TIMSS AND PISA

(Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) And (The Programme for

International Student Assessment)

NAME MATRIC NO

NURUL HIDAYAH BINTI ABDUL HALIM

D20101037326 

NUR SHAFIQAH BINTI ABDUL RASHID

D20121058738

Introduction to TIMSS• TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and

Science Study) is designed to help countries all over the world improve student learning in mathematics and science. It collects educational achievement data at the 4th and 8th grades to provide information about trends in performance over time together with extensive background information to address concerns about the quantity, quality, and content of instruction.

• This study was commissioned by the IEA, the International Society for Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

• The first round of TIMSS was in 1995 and the second round in 1999. It is the third round made TIMSS famous around the world.

• Collects data on educational achievement from students at the fourth and eighth grades.

• Collects extensive information from students, teachers and school principals about the teaching and learning of mathematics.

• The test items are matched against those in the standards or syllabus.

• Then the data are analyzed and the reports published

Introduction to PISA• The Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA) is an internationally standardized assessment that was jointly developed by participating economies and administered to15-year-olds in schools.

• The study was initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) whose member countries were originally countries from Western Europe but now they are all over the globe.

• PISA aims at testing literacy in three competence fields: reading, mathematics, science.

• PISA was conducted every three years.• The tests are supposed to assess how well

students are prepared for their full participation in society.

• As we can see, PISA differs from TIMSS in methodology and aims.

Why we don’t need TIMSS and PISA?

• In my opinion, we do not need TIMSS and PISA based on several reasons. Among others, the selection of the schools involved in the TIMSS and PISA are random. This will have an impact in some aspects. In terms of Student :-

Based on experience of a teacher in SBPI Rawang, which is boarding school that also can be categorized as an excellent school, the students involved with TIMSS and PISA experience some stress in themselves and stress in learning.

This is because they know that TIMSS and PISA is the international level, so that, they know, they carry a high burden for the school and Malaysia to get the best results.

The pressure also comes from the fear of failure and fear of getting a bad results.

This resulted in their learning performance falling from before.

But.. This is different to normal school or less

outstanding school such as in the rural area. Students who are involved with TIMSS and

PISA does not feel the need to have good results in TIMSS and PISA.

Then this will cause the TIMSS and PISA results are not very encouraging because students involved are not working hard and put less effort on TIMSS and PISA.

In terms of teachers :- Teachers are also under pressure because they

often got pressed and push by the administration of the school to ensure that students will achieve outstanding results in TIMSS and PISA

They have to double and triple their effort to realize this achievement.

• Studies of student’s achievement in different countries may leave one wondering what practical importance such differences hold in the real world or work and commerce. Descriptions that highlight differences in common educational practices may appear intriguing and stimulate curiosity but may leave one wondering what the relevance is to what happens (or should happen) at the school down the street.

• Reports of rankings along with comparisons of scores with countries x, y, and z reduce the entire endeavor to a sort of education Olympics. The value, obviously, lies in the comparisons.

• The real value in international studies lies not in the comparisons themselves, but in the insights we may gain into our own common practices.