What have we learned from PISA and TIMSS? Becca Knowles Head of Network STEM Learning Network

PISA Programme for International Student Assessment “Ambitious education reforms fail to lift UK PISA ratings.” —Financial Times “PISA tests - UK lags behind in global rankings.” —BBC “UK teenagers lag behind peers in maths, science and reading, global report reveals.” —Telegraph “Why Australia’s PISA results are a catastrophe.” —The Australian Financial Review

Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Achievement Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, UK Expectation of science-related careers Enjoyment/ Engagement

PISA and the UK; Australia, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia and the United Kingdom are high performers
in science. Their 15-year-old students hold strong beliefs about the value of scientific enquiry, and larger-than-average proportions of students in these countries expect to work in a science-related occupation later on. PISA 2015, OECD.

UK – Science: achievement UK moved from 21st to 15th in overall rankings for science (test scores). Although UK boys previously achieved higher average score in science than girls, no evidence of gender gap in 2015. Difference in science performance associated with self-efficacy is more than 25 points in Australia, Ireland, Malta, NZ, Singapore, Chinese Taipei & UK. UK represents 5% of overall number of science top performers globally (Singapore 1%, US 20%). Self-efficacy (sometimes called confidence) is the extent or strength of one's belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Developing pupil confidence in learning science and science capital approach ‘seeing’ themselves as a scientists is important

UK – Science: enjoyment UK students reporting greater intrinsic motivation – % of reporting having fun learning science rose from 55% to 67% (2006-2015). For UK students, one unit increase in reported enjoyment of science is associated with 30 test points difference. However, gender difference in enjoyment not changed for UK student since 2006 – remains bigger than most OECD countries. Firstly, there are positive messages about science teaching in the UK. Students in the UK enjoy science more than in other countries, with only three countries reporting a greater increase in enjoyment since 2006. 

UK – Science; Career-expectations 29% of UK students reporting they expect to work in science—related careers in 2015 (up 11% from 2006). 18% of low-performing UK students expect to work in science-related careers, compared to 44% of high- performers. Immigrant students in UK are more than twice as likely to expect to work in a science-related career than non- immigrant students who score similarly. Relatively high proportions of students (around 30%) expect to move into a career in science, and this is the same for girls and boys.  Of course, we can still improve: when asked what type of scientific career they expected to pursue, gender stereotypes revealed themselves.  Twice as many boys pictured themselves moving into a career in engineering and three times as many girls imagined a career in healthcare.

UK – Science: gender differences Across UK as a whole – and individually – there is no significant gender difference in average science performance or the share of top performers among boys and girls. Gender differences in self-efficacy are larger in the UK than on average across OECD countries. Boys in the UK are more than twice as likely as girls to envisage themselves as science or engineering professionals (17% vs 8%) while girls are three times as likely to envisage themselves as health professionals (20% vs 7%). Indeed, in the UK there is no gender gap in test performance in science.  It seems that in this country we teach science in ways which support the learning and engagement of all students.  This is something we should be proud of.

OECD – science-related careers   Science/ Eng professionals Health professionals ICT professionals Science related technicians/ other Boys 12.2% 5.9% 4.8% 2.1% Girls 5.3% 17.4% 0.4% 0.8% The good news for Engineering… 2nd most popular choice for Boys (after Medical Doctor) 6th most popular choice for Girls (after Medical Doctor, other health professions and Architect).

Linking TIMSS and PISA Recruitment of teachers Retention of teachers in the profession https://www.stem.org.uk/elibrary/resource/116533 This paper from SHU examines one aspect of this issue: to what extent does Continuing Professional Development (CPD) affect science teachers' career development and retention in the profession? The paper presents an analysis indicating that - particularly for teachers with high levels of engagement in CPD - such CPD can positively impact on intentions to stay in the teaching profession, and their career development. The likely impacts, however, are influenced by a range of factors relating to the CPD itself, the individuals engaged with it, the organisational context wider context

Subject specific challenges Year 5 (no change from 2011) Weakest in Earth Science, average life sciences, strongest physical sciences Year 9 (no change from 2011) Weakest Chemistry Strongest Biology Average Earth Science/ Physics

Transition is key Progress seen for Year 5 (2011) to Year 9 (2015) in science Large achievement gap for most disadvantaged. How do we ‘diminish the difference’?

Scientific Inquiry PISA Pupils show strength in evaluating and designing scientific inquiry particularly using evidence to analyse, synthesise and generalise (with an emphasis on unfamiliar contexts) However, this year’s PISA results show a correlation between more inquiry-led approaches and lower performance in science. But this does not suggest to us that we should stop using inquiry, since inquiry-based practices are at the heart of what it means to be a scientist.  Indeed, PISA also shows that inquiry has a positive relationship with students’ understanding of scientific processes and to the likelihood of students expecting to move into a career in science.  We believe that the PISA results indicate that, again, there is work to be done. 

Scientific Inquiry More time is spent in UK schools drawing conclusions from experiments but less time constructing arguments and engaging in class debates on scientific questions. But…generally lower performance from countries with more Inquiry led approaches. On the one hand, high performing systems, which tend to focus on test results, need to find ways of improving their students’ engagement in science and their scientific skills without compromising their achievement.  On the other hand, lower performing systems, which use inquiry-led approaches to boost their students’ engagement, need to develop ways of improving their students’ scientific knowledge. Does this link with the finding that there is more noise within classrooms and low level disruptions?

Questions to consider. What are the implications of the findings for pedagogy and curriculum planning in Science? What are the implications of the PISA and TIMSS findings for teacher recruitment, retention and development? Which countries do you think are particularly worth learning from - and how should that happen?