Introduction: How does knowing how we compare to students in other countries affect your teaching practice? How do we actually compare? What are these two international assessment measures and how are they conducted? To answer these questions one must have a foundational knowledge base of what these assessments actually are. In response to many students expressing unfamiliarity with these two assessments, we created this WebQuest to assist in developing a deeper understanding of the TIMSS and PISA assessments.
The Task: Working with a group, you will explore some aspects of the TIMSS and PISA assessments as you visit a list of suggested sites and answer questions meant to guide your understanding of these assessments.
The Process: Click on the provided links to answer the questions given for each site. You may record your answers on the handout.
The Resources:
1. http://timss.bc.edu/timss2003.html
2. Using the following link, look at the list of participating countries. Write down the name of 5 of the countries
that took part in the 4th grade assessments.
http://timss.bc.edu/timss2003i/countries.html
3. For the countries you chose. Compare their average result to the U.S. by clicking the following links. Do the
results surprise you? What factors may contribute to any differences?
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/TIMSS03Tables.asp?Quest=1&Figure=1
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/TIMSS03Tables.asp?Quest=1&Figure=2
4. Click the
following link to compare scores from 1995 to 2003 for the U.S. Does anything
concern or encourage
you about these results?
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/Results03.asp?Quest=2
5.
Click the following to links to see how 4th
grade scores from other countries changed for the same time period.
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/TIMSS03Tables.asp?Quest=2&Figure=3
http://nces.ed.gov/timss/TIMSS03Tables.asp?figure=4&Quest=2
6. Click on the
following links to try some sample questions from the TIMSS assessment for 4th
grade science and
math and check
your answers. How do you think students that you have worked with would do on
this?
7. Click the
following link and answer the following questions:
http://www.pisa.oecd.org/pages/0,2966,en_32252351_32235907_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
8. Click the following link to see the participating countries from 2003. Are any of these the same as the 5 you
chose for TIMSS?
http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/35/0,2340,en_32252351_32236225_33664291_1_1_1_1,00.html
9. Click the
following link to learn more about PISA. What differences do you notice compared
to the TIMSS
assessment?
http://nces.ed.gov/Surveys/PISA/PISAHighlights.asp
10. Click the
following link to view the results of math and science literacy for
participating countries. What do you
think about how the U.S. performed?
http://nces.ed.gov/Surveys/PISA/PISAHighlightsFigures.asp?figure=5&quest=1
11. Sample PISA questions
Click on the following link to see some sample questions. Keep in mind that these questions would be targeted to 15 year olds to "assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society." PISA
As you read each question, evaluate it in terms of the higher order thinking skills used.
(knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation)
http://pisa-sq.acer.edu.au/ - Choose English, Math, and Science with Marking Guides
Evaluation: The knowledge you gain as a result of this WebQuest will aid in your ability to participate in the following discussion of articles involving these two assessments.