Professor Asabere-Ameyaw, A.

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University of Education, Winneba - Ghana
Comparative analysis of performance of eighth
graders from six African countries
By

• Professor Asabere-Ameyaw, A.
• Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba
  
• P. O Box 25, Winneba GhanaTel. 233 24 4323186,
  Fax [phone],

Kofi D. Mereku (PhD) Dean, Faculty of Science
Education, University of Education, Winneba P. O
Box 25, Winneba Ghana Tel. [phone],
Fax [phone] E-mail dkmereku_at_uew.edu.gh
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Areas of coverage

• What was TIMSS-2003?
• Which countries were involved?
• Achievement in mathematics and science
• Contextual factors
• Conclusion Recommendations

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What was TIMSS-2003?

• TIMSS-2003 was an international study in science
  and mathematics achievement.
• Was designed to measure students achievement and
  trends in achievement
• It also examined the contexts for learning
  mathematics and science.

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Who carried out TIMSS-2003?

• A National Research Coordinator appointed by the
  Ministry of Education of each participating
  country was responsible for implementing the
  study in that country.
• Research Coordinators and their team worked with
  a number of foreign research organizations during
  the different phases of the study.

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Countries participating in TIMSS-2003

• Forty-six countries around the world participated
  in the TIMSS-2003, with six of them from Africa.
• Those from Africa were - Botswana, Egypt, Ghana,
  Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa

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AFRICA
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What did participation in TIMSS-2003 mean to
African countries?

• The opportunity to examine students (eighth
  graders) achievement in mathematics and science
  using an international yardstick i.e. what
  students know and can do.
• Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons
• It also provided rich information on the context
  for the teaching and learning of mathematics and
  science in African schools which could be used to
  identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching and
  learning of these subjects.

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Overview of African students achievement

• The overall performance of the students from the
  participating African countries on the science
  and mathematics tests was very low.
• In science, the mean country score for all the
  African countries was 347.5 as compared to the
  international country mean of 467.
• In mathematics, the mean country score for all
  the African states was 353 as compared to the
  international country mean score of 474.

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Summary of science and mathematics achievement
scores by region
Overall science achievement Mean Score Overall mathematics achievement Mean Score
North African States 407 404
Sub-Sahara African States 288 302
African States pooled 347.5 353
All participating States 467 474
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Table 1(a). The overall mean SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT
SCORES
Country Overall Mean Science Achievement (SE) Overall Rank of countrys Science scale score
Singapore 578 (4.3) 1
Chinese Taipei 571 (3.5) 3
Korea 558 (1.6) 2
Japan 552 (1.7) 6
England 544 (4.1)
USA 527 (3.1) 9
Malaysia 510 (3.7) 20
International Average 474 (0.6) -
Egypt 421 (3.9) 36
Tunisia 404 (2.1) 39
Morocco 396 (2.5) 41
Botswana 365 (2.8) 44
Ghana 255 (5.9) 45
South Africa 244 (6.7) 46
Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking
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Table 1(b). The overall mean MATHEMATICS
ACHIEVEMENT SCORES
Country Overall Mean Mathematics Achievement (SE) Overall Rank of countrys Mathematics scale score
Singapore 605 (3.6) 1
Korea 589 (2.2) 2
Chinese Taipei 585 (4.6) 4
Japan 570 (2.1) 5
Malaysia 508 (4.1) 10
England 498 (4.7)
USA 498 (4.7) 15
International Average 467 (0.5) -
Tunisia 410 (2.2) 36
Egypt 406 (3.5) 37
Morocco 396 (2.5) 41
Botswana 366 (2.6) 43
Ghana 276 (4.7) 45
South Africa 264 (5.5) 46
Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking Standard error in parenthesis. Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking
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Overview of African students achievement (contd.)

• The performance of Ghana and South Africa were
  the lowest
• Egypt obtained the highest mean score in science
  while Tunisia got the highest mean in
  mathematics.
• North African countries performed significantly
  better than the Sub-Saharan African countries.

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Overall mean achievement of boys and girls

• There was no significant difference between boys
  and girls in Botswana, Egypt and South Africa.
• The 3 other countries Ghana, Morocco and
  Tunisia - showed differences in favour of boys.

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International Benchmarks (contd.)

• Four points on the mathematics and science scales
  were designated as International Benchmarks and
  defined as follows
• Advanced International Benchmark corresponds to a
  scale score of 625,
• High International Benchmark corresponds to a
  scale score of 550,
• Intermediate International Benchmark corresponds
  to a scale score of 475, and
• Low International Benchmark corresponds to a
  scale score of 400.

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Table 5 Percentages of Students Reaching
International Benchmarks of
Science Achievement
Countries Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement
Countries Advanced High Intermediate Low
International Average 6 25 54 78
Egypt 1 10 33 59
Morocco 0 1 13 48
Tunisia 0 1 12 52
Botswana 0 1 10 35
South Africa 1 3 6 13
Ghana 0 0 3 13
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Table 5 Percentages of Students Reaching
International Benchmarks of
Science Achievement
Countries Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement
Countries Advanced High Intermediate Low
International Average 6 24 51 75
Egypt 1 6 24 52
Morocco 0 1 10 42
Tunisia 0 1 15 55
Botswana 0 1 7 32
South Africa 0 2 6 10
Ghana 0 0 2 9
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Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003
International benchmarks for Science
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Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003
International benchmarks for Mathematics
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International Benchmarks (contd.)

