Ph.D. training is an important mechanism for developing scientists who will serve our knowledge-based society. Because the quality of students who join Ph.D. programs significantly impacts the outcome of Ph.D. training, students' career choices at this initial stage--whether to proceed to Ph.D. or not--are of crucial interest. This study…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 data revealed that Grade 8 science teachers in several Asian countries (Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and South Korea) reported lower job satisfaction levels than the international average. For example, while Japanese Grade 8 students ranked among the highest in science…

With the proliferation of video-based professional development (PD) courses for mathematics teachers, understanding the role of the facilitators of these courses has become an emerging field of theoretical and empirical study. The purpose of this article is to address some of the challenges and opportunities that facilitation of discussions…

While professional development has been emphasised in many countries, few comparative studies have examined the degree of teachers' participation in professional development and its effect on teachers. Using the TIMSS 2007 data, this study analyses to what extent teachers participated in professional development in 50 TIMSS countries and examines…

This study statistically investigates the characteristics of the intended curriculum for Japanese primary science, focusing on the learning content. The study used the TIMSS 2011 Grade 4 Curriculum Questionnaire data as a major source for the learning content prescribed at the national level. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the…

In 2015, PISA and TIMSS are coming up to us together. In this study, the data from PISA and TIMSS are used to investigate that which one is a better indicator of national science and technology (S&T) competitiveness? Number of S & T journal articles (per million people) is used as a measure to represent the national S&T…

Professional development for teachers has been a substantial issue in contemporary educational research and policy. Yet, opportunities for professional development activities have been very limited in Turkey. In this study, we examined Turkish teachers' involvement in professional development activities by comparing their participation with the…

For decades Japan has remained at or near the top of international assessments of student learning; and in the past decade, students in Japan have become more engaged in learning. However, the government aspires to improve learning outcomes even further. "Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for…

Literature reviews and a study conducted in Malawi suggest that poor performance in science among students in developing African countries is caused by the absence of vocational incentives rather than by evidence of a conflict between traditional beliefs and science. Explains that science-performance improvement for students in developing…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The report draws on the most current information about education from three primary sources: the Indicators of…

This report describes how the education system in the United States compares with education systems in the other Group of Eight (G-8) countries. The G-8 countries--Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States--are among the world's most economically developed countries. Comparative…