ERIC Number: EJ918524
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Apr
Pages: 40
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1571-0068
EISSN: N/A
Using International Study Series and Meta-Analytic Research Syntheses to Scope Pedagogical Development Aimed at Improving Student Attitude and Achievement in School Mathematics and Science
Ruthven, Kenneth
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, v9 n2 p419-458 Apr 2011
Taking lower-secondary schooling within the English educational system as an example, this paper illustrates the contribution of two bodies of international scholarship to the scoping of research-based pedagogical development aimed at improving student attitude and achievement in science and mathematics. After sketching the English context of systemic reform, the paper uses findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) series to illuminate changes in performance, analysed within a framework of cross-system and between-subject comparison. Contrary to the optimistic picture from national assessment, the TIMSS findings suggest that systemic reform has produced fundamental gains only in student achievement in mathematics, and serious declines in student attitude towards both mathematics and science. Prompted by more favourable patterns elsewhere, the paper then triangulates the findings of recent meta-analytic research syntheses to identify promising lines of pedagogical development. Despite important differences in the conceptual frameworks and analytic methods of these syntheses, reasonably robust conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of four teaching components: "domain-specific inquiry" for student achievement in both subjects, student attitude in science, and learning processes in mathematics; "cooperative group work" for learning and attitude in science; "contextual orientation" for achievement in science; and "active teaching" for achievement in mathematics. Equally, discrepancies between findings or insufficiencies of evidence highlight a number of impacts particularly deserving deeper analysis or further investigation: "cooperative group work" on achievement outcomes, differing forms of "learning assessment" on both attitude and achievement outcomes, "contextual orientation" on outcomes in mathematics, and "active teaching" on outcomes in science.
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Mathematics Achievement, Academic Achievement, Program Effectiveness, Educational Change, Learning Processes, Teaching Methods, Science Achievement, Outcomes of Education, Science Education, Mathematics Education
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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