Elena C. Papanastasiou

Can Computer Use Hurt Science Achievement? The USA Results from PISA

A surprising result of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is that computer use was negatively associated with high student achievement in some countries. More specifically, the students from all three countries who indicated that they use computers in the classroom most frequently were those with the lowest achievement on the TIMSS in 1995. For the purpose of this study, a similar comparison was made for 15-year-old U.S.A. students, based on the data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results of this study show that it is not computer use itself that has a positive or negative effect on the science achievement of students, but the way in which computers are used. For example, after controlling for the students socioeconomic status in the United States of America, the results indicated that the students who used computers frequently at home, including for the purpose of writing papers, tended to have higher science achievement. However, the results of this study also show that science achievement was negatively related to the use of certain types of educational software. This indicates a result similar to that found in the TIMSS data, which might reflect the fact that teachers assign the use of the computer and of educational software to the lower achieving students more frequently, so that these students can obtain more personal and direct feedback through educational software.

Differential effects of science attitudes and science achievement in Australia, Cyprus, and the USA

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ‘locality’ of the relationship between attitudes towards science, self‐beliefs and science achievement for senior high school students in Australia, Cyprus and the USA. These relationships were examined with the use of the structural equation modeling software, AMOS. The data for this study were obtained from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study database. The results of this study demonstrated the differential effects that science achievement and science attitudes can have on each other, depending on the characteristics of the educational systems within each of country. Furthermore, these findings provide a number of directions for further research.

An examination of the PISA database to explore the relationship between computer use and science achievement

The purpose of this study was to compare the relationships that exist between computer use and science achievement for 15-year-old students in the USA and Germany, based on data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results of this study show that what has an effect on science achievement is the way in which computers are used. The results indicated that students who used computers frequently at home, including for writing papers, tended to have higher science achievement. Students who had frequent availability of computers at school, who used them at that location, and who frequently used computers for programming had lower levels of science achievement.

Science literacy by technology by country: USA, Finland and Mexico. making sense of it all

The purpose of this study was to examine how variables related to computer availability, computer comfort and educational software are associated with higher or lower levels of science literacy in the USA, Finland and Mexico, after controlling for the socio-economic status of the students. The analyses for this study were based on a series of multivariate regression models. The data were obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment. The results of this study showed that it was not computer use itself that had a positive or negative effect on the science achievement of the students, but the way in which the computers were used within the context of each country.

Did the Cypriot Students Really Cheat on TIMSS

Over the last few years, data obtained from high school seniors for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS, 1995) has led to several simplistic and controversial interpretations. One of these controversies is related to the results from Cyprus: although Cypriot students did not perform well in mathematics in elementary, middle school, and in the non-advanced sectors of high school, the students in the advanced mathematics courses managed to perform exceptionally well. In a previous article, an American commentator has suggested that either Cyprus has a dual educational system or Cypriot students have cheated on this test. In this article, the authors revisit this claim and examine whether it is possible for an educational system that does not allow students to perform well in mathematics relative to other countries, to produce students who could perform exceptionally well when they are high school seniors.