Timss 2011 Cross Country Comparisons: Relationship Between Student- and Teacher-Level Factors and 8Th Grade Students' Science Achievement and Attitude Toward Science
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TIMSS 2011 CROSS COUNTRY COMPARISONS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT- AND TEACHER-LEVEL FACTORS AND 8TH GRADE STUDENTS' SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDE TOWARD SCIENCE A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SEVGİ İPEKÇİOĞLU ÖNAL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SECONDARY SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION DECEMBER 2015 Approval of the thesis: TIMSS 2011 CROSS COUNTRY COMPARISONS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT- AND TEACHER LEVEL FACTORS AND 8TH GRADE STUDENTS’ SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDE TOWARD SCIENCE submitted by SEVGİ İPEKÇİOĞLU ÖNAL in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Gülbin Dural Ünver Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban Head of Department, Secondary Science and Math. Edu Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban Supervisor, Secondary Science and Math. Edu. Dept., METU Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Ayhan YILMAZ Secondary Science and Math. Edu. Dept., Hacettepe University Prof. Dr. Ömer GEBAN Secondary Science and Math. Edu. Dept., METU Prof. Dr. Özgül YILMAZ-TÜZÜN Elementary Education Dept., METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yezdan BOZ Secondary Science and Math. Edu. Dept., METU Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine ERDEM Secondary Science and Math. Edu. Dept., Hacettepe University Date: 08.12.2015 iv I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Sevgi İPEKÇİOĞLU ÖNAL Signature : v ABSTRACT TIMSS 2011 CROSS COUNTRY COMPARISONS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT- AND TEACHER-LEVEL FACTORS AND 8TH GRADE STUDENTS' SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDE TOWARD SCIENCE İpekçioğlu Önal, Sevgi Ph.D., Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban December 2015, 279 pages The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between student- and teacher-level characteristics and 8th grade students’ science achievement (SA) and attitude toward science (ATS) in Turkey, Finland and England through the use of TIMSS 2011 data. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used in the analysis of student-level (gender, HER, parental involvement, time spent on homework and bullying) and teacher-level (confidence, career-satisfaction, collaboration, science- investigations, experience and professional development). The present study was a quantitative research with non-experimental study. Home educational resources (HER) showed significant relationship with SA and ATS in all countries whereas teachers’ professional development and collaborate to improve teaching were statistically non-significant. In addition to HER, gender, parental involvement, and teacher experience were significant in Turkey, Finland and England models explaining ATS. HER explained great vi variance in SA; moreover, both parental involvement and HER explained great variance in ATS in all three countries. Amount of total explained variance in SA was 16.6 %, 11.7 % and 20.5 % and in ATS it was 6.4 %, 10.9 % and 12.8 % respectively in Turkey, Finland and England. This conceptual model explained more variance in SA than ATS in each country. Highest percentage of variance both in SA and ATS was explained by England. Generally teacher-level variables explained more variance in SA and student-level variables explained more variance in ATS. Recommendations to improve science education in Turkey and future research suggestions were stated based on the findings of this study. KEYWORDS: Science Achievement, Attitude toward Science, Teacher Effect, TIMSS, HLM vii ÖZ TIMSS 2011 ÜLKELER ARASI KARŞILAŞTIRMALAR: 8. SINIF ÖGRENCİLERİN FEN BAŞARISI VE FENE YÖNELİK TUTUMU İLE ÖĞRETMEN VE ÖĞRENCİ ÖZELLİKLERİ ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ İpekçioğlu Önal, Sevgi Doktora, Orta Öğretim Fen ve Matematik Alanları Eğitimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban Aralık 2015, 279 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye, Finlandiya ve Ingiltere’deki 8. sınıf öğrencilerin fen başarısı (FB) ve fene yönelik tutumu (FYT) ile öğrenci ve öğretmen özellikleri arasındaki ilişkiyi TIMSS 2011 datasını kullanarak incelemektir. Öğrenci özellikleri (cinsiyet, evde kullanılan eğitim materyalleri, ailenin katılımı, ödeve ayrılan süre, ve okulda sözlü ve fiziksel şiddete maruz kalma) ve öğretmen özellikleri (kendine güven, kariyer memnuniyeti, fen araştırmalarının önemini vurgulamak, deneyim ve profesyonel gelişim) “Hiyerarşik Lineer Modelleme” (HLM) kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Bu çalışma