Cross-country Comparison of Effects of ‘Confidence in Science’ and ‘Instructional Clarity in Science Lessons’ on ‘Science Achievement’: Focusing on the Mediation Effect of ‘Interest in Learning Science’

Abstract

The effects of ‘confidence in science’ and ‘instructional clarity in science lessons’ on ‘science achievement’ mediated by ‘interest in learning science’ were investigated comparatively across South Korea, Japan, the USA, and England. From the data of TIMSS 2019, 3,861 cases from South Korea, 4,446 cases from Japan, 8,698 cases from the USA, and 3,365 cases from England were used to test a hypothesized structural equation model. As a result, the model fitted the data of each country satisfactorily, and measurement was found to be equivalent across the four countries. Moreover, the effect of confidence on achievement was statistically significant in all countries whereas the effect of instructional clarity on achievement and the effect of interest on achievement were only significant in South Korea and the USA. Furthermore, the mediation effect of interest was only significant in South Korea and the USA. Such results provide new perspectives in the role of confidence, instructional clarity, and interest on students’ science achievement and implications for customized educational programs and policies for each country.