Trend In International Mathematics And Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment for mathematics and science knowledge. It is managed by National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The purpose of TIMSS is to measure the achievement of students through the research on the various methods used in a national system. So, what do they assess on TIMSS? Content and Cognitive domain.Cognitive domain here includes knowledge (facts, information, concepts, apparatus and procedure that a student needs to know), application (ability of students to apply their knowledge and understanding of concept into solving problems) and analysis (beyond the cognitive process in solving daily problems that are more complex).
Ok, now we are going straight to TIMSS 1999 where Malaysia started participated. Malaysia was 16 (for mathematics) and 22 (for science) out of 38 countries that participated. So here are a few interesting issues that arise from TIMSS 1999 (for Malaysia that is):
- Different in achievements between urban schools and rural schools
- Language factor
- Size of class
- Self concept
Different in achievements between urban and rural schools
This is somehow expected isn't it. In urban area, no matter how far a school is, for convenient purpose lets take KL for example, there are trains (KTM commuter, LRT, monoreal), rapid buses all over the city, taxis, and even school buses. In school they are equip with the latest gadget in technologies such as computer lab with internet access, comfortable classrooms with at least three ceiling fans (not to mention air-conditional classroom) and so on. Now take a look at rural school, take for example Sabah rural places, you might not believe this but some students travel to school using boat that it requires them to start traveling as early as five in the morning, as this is the only transportation available to take them there, then how about when the weather is unsuitable for boat transport, they will just have to skip school. People wonder why not register them to a nearer school, because that is the nearest school available to them. If just to travel there is that difficult, wonder how are people going to transport furniture, technologies such as computer there? That is why a lot of rural schools are not well equip with modern technologies even some basic needs such as clean water. They used whatever available to them to built a simple structure that can be called as school. All these limit teacher's teaching method.
Language Factor
Well, bahasa Melayu is our official language and mathematics and science were taught in Bahasa Melayu during this period hence not many issues arise from this angle as bahasa Melayu was implemented in teaching mathematics and science for some time.
Size of class
People often say that students must pay attention in class or to what the teacher is teaching, well the same can be said from the opposite, that is attention given on the students is extremely important in guiding a student. So how do we accomplish that, that is by reducing the size of class to a maximum of 25 students per class. Given that the growth rate in Malaysia is ever increasing, this task is becoming more difficult. For that problem, we are not going in details about it as we believe the relevant authorities are already looking into it. So why attention is important? From here if teachers pay the necessary attention towards their student (which is of course must be manageable amount) they will know how to help a student, from what angle is the student facing difficulties. This will indirectly causes the students to have confidence in their teacher, they know who to turn to beside than their family members, the teacher can gain their trust, motivates and guide them towards a better path, and helps them academically.
Self-Concept
First of all, what do the title means? Self-concept here means that students are able to confidently state a concept. Well, just go into a class and randomly ask a student any basic concept, can they answer it? Well since TIMSS suggests that it is something we need to look into will indirectly give you a clue what the student will answer. This might be due to our exam oriented format, because students tend to "vomit back" what they have just learned, which suggests that they are MEMORIZING. How can they confidently state out a concept if they are just memorizing, let alone understanding it. Yet how to solve a problem by not understanding it? This we believe should be discuss more in teacher's method in teaching segment. Anyway, this at least is something that we need to aware of.
TIMSS (2003)
Malaysia recorded an improve result that as compare to TIMSS 1999 as they ranked tenth in TIMSS 2003. However, there are a few issues that needed to be address as overall it is still unsatisfactory:
- Teaching method
- Interest in mathematics
- Weak learning technique among students
Teaching method
...
Interest in Mathematics
Erm... this is actually largely due to teacher factor (their teaching method) and some are well of course natural talent or interest (rare case though, so we are not going into it, some more when they have natural interest, is actually easier to guide and motivate them). Ok, so how is it possible? Remember that we state about each student is unique in his or her own way, well if we can actually use that unique way to teach them, of course the possibility of them learning and understanding the topic is very high, and how can you not has an interest in it if you are doing well and excelling in that subject. This further strengthen the statement that various teaching methods are important.
Weak learning technique among students
Learning mathematics is not same as learning other subjects. take for example you cannot read a mathematics textbook like how you read a novel, it is totally different. In schools, teachers tend to teach student how to calculate or use a formula, however this is largely opposite of the content of textbook. In textbook, it will relate a topic to a daily or relevant application, then slowly guide the students how the formula comes about. Not so with teachers though, as straight away they will guide students how to use the formula without relating it to any application at all. In short students need to memorize formula. So all these create confusions among students even though textbook itself is in some way sufficient, but in order to understand it's content, one need to truly imagine what it is trying to convey to its readers, then there are the language barrier and level of difficulty of the language used (for example you cannot let a boy read a university book if he is just 10 years old (ok, bar wonder or miracle boy).
TIMSS 2007
In this edition, Malaysia recorded the biggest drop among all the countries participated. Hence...
PPSMI
What is PPSMI? PPSMI stands for Pengajaran Pendidikan Sains Dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris. This creates an uproar from many people including teachers for its sudden introduction. While it was implemented, many were not exactly clear of it (such as the guidelines). Even teachers were not given proper training. However, the true problem actually lies on its implementation. Looking back, it was implemented drastically without any clear guidelines. Take for example it was also implemented not only for standard one but also form one, this is such a significant change. Students which are weak in English language will face further problems even mentally, but who can they ask for help from when our teachers were not fully prepared themselves. In the end, who are to be blame for this failure, is it really the students poor achievement as indicated through TIMSS?
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