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University of Education, Winneba - Ghana

University of Education, Winneba - Ghana. Comparative analysis of performance of eighth graders from six African countries. By. Professor Asabere-Ameyaw , A. Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba P. O Box 25, Winneba Ghana Tel. +233 24 4323186, Fax: +233 432 22361,. &.

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University of Education, Winneba - Ghana

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  1. University of Education, Winneba - Ghana Comparative analysis of performance of eighth graders from six African countries By Professor Asabere-Ameyaw, A. Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba P. O Box 25, Winneba GhanaTel. +233 24 4323186, Fax: +233 432 22361, & Kofi D. Mereku (PhD) Dean, Faculty of Science Education, University of Education, Winneba P. O Box 25, Winneba GhanaTel. +233 (20) 6210229, Fax: +233 432 22361 E-mail: dkmereku@uew.edu.gh

  2. Areas of coverage • What was TIMSS-2003? • Which countries were involved? • Achievement in mathematics and science • Contextual factors • Conclusion & Recommendations

  3. What was TIMSS-2003? • TIMSS-2003 was an international study in science and mathematics achievement. • Was designed to measure students’ achievement and trends in achievement; • It also examined the contexts for learning mathematics and science.

  4. Who carried out TIMSS-2003? • A National Research Coordinator appointed by the Ministry of Education of each participating country was responsible for implementing the study in that country. • Research Coordinators and their team worked with a number of foreign research organizations during the different phases of the study.

  5. Countries participating in TIMSS-2003 • Forty-six countries around the world participated in the TIMSS-2003, with six of them from Africa. • Those from Africa were - Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa

  6. Tunisia Egypt Morocco Ghana Botswana South Africa AFRICA

  7. What did participation in TIMSS-2003 mean to African countries? • The opportunity to examine students’ (eighth graders) achievement in mathematics and science using an international yardstick i.e. what students know and can do. • Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons • It also provided rich information on the context for the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in African schools which could be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning of these subjects.

  8. Overview of African students’ achievement • The overall performance of the students from the participating African countries on the science and mathematics tests was very low. • In science, the mean country score for all the African countries was 347.5 as compared to the international country mean of 467. • In mathematics, the mean country score for all the African states was 353 as compared to the international country mean score of 474.

  9. Summary of science and mathematics achievement scores by region

  10. Table 1(a). The overall mean SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT SCORES

  11. Table 1(b). The overall mean MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT SCORES

  12. Overview of African students’ achievement (contd.) • The performance of Ghana and South Africa were the lowest • Egypt obtained the highest mean score in science while Tunisia got the highest mean in mathematics. • North African countries performed significantly better than the Sub-Saharan African countries.

  13. Overall mean achievement of boys and girls • There was no significant difference between boys and girls in Botswana, Egypt and South Africa. • The 3 other countries – Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia - showed differences in favour of boys.

  14. International Benchmarks (contd.) • Four points on the mathematics and science scales were designated as International Benchmarks and defined as follows: • Advanced International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 625, • High International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 550, • Intermediate International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 475, and • Low International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 400.

  15. Table 5 Percentages of Students Reaching International Benchmarks of Science Achievement

  16. Table 5 Percentages of Students Reaching International Benchmarks of Science Achievement

  17. Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003 International benchmarks for Science

  18. Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003 International benchmarks for Mathematics

  19. International Benchmarks (contd.) • It was only in Egypt that 1% of the students reached the high or advanced international benchmarks in both science and mathematics. • Generally about 75% of the students in sub-Saharan Africa and about 50% in the North African states did not reach the low international benchmark. • The implication is that majority of our students do not have a good grasp of knowledge and conceptual understanding of basic mathematical principles and have poor knowledge and weak grasp of scientific concepts which are lower level cognitive competencies.

  20. Contextual framework for learning Science and Mathematics in African countries • To provide a context for interpreting the achievement results, detailed information were gathered from subject specialists national coordinators, students, teachers and head teachers on: • students’ backgrounds, attitudes towards science and mathematics, resources for learning in their homes, and the activities they engage in after school, • teachers’ background, • classroom and school characteristics.

  21. Contextual factors considered in presentation • In this presentation, only a few of the contextual factors are considered. These are • Students’ frequency of speaking language of test in the home • Index of good school and class attendance • Head teachers’ reports on the percentages of students in their schools coming from Economically Disadvantaged Homes • Teachers’ qualifications • Differentiation of the curriculum • Exposure to national and international exams • Use technology in classrooms - computer and calculator usage.

  22. Speaking Language of test in the home and economically disadvantaged students

  23. Teachers’ Qualification

  24. Percentage of students at each level of the Index of Good School and Class Attendance in selected countries

  25. Participation in national and international exams

  26. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators

  27. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators • Thoughthe national curricula of some of the African countries contain policy statements about the use of computers and calculators in the science and mathematics curricula, over 85% of the teachers (except those in Tunisia) reported that computers were not available in their schools. • African countries are among those that make the least use of the technology (i.e. calculators and computers) in their curricula.

  28. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators (contd.) • It was observed that students’ performance in the two subjects were high in countries which encouraged the use of the technology. • Singapore, for example, where the best results were reported in both subjects, practices the use of technology.

  29. Contextual factors that influenced the poor performance • Teachers with no university degree or its equivalent in teaching science and mathematics • Students learning science and mathematics in environments with low indices of good school and class attendance • Lack of provision for differentiation of the content of the science and mathematics curricula to meet the learning needs of groups of students with different levels of abilities.

  30. Contextual factors that influenced the poor performance (contd.) • Students frequently speaking languages (local) other than the language of test in the home • Head teachers’ reports on the percentages of students in their schools coming from Economically Disadvantaged Homes • Low participation in public, national or international assessment exercises • Little use of technology (i.e. computers and calculators) in the science and mathematics curricula.

  31. Conclusion • The foundation for training science and mathematics human resource in Africa is in general weak; • African countries are among those that make the least use of technology in their science and mathematics curricula. • That most students could not reach the low international benchmark implies most young students in Africa cannot apply scientific principles and systems to solve problems (advanced benchmark), • In addition, they are not able to combine information and interpret data presented in tables and graphs to draw conclusions and to solve problems (high benchmark).

  32. Recommendation • African countries should examine the contexts within which teaching and learning of mathematics and science take place (TIMSS can help); • Provision of resources for teaching and learning science and maths; • NEPAD to constitute a team to monitor and support learning of these subjects at pre-tertiary level.

  33. To succeed Africa needs to do things differently THANK YOU

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