This dissertation focuses on three manuscripts all related to bolstering science achievement through recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC) regarding the teaching and learning of science. The manuscripts address meeting the NRC's call to incorporate curriculum and assessment that lead to more in-depth knowledge that can be…

The main purpose of this study was to explore major factors at student and teacher/school levels affecting middle-school students' science self-efficacy among countries with high science academic performance levels in PISA 2015 data by using various regression algorithms of machine learning and multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA). Out of…

Finland and Singapore are both top-performing countries in international assessments such as PISA. Finland has been consistently one of the high-achievers regarding not only students' literacy levels but also educational equity. Similarly, Singapore has continuously shown outstanding performance in PISA. It outperformed all the other participants…

This study analyzes how students' reported teaching practices of their teachers and their attitudes towards science are related to the science achievements of four high-performing countries/economies in PISA 2015: Hong Kong, China, Canada, and Finland. A study of these regions can shed light on the commonalities of and differences between the…

This open access book presents original research on effective and equitable teacher practice in mathematics and science education across Nordic countries. It focuses on three key aspects of teacher practice: what teachers teach, how teachers teach, and how teachers assess their students. To provide a comprehensive understanding of teacher…

In 2021, an OECD team undertook analysis of Republic of Türkiye's data from two international assessments--the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)'s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The analysis aimed to…

The aim of this study is to determine how effectively different countries use educational inputs in the process of science education. The study is in the descriptive model and the data is derived from the PISA 2015 data set, which provides information to countries on secondary education programs. Data from 70 countries, including Turkey, were used…

For scholars and policy-makers alike, deeper learning has been a promising paradigm for fostering students' interest in and mastery of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Deeper learning is assumed to result in a more thorough understanding of a subject that endures the test of time. To reach this level, a fascination with…

Using IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 data, this brief explores the relationship between students' gender, their confidence and achievement in mathematics and science, and their aspirations to pursue careers in these fields. We find that more boys than girls at grade 8 want to have a mathematics- or…

Inquiry-based science instruction is widely advocated, but studies based on international large-scale assessments often show inquiry to be negatively associated with achievement. We re-examine this issue by examining whether the association between inquiry and learning depends upon the provision of teacher guidance. Participants were 151,721…

The relationship between Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and science performance has been the focus of much recent research, especially due to the prevalence of ICT in our digital society. However, the exploration of this relationship has yielded mixed results. Thus, the current study aims to uncover the learning processes that are…

The aims of this study were to determine low-achieving students' attitudes towards chemistry and how the attitudes differ within a low achieving group. The most preferred teaching methods were also defined. Empirical data (n = 2949) were collected by stratified sampling from fifteen-year-old Finnish lower-secondary school students as part of a…

Teacher-student interactions are crucial in understanding the role of a supportive climate in instructional practices. The present study investigates the perceptions of 15-year-old Nordic students regarding four aspects of their science class: teacher support, fairness, feedback, and class discipline. Multilevel modelling analysis is used to…

Every teacher's classroom practice is embedded in a system of overlapping contexts that interact with their day-to-day decisions. In this paper, I focus on sociocultural context and how it interacts with teachers' subjective responses to accountability instruments. Drawing on interviews with secondary school teachers in Finland and Singapore --…

Given the abundance of literature describing the strong relationship between inquiry-based teaching and student achievement, more should be known about the factors impacting science teachers' classroom inquiry implementation. This study utilises the theory of planned behaviour to propose and validate a causal model of inquiry-based teaching…