Abstract
Previous researches found various psychological traits (e.g., emphasis of school on academic success, job satisfaction and challenges faced by teachers as well as sense of belonging among students) could have affected science achievement of students. This study examined the predictive effects of school climate on science achievement among Southeast Asian Grade 8 students participated in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015. In this research, school principals’ and science teachers’ reports of school emphasis on academic success, psychological traits such as science teachers’ job satisfaction and challenges faced as well as students’ sense of belonging towards school were analyzed using International Database (IDB) Analyzer. Data were obtained from 9,726 Malaysian students, 6,116 Singaporean students, and 6,482 Thai students who participated in TIMSS 2015. The analysis revealed that school emphasis on academic success as reported by school principals and science teachers in Malaysia and Thailand were significantly associated with and contributed to students’ science achievement. The sense of school belonging of students from Malaysia and Singapore was also significantly associated with and contributed to students’ science achievement. On the contrary, the scores of Thai female students for TIMSS 2015 were significantly higher than their male counterparts. Hence, school administrators should ensure that cognitive and socio-psychological aspects of the implementation of all activities are well taken care of throughout the years to ensure academic success of students.
Highlights
Korea and Singapore were found to be the top science achievers for fourth grade, whereas Hong Kong SAR, Japan and Russia Federation were listed in the top five in the recent cycle of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) study
It includes a built-in integrated file that is used as technical manual to assist the users
Analyzer on a machine with Windows 8 or earlier version, this .NET Framework that is accessible from the website https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?i d=17851 should be installed onto the computer system as reported in IEA [19]
Summary
Since 1995, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) was implemented as an international comparative study by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). TIMSS was devised to assess quality of science and mathematics education in participating countries involving Grades 4 and 8 students as reported Martin, Mullis, Foy, and Stanco in 2012 [1]. Korea and Singapore were found to be the top science achievers for fourth grade, whereas Hong Kong SAR, Japan and Russia Federation were listed in the top five in the recent cycle of TIMSS study. Singapore was the top science achiever at Grade 8 while Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, and Slovenia were among the top five achievers. East Asian countries like Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea, and Singapore were among the top achievers in mathematics at Grade 4 and Grade 8
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