• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.101-122
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• 2010

Chinese Taipei won the first place at the mathematics achievement of TIMSS 2007. Especially, there was a significant difference in the percentage of correct answers between Chinese Taipei and Korea, and Chinese Taipei' percentage of correct answers was higher than Korea. This study compared the education system, mathematics instruction environment, and instructional activities of two countries. And for algebra, curriculum and textbooks were compared between two countries based on TIMSS 2007 framework. It was found that Chinese Taipei emphasized homework and test, and MCFL of that was low. Their textbook was formal, and induced the hasty abstraction, Also, some themes were introduced earlier than Korea and repeated across different grades.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 2002

In this study, the chemistry achievement of the Korean 8th grade students in the Third Inter-national Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat(TIMSS-R), which was administered internationally in 1999,was analyzed. By the 6th national curriculum, 31 chemistry problems were selected from the categories of 'classification of matter', 'structure of matter', 'chemical reactivity and transformations', 'physical properties and physical changes of matter', 'heat and temperature', 'subatomic particles', 'pollution', 'scientific method',and 'scientific measurements' among the total 143 problems. Based on the analysis of the percentage of cor-rectness on each problem, the weak and strong points of the 6th curriculum were discussed. The implications for the development of national curriculum and textbook are suggested.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2017

The result of TIMSS 2015 was announced at the end of 2016. In this research, we conducted test-curriculum matching analysis for 8th grade earth science and analyzed Korean students' percentage of correct answers and responses for TIMSS earth science test items. According to the results, Korean students showed high percentage of correct answers when the item topics are covered in the 2009 revised science curriculum, and Korean students revealed their weakness in constructed response items since the percentage for correct answers on constructed response items is half that of multiple choice items. Depending on the earth science topic, for 'solid earth' area, which includes earth's structure and physical features, as well as earth's processes and history, students showed high percentage of correct answers for multiple choice items. Students, however, showed low percentage of correct answers for items that require applying knowledge to everyday situations and connecting with other areas of science such as biology. For 'atmosphere and ocean' areas, which include earth's processes and cycles, students showed low percentage of scores for climate comparison between regions, features of global warming, etc. For the area of 'universe', students showed high percentage of scores for the earth's rotation and revolution, the moon's gravity, and so on because they have learned these topics since primary school. Discussed in the conclusion are ways to secure content connection between the primary and middle school earth science curriculums, ways to develop students' science-inquiry related competencies, and so on to improve middle school earth science curriculum as well as teaching and learning.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.487-498
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• 2015

This research is for acquiring implications to science education based on learner's characteristics by analyzing the relationship between contents on science learning and cognitive domain of students in elementary schools through TIMSS 2011-based academic achievement test. Forty one multiple choice items from by TIMSS 2011 were used on 317 primary school students, fourth to sixth grade, and according to grade and achievement level of research targets, test results were analyzed. With these data, the relationship between contents on science learning and the score by cognitive domains, and through correlation by items, we drew static and negative correlations, and then compared the value. The result are as follows: First, other fields except for 'physical science' and 'inference' revealed meaningful differences by learners' grade, and the interrelationship between all contents domains and cognitive fields also appeared statically different. Second, both achievement level of contents and cognition of learners presented significant differences, but the correlation between scientific contents and cognitive field of learners showed different aspects. Third, in static and negative correlation by items, the complexity and their aspects could be classified by targets' academic achievement levels.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.607-616
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• 2016

In the 2009 revised science curriculum, comprehensive verbs such as 'know (38%)' and 'understand (46%)' are used in more than 80% of the achievement standard. Many readers, such as teachers, textbook makers, etc. have difficulties in interpreting the meaning of achievement standard sentences with these comprehensive verbs. On the other hand, 'Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)' uses more various and specific verbs to express the cognitive domain. In this study, we analyzed the 2009 revised science curriculum achievement standard focusing on the TIMSS cognitive domain assessment framework. We divided achievement standard to 228 sentences and three teachers analyzed the meaning of verbs in achievement standard. There were two main results of this study. First, the verb 'Know' was analyzed into different kinds of meanings, such as 'Describe (27%)', 'Recall/Recognize (25%)' and 'Relate (17%)', etc; and the verb 'Understand' was analyzed into 'Explain (37%)', 'Relate (27%)' and 'Describe (21%)', etc. Second, there appeared to have a disagreement among the three analysts during the process of interpreting the achievement standards when the level and scope of the contents of each grade is not clear. This study concludes that there's a need for continuous discussion on the use of verbs in achievement standard to promote clearer expressions for better understanding.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.149-160
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• 2022

Comparative studies using large-scale data such as TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA inform us of the effectiveness of each educational system. Even though samples in the large-scale studies were representative, admitting potential discrepancy when applying the findings of the large-scale studies to local educational system is still needed. This study examines the structural relationship among students' attitude towards science, learning support from teachers, school life, and science academic achievement with both large-scale data and local comparative study data utilizing same variables. Responses on the TIMSS 2019 of 5,554 Korean seventh-grade students and National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) 2019 of 6,365 third-grade middle school students were used. The results indicate that: a) school life did not affect the science achievements in both data. However, in NAEA 2019, students' attitude mediated the relationship between school life and science achievement; b) learning support from teachers had a significant impact on TIMSS science achievements, and also had positive effect on achievement through students' attitude in TIMSS. On the other hand, learning support had a positive effect on achievement only when student's attitude mediated the relationship in NAEA; c) students 'attitude toward science had positive effect on science achievement on both data; d) the impact of gender was different on school life, academic achievement, students 'attitude towards science, and learning support from teachers on both data; and e) the impact of the number of books differed as well. There were differences in results between the international and domestic research, which inform us that we need to pay attention when interpreting the domestic environment through the results of international research.

