Teaching for conceptual understanding: A cross-national comparison of the relationship between teachers’ instructional practices and student achievement in mathematics

Abstract

Background: Educators, researchers and policy-makers worldwide continue to struggle to understand the changes needed for improving educational outcomes and attainment for students, particularly in content areas such as mathematics and science that are essential for developing a highly skilled workforce. Given the continuing emphasis on linking teacher practices with student outcomes, this study aims to explore teachers' use of particular instructional strategies and whether use is associated with student achievement. Methods: Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, this study examines eighth grade teachers' use of instructional practices that support students' conceptual understanding, and examines the relationship between those practices and mathematics test scores. Data from four countries was examined: U.S., Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Descriptive statistics and a series of multilevel regression models were used. Results: The results show that teachers in the U.S. were most similar to Korean teachers in the frequency and types of teaching practices reported, and that they reported using some practices at least as frequently, or more frequently than teachers in the other countries. A subset of teachers' instructional practices are related to mathematics achievement in the U.S. and Singapore, but not in Korea or Japan. Conclusions: Teacher practices explained very little of the variability in test scores, even in cases where particular instructional practices were positively and significantly related to achievement. This research highlights the challenges for examining the teacher-level correlates of student test scores using data from cross-sectional, international studies that do not include measures of students' prior achievement, classroom observations, or estimates of students' out-of-school instruction.

Affective characteristics and mathematics performance in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand: what can PISA 2012 data tell us?

“…Students' mathematics performance depends on multiple factors that contribute to a large proportion of unexplained variance. For instance, teachers' instructional practices (O'Dwyer et al 2015), socio-economic composition of the schools (Rumberger and Palardy 2005) as well as student and school resources (Topҫu et al 2014) within each of these three Southeast Asian countries should be examined in future studies.…”

Analysis of Maths Literacy Performances of Students with Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM): The Case of PISA 2012 Turkey

“…Bu çalışma kapsamına kullanılan öğrenci ve okul değişkenleri, matematik performansındaki değişkenliklerin sadece bir bölümünü oluşturmaktadır. Öğrencilerin matematik performansı, açıklanamayan varyansın büyük bir bölümüne katkıda bulunan, öğretmenlerin öğretimsel uygulamaları, okulların sosyo-ekonomik yapısı ile öğrenci ve okul kaynakları gibi birden fazla etmene bağlıdır (O'Dwyer, Wang ve Shields, 2015;Rumberger ve Palardy, 2005;Topçu, Arıkan ve Erbilgin, 2014;Thien vd., 2015). Açıklanamayan varyansın büyük bir bölümüne katkıda bulunan bu değişkenler, gelecekteki aynı konulu çalışmalarda kullanılabilir.…”

Profil Pemahaman Konsep Evolusi Mahasiswa Calon Guru Biologi FPMIPA IKIP Mataram

“…Treagust menyatakan bahwa salah satu tema penelitian pendidikan adalah pengajaran pemahaman konsep (Liao & She, 2009), karena demikian para peneliti dan pengambil kebijakan (policymaker) secara terus menerus tertarik pada pemahaman konsep (O'Dwyer et al, 2015), sehingga pemahaman konsep dijadikan sebagai salah satu muatan dalam kurikulum, yang mana hal ini dapat dilihat dari luaran atau capaian pendidikan tinggi yang termuat dalam Kerangka Kualifikasi Nasional Indonesia (KKNI) secara jelas dinyatakan bahwa salah satu capaian atau tujuan pembelajaran untuk jenajang D-IV/S-1 (level 6) adalah menguasai konsep teoretis bidang pengetahuan tertentu secara umum dan konsep teoretis bagian khusus dalam bidang pengetahuan tersebut secara mendalam, serta mampu memperfomulasikan penyelesaian masalah secarea prosedural.…”

“…Pertama; pemahaman konsep merupakan hasil dari proses mental (proses berpikir), sehingga mengajarkan pemahaman konsep akan meningkatkan proses berpikir dan pengetahuan ilmiah (Thagard, 2013). Kedua; mengajarkan pemahaman konsep berarti mengajarkan untuk menyelesaikan suatu masalah (Khashan, 2014), atau dengan lain pernyataan, mengajarkan pemahaman konsep berarti juga mengajarkan tentang keterampilan menyelesaikan masalah (O'Dwyer et al, 2015). Ketiga; pemahaman konsep mengacu pada memahami tentang konsep yang bersifat abstrak dan prinsip-prinsip umum (Johnson, Schneider & Star, 2015), mengacu pada pemahaman terhadap prinsip utama dan hubungan antar prinsip-prinsip (O'Dwyer et al, 2015), yang biasa berimplikasi dengan penjelasan kualitatif (Sands, 2014).…”