Teaching and learning science : PISA and the TIMSS Video Study

Scientific literacy was the main focus of PISA in 2006 and a number of items on the student questionnaire asked students how frequently they experienced certain teaching and learning activities, or teaching styles, in their science classrooms. This chapter examines the extent to which student responses to the questionnaire items and student performance on the PISA 2006 test are supported by the conclusions about the approaches to science teaching and learning of the five countries that participated in the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. Although many of the same basic characteristics were evident in science teaching in each of the five countries examined in the video study, individual patterns in each country were able to be observed. The overall achievement levels of students in the five countries in PISA 2006 science, the relative strengths of the students in the three scientific competencies, and student perceptions of science teaching were examined to see how they match with the observations and conclusions drawn from the TIMSS Video Study.