TIMSS Advanced 2008

For advanced mathematics, the target population comprised of students in their final year of secondary school who were taking or had taken advanced mathematics courses. For physics, the target population comprised of final-year students who were taking or had taken advanced physics courses. Depending on the size of the country and the percentages of students in these courses or tracks/programs, the size of the target population varied from country to country. The representative sample for most countries involved a minimum of 120 schools and approximately 2,000 students from each target population, allowing the same schools to be selected for both populations where appropriate.

1. The percentages of students having received advanced mathematics education in each of the participating countries ranged from 40.5% in Slovenia to 1.4% in the Russian Federation and just about 1% in the Philippines. Italy had about 20%, Norway and Sweden from 11% to 13%, and the rest of the participants from about 4% to 6%. In physics, the TIMSS coverage index was more comparable across countries than was the case for advanced mathematics, ranging from 11% in Sweden to 2.6% in the Russian Federation.

2. Students had fewer instructional hours in physics than in mathematics. Countries’ mathematics programs varied considerably in duration and intensity. Students in the Netherlands and Lebanon were in programs with the greatest number of hours of instruction (760 and 750 hours, respectively, across programs lasting 3 years). Students in Iran, also in 3-year programs, had a total of 660 hours of instruction. In the Philippines, students had about 600 hours spread over a 4-year program, and Italian students had 500 hours across a 5-year program. In the Russian Federation, students were in a special program of intensive study (at least 6 hours weekly instruction), totaling about 500 hours over 2 years. The students in the remaining countries had fewer hours of instruction, ranging from 420 hours in Slovenia over 4 years to 280 hours in Norway over 2 years.

3. In physics, students in the Netherlands, Italy, and Lebanon were in programs with about 500 hours of instruction. These were spread over 3 years for the Netherlands and Lebanon, and over 5 years in Italy. The programs in Iran, Armenia, and Slovenia consisted of somewhat more than 300 hours, over 3 years for Iran and Armenia, but over 4 years in Slovenia. Students in Norway had 280 hours of physics over a 2-year program, in Sweden had 225 hours over a 3-year program. In the Russian Federation, students were in a 2-year program of study consisting of at least three hours of weekly instruction, for a total of about 200 hours.

4. Average achievement in advanced mathematics was highest in Russian Federation, the Netherlands, and Lebanon. Each of the three top-performing countries had average achievement higher than the international scale average of 500, and similar to each other. Iran had average achievement very close to the scale average (497). The rest of the participating countries all had average achievement significantly below the scale average, including Slovenia, Italy, Norway, Armenia, Sweden, and the Philippines.

5. The Netherlands was the top-performing country in physics, by nearly 50 score points. The next highest achieving countries, Slovenia and Norway, had very similar average achievement. These three countries, together with the Russian Federation, performed above the scale average. Sweden and Armenia had average achievement very close to the scale average, and Iran, Lebanon, and Italy had average achievement below the scale average. With the exception of the Netherlands, most countries had a wide range between the highest and lowest achieving students, particularly the Russian Federation.

6. In most countries, the majority of students taking advanced courses in mathematics were male, with the greatest gender imbalance in the Netherlands, at 77 percent. Italy, Norway, Lebanon, and Sweden had at least 60 percent male students. In contrast, there was a 60/40 split favoring females in Slovenia and the Philippines. There was essentially no difference in advanced mathematics achievement between male and female students in the Netherlands, Italy, Norway, and Armenia. Females had higher achievement in Lebanon; males had higher achievement in the remaining countries.

7. In all countries, except Armenia, more males than females were studying physics. At the extreme, 81 percent of physics students were male in the top-performing Netherlands, and more than 70 percent were male in Slovenia, Lebanon, and Norway. There was no or little difference in average achievement between female and male students in Slovenia, Armenia, Sweden, and Lebanon. In the other five countries – the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Iran, and the Russian Federation, males had higher average achievement than females.

8. Among four countries measuring trends in advanced mathematics, the Russian Federation showed little change in average achievement since 1995. However, average achievement declined between the two assessments in Slovenia, Italy, and Sweden, with Sweden decreasing 89 points. In advanced physics (also four countries) Slovenia had essentially no change in average achievement between the 1995 and 2008 assessments, and the Russian Federation showed some signs of decline. However, in Norway and Sweden, average achievement declined between the two assessments – 47 points in Norway and 81 points, in Sweden.

Garden, R. A.; Lie, S.; Robitaille, D.F.; Angell, C.; Martin, M.O.; Mullis, I.V.S.; Foy, P.; & Arora, A.

TIMSS Advanced 2008 Assessment Framework.

Chestnut Hill, MA: IEA TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.

 

Mullis, I.V.S.; Martin, M.O.; Robitaille, D.F.; & Foy, P. (2009)

TIMSS Advanced 2008 International Report: Findings from IEA's Study of Achievement in Advanced Mathematics and Physics in the Final Year of Secondary School.

Chestnut Hill, MA: IEA TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.

 

Arora, A.; Foy, P.; Martin, M.O.; & Mullis, I.V.S. (Eds.). (2009)

TIMSS Advanced 2008 Technical Report

Chestnut Hill, MA: IEA TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.

 

Foy, P.; & Arora, A. (Eds.) (2006)

TIMSS Advanced 2008 International Database and User Guide

Chestnut Hill, MA: IEA TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.

For more information please contact: http://timss.bc.edu/

 

<< Back

© All rights reserved. International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)

24.02.2010 || URL: http://www.iea.nl/timssadvanced20080.html