• The Mathematical Education
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.35-61
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to examine changes in Korean middle school students' affective attitudes toward mathematics over the past 5 cycles of TIMSS. To this end, we first analyzed the changes in students' affective attitudes towards mathematics in five major countries, and then analyzed the changes in Korean students' affective attitudes toward mathematics by item. As a result of the study, there were positive changes in Korean students' interest, confidence, and value perception of mathematics during the recent 5 cycle of TIMSS. Korean male students' affective attitude toward mathematics is higher than that of female students, and the gender gap has been increasing recently. There was a large difference in the affective attitudes toward mathematics among Korean students, depending on their achievement level, and in particular, the affective attitudes toward mathematics of students at the lower achievement level remained significantly low. Item-level analysis revealed a decrease in Korean students' awareness of the necessity of mathematics in daily life. Based on these results, we discussed the implications for cultivating Korean students' affective attitudes. It is hoped that the results of this study will be meaningfully used as basic data for examining the performance of mathematics education in Korea and contribute to developing measures to foster students' positive attitudes toward mathematics.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.498-518
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• 2010

This study analyzed the characteristics of organization scheme and the levels of core concepts in science textbooks used in Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, which have shown superior achievement according to the TIMSS 2007. Science textbooks in Korea clearly divide the fields of Energy, Matter, Biology, and Earth, presenting the fields in nearly equal proportion in each grade. In the case of Singapore, science textbooks take an integrated content approach, combining concepts from several fields under a single theme. Science textbooks in Taiwan present a single content field in each unit. Also, because each grade engages in a specific field intensively, there are many cases in which concepts related to a single field are studied in a single grade. In view of levels of core concepts, Singapore or Taiwan showed higher achievement than Korea in themes of 'Cell and their Functions', 'Ecosystems', and 'Human Health' under the TIMSS 2007 biology field. Singapore introduces core concepts for these themes in lower grades compared to Korea and presents them repeatedly in several grades. In Taiwan, there are many cases in which these core concepts are taught only once during the course of $3^{rd}$ to $8^{th}$ grade, but the explanations are presented at a level that is suitable to TIMSS 2007 assessment objectives. Considering the results of this analysis, there is a need to reconsider the division of content fields and methods of presenting core concepts in the science textbooks of Korea.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.246-257
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• 2006

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) aims to produce reliable and internationally comparable indicators of student achievement. The TIMSS science achievement scale summarizes student performance on test items designed to measure a wide range of student knowledge and proficiency. This study analyzed Korean middle school students' science achievement at the advanced and high international benchmarks of the four benchmark levels of the benchmarks classified in TIMSS 2003 in light of science content areas (physics, chemistry, biology, earth science, and environmental science) and item characteristics. The average percent correct on items at the advanced benchmark by Korean students was highest in physics followed by earth science, biology, chemistry, and environmental science, whereas internationally the order was earth science, chemistry, biology, physics and lastly environmental science. Korean students performed relatively better in physics yet somewhat worse in chemistry than other top-performing countries. According to item analysis, Korean students reaching the advanced international benchmark understood some fundamentals of scientific investigation, but demonstrated weakness in written explanations of scientific principles, abstract science concept comprehension, and application of scientific concepts to solve quantitative problems. In addition, Korean students reaching the high international benchmark demonstrated relative weak conceptual understanding of ecology compared with other countries.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.200-211
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze Korean middle school student achievement in environmental science based on the TIMSS 2003 (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), a student comparison of 46 participating nations. Korea ranked the fourth with a mean score of 554 in environmental science. However, all 3 environment science topics assessed in TIMSS are not included in the Korean science curriculum through 8th grade, even though they are included in most other participating nations' curricula. The average percent correct of items was analyzed according to the main topic, the item type and the cognitive domain. Items that showed differences between the average percent correct of Korea and the international average as well as differences between the average percent correct of boys and girls were further analyzed. Results revealed that Korean students performed better than the international average, especially in 'use and conservation of natural resources', multiple-choice items, and items requiring 'factual knowledge'. Also, male students demonstrated significantly higher achievement than female students. On the other hand, Korean students showed relatively lower achievement in constructed-response items, items that contained content they had not learned in science lessons and items requiring descriptions of the uses and effect of science and technology. Moreover, Korean student lacked understanding about acid rain, global warming, and ozone layer destruction. Korean female students showed relatively lower environmental conceptions and lower performance on items requiring data analysis than Korean male students. On the basis of these results, this study suggested that topics of environmental science be included in the science curriculum and taught in the science classroom to help middle school students more fully comprehend environmental issues.