deneysel olmayan nicel bir araştırmadır. Evde kullanılan eğitim kaynakları (EKEK) tüm ülkelerin hem FB hem de FYT modellerinde istatiksel olarak anlamlı bulunurken, öğretmenlerin profesyonel gelişimi ve fen öğretimini arttırmak için öğretmen işbirliği değişkenleri bu modellerin hiç birinde istatiksel olarak anlamlı bulunmamıştır. EKEK’e ek olarak, cinsiyet, ailenin katılımı ve öğretmen deneyimi FYT’yi açıklayan Türkiye, Finlandiya ve Ingiltere modellerinde istatiksel olarak anlamlı bulunmuştur. Buna ek viii olarak, FB’deki varyansı yüksek oranda EKEK açıklarken, her 3 ülkede FYT varyansını yüksek oranda hem ailenin katılımı hem de EKEK açıklar. Tam model tarafından açıklanan toplam varyansın miktarı Türkiye, Finlandiya ve Ingiltere sırasıyla olmak üzere FB için % 16.6, % 11.7 ve % 20.5, FYT için ise % 6.4, % 10.9 ve % 12.8’dir. Bu kavramsal model her bir ülkede FYT’ye göre FB’de daha çok varyans açıklamıştır. Hem FB hem de FYT’de en çok varyansı Ingiltere modeli açıklamıştır. Genel olarak, FB’deki varyans daha çok öğretmen-düzeyi değişkenleri ile açıklanırken, FYT’deki varyans öğrenci-düzeyi değişkenleri ile açıklamıştır. Bu çalışmanın bulgularına dayanarak, Türkiye’de fen öğretimini geliştirmek ve geleceğe yönelik araştırma sunmak açısından öneriler sunulmuştur. ANAHTAR KELİMELER: Fen Başarısı, Fene Yönelik Tutum, Öğretmen Etkisi, TIMSS, HLM ix To the Next Genarations x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation would not be possible without the support of many people. Firstly, I would like to thank to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Ömer Geban for his supportive manner and guidance through my PhD study. He has been always very helpful with his intelligence and problem-solver personality. Prof. Dr. Ayhan YILMAZ, Prof. Dr. Özgül YILMAZ-TÜZÜN, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yezdan BOZ and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine ERDEM as committee members also deserved special thanks. They always gave valuable suggestions and feedbacks. I am grateful to Educational Sciences Institute of University of Zürich, where I had studied as a visiting scholar. I would like to send my special thanks to Prof. Dr. Katharina MAAG-MERKI and her TEB-Research Group members, who never let me feel I am far away from home. They always behaved very helpful and encouraging. During my visit, I learnt so many things not only about science education but also about life itself and being more productive. My special thanks go to IEA’s RandA (Hamburg) as performing and interpreting the statistical analysis part of my dissertation would not be possible without their help. I have attended several workshops about TIMSS studies organized by IEA’s RandA and these workshops shaped and finalized my PhD study. I would like to thank to Dr. Andrés Sandoval-Hernández and Dr. Agnes Stancel-Piatak whom I asked endless questions and received helpful answers especially during my statistical analysis part. I am thankful to Dr. Urs Grob and Dr. Savas Pamuk for their support and suggestions in statistical analysis part. It would be tough without their help. I am thankful to METU-SSME. Approximately 10 years ago, I started to study at METU-SSME for my bachelor degree, now I graduate from this department with a PhD degree. I have been a student and then become an academic employee at this department. This department became a second home for me. Therefore, I want to thank to Prof. Dr. Giray Berberoglu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esen Uzuntiryaki, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer F. Özdemir for my academic education. Moreover, I also would like to thank to my friends Dr. Betül Demirdöğen, Kübra Eryurt, Dr. Aysegül xi Tarkın, Fatma Nur Akın, Dr. Sevgi Aydın, Dr. Eray Sentürk, Semra Sacici Tahancalio, Mustafa Tüysüz, Dr. Demet Yıldıran and Sevim Sevgi who made my day. I am so happy to be able to study and work at such an academic environment with its open-minded, hardworking, ambitious and amusing people. Words are inadequate to express my thanks to my family. I am so lucky to have such a family. I want to thank my mother Sevim İpekçioğlu and my sisters Nese Oğuzer and Dr. Melike Özyurt for their help, suggestions, endless support and always believing in me. Especially huge thanks to my mother who was always there to help me when I am stressful and busy. She came to Ankara and took care of me before my PhD proficiency exam, and waited for me till late hours nights long while I was studying for the exam. I would say that she also had deserved a PhD title because of her endless help and support I am extremely thankful to the most precious person in my life, my husband Çağrı Önal. He never put down his mental and cognitive support. He never complained about my overtimes at nights and weekends. During this tough process, he was sometimes a content developer, sometimes a