This study analyzes how students' reported teaching practices of their teachers and their attitudes towards science are related to the science achievements of four high-performing countries/economies in PISA 2015: Hong Kong, China, Canada, and Finland. A study of these regions can shed light on the commonalities of and differences between the…

There is a persistent stereotype that gifted students feel ostracized and have less sense of belonging than their normative peers. To explore this stereotype, data from 9251 15-year-old students in the U.S. were used to explore differences in the sense of belonging across achievement levels in various domains (i.e., mathematics, science, and…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of missing data imputation methods, namely regression imputation (RI), multiple imputation (MI) and k-nearest neighbor (kNN) on differential item functioning (DIF). In this regard, the datasets used in the research were created by deleting some of the data via the missing completely at random…

Teacher collaboration (TC) is an effective means of enhancing teachers' psychological factors towards their jobs. Yet research on the extent to which the personal and structural characteristics and their synergistic effects of collaboration on teachers' psychological factors remain ambiguous. This study examines the effects of TC on…

Background: Inquiry-based teaching (IBT) and improving school climate are the two most commonly used strategies for fostering learning and critical thinking skills in students. IBT has positioned itself as one of the most recommended "active" methodologies for developing intellectual autonomy and complex thought processes, whereas school…

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) and motivation are both important predictors of student achievement. However, most studies have investigated these factors separately, and very few have looked into the interplay between SES and motivation as determinants of student reading achievement. Aims: We intend to bridge this gap by examining a model…

Recently, the use of information and communications technology (ICT) at school has been extensively increased in Finland. This study investigated whether the use of ICT at school is linked to students 'learning outcomes in Finland. We used the Finnish PISA 2015 data (N=5037). Cognitive learning outcomes (i.e. science, mathematics, reading,…

I brought together two strands of literature, one investigating the moderate but persistent underachievement of girls in mathematics in most countries, and the other examining the role of self-efficacy and other self-beliefs in predicting behaviour and achievement. I implemented detailed decompositions of the gender mathematics gap, both at the…

This study explores the factors influencing mathematics performance, teacher satisfaction, and school environment across six economies using data from PISA 2022. Employing hierarchical linear modeling, the research examines individual and institutional variables at the student, teacher, and school levels. Key findings reveal significant…

The purpose of the current study is to examine malleable school practices and norms that contribute to inequitable school learning environments based on student background. Using multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) with the U.S. sample of PISA 2015, this study examines the extent to which student-level access to inquiry-based science…

This paper investigates the relationship between secondary school students' reading metacognition and summary writing skills--which represent a part of their academic language skills--within a network of psychological and sociocultural factors consisting of positivity, tolerance and respect, resilience, and culture and cooperation. We used data…

This study uses PISA 2018 data to analyze, from a multinational perspective, whether interest in environmental issues is a determining factor of science literacy. A relational survey model is used as a quantitative research design to analyze secondary data obtained from the PISA 2018 evaluation data of 98,306 students at the age of 15 in 15…

This study utilizes the 2015 data from the Hong Kong sample of the Program for International Student Assessment to examine the relative importance of various factors on the science learning performance of Hong Kong students. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), we examined the effect of students' affective characteristics, involvement, and…

We tested the broad generality of a model for predicting 9th-10th grade students' STEM career expectations by age 30, focusing on hard science, mathematics and engineering professions only, known for driving innovation, research and development. The model's predictors included "motivation to learn mathematics", "gender", and…

Although the gender gap in non-compulsory science attracts much attention, few studies compare factors that shape it at subsequent life stages. Here, a life-course approach is used to examine the gender gap in science career expectations at ages 16, 23 and 26 for a recent student cohort. Then, a decomposition is applied to assess what share of the…