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Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 1
Reasons behind Finnish students’success in the PISA Scientific LiteracyAssessment
Jari LavonenProfessor of Physics and Chemistry EducationDepartment of Applied Sciences of Education,University of Helsinki,Finland
2
Structure of the presentation
1. Some PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy Assessment data2. Education policy in Finland3. Finnish comprehensive school
Structure of the comprehensive schoolGoals for science educationScience teacher educationHow science is taught in Finland(evaluated by the students)
4. Summary and comparison of Finnish approach to someother approaches in Europe
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 2
PISA 2006 Scientific LiteracyAssessment
4
Framework for PISA 2006Scientific Literacy Assessment
The PISA 2006 assessment emphasizes science competencies,defined in terms of an individual’s:
Scientific knowledge and use of that knowledge to……identify scientific issues,…explain scientific phenomena, and…draw evidence-based conclusions about science-related
issuesUnderstanding of science as a form of human knowledge andenquiryAwareness of how science and technology shape our material,intellectual and cultural environmentsWillingness to engage with science-related issues
A large proportion of complex open-ended tasks which can beclassified in several ways.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 3
5
ACID RAIN - Question 2 (S485Q02)Below is a photo of statuescalled Caryatids that werebuilt on the Acropolis inAthens more than 2500years ago. The statues aremade of a type of rock calledmarble. Marble is composedof calcium carbonate
In 1980, the original statues were transferred inside the museum of theAcropolis and were replaced by replicas. The original statues werebeing eaten away by acid rain.Normal rain is slightly acidic because it has absorbed some carbondioxide from the air. Acid rain is more acidic than normal rain becauseit has absorbed gases like sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides as well.Where do these sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides in the air comefrom?
6
Students’ PISA scores in different competencecategories and knowledge areas
450 500 550 600
SwedenDenmarkNorway
UKPortugal
JapanNew ZealandCanada
FinlandIdentifying scientific issues
Knowledge about science
Earth and Space
Living systems
Explaining scientific phenomena
Drawing evidence-based conclusionsabout science-related issues
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 4
7
Country percentile scores compared to theOECD average percentile scores in PISA 2006science scale
-50
-30
10
10
30
50
70
90
5%Percentile
10% 25% 75% 90% 95%
Finland
SwedenDenmarkNorway
Estonia
UKPortugal
OECD Average
Diff
eren
ce to
OE
CD
ave
rage
in P
ISA
sco
re- In Finland the
weak pupils arenot so weak thanin other OECDcountries
Canada
8
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
Ger
man
yC
zech
Rep
ublic
Aust
riaH
unga
ryN
ethe
rland
sBe
lgiu
mJa
pan
Italy
Gre
ece
Slov
akR
epub
licTu
rkey
Switz
erla
ndK
orea
Luxe
mbo
urg
Uni
ted
Stat
esPo
rtug
alM
exic
oU
nite
d K
ingd
omN
ew Z
eala
ndAu
stra
liaC
anad
aIre
land
Den
mar
kSp
ain
Pola
ndSw
eden
Nor
way
Icel
and
Finl
and
Variation in student performance in Science
Variation ofperformance
between schools
Variation ofperformance within
schools
In some, most of the variation liesbetween schools.
In some countries, schools aresimilar and quality is high.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 5
9
Students interest to learn about science topics.
HighInterest
MediumInterest
LowInterest
NoInterest
HighInterest
MediumInterest
LowInterest
NoInterest
Human biology
Topics in astronomy
Topics in physics
Topics in chemistry
The biology of plants
Topics in geology
What is required for scientific explanations
Ways scientists design experiments
Finland OECD
Education policy in Finland
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 6
11
Asse
ssm
ent,
loca
l, PI
SA
Finnish Education Policy
Teacher training(pre -service and
In-service)
Study materials(publishing
houses)
Local curriculum(municipalities,
schools)
Science learning
General National Objectives and Education policy
International trends, OECD education policy
Competitive/ co-operativeschool culture
Parentalsupport
Voluntary education, likecram schools, evening lessons
Unofficial support to science learning
Science teaching
National Core Curriculum
12
Main cornerstones of the education policy(can be found in policy documents)
1. Common, consistent and long-term policy2. A broad commitment to a vision of a knowledge-based-
society (parents, employers' and labour organisations )3. Educational equality (comprehensive school free of charge
to all, including books, meals, transport and health care;well-organized and effective special education).
According to PISA School Questionnaire data- 97.1% of the schools are public schools (OECD: 82.7%).- More than 97.5 % of the schools reported that morethan 99% of the funding came from the government.
- 64.3% (33.3%) of the schools reported that students werenot grouped by ability into different classes in any subject
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
Jari Lavonen 7
13
Main cornerstones of the education policy
5. Devolution of decision power and responsibility at thelocal level (local authority can levy taxes, plan localcurriculum; organise general assessment and use thisdata for evaluating educational policy).
