5TH International Congress on Technology - Engineering & Science - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2018-02-01)

Engineering Education And The Differential Effects Of Student-level Factors On Science And Mathematics Achievement: A Study Using Timss 2015 Data Of Singapore

Engineering, science, and mathemat¬ics are interdisciplinary knowledge. Research addressed the importance of high abilities in science/mathematics at secondary school for the well prepara¬tion of engineering profession. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a global assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades. TIMSS provides four-point-scale international benchmarks to interpret the characteristics of students’ performance on the test results. The science achievement scores at four points along the scale as international benchmarks were advanced international benchmark (625), high international benchmark (550), intermediate international benchmark (475), and low international benchmark (400).This study utilized TIMSS 2015 science/mathematics grade 8 data of Singapore to investigate the student-level factors that influenced significantly on the science achievement of different groups of international benchmark. The student-level factors include five key components, i.e., student background, environmental support, students’ school experience, students engaging in science/mathematics learning, and motivation in learning science/mathematics. The specific research questions for this study were (1) what was the quantity and scores information of the students in various categories of international benchmark? (2) what were the strength and direction of the linear relationships between pairs of student-level variables? (3) what student-level factors significantly predicted the status of student on different international benchmark categories? The methods utilized in this study was descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. Results showed that (1) All significant correlation coefficients were positive. (2)Science achievement and mathematics achievement had strong relationship. Students with higher performance of science were more likely to have higher mathematics achievements and vice versa. (2) There were substantial gaps of mean science achievement between the levels of international benchmark. (3) Among the three motivational constructs, Students Like Mathematics/Science had the strongest positive relationship with Student Confident in Mathematics/Science for the advanced international benchmark group. If students enjoyed learning mathematics/Science, they tended to have more confidence in learning mathematics/science and vice versa. (4)The factors Home Educational Resources and Parents’ Highest Education Level influenced the science achievement of all groups of international benchmark significantly and positively. This signified the importance of family and home support to assist learning. (5)Students confidence with science was the key factor in predicting high science achievement. (6)The variable Student Bullying was an important factor affecting the science proficiency of the lower achievers. In light of the significant influences of students like learning, students self-confidence, and students bullying on science achievement, educators should deal with these issues seriously to improve achievement. Suggestions for future research were discussed.
H. W. Ker, Y. H. Lee, S. M. Ho