Insights from PISA & TIMSS on
our planning of services & policies
on curriculum development in
Science Education
Sci Edu Section, CDI
6 Oct 2014
Student Assessment
• An integral part of learning and teaching
• Provides feedback to students, teachers, schools
and parents on the effectiveness of teaching and
students’ strengths and weaknesses in learning
• Provides information to schools, school system,
government, employers to enable them to monitor
standards and to facilitate selection decisions
Assessment of learning, Assessment for learning,
Assessment as learning
PISA
Framework for Science Assessment
How they do so is influenced by:
Requires people to:
Context
Life situations that
involve science
and technology
Competencies
• Identify scientific
issues
• Explain phenomena
scientifically
• Use scientific
evidence
Knowledge
• About the natural world
(knowledge of science)
• About science itself
(knowledge about
science)
Attitudes
Response to science issues
• interest
• support for scientific
enquiry
• responsibility
TIMSS
Framework for Science Assessment
Eighth Grade
Content Domains
Cognitive Domains
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Earth Science
Knowing
Applying
Reasoning
Focus of School Science Curriculum
• Providing learning experiences for students to acquire
scientific literacy
• Emphasizing –
 Science, Technology, Society & Environment (STSE) connections
 Scientific investigations
– Science Process Skills
– Nature of Science
Aims
 4 other strands: Life and Living,
&
Objectives
Energy and Change, The Material World,
Knowledge
and
Life and Living
Understanding
Student Performance
in TIMSS and PISA
TIMSS
• Hong Kong has been making steady progess and
remained within top 10 from late 90s.
• “Reasoning” better than/comparable to “Knowing’,
while in the past students did better in “Knowing”.
PISA
• Ranked 2nd/3rd in scientific literacy among
participating countries/regions
Student Performance
in TIMSS and PISA (cont.)
• Students’ achievement is consistently well above
international average
• The remarkable performance of Hong Kong shows that
the school science education is heading in the right
direction
Reflection on the Curriculum Planning & Development
Learning & Teaching, and Student Assessment
Sources of Feedback for the Review/
Implementation of Sci Edu KLA
•
•
•
•
•
•
KLA Evaluation
CD visits
Focus group interviews
International studies: TIMSS & PISA
…
Further promotion of
...
Assessment for Learning &
Assessment as Learning
From KLA Evaluation –
About Student Assessment
Majority of teachers agreed that:
• Use diversified modes of assessment to promote L&T
• Set appropriate assessment tasks (including practical and nonpractical tasks) to align with the learning objective
• Use assessment data or information to provide quality
feedback to students
Students in general agreed that:
• Their teachers helped them to learn and understand their
strengths and weaknesses
Building on Strengths
Way Forward
Continuous Promotion of Holistic Curriculum
Planning & development in the Sci Edu KLA for a
balanced school-based curriculum
• Curriculum, Pedagogy, Assessment form a trio
• Strengthening PIE Cycle (Planning, Implementation and
Evaluation) in school-based curriculum development
• Strengthening the interface between different learning
stages
• Enhancing collaboration among teachers
From Student Assessment to
Enhancing Student Learning
• To identify and tackle students’ learning difficulties
To develop relevant teaching strategies for
enhancing learning effectiveness
• To enhance teachers’ awareness on the importance
of reflective teaching based on students’
performance in daily formative assessment
• To build up teachers’ capacity in developing quality
assessment items
• To enhance teachers’ assessment literacy
Thank you!