6. The culture of trust (no inspectors, no national exams …)
According to PISA School Questionnaire data- in 65.3% of the schools a principal teacher formulatesthe school budget (53.2%)
- in 96.0% of the school, principal teacher and teachersare responsible for disciplinary policy (80.5%)
- in 97.0% of the school, principal teacher and teachersare responsible for assessment policy (76.9%)
Comprehensive school in Finland
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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15
The Finnish education system
The Finnish education system consists ofcomprehensive school (grade 1 – 9),upper secondary school or vocational school(grade 10 – 12),higher education (3 + 2 years) andadult education.
In 2006, there were 3393 comprehensive schools and578 918 students in those schools (Tilastokeskus, 2007).53.3% of the students continued their studies in uppersecondary school and 41.8% in vocational schoolsAccording to PISA 2006 School Questionnaire data, therewere in 49.9% of the classes less than 20 students and in47.4% of the classes there were 21 – 25 students.
16
Allocation of science subjects to grades incomprehensive school
Grade 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Students’age
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Sciencesubjects
Integrated environmentaland natural studies
Altogether 9 hours/week/4year= 2.25 hours/week/year
IntegratedBiology andgeography1.5 hours/week/yearIntegratedPhysics andchemistry1 hours/week/year
Separate:Biology 1.2 hoursGeography 1.2 hoursPhysics 1.2 hoursChemistry 1.2 hours/week/yearHealth education1 hours/week/year
Separate:Biology 2+3 coursesGeography 2+2coursesPhysics 1+7 coursesChemistry1+4 coursesHealth education
Comprehensive school, Basic education
primary school lower secondaryschool
upper secondaryschool, high school
Level
Compulsory/Optional
C C+O O
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Nature of a teaching/learning process inFinnish national science curriculum
The starting points for science instruction are thestudents' prior knowledge, skills, and experiences, andtheir observations and investigations …
… From these, the instruction progresses towards theconcepts and models (Not a discovery approach!)The purpose of science education is to help the students(i) to perceive the nature of science;(ii) to learn new concepts, principles, and models;(iii) to develop skills in experimental work and(iv) cooperation; and(v) to stimulate the students to study science (interest).”the role of a teacher is emphasised in the process.
18
Examples of goals for learningscientific method:
The pupils will learn in physics and chemistry:- scientific skills, such as the formulation of questions … ,- to make observations and measurements,- to look for information on the subject of study,- to make, compare, and classify observations, measurements,
and conclusions;- to present and test a hypothesis,- to process, present and interpret results,- to formulate simple models, to use them in explaining …,- to make conclusions about their observations and
measurements and recognize the causal relationshipsassociated with the properties of natural phenomena
- to carry out simple scientific experiments clarifying theproperties of phenomena.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Examples of contents of physical systems:
- producing heat, light (grades 5 – 6),- motion and equilibrium due to forces (grades 5 – 6),- natural structures and proportions (grades 7 – 9),- motion and forces, models of uniform and uniformly
accelerating motion (grades 7 – 9) ,- various basic phenomena of vibrations and wave motion;
production, detection, observation, reflection, and refraction ofwave motion (grades 7 – 9),
- interpretation of chemical reaction equations and the balancingof simple reaction equations (grades 7 – 9),
- composition of air; the atmosphere (grades 7 – 9),- properties of water and its importance as a solvent;
investigation of natural waters; water purification (grades 7-9).
20
PISA 2006 framework for scientific literacy
… capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identifyquestions and to draw evidence-based conclusions inorder to understand and help make decisions about thenatural world and the changes made to it through humanactivity. …
The OECD definition of scientific literacy fits well with thegoals for science education in Finland
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Textbooks?
22
Introduction to thetheme of the chapter
A demonstration aboutmagnetic interactionbetween a wire and amagnet
Emphasis of importantnatural law
A model for observedphenomena
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Role of science-basedtechnology: Howelectricity is producedin a water powerstation
Living systems andenergy: How kineticenergy is transferred.
Chemical energy andhuman being
24
Some ideas how thephenomena will beinvestigatedStudents are asked to
think about possiblereasons for friction.
Students are asked tomake conclusionsbased on theirinvestigations.
Students are asked tocompare theirconclusions andhypothesis.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Science teacher education inFinland
26
A subject teacher
typically teaches at grades 7 to 12 (ages 13 to 19)is qualified for teaching positions in all kinds of schools inhis or her major or minor subjectteaches typically one major and one minor subjects (e.g.math and physics)
A primary school teacher
teaches at grades 1 to 6 (ages 7 to 13)teaches typically all 13 subjects
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Structure of the master degreeof a primary teacher: 3 + 2 years
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
MajorSubject
Education
subsidiarysubjectstudies
MinorSubject
Communicationand language
studies
Bachelor ’s level (180 p.)Bachelor ’s level (180 p.) Master’s level (120 p.)
