Shaljan Areepattamannil

Effects of Inquiry-Based Science Instruction on Science Achievement and Interest in Science: Evidence from Qatar

ABSTRACT The author sought to investigate the effects of inquiry-based science instruction on science achievement and interest in science of 5,120 adolescents from 85 schools in Qatar. Results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses revealed the substantial positive effects of science teaching and learning with a focus on model or applications and interactive science teaching and learning on science achievement and interest in science. In contrast, science teaching and learning using student investigations and hands-on activities had substantial negative effects on science achievement in the context of other variables. Implications of the findings for educational policy and classroom practice are discussed.

Relationship Between Affect and Achievement in Science and Mathematics in Malaysia and Singapore

Background : The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assesses the quality of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics among Grades 4 and 8 students across participating countries. Purpose : This study explored the relationship between positive affect towards science and mathematics and achievement in science and mathematics among Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. Sample : In total, 4466 Malaysia students and 4599 Singaporean students from Grade 8 who participated in TIMSS 2007 were involved in this study. Design and method : Students’ achievement scores on eight items in the survey instrument that were reported in TIMSS 2007 were used as the dependent variable in the analysis. Students’ scores on four items in the TIMSS 2007 survey instrument pertaining to students’ affect towards science and mathematics together with students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education were used as the independent variables. Results : Positive affect towards science and mathematics indicated statistically significant predictive effects on achievement in the two subjects for both Malaysian and Singaporean Grade 8 students. There were statistically significant predictive effects on mathematics achievement for the students’ gender, language spoken at home and parental education for both Malaysian and Singaporean students, with R 2 = 0.18 and 0.21, respectively. However, only parental education showed statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement for both countries. For Singapore, language spoken at home also demonstrated statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement, whereas gender did not. For Malaysia, neither gender nor language spoken at home had statistically significant predictive effects on science achievement. Conclusions : It is important for educators to consider implementing self-concept enhancement intervention programmes by incorporating ‘affect’ components of academic self-concept in order to develop students’ talents and promote academic excellence in science and mathematics.

Linking Immigrant Parents’ Educational Expectations and Aspirations to Their Children's School Performance

ABSTRACT The authors examined the relationships of parental expectations and aspirations for their childrens educational attainment to childrens academic performance in school among 783 immigrant-origin children aged 5–18 years in Canada. The results of hierarchical regression analyses, after accounting for student and family background characteristics, indicated that immigrant parents’ expectations and aspirations for their childrens educational attainment were positively linked to immigrant-origin childrens academic performance in school. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

The quest for comparability: Studying the invariance of the teachers' sense of self-efficacy (TSES) measure across countries

Teachers’ self-efficacy is an important motivational construct that is positively related to a variety of outcomes for both the teachers and their students. This study addresses challenges associated with the commonly used ‘Teachers’ Sense of Self-Efficacy (TSES)’ measure across countries and provides a synergism between substantive research on teachers’ self-efficacy and the novel methodological approach of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). These challenges include adequately representing the conceptual overlap between the facets of self-efficacy in a measurement model (cross-loadings) and comparing means and factor structures across countries (measurement invariance). On the basis of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 data set comprising 32 countries (N = 164,687), we investigate the effects of cross-loadings in the TSES measurement model on the results of measurement invariance testing and the estimation of relations to external constructs (i.e., working experience, job satisfaction). To further test the robustness of our results, we replicate the 32-countries analyses for three selected sub-groups of countries (i.e., Nordic, East and South-East Asian, and Anglo-Saxon country clusters). For each of the TALIS 2013 participating countries, we found that the factor structure of the self-efficacy measure is better represented by ESEM than by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models that do not allow for cross-loadings. For both ESEM and CFA, only metric invariance could be achieved. Nevertheless, invariance levels beyond metric invariance are better achieved with ESEM within selected country clusters. Moreover, the existence of cross-loadings did not affect the relations between the dimensions of teachers’ self-efficacy and external constructs. Overall, this study shows that a conceptual overlap between the facets of self-efficacy exists and can be well-represented by ESEM. We further argue for the cross-cultural generalizability of the corresponding measurement model.

Relationship Between Academic Motivation and Mathematics Achievement Among Indian Adolescents in Canada and India

ABSTRACT This study examined the relationships between academic motivation—intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, amotivation—and mathematics achievement among 363 Indian adolescents in India and 355 Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation were not statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian adolescents in India. In contrast, both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation were statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. While intrinsic motivation was a statistically significant positive predictor of mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada, extrinsic motivation was a statistically significant negative predictor of mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Amotivation was not statistically significantly related to mathematics achievement among Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada. Implications of the findings for pedagogy and practice are discussed.

