Science Education: Intended and Attained  curriculum in primary school years

Kiamanesh, A. R.

doi:10.22055/edus.1997.16129

Science Education: Intended and Attained curriculum in primary school years

10.22055/edus.1997.16129

Volume 3, Issue 2
February 1996

Pages 13-37

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

A. R. Kiamanesh

Faculty member of Tarbiat Moallem University

Abstract

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the largest and the most important comparative survey carried out internationally by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (TEA).
The study was carried out among samples of 9-,13-, and 17-year-old students using paper and pencil tests and performance tasks in math and science. The results obtained from the science tests taken by 13-yesr-old Iranian subjects in 192 guidance schools are presentcd here in terms of content and expected performance. It should be noted that in each school one class of second graders and one class of third graders took the tests.
In general, the performance of girls was lower than that of boys. That is, the mean correct responses for the third grade girls and boys on the total science test and its subtests were 45% and 49.3%, respectively. Moreover, for the 2nd graders, these percentages were 40% and 43.3%, respectively. It should be noted that increasing the difficulty level of expected performance resulted in the average correct responses.
The average scores for third graders on the total science test and its tour subcategories were lower than those of the counterpart samples in other participant countries. Further, the students who were studying in one grade lower in other countries outperformed the Iranian third graders. Regarding the performance of the second graders, it should be stated their performance on the whole science test and also its four subtests was similar to that of the third graders. Only in chemistry subtest, the Iranian 3rd and 2nd graders scored higher than other participants. The improvement in science was 5.5% for the Iranian students after two years of schooling, compared with 6% for other countries.
In general, third graders attained 47.4% of the intended curriculum in the science exam and 50% of the intended curriculim in the Iranian textbooks. The same statistics for the 2nd graders are 41.9% and 45%, respectively. In fact, the average performance of second and third graders was lower than the international and national standards, i. e., 50% correct resopnse from the intended curriculum.

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