• It was only in Egypt that 1 of the students
  reached the high or advanced international
  benchmarks in both science and mathematics.
• Generally about 75 of the students in
  sub-Saharan Africa and about 50 in the North
  African states did not reach the low
  international benchmark.
• The implication is that majority of our students
  do not have a good grasp of knowledge and
  conceptual understanding of basic mathematical
  principles and have poor knowledge and weak grasp
  of scientific concepts which are lower level
  cognitive competencies.

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Contextual framework for learning Science and
Mathematics in African countries

• To provide a context for interpreting the
  achievement results, detailed information were
  gathered from subject specialists national
  coordinators, students, teachers and head
  teachers on
• students backgrounds, attitudes towards science
  and mathematics, resources for learning in their
  homes, and the activities they engage in after
  school,
• teachers background,
• classroom and school characteristics.

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Contextual factors considered in presentation

• In this presentation, only a few of the
  contextual factors are considered. These are
• Students frequency of speaking language of test
  in the home
• Index of good school and class attendance
• Head teachers reports on the percentages of
  students in their schools coming from
  Economically Disadvantaged Homes
• Teachers qualifications
• Differentiation of the curriculum
• Exposure to national and international exams
• Use technology in classrooms - computer and
  calculator usage.

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Speaking Language of test in the home and
economically disadvantaged students
Percentage of students speaking language of test at home always or almost always of Students in Schools with more than 50 Economically Disadvantaged Students (EDS)
Botswana 11 38
Egypt 75 42
Ghana 33 71
Morocco 53 79
South Africa 27 65
Tunisia 64 59
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Teachers Qualification
  Percentage of Teachers whose highest educational level is INITIAL UNIVERSITY DEGREE OR BEYOND Percentage of Teachers whose highest educational level is INITIAL UNIVERSITY DEGREE OR BEYOND
  Mathematics Science
Botswana 8 38
Egypt 100 100
Ghana 8 9
Morocco 7 34
South Africa 34 28
Tunisia 83 98
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Percentage of students at each level of the Index
of Good School and Class Attendance in selected
countries
Country Levels of the Index Levels of the Index Levels of the Index
Country High Medium Low
International Averages 23 58 19
Egypt 47 37 16
Morocco 26 56 18
Tunisia 17 60 23
Botswana 5 62 33
Ghana 8 69 23
South Africa 6 50 44
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Participation in national and international exams
Country Grades Tested in National Exams Grades Tested in TIMSS and PISA
Egypt 5, 8 10, 11 8
Morocco 12 4,8
Tunisia 9, 12 4,8,15
Botswana 7, 10, 12 8
Ghana 9, 12 8
South Africa 12 8
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Use of Technology Computers and calculators
Country Science Science Mathematics Mathematics
Country National Curriculum Contains Policies or Statements About the Use of Computers Students () Whose Teachers Reported that Computers are not Available National Curriculum Contains Policies or Statements About the Use of Calculators Students () Whose Teachers Reported that Calculators are not Available
Botswana ? 95 (2.0) ? 87 (4.5)
Egypt ? - ? 0 (0.0)
Ghana ? 91 (2.9) ? 61 (5.0)
Morocco ? 86 (3.4) ? 1 (1.1)
South Africa ? 87 (2.4) ? 6 (1.8)
Tunisia ? 65 (4.4) ? 44 (4.6)
Singapore ? 21 (2.2) ? 0 (0.0)
(? ? No, ? ? Yes) (? ? No, ? ? Yes) (? ? No, ? ? Yes) (? ? No, ? ? Yes) (? ? No, ? ? Yes)
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Use of Technology Computers and calculators

• Though the national curricula of some of the
  African countries contain policy statements about
  the use of computers and calculators in the
  science and mathematics curricula, over 85 of
  the teachers (except those in Tunisia) reported
  that computers were not available in their
  schools.
• African countries are among those that make the
  least use of the technology (i.e. calculators and
  computers) in their curricula.

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Use of Technology Computers and calculators
(contd.)

• It was observed that students performance in the
  two subjects were high in countries which
  encouraged the use of the technology.
• Singapore, for example, where the best results
  were reported in both subjects, practices the use
  of technology.

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Contextual factors that influenced the poor
performance

• Teachers with no university degree or its
  equivalent in teaching science and mathematics
• Students learning science and mathematics in
  environments with low indices of good school and
  class attendance
• Lack of provision for differentiation of the
  content of the science and mathematics curricula
  to meet the learning needs of groups of students
  with different levels of abilities.

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Contextual factors that influenced the poor
performance (contd.)

• Students frequently speaking languages (local)
  other than the language of test in the home
• Head teachers reports on the percentages of
  students in their schools coming from
  Economically Disadvantaged Homes
• Low participation in public, national or
  international assessment exercises
• Little use of technology (i.e. computers and
  calculators) in the science and mathematics
  curricula.

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Conclusion

• The foundation for training science and
  mathematics human resource in Africa is in
  general weak
• African countries are among those that make the
  least use of technology in their science and
  mathematics curricula.
• That most students could not reach the low
  international benchmark implies most young
  students in Africa cannot apply scientific
  principles and systems to solve problems
  (advanced benchmark),
• In addition, they are not able to combine
  information and interpret data presented in
  tables and graphs to draw conclusions and to
  solve problems (high benchmark).

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Recommendation

• African countries should examine the contexts
  within which teaching and learning of mathematics
  and science take place (TIMSS can help)
• Provision of resources for teaching and learning
  science and maths
• NEPAD to constitute a team to monitor and support
  learning of these subjects at pre-tertiary level.

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To succeed Africa needs to do things differently
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