Are Learning Strategies Linked to Academic Performance Among Adolescents in Two States in India? A Tobit Regression Analysis

ABSTRACT. The results of the fourth cycle of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) revealed that an unacceptably large number of adolescent students in two states in India—Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu—have failed to acquire basic skills in reading, mathematics, and science (Walker, 2011). Drawing on data from the PISA 2009 database and employing multivariate left-censored tobit regression as a data analytic strategy, the present study, therefore, examined whether or not the learning strategies—memorization, elaboration, and control strategies—of adolescent students in Himachal Pradesh (N = 1,616; Mean age = 15.81 years) and Tamil Nadu (N = 3,210; Mean age = 15.64 years) were linked to their performance on the PISA 2009 reading, mathematics, and science assessments. Tobit regression analyses, after accounting for student demographic characteristics, revealed that the self-reported use of control strategies was significantly positively associated with reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy of adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. While the self-reported use of elaboration strategies was not significantly associated with reading literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it was significantly positively associated with mathematical literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Moreover, the self-reported use of elaboration strategies was significantly and positively linked to scientific literacy among adolescents in Himachal Pradesh alone. The self-reported use of memorization strategies was significantly negatively associated with reading, mathematical, and scientific literacy in Tamil Nadu, while it was significantly negatively associated with mathematical and scientific literacy alone in Himachal Pradesh. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Relationships of Cognitive and Metacognitive Learning Strategies to Mathematics Achievement in Four High-Performing East Asian Education Systems

ABSTRACT The authors examined the relationships of cognitive (i.e., memorization and elaboration) and metacognitive learning strategies (i.e., control strategies) to mathematics achievement among 15-year-old students in 4 high-performing East Asian education systems: Shanghai-China, Hong Kong-China, Korea, and Singapore. In all 4 East Asian education systems, memorization strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement, whereas control strategies were positively associated with mathematics achievement. However, the association between elaboration strategies and mathematics achievement was a mixed bag. In Shanghai-China and Korea, elaboration strategies were not associated with mathematics achievement. In Hong Kong-China and Singapore, on the other hand, elaboration strategies were negatively associated with mathematics achievement. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

Early adolescents use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for social communication in 20 countries

Social interaction is integral to the healthy psychosocial development of adolescents. The rapid expansion and evolution of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector over the last two decades has opened up a new world of unlimited opportunities and possibilities for social interaction. Despite the tremendous strides that have been made in the ICT sector, there has been a dearth of research on the factors linked to adolescents use of ICT for social interaction. The present study, therefore, drawing on data from the 2013 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) database and employing three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as an analytic strategy, examined the predictive effects of ICT-related behavioral and motivational characteristics on the frequency of use of ICT for social communication among 56209 early adolescents from 3132 schools in 20 ICLIS participating countries. The results of the three-level HLM analyses, after accounting for student-, school-, and country-level demographic characteristics, revealed that early adolescents ICT-related behavioral and motivational characteristics significantly and positively predicted their use of ICT for social communication. Specifically, Internet access at home, number of computers at home, learning of ICT tasks at school, use of specific ICT applications, use of ICT during lessons at school, use of ICT for recreation, ICT self-efficacy, and interest as well as enjoyment in using ICT significantly and positively predicted the use of ICT for social communication among early adolescents in 20 countries. Implications of the findings are discussed briefly for policy and practice. Factors linked to the use of ICTs for social communication were identified.ICT-related behavioral attributes were associated with the outcome measure.ICT-related motivational beliefs were associated with the outcome measure.

Correlates of Science Achievement in Singapore: A Multilevel Exploration

Singapore has been participating in large-scale international student assessments for the last two decades, and the performance of students in Singapore on the various cycles of international student assessments was outstanding. However, there is sparse research on the factors contributing to Singapore students’ sterling performance. The authors, therefore, drawing on data from the fourth cycle of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and employing two-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), examined the student and school correlates of science achievement among 15-year-olds in Singapore. At the student level, student background characteristics and student perceptions of school climate were generally associated with science achievement. At the school level, school size and school socioeconomic status were solely linked to science achievement. The final HLM model indicated that the school-level factors accounted for 78 % of the variance in science achievement. However, the student-level factors accounted for only 12 % of the variance in science achievement. Implications of the findings are discussed for educational policy and practice.

Dispositions Towards Science and Science Achievement in TIMSS 2011: A Comparison of Eighth Graders in Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, and Singapore

East Asian education systems have consistently been outperforming their counterparts in mathematics and science on each and every cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ever since its inception in 1995. The findings of the recent cycles of TIMSS reveal that Korea and Singapore are the top-performing countries in science in TIMSS 2011 at the fourth grade, followed by Finland, Japan, Russian Federation, and Chinese Taipei. At the eighth grade, Singapore had the highest average science achievement. This was followed by the next highest-performing countries for science achievement that are Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Japan. This study explored the predictive effects of eighth graders’ dispositions towards science on science achievement in five of the highest-performing education systems: Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, which participated in the TIMSS 2011. The results of the present study indicated that eighth graders’ liking and valuing of learning science and confidence in learning science were positively associated with their science achievement in these five education systems, except students’ liking of science in Japan. Implications of the findings for educational policy and practice are discussed.