Master-thesisMaster-thesis
Stud
ypo
ints
Science
28
Subject teacher’s Master’s degree
Master's degree: 3 + 2 years (180 + 120 credits)
Major subject (e.g. physics) 120 credits1. minor subject (e.g. chemistry) 60 credits2. minor subject (pedagogical studies) 60 creditsLanguage and communication studies
Competent to continue postgraduate studies
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Structure of the master degreeof a subject teacher: 3 + 2 years
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
MajorSubject
MinorSubject
Pedagogicalstudies
Communicationand language
studies
Bachelor’s level (180 p.) Master’s level (120 p.)
Master-thesis
Stud
ypo
ints
30
Basic strategies guiding planning of theteacher education
Research-based teacher education(University’s strategy)Wide pedagogical competence through teachereducation: from primary schools to polytechnics(Ministry of Education)…
Based on national and local strategies science teachereducation have been developed in Finnish universitieslocally
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Teacher Education Development Programme(2002): The teacher education programmesshould help students to acquire:
high-level subject knowledge and pedagogical contentknowledge, and knowledge about nature of knowledge,academic skills, like research skills; skills to usepedagogically Information and Communication Technology,skills needed in processes of developing a curricula,social skills, like communication skills; skill to cooperate withother teachers,knowledge about school as an institute and its connections tothe society (school community and partners, local contextsand stakeholders),moral knowledge and skills, like social and moral code of theteaching profession,skills needed in developing one’s own teaching and theteaching profession.
32
Subject teacher education at theUniversity of Helsinki
University of Helsinki (11 faculties, 38 000 students, 7 400 staff members)
Faculty ofBehaviouralSciences
FacultyofArts
FacultyofScience
FacultyofBiosciences
FacultyofTheology
FacultyofSocialSciencesDept. of
Applied Sci. ofEducation
TeacherTrainingSchools
Subject teacher education section, pedagogical studies
ArtAcademy(Ateneum)
MusicAcademy(SibeliusAcademy)
TheatreAcademy
Curriculum planning forpedagogical studies
40 experts from various organisations
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Expertise needed in the profession of a science teacherAgreed together with university teachers working in scienceteacher education in the University of Helsinki
1. Subject knowledge and skills:well organised knowledge structure (expert)understanding nature of knowledge and how knowledge is
acquired in the subject (e.g. nature of experiments),
2. Pedagogical knowledge and skills:an expert teacher can plan, implement and evaluate
learning activities and learning (psychological,philosophical, historical and sociological background)
competence to choose a variety of teaching andmotivation methods
3. Competence for continuous professional development:readiness to learn new subject and pedagogical knowledge
and skills (teacher as a researcher)skills for reflective thinking and collaborative working
How science is taught in Finland(evaluated by the students)
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Teaching method
“Teaching method” is used here as a synonym for a- learning or instructional method/model/strategy,- student activity or classroom practice.Teaching methods are- goal-oriented and- emphasise social interaction among students and
between students and the teacher.
36
Teaching Methods in Science Education inFinland
There is little research which describes what really happensin Finnish science classrooms.Norris et al. (1996) observed science lessons andinterviewed teachers and students in 50 lower and uppersecondary schools. They conclude that teachers werepedagogically conservative, and the teaching and learningtraditional, mainly involving frontal teaching of the wholegroup of students. However, during science lessons therewere a lot of practical work.Simola (2005) explains that this kind of behaviour of ateacher is supported by social trust and teachers’ highprofessional academic status. It is possible to teach in the“traditional” way in Finland because teachers believe in their“traditional” role and pupils accept their “traditional” position.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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According to PISA 2006 Student questionnaire:Activities dealing with practical work
Students are allowed to design their own experiments
Students are given the chance to choose their owninvestigations
Students are required to design how a schoolscience question could be investigated in the laboratory
Students are asked to do an investigation to test outtheir own ideas
Students spend time in the laboratory doing experiments
Experiments are done by the teacher as demonstrations
Students do experiments by following theinstructions of the teacher
Students are asked to draw conclusions from anexperiment they have conducted
OECD AverageFinland
Act
iviti
es d
eal
ing
with
pra
ctic
al w
ork
never or hardly never (1) in most lessons (3)in some lessons (2) in all lessons (4)
Students are given the chance to choose their owninvestigations
Students are required to design howscience question could be investigated
Students do an investigation to test outtheir own ideas
Students spend time in the laboratory doing experiments
Experiments are done by the teacher as demonstrations
Students do experiments by following theinstructions of the teacher
Students are asked to draw conclusionsFrom their experiments
Students are allowed to design their own experiments
