large-scale assessment frameworks, including basic science knowledge, using models, reasoning, using science, representing data, explaining of phenomena, predicting, and scientific inquiry. These attributes were then assigned to each item in order to construct the Q matrix, through focus group discussions, survey of head science teachers, think-aloud verbal protocol, and analysis of written answers. Results show the utility of GDM to generate rich diagnostic information for a national large-scale assessment. Moreover, the findings indicated that students performed relatively well in using science, but performed weakly in reasoning, explaining of phenomena, and scientific inquiry, which all required complex skills and higher-order thinking abilities.     

Re-reviewing item parameter equivalence in TIMSS 2015 from a sociocognitive perspective

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - From a sociocognitive perspective, item parameters in a test represent regularities in examinees’ item responses. These regularities...     

Examining the evidence from TIMSS: Gender differences in Year 8 science achievement in Australia

Australia's continuing participation in international science studies such as TIMSS provides a useful lens through which to monitor achievement in science over time. Gender differences in science were not evident in the early years of TIMSS but appear to be growing. This article examines gender differences in science achievement in early secondary schooling in Australia using data from the TIMSS 2003 study. The aim is to explore the cultural, social, structural and institutional factors that may differentially influence science achievement, with the aim of identifying which are more important for males and for females.     

Private tutoring in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: policy choices and implications

Private tutoring has become increasingly visible in Eastern Europe and Central Asia since the collapse of the socialist bloc in the early 1990s. Yet, this unprecedented growth of private tutoring, in its varied forms and arrangements, has remained largely unnoticed by policymakers in the region. Based on the data from the cross‐national studies of private tutoring in 12 countries, this explorative study examines factors driving the demand for private tutoring and discusses government responses to private tutoring in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine (research conducted in 2004–2005) and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan (research conducted in 2005–2006). The article analyzes various policy contexts and examines challenges that confront education stakeholders and policymakers as they formulate their responses to the rapidly‐spreading and constantly‐changing phenomenon of private tutoring. Finally, the article discusses whether, and to what extent, the existence of regulatory mechanisms influences the scope, nature, and implications of private tutoring across the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.     

TIMSS中的科学素养

一、关于TIMSS TIMSS是“第三次国际数学和科学研究”的英文缩写。它是国际教育成就协会(IEA)发起的、迄今为止规模最大的国际数学与科学教育比较研究。整个研究历时近十年,涉及45个国家和地区,先后有50万学生     

TIMSS视角下我国小学数学目标课程的比较研究

使用TIMSS标准化的内容分析方法对我国《义务教育数学课程标准(2011年版)》的小学部分和目前最为常用的三套小学数学教材及数学教学大纲(2000年修订稿的小学六年制部分)的课程内容进行全面的国际比较发现,我国目标课程在内容选择上与TIMSS高成就国家和地区并无太大出入,相比于TIMSS高成就国家和地区的课程内容分布模式,我国目标课程内容的安排更为聚焦和集中。由于课程标准按照学段对知识内容作出要求,会因为不同的教材而出现不同的分布模式。通过国际比较,为我国目标课程层面的内容设置、改进以及教材编写提供了一个全新的反思和审视的视角。     

Developmental growth in students' concept of energy: Analysis of selected items from the TIMSS database

The aim of this study was to develop a model of students' energy concept development. Applying Case's (1985, 1992) structural theory of cognitive development, we hypothesized that students' concept of energy undergoes a series of transitions, corresponding to systematic increases in working memory capacity. The US national sample from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) database was used to test our hypothesis. Items relevant to the energy concept in the TIMSS test booklets for three populations were identified. Item difficulty from Rasch modeling was used to test the hypothesized developmental sequence, and percentage of students' correct responses was used to test the correspondence between students' age/grade level and level of the energy concepts. The analysis supported our hypothesized sequence of energy concept development and suggested mixed effects of maturation and schooling on energy concept development. Further, the results suggest that curriculum and instruction design take into consideration the developmental progression of students' concept of energy. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

地缘战略下的新亚欧大陆桥

现代条件下的新亚欧大陆桥,其意义已不仅仅在于维系与扩大中西经贸、文化方面的交流,从地缘政治的角度看,其三条主要线路所经地区,大都是当今世界地缘政治矛盾的交汇区,而且这些地区将来都有可能对我国的地缘政治环境造成巨大影响。因此,研究大陆桥所能发挥的地缘战略作用,推行“积极的和平大陆桥战略”应成为我国对外政策中的一部重要内容。     

合作教育不仅仅是合作而已——读《国际教育新理念·合作教育》心得

合作教育是以健康良好的师生关系为基础、以教师积极推动为前提、以多样化的方式方法来实现、以学生个性发展为目的的一种教育理念,这就要求以＂合作教学、激发学生潜能＂为特点的教学改革必须重视师生关系的建构、重视教师队伍的建设、重视合作方式方法的研究和探索,否则,合作教学也仅仅是合作而已,起不了提高教育质量的作用。     

An Alternative Professional Development Program: Lessons Learned

Abstract. This article describes how a group of small liberal arts college faculty embraced the opportunity to create a faculty learning circle as an alternative professional development program. We provide a review of the program, discuss the lessons learned, and offer recommendations for future efforts in developing a similar faculty development program. Analysis of participant responses to the learning circle indicated that the experience met all their intended objectives. Faculty learning circles contribute to the participants' professional development and could be incorporated into any college campus.     

Evidence that class size matters in 4th grade mathematics: An analysis of TIMSS 2007 data for Colombia

Like students in most developing countries, Colombian students in 4th grade performed poorly in the TIMSS 2007 test of mathematics skills, achieving an average score of 355 relative to an international mean of 500. After controlling for other factors and misreporting error, I find that large classes have substantial adverse effects on student achievement. Increases in class size from 20 to 53 students reduce test scores by about 80 points, or 2.4 points for each additional student in the class. Most likely this is the cumulative effect of class size in grades one to four on achievement in 4th grade.     

An Examination of the Instructional Sensitivity of the TIMSS Math Items: A Hierarchical Differential Item Functioning Approach

In recent years, students’ test scores have been used to evaluate teachers’ performance. The assumption underlying this practice is that students’ test performance reflects teachers’ instruction. However, this assumption is generally not empirically tested. In this study, we examine the effect of teachers’ instruction on test performance at the item level using a hierarchical differential item functioning approach. The items are from the U.S. TIMSS 2011 4th-grade math test. Specifically, we tested whether students who had received instruction on a given item performed significantly better on that item compared with students who had not received such instruction when their overall math ability was controlled for, whether with or without controlling for student-level and class-level covariates. This study provides preliminary findings regarding why some items show instructional sensitivity and sheds light on how to develop instructionally sensitive items. Implications and directions for further research are also discussed.