SINGAPORE'S ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE STUDY (TIMSS)
Overall Achievement
Singapore was ranked first in mathematics and science in an international study for 13-year-old students.
In October 1994, 8,500 13-year-old students in Sec One and Sec Two in Singapore sat for tests in mathematics and science, along with half a million students from 44 other countries, in the largest international study of standards of performance in mathematics and science conducted to date.
The study - the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) - was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). IEA is an international association for comparative study of educational achievement and it has 53 institutional members from countries like Singapore, the United States, France, Germany and Japan. Its headquarters is at Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
How well Singapore students did in the mathematics and science tests is seen by their overall performance.
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At both Sec One and Sec Two, almost half of the students in Singapore were placed in the top 10% for mathematics; and more than a quarter for science.
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In mathematics, the Sec One students in Singapore had 73% of the questions correct compared to the international average of 49%. The Sec Two students did equally well, with 79% compared to 55%.
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In science, the Sec One students in Singapore had 61% of the questions correct compared to the international average of 50%. The Sec Two students did equally well, with 70% compared to 56%.
Asian students generally did very well in the mathematics section, with Korea, Japan and Hong Kong in the second, third and fourth places respectively. Japan and Korea also ranked near the top for science.
Other Key Findings
Gender
For Singapore students, boys and girls performed equally well in the tests. In many of the participating countries, however, boys performed better than girls, not only in mathematics but in science as well.
Homework
On average, Sec Two students in Singapore spent two to three hours per day watching television, which was similar to students in many other countries. However, Singapore students appeared to be more hardworking. They reported one of the highest numbers of hours spent on doing homework - an average of 4.6 hours per day compared to an international average of two to three hours per day.
Teachers
Among the TIMSS countries, Sec Two mathematics and science teachers in Singapore reported the highest number of hours (10 hours per week) spent on marking students work and tests, and planning lessons.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Page Last Updated :
22-Jul-2004
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