SISS

Second International Science Study

The purpose of the IEA Second International Science Study (SISS) was to examine science achievement and its correlates in participating countries, and to study trends in science achievement since the First International Science Study.

The student tests were developed for three age groups of students and included a number of different science topics. For each topic, three types of activities were tested: knowledge, understanding of a principle, and application of information and principles to solve a practical problem. The science test was complemented by questionnaires for students, teachers, and school principals. In addition, countries participating in the study prepared a case study report on national science education. The data were collected in 1983–1984.

Three target populations were tested: 10-year-old students, 14-year-old students, and students in the final year of secondary school.

Australia, Canada, China, England, Finland, Ghana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, United States, and Zimbabwe.

Student achievement

Japan, Finland, Korea, Sweden, Canada, and Hungary were among the high performing countries at the primary school level. Middle school students performed the best in Hungary, Japan, and the Netherlands. There was a strong relationship between the achievement of 10-year-old and 14-year-old students across countries. Thus, countries performing relatively well or poorly at the primary school level performed in a similar way at the middle school level.

At the upper-secondary school level, students from Hong Kong, England, and Singapore obtained the highest levels of achievement. These results were consistent across the fields of science (biology, chemistry, and physics).

Changes over time

The majority of countries at the primary and middle school levels saw a significant improvement in student achievement between 1970 and 1984. Science had assumed a more prominent place in the curriculum at these levels of schooling. At the upper-secondary school stage, the average level of achievement in science dropped in those schools where a higher proportion of students remained at school and continued studying science. However, the performance of the better students did not decline.

In several countries, in the period between 1970 and 1984, the difference between boys' and girls' achievement lessened at both the middle and upper-secondary school levels, particularly in the physical sciences.

Opportunity to learn

At all grade levels, student achievement was related to the opportunity to learn provided in the curriculum, as well as the time given to the study of science.

There was a general consistency in all countries concerning the content of science taught across 12 years of schooling in the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics, but not in earth science. Science was mostly seen as a practical subject requiring proficiency in the manipulation of apparatus and experimentation. However, emphasis on the application of science was rather low.

At both the primary and middle school levels, evidence from a majority of countries showed that students performed better when they were taught by teachers who were experienced and competent in science.

IEA. (1988). Science achievement in seventeen countries: A preliminary report. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Keeves, J.P. (1992). Learning science in a changing world: Cross-national studies of science achievement, 1970 to 1984. The Hague: IEA.

Keeves, J.P. (Ed.). (1992). The IEA Study of Science III: Changes in science education and achievement, 1970 to 1984. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Postlethwaite, T.N., & Wiley, D.E. (Eds.). (1992). The IEA Study of Science II: Science achievement in twenty-three countries. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Rosier, M.J., & Keeves, J.P. (Eds.). (1991). The IEA Study of Science I: Science education and curricula in twenty-three countries. Oxford: Pergamon Press.