Research shows that motivation is a critical precursor to students' science achievement. However, research on the topic yields ambiguous results in different cultural contexts. While the positive association between motivation and science achievement has been evidenced universally, the relatively predictive effect and strength of different…

This longitudinal study of 1,066 Finnish students examined bidirectional reciprocal relationships between changes in perceived supportive school climate and changes in self-reported truancy from the last year of primary school (Grade 6) to the last year of lower secondary school (Grade 9). The results of the random intercept cross-lagged panel…

We present the validation of a questionnaire for compulsory secondary school students (seventh to tenth grade), designated "Educational learning environments for ESO pupils" (CEApA_ESO), for the purpose of evaluating learning environments. Although many instruments have been developed in this area, our work attempts to comprehensively…

This study aimed to examine the trends in grants for STEM/STEAM education in Japan as well as Japanese students' perception of science learning and future careers. The grants were addressed through analysis of chronological trends, while student perceptions were reviewed through student questionnaires on Trends in International Mathematics and…

Background: Previous research examined the relationship between teaching characteristics and constructs of attitudes towards mathematics (ATM) from the student perspective in isolation. Aims: This study aims to survey the relationship between instructional clarity and classroom management and ATM constructs (i.e., mathematics self-concept,…

Science achievements of individuals play a crucial role when students aim to pursue highly demanded occupations and advanced academic degrees. Enhancing science attainment is crucial in improving the effectiveness of science education. This study investigates the impact of home educational resources, students' attitudes toward learning,…

Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect (BFLPE) suggests that students form their own self-concept by comparing their abilities to those of their peers. This study aims to examine how students' gender, socioeconomic status, science achievement, and engagement dimensions (motivational and behavioral engagement) predict students' self-concept in science by…

Students' socioeconomic status (SES), school climate, and students' attitudes stand out as important factors that determine academic achievement. The current study investigated the relationship among SES, attitude toward science, school climate, and academic achievement comparatively in terms of countries. Trends in International Mathematics and…

Measurement invariance is crucial for making valid comparisons across different groups (Kline, 2016; Vandenberg, 2002). To address the challenges associated with invariance testing such as large sample size requirements, the complexity of the model, etc., applied researchers have incorporated parcels. Parcels have been shown to alleviate skewness,…

This study aims to first investigate the effect of the extreme response style (ERS) which could lead to an attitude-achievement paradox among the countries participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2015), and then to determine the individual- and country-level relationships between attitude and achievement…

Digital literacy is considered to be crucial for social and professional participation. Hence, several projects have been launched in school, as well as extracurricular activities to promote digital literacy in middle school. They aim, among other things, to increase interest in the so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and…

Engaging key stakeholders, including students into the process of school-based physical activity (PA) intervention planning is considered important. The present study was part of the preparatory phase of the Estonian Schools in Motion pilot programme and aimed to examine students' perspective of PA opportunities in the classroom. Based on 17 focus…

Lebanon has been participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessment (TIMSS) since 2003, however, data indicate a continuous decline in performance of Grade 8 students. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors critical to the achievement of Lebanese Grade 8 students and investigate the reasons for their…

This paper targets patterns of expressed emotional directions towards mathematics. By using TIMSS data and recoding two of the instruments, we compared responses from the same student cohort in Grade 4 (11 years old) and Grade 8 (15 years old) in Sweden. Two hypotheses were tested: negative emotions including negative motivations increase with…

In TIMSS 2015, while two-thirds of students in grade 4 reported feeling very safe at school, by grade 8, less than half of the students surveyed reported feeling a high level of safety. Overall, girls were more likely to report feeling safe than boys. For both genders, feeling safe at school seemed to be positively related to academic achievement…