Abstract
Malaysia was ranked 16th and 10th in mathematics based on the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 1999 and 2003, respectively while its neighbor, Singapore, used to be a part of Malaysia until 1965, was ranked first in both years. Hence, it is the aim of this study to investigate what makes Singaporean students better in mathematics performance compared to Malaysian students using TIMSS data. Factors examined in this analysis include characteristics of students, teachers and schools, educational aids and resources as well as students’ attitudes towards mathematics learning. It is hoped that the findings from this study will provide useful inputs to improve mathematics learning among Malaysian students.
Highlights
Background of StudentsOnly two variables are considered gender of the students and parents highest level of education
Teacher’s participation in the development of mathematics content as well as mathematics curriculum have significant positive impact on students’ performance and that average achievement significantly increases with increasing index of teacher’s reports on teaching mathematics classes with few or no limitation on instruction due to student factors
This study reveals several significant and important findings with respect to mathematics achievement among eighth grade students in Singapore and Malaysia
Summary
This paper uses TIMSS 2003 data with the hope that it would reveal important characteristics that could be used to improve mathematics learning and achievement among students in Malaysia. TIMSS is an educational research project conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The variables used this analysis include characteristics of students, resources for learning, how they spend their time out of school, their self-confidence in learning mathematics and the value they place on mathematics, teacher and school characteristics in both countries. To include the variables mentioned above, we need to use all three questionnaires (students, teachers and schools) and responses used in TIMSS 2003 These questionnaires aim to obtain background information from students, teachers and schools. This study will employ the t-test or ANOVA to relate each of these variables with mathematics achievement in these countries. The chi-square tests are used to investigate the differences in distribution of each variable between the two countries
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