Cultivating students' enjoyment of science is one of the significant aims of science education. However, it seems challenging to achieve this goal in most countries or economies. Using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 Hong Kong data, this study aims to identify multiple configurations of school conditions to…

Predicting student performance in international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) is crucial for understanding educational outcomes on a global scale. ILSAs, such as the Program for International Student Assessment and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, serve as vital tools for policymakers, educators, and researchers to…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of missing data imputation methods, namely regression imputation (RI), multiple imputation (MI) and k-nearest neighbor (kNN) on differential item functioning (DIF). In this regard, the datasets used in the research were created by deleting some of the data via the missing completely at random…

International large-scale assessments (ILSA) are an important source of information for education policymakers across the globe. Despite sponsors' warnings, when results are published, media attention focuses on country rankings and changes in scores. Score changes are evaluated using a two-sided z-statistic, with statistical significance declared…

This study focused on the relationships between teacher characteristics and students' mathematics achievement in EU countries, including Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden, and Turkey, which are the only EU countries participated in TIMSS 2015 at the eighth-grade level. The data consisted of the sample of 31,969 eighth-grade…

Previous research has indicated that attitudes influence various factors contributing to scientific achievement. Inadequate performance in science can limit career opportunities, underscoring the importance of comprehending how attitudes towards science can enhance overall scientific achievement. This study explored the mediating effect of…

Thermodynamics is one of the most complex topics in chemistry. Cognitive Load Theory claims that the complexity of a subject is mainly due to element interactivity - how many elements an individual must organise simultaneously in her/his working memory to master a topic. The simultaneous processing of various chemistry and mathematics concepts to…

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills are increasingly required of students to be successful in higher education and the workforce. Therefore, modeling assessment outcomes accurately, often using more types of student data to get a complete picture of student learning, is increasingly relevant. The Program for International…

Although Christians comprise the majority of the population in the United States, they make up less than one third of the scientific community. This underrepresentation is attributed to the desire to avoid the secular culture in academia or self-selection due to a perceived incompatibility or belief in negative stereotypes of Christian scientists.…

This study examines the relationship between instructional clarity in physics lessons and students' motivation and self-confidence to learn physics. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019. Using data from six countries, whose students' science achievement scores were…

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate clustering methods within a functional data analysis (FDA) framework for identifying subgroups of individuals that may be exhibiting categories of misfit. Person response functions (PRFs) estimated within a FDA framework (FDA-PRFs) provide graphical displays that can aid in the identification of persons…

A school's emphasis on academic success (SEAS) is a crucial aspect of school climate that can be rated by different informants, such as teachers or principals, and with respect to their perception of different groups' emphasis on academic success, such as parents or students. We know little about whether there is agreement between these ratings.…

The past century has seen a debate on what characterises a scientifically literate citizen. Originally, scientific literacy implied that a citizen should know the products of science but has grown to incorporate processes of science and aspects of the nature of science. Studies on students' epistemic knowledge are rarer than ones on students'…

Group differences in test scores are a key metric in education policy. Response time offers novel opportunities for understanding these differences, especially in low-stakes settings. Here, we describe how observed group differences in test accuracy can be attributed to group differences in latent response speed or group differences in latent…

The ultimate aim of this research was to explore the contribution of teacher preparedness or readiness (in terms of their academic background, confidence in teaching science and career satisfaction) towards the achievement in science among Malaysian and Singaporean eighth-graders. The TIMSS 2011 international assessment of student achievement at…