Classroom Context: The Classroom Context for Year 5 Students' Mathematics and Science Achievement in 2006

Classroom resources

Computers in mathematics

At least one computer was available in the classroom for 77 percent of New Zealand Year 5 students during mathematics lessons in 2006/07, compared with 70 percent in the previous cycle of TIMSS. This proportion was much higher than the international average of 46 percent, but around the same as Australia and England (see Table 15).

Teachers, however, reported low to moderate use of computers in mathematics class both in New Zealand and internationally. Only 10 percent of New Zealand students used computers to practise mathematics skills and procedures in half or more of their mathematics lessons, four percent of students did activities on computer based on discovering principles and concepts and three percent used computers to look up ideas and information.

Although around half of all students across the participating countries had access to computers for use in class, relatively few students actually used computers for mathematics tasks. For example, 79 percent of Japanese students had computers available in their mathematics class but only one percent used them on a regular basis.

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 38 in the Appendix. A dash (-) indicates comparable data are not available.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.11 in Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008.

Computers in science

Most New Zealand Year 5 students (89%) had access to at least one computer in their science classroom in 2006/07, an increase of 4 percentage points since 2002/03. Access was considerably higher than the international average of 49 percent, and higher than Australia (78%) and England (77%), where computer availability in science lessons has dropped since 2002/03 (see Table 16).

In science, students used computers primarily to look up ideas and information. Over one-third of New Zealand students (38%) used the computer in at least half of their science lessons, compared with 12 percent on average across TIMSS countries. On the other hand, few New Zealand students used the computer for more practical science activities such as doing scientific procedures and experiments (3%), studying natural phenomena through simulations (6%) or practising skills and procedures (5%).

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 39 in the Appendix. A dash (-) indicates comparable data are not available.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.10 in Martin, Mullis and Foy, 2008.

Use of calculators in mathematics

Calculator use varies widely across countries. Most New Zealand students (92%) were allowed to use calculators during Year 5 mathematics classes, as were the majority of students in England, Australia, and Scotland. On the other hand, Singaporean students were generally not allowed calculators in class at all, as shown in Table 17.

Between TIMSS 2002/03 and TIMSS 2006/07, the proportion of New Zealand students allowed to bring calculators to their mathematics class dropped significantly from 96 percent to 92 percent.

According to their teachers, New Zealand students use calculators mainly to check answers or solve complex problems in mathematics. Fewer students use them to do routine computations or to explore number concepts.

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 40 in the Appendix. A dash (-) indicates comparable data are not available.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.10 in Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008.

Using textbooks in mathematics lessons

Sixty-five percent of students across the TIMSS countries learnt mathematics from teachers who used textbooks as a primary resource for their mathematics lessons. In contrast, most New Zealand teachers used textbooks as a supplementary resource for mathematics, and only five percent of students were taught primarily using textbooks in class, a significant decrease from 2002/03 (16% taught primarily using textbooks in 2002/03).

Few New Zealand teachers said that they never used textbooks¹² in mathematics class (4% of students), but the proportion of Australian and English students taught mathematics without classroom texts was much higher at 24 and 21 percent respectively (see Table 18).

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 41 in the Appendix.A dash (-) indicates comparable data are not available.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.8 in Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008.

Using textbooks in science

Most New Zealand Year 5 science classes do not use textbooks. Eighty percent of students did not use textbooks for science in 2006/07, and for a further 18 percent, their teachers used texts as a supplementary resource rather than a primary basis for lessons.

Across the participating countries, use of science textbooks was much more common than in New Zealand. Most teachers (86% of students) used textbooks in the science classroom as a primary basis for lessons (52%) or as a supplementary resource (34%). New Zealand, Australia and Scotland were the only TIMSS countries where science textbooks were not widely used in Year 5 science lessons (see Table 19). Although it was rare for textbooks to be used as a primary basis for lessons in England, they were used as a supplementary resource for nearly two-thirds of English students.

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 42 in the Appendix.A dash (-) indicates comparable data are not available.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.8 in Martin, Mullis and Foy, 2008.

Other teaching resources

Principals rated whether their school’s capacity to provide instruction was affected by a shortage or inadequacy of any of 19 resources on a four-point scale: none, a little, some, or a lot.

A lack of science laboratory equipment and materials was the resource most commonly seen as having an impact on instructional capability. Only 16 percent of students attended schools where their principal did not see this as a barrier to instruction. A lack of computer software for science instruction and computer support staff were the next most common resources seen as limiting instruction.

Computers and software

Two-thirds of New Zealand Year 5 students were in schools where their principal reported that a lack of computers hindered the school’s capacity to provide mathematics or science instruction to some extent. A lack of computer software was also considered a hindrance for the teaching of mathematics and science. Overall, a lack of science instructional software was more commonly seen as a problem by principals (79% of students) than mathematics instructional software (69% of students).

To supplement the questions on computer resources, principals were asked how many computers were available for educational purposes at their school. On average, there were 23 computers per school available for Year 5 students to use.

Teachers and support staff

Principals indicated that teacher shortages were a barrier to their capacity to provide instruction (across all subjects) for more than half of New Zealand students. Three-quarters of students attended schools where the principal perceived that a lack of computer support staff hindered the school’s capacity to provide instruction.

Principals were also asked how difficult it was to fill Year 5 teaching vacancies for the 2006 school year. In New Zealand, 44 percent of students attended schools where the principal reported no teaching positions were vacant at this level, in contrast to the international mean of 68 percent.

Approximately 40 percent of New Zealand students attended schools where teaching vacancies were easy to fill, 15 percent of students attended schools where teaching positions were somewhat difficult to fill, and a small minority of students (3%) attended schools where teaching vacancies were very difficult to fill. As might be expected, teaching vacancies at schools in major urban areas were a lot easier to fill than teaching vacancies at schools in smaller urban and rural areas. Seven percent of New Zealand students attended schools where their principals reported using some form of incentive to recruit or retain teachers, compared with the international mean of 12 percent.

Science resources

As mentioned earlier, the resource most commonly seen as having an impact on instructional capability was a lack of science laboratory equipment and materials. Principals were also asked specifically if the school had a science laboratory. No definition was given in the question of what was meant by a science laboratory. Eight percent of students in New Zealand attended schools with a science laboratory, compared to the international average of 32 percent.

The average science achievement of students in New Zealand who attended schools with science laboratories was significantly higher than their peers in schools without this resource, although most schools with science laboratories were composite schools and as such may have had access to specialist teaching.

Principals reported on whether teachers usually have assistance available when students are conducting science experiments. In New Zealand, approximately 12 percent of students were in schools where teaching assistance was available for students conducting science experiments compared with the international average of 27 percent.

The School Context for Year 5 Students’ Mathematics and Science Achievement in 2006: Results from TIMSS 2006/07 (Caygill, Lang and Cowles, 2010) contains a detailed analysis of school resources and their impact on the school learning and teaching environment.

Footnote

12. In the New Zealand teacher questionnaires, mathematics textbooks were defined to include the Figure it Out series.