38
According to PISA 2006 Student questionnaire:Activities dealing with student talk
OECD AverageFinland
There is a class debate or discussion
The students are asked to apply a school scienceconcept to everyday problems
Students have discussions about the topics
The lessons involve students’ opinions about the topics
Students are given opportunities to explain their ideas
Act
ivit
ies
deal
ing
with
stu
den
t ta
lk
never or hardly never (1) in most lessons (3)in some lessons (2) in all lessons (4)
There is a class debate or discussion
The students are asked to apply a school scienceconcept to everyday problems
Students have discussions about the topics
The lessons involve students’ opinions about the topics
Students are given opportunities to explain their ideas
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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According to PISA 2006 Student questionnaire:Activities dealing with teacher talk
OECD AverageFinland
The teacher uses examples of technologicalapplication to show how school science is relevant
The teacher uses school science to helpstudents understand the world outside school
The teacher clearly explains the relevance of “broadscience” concepts to our lives
The teacher explains how a school science idea canbe applied to different phenomena
Act
iviti
es
dea
ling
with
tea
che
r ta
lk
never or hardly never (1) in most lessons (3)in some lessons (2) in all lessons (4)
The teacher uses examples of technologicalto show how science relevance
The teacher helpstudents understand the world outside school
The teacher explains the relevance ofscience concepts to our lives
The teacher explains science ideas canbe applied
never or hardly never (1) in most lessons (3)in some lessons (2) in all lessons (4)
Summary
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Explanations Made Based on PISA 2000 and2003 Results by Jyväskylä group
Finnish students’ success in PISA was explained withcomprehensive school pedagogy, students’ own interestsand leisure activities, the structure of the educationsystem, teacher education, school practices, and Finnishculture – shortly pedagogical philosophy and practice(Välijärvi, Linnakylä, Kupari, Reinikainen & Arffman, 2002)On the basis of the multilevel modelling procedureaffective factors particularly students’ self-concept relatedto mathematics were the strongest predictors ofperformance variation in mathematical literacy. (Välijärvi,Kupari, Linnakylä, Reinikainen, Sulkunen, Törnroos &Arffman, 2007).
42
Conclusions Made Based on the Book “HowFinns Learn Mathematics and Science?”
Editors (Pehkonen, Ahtee & Lavonen, 2007) suggest basedon 40 Finnish mathematics, physics and chemistry teachers’educators and researchers several reasons for the success:
the general education policy and its implementationstrategies, especially high quality teacher educationand national core curriculum and its realisation throughscience teaching in the classroom,realisation of the core curriculum through local leveldecisions making (no inspectors, no national evaluationof learning materials, nor national assessmentFinnish teachers are educated to be autonomous andreflective academic experts,Finnish pupils’ good understanding in reading.
Reasons behind Finnish students’ success in the PISAScientific Literacy Assessment
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Aho, Pitkänen & Sahlberg: Policy Developmentand Reform Principles of Basic and SecondaryEducation in Finland … (The world bank)
A stable political environment for education reforms whichhave been based on long-term vision, hard work, good willand consensus.Political, cultural and economical success of the educationalsystem and its interaction with other sectors.Education reform has been evolutionary rather thanrevolutionary.Comprehensive school that offers all children the same topquality, publicly financed education.
Laukkanen (2008) discuss similar issues and presentsfollowing reasons: high standards in education, support forspecial education, qualified teachers, and balancingdecentralism and centralism.
44
Obvious reason for Finnish students successin PISA 2006 science items based onpreliminary analysis of PISA 2006 data
Finnish culture: trust for education, high status of teachersEducation policy:
Videly accepted vision of a knowledge-based-societyEducational equalityDevolution of decision power and responsibility atthe local levelTrust
Comprehensive school:Goals for science education and textbooksThe headmasters work as a pedagogical directorSchool practices: several subjects, lunches, smallgroups, high quality equipments, special education
Teacher education
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Comparison of Finnish education policy to theglobal education movements(Hargreaves, Earl, Shawn & Manning, 2001, Sahlberg, 2004)
Trust through professionalismCulture of trust that values teachers’ andheadmasters’ professionalism in judgingwhat is best for students and in reporting onprogress of their learning.
Consequential accountabilityThe school performance is closely tied tothe “inspection” and ultimately rewardingor punishing schools and teachers.
Broad knowledgeFocus on broad learning; equal value to allaspects of individual’s growth in personality,moral, creativity, knowledge and skills.
Literacy and numeracyBasic knowledge and skills in reading,writing, mathematics and science(= prime targets of education reform).
Flexibility and diversitySchool-based curriculum development,networking through steering by informationand support.
StandardizationStandards for schools, teachers andstudents to improve the quality ofoutcomes
Education development in FinlandGlobal Education Reform Movement