Scientific Literacy and Student Attitudes: Perspectives from PISA 2006 science

Abstract

International assessments provide important knowledge about science education and help inform decisions about policies, programmes, and practices in participating countries. In 2006, science was the primary domain for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), supported by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER). Compared to the school curriculum orientation of Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), PISA provides a perspective that emphasises the application of knowledge to science and technology‐related life situations. The orientation of PISA includes both knowledge and attitudes as these contribute to students’ competencies that are central to scientific literacy. In addition to students’ knowledge and competencies, the 2006 PISA survey gathered data on students’ interest in science, support for scientific enquiry, and responsibility towards resources and environments. The survey used both a non‐contextualised student questionnaire and contextualised questions. The latter is an innovative approach which embedded attitudinal questions at the conclusion of about two‐thirds of the test units. The results presented in this article make connections between students’ attitudes and interests in science and scientific literacy.

Keywords:

• Attitudes
• Scientific literacy
• Interest in science
• Large‐scale studies
• International comparisons

Notes

1. PISA scales are constructed with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100.

2. Topics are ranked according to how difficult it was for students to express interest in learning about them. Often, however, there was no significant difference in the difficulties of two or three items that have successive ranks.