An Analysis of Korean Elementary School Students' Science Achievement in TIMSS 2011

TIMSS 2011에 나타난 우리나라 초등학생들의 과학 성취 특성 분석

This research purports to analyze released items and G4 students' science achievement from TIMSS 2011 according to their academic achievement levels and gender. By doing so, it aims to draw educational implications for Korea from analyses results. Korea showed a lower rate of students at the advanced international benchmark - the highest achievement level - compared to Singapore. The difference was the smallest in Life Science among three content domains and knowing among three cognitive domains. The results of analysis according to gender showed that male students' achievement was significantly higher in Physical Science and Earth Science, and their achievement was also higher in the cognitive domains of Knowing and Applying. From the analysis of the released items, it was revealed that the students' achievement was low in items related to classification of organisms, functions of heart, matters that combust or emit light, and the concept of rotation. Moreover, students drew some illogical conclusions based on their personal experience. Male students were found to show high achievements in items that were not included in curriculum, constructed-response items in the form of short-answer questions, and multiple-choice items in the Knowing domain. Female students were found to show high achievement in items that were included in curriculum, constructed-response items that require reasons and methods, and items that represent experimental situations. Male students showed high achievement in forces concept and movements concept of bodies in the universe, while female students showed high achievement in solubility concept.