• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.383-401
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• 2003

This study intends to examine the characteristics of Korean students' mathematics achievement according to the TIMSS-R International Benchmarks in the relation with mathematics curriculum and text. The concrete contents of this study are as followings. First, we consider the Korean students' mathematical abilities according to the TIMSS-R international benchmarks classified into Top 10% Benchmark, Upper Quarter Benchmark, Median Benchmark, and Lower Quarter Benchmark. Second, we examine the precent correct and the error-types of Korean students on the anchor items of such benchmarks. From these examinations, we grasp the mathematical titles that Korean students showed insufficient performance and lead the educational implications.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1235-1244
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• 2004

The purpose of the study was to produce resources to help develop instructional methods and programs for school science to reduce gender differences in science achievement by analyzing TIMSS-R results according to item type, benchmark, and content category. Korean male students performed higher than Korean female students and gender differences of Korean students were higher than international means in all item types including multiple-choice, short answer, and extended response type. GDI(Gender Difference Index) of Korean students was lower than international mean in top 10% benchmark but higher than international means in other benchmarks. Korean male students also exhibited higher performance than Korean female students in all content categories except scientific inquiry and the nature of science category. Regarding items that GDIs were higher than 10, the number of items belonged to life science and earth science category was relatively larger and a high percentage of them was not included in school science curriculum. In addition, the items were equally distributed in each performance category. In sum, the study showed various gender differences according to item type, benchmark, and content category. The results could be used to find appropriate instructional methods to reduce gender differences in science achievement.