Abstract
According to 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), sixteen Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries had scores that were significantly higher than the US. The top three performers were Finland, Canada, and Japan. While Finland and Japan are vastly different from the US in terms of cultures and educational systems, the US and Canada are similar to each other in many aspects, thus their performance gap was investigated. In this study data mining was employed to identify factors regarding access to and use of resources, as well as student views on science for predicting PISA science scores among Grade 10 American and Canadian students. It was found that science enjoyment and frequent use of educational software play important roles in the academic achievement of Canadian students.
Highlights
According to the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report on science performance, sixteen countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) scored significantly higher than the US
Results from the 2006 PISA showed that the average score of science literacy for students in the United States was 489, lower than the mean of 500
A study by OECD (2007) concluded that there is no significant relationship between performance in PISA and the size of the countries/regions
Summary
According to the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report on science performance, sixteen countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) scored significantly higher than the US. The desirable level is conceptual and procedural scientific literacy, which is defined as the capacity of “using scientific knowledge to identify questions and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world” (OECD, 2003, p.133). In order for OECD citizens to fully participate in globalization, graduates must possess advanced problem-solving skills that go beyond following rules, and communication skills for illustrating complex scientific ideas in a user-friendly fashion. Based on this educational philosophy, PISA items are designed to test students’ ability to apply science into various contexts rather than recalling names and terms (OECD, 2007)
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