The purpose of this study was to identify the multilevel latent classes for reading, mathematics, and science success of the students, who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 from Turkey and to determine the predictive ability of: i) students' perseverance; ii) their openness to problem solving; iii)…

In this study, it was aimed to model the school characteristics in multivariate structure, and according to this model, aimed to test the invariance of this model across five randomly selected countries and economies from PISA 2012 sample. It is thought that significant differences across group in the context of school characteristics have the…

This article examines the use of shadow education by students of compulsory secondary education in Spain over the period 2000-2010. The study identifies the proportion of the student population that uses this type of education and examines how the use of shadow education has evolved during this period. Data was drawn from the student questionnaire…

Since 2003, Turkey regularly participates in PISA. According to the PISA 2012 results, 15-year-old students in Turkey performed below both OECD countries and participating countries. Defining the relations between students' characteristics and their scientific literacy skills is thought to provide deeper understanding for the nature of this…

The Programme for International Student Assessment in 2006 included several measures of students' interest in science. These measures were constructed by combining information from several items where students are asked to respond to statements along Likert scale categories. Since there is evidence for Likert scales providing culturally biased…

Multivariate matching in Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses may contribute to understand the sources of DIF. In this context, detecting appropriate additional matching variables is a crucial issue. This present article argues that the variables which are correlated with communalities in item difficulties can be used as an additional…

Based on PISA 2009 data, this article studies the relationship between students' computer use and their achievement in reading, mathematics and science in 23 countries. After having categorised computer use into a set of different activities according to the skills they involve, we correlate students' PISA test-scores with an index capturing the…

Problem statement: Contemporary global environmental problems have highlighted the importance of acting responsibly towards natural resources and the environment. The role of science education in shaping how people interact with the environment, therefore, has gained importance. The science education community has responded to this challenge by…