Influence of individual factors on student science performance in primary education

Abstract

The present paper aims to analyse the effects of individual factors on student science performance in primary education. This is an ex post facto study using the TIMSS 2019 database. The sample comprised 9512 Spanish students undertaking 4th grade primary education (51.6% boys; 48.4% girls) at 535 schools. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the 20 items comprising the student questionnaire on the science teaching and learning process (KMO =.93) were performed. Four factors were identified: student attitude, anxiety and self-efficacy towards the sciences and teacher attitude. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict the influence of student factors on science performance. Outcomes show that student attitudes determine their self-efficacy and that anxiety has a negative impact on performance. Teacher attitude is the most predictive factor regarding performance. The number of books at home which, in itself, is an indicator of socioeconomic status, has a substantial effect on performance. Findings suggest the need to enhance student motivation towards science during the first years of primary education, promote the application of knowledge to solve scientific problems and conduct experiments in Science classes