Finnish students' opinions about the frequency of learning activities and communication in the Finnish science classroom, their interest in science and science studies and careers, their sense of self‐efficacy, and their beliefs about their own competence as well as their performance in science are analyzed based on PISA 2006 Scientific Literacy Assessment data. Students' success on PISA is explained by these context variables and by the national education policy in Finland. The regression analysis revealed that positive student level predictors for PISA science performance were science‐related self‐efficacy and self‐concept, interest in physics and chemistry, and a view of the usefulness of science studies in preparing students for future jobs in science. From the point of view of science teaching, one of the most robust predictors of the high results in Finland were frequent use of teacher demonstrations, practical work in the classroom, and the possibility for students to draw conclusions. Knowledge based society, educational equality, and devolution of decision power at the local level, and teacher education are named as most important educational policy issues behind students' high performance in PISA 2006 science. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 922–944, 2009

Happiness varies with age, but there is no general agreement regarding the feature of the variation. Many studies have found that it is U-shaped such that there is a minimum between approximately 40 and 50 years of age. The result largely depends on the control variables used in the happiness modeling. Some authors do not even allow the use of any control variables, but the conventional theory of U-shaped studies stipulates the inclusion of such controls that essentially influence the basic living conditions of people. In this study, we do not strictly follow earlier findings but estimate our age-shape with different versions of them, using the data of 28 or 30 European countries. We also estimate a model without proper controls. This does not give any minimum age and thus supports some studies. Moreover, using any or all of our three controls some type of U-shape is found in most countries. Our U-shapes are not as simple as conventional research suggests. Minimum happiness can occur either below 40 years, or much above 50 years. A special feature is that the U-shape phenomenon holds better for males than for females. We also estimated models to see what happens after the minimum age happiness. In the case of gender models, the turning points for males are substantially lower than for females. This means that the old-age happiness of males stops to increase approximately at 70 years but more than 10 years later for females.

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